Crimes by former and current members of the Sri Lankan security forces are on the increase, the Sunday times reports.

The paper details in its article several crimes committed, including the killing of MP Bharatha Lakshman and grease devil attacks in the Tamil homeland.

Extracts from the report:

"Investigations into recent crimes, have revealed a disturbing trend of the involvement of members of the armed forces who have deserted as well as those still serving.

Incarcerated, former commander of the Sri Lankan Army, Sarath Fonseka, is to be ignored in the write-up of the new chapters of the Sri Lankan epic, the Mahavamsa, The Sunday Leader reports.

Three new chapters are going to be added to the chronicles of Sri Lankan history, which covers "the life and times of the people who forged Sri Lanka, from the coming of Vijaya in 543 BCE to the reign of King Mahasena (334 – 361); from the 6th Century BC to the 4th Century AD."

Another volume, the Culavamsa covers the period from the 4th Century till the British colonisation.

Motorists across Colombo are in danger from giant electronic billboards of Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, warned the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC).

Rajapaksa's cut outs and billboards could distract unsuspecting motorists the CMC asserted.

India expects Sri Lanka to "act decisively" to achieve a "political settlement based on the devolution of power' announced the External Affairs Ministry in a statement made Sunday on the release of the LLRC report.

Urging resettlement and normal civilian life, India continues to avoid the issue of accountability and justice.

The ministry's spokesperson, Vishnu Prakash, said,

Political parties and police are amongst the most corrupt in Sri Lanka, according to a survey of South Asian countries by Transparency International.

The anti-corruption organization surveyed six countries and found that more than one in three people said they pay bribes when dealing with public services.

“In previous surveys of this nature, only Sub-Saharan Africa had a higher rate of bribe-paying,” Transparency International said in its press release.

Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, presented members of the military with new houses on Saturday.

The ceremony, held in Kalutara, is the seventh phase of the 'Api Venuven Api' housing project aimed at giving Sri Lanka's military families houses. Construction work has been undertaken by the army itself.

Floods add to IDP woes in Vanni (21 Dec 2011)

A huge project to develop the Sri Lankan capital Colombo is going to be implemented by the Sri Lankan military, in an attempt to minimise costs to the government.

"The construction work will be entrusted to the engineering services divisions of the Sri Lanka Army, Navy and Air Force so that construction costs would be kept to the minimum," Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said on Thursday.

Several parts of Colombo are marked for modernisation, including several markets and bus stand complex.

An independent international investigation is the “right policy for the US”, said New York’s member in the US House of Representatives Michael Grimm, writing in Capitol Hill’s Roll Call newspaper.

A former FBI agent and US Marine, Grimm commented that President Mahinda Rajapakse had “callously squandered” chances for peace and instead had worsened tensions on the island.

Commenting on Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), the International Crisis Group stated the conclusions were ‘untenable’ and called on the international community to lead efforts to bring about an international independent investigation into war crimes on the island.

Noting that Sri Lanka is ‘neither willing nor able to carry out impartial and effective investigations’ as the recommendations of the LLRC stated, the ICG stated the report,

The Sri Lankan Ministry of External Affairs has announced it will take legal action against organisations that have criticised the LLRC, ColomboPage reported on Friday.

Deputy Minister of External Affairs, Neomal Peiris said that certain human rights organisations have made false allegations about the LLRC report to the international community.

He expressed his regrets over the behaviour of those organisations.