The chief of the Indian army, General Bikram Singh, commences his four day tour of Sri Lanka today.

In a press statement released on Tuesday, the Indian army said that the visit was in light of ongoing defence cooperation between the two armies.

General Singh's wife, Bubbles Singh will also be present on the tour and will focus on war widows. The statement said, "This will facilitate in mutual understanding and benefit from each others' experiences on the issue,"

Sri Lanka’s GDP has grown by 4.8% in the third quarter of 2012, compared to 8.5% during the same period last year.

The growth is the slowest since the end of the armed conflict in 2009.

The industry sector grew by 7.3%, a decrease from last year’s 10.8%, while agriculture contracted by 0.5%, compared to 6.5% growth last year.

The manufacturing sector grew 3.3%, slowing from 7.7 percent last year, with textiles and apparel expanding by 2.9%, a large drop from the 10.2% recorded a year earlier.

British Member of Parliament Simon Danczuk has stated that the Sri Lankan government may be covering up the case of a British tourist who was murdered in Sri Lanka on Christmas Eve last year, and called on Prime Minister David Cameron to boycott the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Speaking as the anniversary of Khuram Shaikh's murder, Danczuk said,

Global pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has invested $11m in expanding its Sri Lankan operations.

The investment will be welcomed by the government and its struggling economy.

Sri Lanka is facing difficulties in financing the upkeep of its military, proportionally one of the largest in the world.

A significant part of its national budget is dedicated to the defence ministry, headed by war crimes accused Gothabaya Rajapakse.

Australian Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon has criticised Foreign Minister Bob Carr’s decision to strengthen the country’s strengthening of military and intelligence co-operation with Sri Lanka amid increasing reports of human rights abuses.

In a statement released on Monday, Senator Rhiannon said,

"I urge Minister Carr to acquaint himself with reports out of Sri Lanka that on 12 December, 17 Tamil women were admitted to a hospital in Northern Sri Lanka. There is concern that these women had been sexually abused and brutalised by the Sri Lankan military”

"I have been contacted by a number of Tamils living in Australia who are very distressed about these latest developments.”

"Australia's standing as a country committed to promoting peace and protecting human rights is at risk if Minister Carr seeks to strengthen military ties while turning a blind eye to ongoing abuses in Sri Lanka".

See her full statement here.

Her statement follows on from Australia Greens Leader Christine Milne urging Carr last week to hold Sri lanka to account for alleged human rights abuses. She stated,

"Submissions to the UN Human Rights Council from international and Sri Lankan human rights organisations have documented the continued extrajudicial killings by military operatives, suspicious deaths in police custody, disappearances by paramilitary groups, white van abductions, torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, arbitrary arrests and detention of alleged members of armed groups, their family members and colleagues, as well as outspoken critics and perceived political opponents of the Government, including journalists.

"It is time for the Government to explain how our diplomats in Geneva can condemn human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, while our bureaucrats in Canberra can send asylum seekers back to this very violence and persecution they are fleeing."

Dr. Brian Senewiratne, a Sinhalese activist who has voiced for the Tamil rights in Sri Lanka was refused access into Singapore on Saturday.

According to the Bangkok Post, Dr. Senewiratne was scheduled to give a speech in Johor Bahru in Malaysia about the political nature in Sri Lanka and the factors that’s contributing to the rise in Sri Lankan asylum seekers.

Leaked population data from the World Bank, indicates that over 100,000 Tamils remain unaccounted for after the final months of Sri Lanka's military onslaught, writes the former BBC journalist, Frances Harrison in the Huffington Post.

Citing World Bank spreadsheets, Harrison states that 101,748 people, or roughly 28,899 households are missing from Mullaitivu District, and asserts that "an international investigation is required to establish the truth about what may be one of the least reported but worst atrocities of recent decades - both in terms of the speed and the scale of the killing."

See here for full article in Huffington Post.

Extract reproducted below:

"The leaked World Bank spreadsheets broken down by village for the north of the island estimate numbers of returnees to the former conflict area in mid 2010. The Bank also cites Statistical Handbook Numbers for population in 2007 - before the fighting intensified. The two sets of data reveal 101,748 people missing from Mullaitivu District - the area that bore the brunt of the final fighting. This is the equivalent of 28,899 households. This number has been confirmed to me by the World Bank, though they add "other interpretations about the population data that are not included in the document can not be attributed to the World Bank".

The Sri Lankan Army’s 552 Division recently facilitated a medical camp for Tamil civilians in the town of Iyakkachchi, near Elephant Pass in Jaffna, says a report on the defence ministry’s website.

The ministry claims over 900 Tamil civilians took part in the event, with the army transporting people to the school where the clinic was held.