Excavations at the Mannar mass grave site have been suspended for three months owing to certain reports which are yet to be received on the excavations. A consensus to postpone the excavation activites was arrived at during a meeting held yesterday (Mar 22) which was held in attendance of the Mannar Magistrate and several key persons who were involved in the excavation process of the site.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) today raised concerns over the failure by the Government to probe attacks on Tamil journalists. TNA Parliamentarian and owner of the Uthayan newspaper, E. Saravanapavan said that the killing of several Tamil journalists as well as attacks on his own newspaper have not been properly investigated. Speaking in Parliament today during the budget debate, Sarawanabavan said that he has evidence to share with regards to some of the attacks on his newspaper office based in Jaffna.

The country yesterday successfully created artificial rains, a first for the country. The rains were created in the Maussakelle Reservoir catchment area with the Sri Lanka Air Force deploying a Y12 aircraft to disperse cloud seeding chemicals for 45 minutes on medium altitude clouds, at 8,000 feet above the Maussakelle Reservoir, to induce rains. The rain lasted for 24 minutes. A team of engineers from the Bureau of Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation (BRRAA) of Thailand, provided technical assistance for this endeavour.

Sri Lanka by not accepting an International Court of Justice at the UNHRC in Geneva this week proved that the present government has been able to protect the country’s sovereignty, which was also the vision of late Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday.

A Sri Lankan court today allowed the police to detain 12 people and question over a plot to assassinated a Tamil politician. Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne issued a court order today (12) to detain 12 persons including underworld members and persons, who had connections with LTTE and question them on recovering weapons including firearms, hand grenades and other weapons hidden by the LTTE and selling them to underworld members.

The results of the 2018 G C E Ordinary Level examination will be released next week, Exams Commissioner Sanath Pujitha said. He added that the results of the candidates were being re-scrutinised before its release. A total of 656,641 students sat for examinations last year which commenced on December 03 and concluded on December 18. The exams were conducted across 4461 centres across the country.

If the Government of Sri Lanka does not adhere to commitments it has made to the international community to set up a hybrid justice mechanism, which includes foreign judges, to probe allegations of war crimes and human rights violations, the Tamil people will be left with no alternative but to seek an entirely foreign judicial mechanism, Tamil National Alliance(TNA) MP M.A. Sumanthiran told Parliament today.

The CID today told Colombo Additional Magistrate Shehani Perera that the Navy Hierarchy including former Navy Commander Jayantha Perera and Intelligence Division Director Ananda Guruge had knowledge about the abductions that took place in Colombo and suburbs during 2009. CID OIC Nishantha Silva also told the Magistrate that they were conducting further investigations on the matter. Hence the Magistrate further remanded the suspect till April 4 as the investigations were pending.

Differences between President Maithripala Sirisena and majority members of the Constitutional Council have further hampered the appointment of the President of the Court of Appeal, it is learnt. Presently, Justice Deepali Wijesundera serves as the acting President of the Court of Appeal. President Sirisena recommended justice Kumudini Wickramasinghe to be approved by the Constitutional Council. However, the Constitutional Council that met afterwards did not approve her name.

Sri Lanka today inked an agreement with the EXIM Bank of China for a concessional loan of US$ 989 million for the construction of the Section one of Central Expressway Project from Kadawatha to Meerigama. The loan agreement was signed on 22nd March 2019 by Dr. R H S Samaratunga, Secretary, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka and Cheng Xueyuan, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China, Embassy of China in Sri Lanka on behalf of the Export - Import (EXIM) Bank of China at the Ministry of Finance, Colombo 01.

The British Government today noted that Sri Lanka did very little to address human rights concerns, five years after the war. The UK Ambassador to Geneva Julian Braithwaite said in a few months’ time it will be the tenth anniversary of the end of the protracted armed conflict in Sri Lanka, a conflict in which many thousands of people died.

The Government says the Resolution on Sri Lanka passed by the UN Human Rights Council today, without a vote, recognises the progressive steps already taken by Sri Lanka since 2015. Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana told the UN Human Rights Council today that by co-sponsoring the Resolution, Sri Lanka has assured all concerned persons that the Government will continue to move forward within certain parameters to ensure eventual closure.

Many countries, who co-sponsored the resolutions 30/1 and 34/1 on Sri Lanka yesterday called on the Sri Lankan government to take steps to deliver fully on its commitments in resolutions 30/1 and 34/1 and to develop a comprehensive and time-bound implementation strategy.

British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, James Dauris yesterday (19) said the Generalised Scheme/System of Preferences GSP Plus duty free concessions afforded to Sri Lanka would remain post-Brexit. The UK is Sri Lanka’s second largest export market after the US. Dauris said so at an economic forum held yesterday in Colombo.

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) have agreed on several issues during talks held today. SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekera said that another round of talks will take place on April 10th. Today was the second round of formal talks held between the SLPP and SLFP to form an alliance.

China says it is not concerned over Indian investments in Sri Lanka. Asked if China is concerned about Indian investments in Sri Lanka, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told the media in Beijing that China has an “open attitude” regarding India’s investments in the island nation. “I want to say China and Sri Lanka have cooperation in many areas that yielded concrete outcomes. As far as the port (Hambantota) you mentioned, (it is) another example of our fruitful cooperation,” the Press Trust of India quoted Geng as saying.

SLFP National Organiser and parliamentarian Duminda Dissanayake said on Tuesday that he was not intend to join the UNP unilaterally. MP Dissanayake, who was speaking to journalists after a function at Nochchiyagama said the relationship he has with the UNP is not a personal one, but was built around by the SLFP after the two parties decided to work together in 2015.

Navy officer Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi, who was in remand over the abduction and disappearance of 11 youth from Colombo, was today ordered to be further remanded by court. The Colombo Additional Magistrate ordered the Navy officer to be remanded till April 04.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, today called on Sri Lanka to implement a detailed and comprehensive strategy for the transitional post war justice process with a fixed timeline. She said that legislation on the establishment of an independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission could be an important next step.

The European Union today called for a durable reconciliation process in Sri Lanka, including through building confidence by completing the return of occupied land, replacing the PTA and advancing the identified transitional justice mechanisms. Speaking during the debate on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today, the EU delegation welcomed the re-commitments made to the people of Sri Lanka and to the international community by the Government of Sri Lanka during the session.

Sri Lanka today rejected key proposals made by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, including a call to establish an Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Sri Lanka. Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana told the UN Human Rights Council today that Sri Lanka does not believe there is justification for the setting up of an Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sri Lanka.

President Maithripala Sirisena told the Cabinet meeting yesterday that the fleet of military vessels of the Air Force and Navy had not been replenished for the past four years because of objections raised whenever any procurement was to be made. Therefore, the President, in his capacity as the Defence Minister, asked for the appointment of a committee to make recommendations to replenish them.

The armies of India and Sri Lanka will hold a two-week military drill beginning March 26 in the island nation with an aim to deepen anti-terror cooperation, officials said Tuesday. The aim of the exercise is to build and promote close relations between armies of both the countries and to enhance operational cooperation, they said.

The Chunnakkam Power Plant will be reactivated and the electricity it produces will be added to the national grid as soon as possible on the court approval, Power, Energy and Business Development Minister Ravi Karunanyake said.

A hartal campaign was launched in Batticaloa today (Mar 19) demanding that international pressure be exerted on the Sri Lankan government to declare information related to missing persons. The hartal also resulted in the postponement of term examinations at schools as students did not attend the exams despite teachers and principals marking their presence.

Power and Energy Minister Ravi Karunanayake said that a wind power plant would be set-up at Delft Island in order to provide electricity for those in the area. He made this remark following an observation tour around Jaffna and Delft Island. Minister Karunanayake noted that nearly 4500 people are currently living on the island without electricity. Accordingly, swift measures would be taken to call for tenders in order to set up a windmill farm on the island, he said.

President Maithripala Sirisena had not given his consent to cosponsor the new United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Resolution to extend the earlier 2015 Resolution by another two years, United National Party (UNP) Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said today.

The Ministry of Justice and Prison Reforms says that the interviews for the post of executioner will be held on March 27 and 28. The interviews will be held at the Department of Prisons for 79 applicants. A total of 102 people including an American and two women have applied for the two positions of hangmen. The American's application has been rejected since he is not a citizen and the two women have been rejected since only males were considered for the job.