The Indian Defence Ministry has announced it will move members of the Sri Lankan Air Force from Tambaram air base in Tamil Nadu.

A day after strong condemnation from all major parties in Tamil Nadu, the Ministry of Defense released a statement saying the personnel will be moved.

"All Sri Lankan trainees are being sent off today from this Station as per instruction of the Ministry of Defence," said the statement.

The Sri Lankan government dismissed reports that the airmen were being sent back to Sri Lanka.

"Reports about a group of Sri Lankan Airmen under training in Chennai being sent back to Sri Lanka is incorrect. They will continue their training in another location in India without any hindrance to their training programme," the External Affairs Ministry said.

NDTV reported earlier today that the military personnel were being shifted to Bangalore under ‘huge political pressure’.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha condemned the training of Sri Lankan Air Force personnel in Tambaram, saying it is an “insult to Tamil people”

Last year a training programme for 25 Sri Lankan soldiers near Ooty in Tamil Nadu was cancelled following political pressure.

Sri Lanka Cricket has named 56 foreign players who will play in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League.

The list is dominated by players from Australia (18) and Pakistan (13).

There are no India or England players - apart from Azhar Mahmood.

See ESPNcricinfo’s report here, including the list of names and values of their signings.

Seven people, including two local government members of the ruling party UPFA, have been arrested in connection with the rape of two teenage girls, reported The Island.

Among the arrested is Liyanage Sunil, Chairman of Akuressa Pradeshiya Sabha, who pleaded guilty to raping a 13-year-old at the Matara Magistrate Court yesterday. He has been remanded until July 16th. Two others had also raped the child and were remanded after pleading guilty.

In another case, a UPFA member of the Tangalle Municipal council has surrendered along with three others for raping a 13-year-old girl.

Colombo Page reported that the girl was sexually abused for 6 days by 17 men at a hotel managed by one of the suspects.

Tamil Nadu chief Minister Jayalalitha has objected to nine Sri Lankan air force personnel being trained at an Indian airbase near Chennai, and called on the Central government to immediately cancel the programme and send the participants back, PTI reports.

“At a time when there are voices demanding equal status for Tamils in Sri Lanka, reports about Sri Lankan Air Force personnel receiving training at the Tambaram Air Force Station near here was something against the Tamils. I strongly condemn this,” she said in Chennai.

She slammed the Centre for remaining “silent” on a resolution moved by the state assembly calling for economic sanctions against Sri Lanka besides demanding equal status for Tamils in that country and said “it is an insult for the Tamil people that the Centre is imparting military training to the Air Force personnel from Sri Lanka”.

“While there are demands for sanction against those charged of war crimes, the fact that the Sri Lankan Air Force personnel are being trained in India is not only improper, but also against interests of Tamil people. This (the nine—month training for nine personnel) should be withdrawn and they should be sent back to the island nation”, she insisted.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called for an end to the harrassment of media outlets and journalists in a report released on Tuesday.

In a statement, HRW said,

"Three years since the conflict ended, in May 2009, the government continues to intimidate and threaten journalists and news organizations that express dissenting views. Senior government officials have called such critics “traitors,” a serious charge in a country where many journalists have been killed."

"The government has failed to bring to justice those responsible for any of the killings or enforced disappearances of journalists in recent years."

HRW's Asia director, Brad Adams, said,

“The government raids did not just target two media outlets but were part of a broader effort to intimidate and harass all critical journalists,”

“Sri Lanka’s poor reputation on free speech will only sink lower unless these assaults on the media stop immediately.”

“The Sri Lankan government has done nothing in response to the media concerns raised by other countries except to dismiss them,”

“This sadly mirrors the response to rights issues more generally.”

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Media and Information, Keheliya Rambukwella has told Sinhala paper Divaina that the government is planning to ban all websites that ‘sling mud’ at the government.

Rambukwella said the ban will come into effect during the next few days and steps to block the websites had already been taken.

The minister also said there is a conspiracy to tarnish Sri Lanka's image, the Daily Mirror reported.

Rambukwella denied that any of the refugee boats that arrived in Australia recently, originated from Sri Lanka.

“There was a lot of misleading information being disseminated recently implicating Sri Lanka as the originating point for asylum seekers. This is only hyped up information with no truth in it.

"Obviously there is an element of doubt regarding these allegations, people with vested interest seem to have their own agendas of tarnishing the name of the country.

“There were no Lankans in the recent boat controversies, but the country’s name was planted in initially, to meet ulterior motives of some elements,” he said.

A Tamil political detainee transferred to the Mahara prison after being attacked in Vavuniya has died this morning, reported Pathivu.

The 29-year-old, who died after medical treatment at the Ragama Hospital had proved unsuccessful, has been identified as Nimalaruban from Nelukulam, Vavuniya.

Nimalaruban was one of more than fifteen political prisoners to sustain heavy injuries after being attacked by officials last week at Vavuniya prison.

“The government should take full responsibility for the death of Nimalaruban and the brutal attack on these prisoners,” Mano Ganeshan, Convener of the Civil Monitoring Committee, told reporters at a joint press conference in Colombo.

“Of the 31 Tamil prisoners who were transferred to the Anuradhapura prisons from Vavuniya after the rescue operation on Saturday, one is still undergoing treatments at the Anuradhapura hospital with very serious injuries.

"The remaining 29 prisoners have also been brutally attacked at Anuradhapura prison before being transferred to Mahara Prison. Some of them are admitted to the Ragama teaching hospital with serious injuries including broken jaws and limbs,” he has said.

“This is not just a death, but an extension of the ongoing campaign of Tamil genocide,” Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Suresh K. Premachandran said at the press conference.

Transferred Tamil political prisoners attacked in Anuradhapura (01 Jul 2012)

A Canadian court has found a former Sri Lankan naval officer not eligible for asylum because the Sri Lankan Navy was complicit in war crimes.

The claimant “had been complicit in the crimes against humanity because he had a long service with the navy, an organization that was known to regularly and systematically commit human rights abuses against the LTTE, the Tamil population and individuals suspected or perceived to be LTTE collaborators or sympathizers,” the Immigration Review Board found.

Justice John O’Keefe ruled that the evidence supported “a finding that the navy and security forces’ acts were part of a widespread or systematic attack”.

Nadarajah Kuruparan was Commodore of the Sri Lanka Navy, third in rank behind the Admiral, when he retired in June 2009. He sought asylum at the Canadian border in August 2009. Kuruparan was one of only five Tamils in the Sri Lankan Navy, the National Post in Canada reported.

The Tamil Saiva priest of the Aathi Paraasakthi temple in Valveddithurai was attacked by Sri Lankan soldiers, reported TamilNet on Tuesday.

The brutal assault happened shortly after the priest had reminded a soldier who had entered the temple premises wearing boots, that this act is considered sacrilegious.

The soldier, who had come in to retrieve a ball, returned with more soldiers, including his commander, who then proceeded to beat the priest, inflicting injuries that required hospitalisation.

The Sri Lankan Army had appropriated land belonging to the temple and turned it into a playground for them.

A total of 15,780 people were reported missing to the ICRC until the end of last year.

In its annual report, the ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger said that "thousands remained unaccounted for, leaving relatives without definitive information about their fate".

The missing individuals include 1494 children and 754 women.

The report said although ICRC staff made visits to around 17,700 detainees, they were unable to see anyone in the 'rehabilitation' camps.

"Thousands of people continued to be held in relation to the former armed conflict at temporary and permanent places of detention around the country, and arrests continued.

"When the state of emergency was lifted, inmates held in connection with the former armed conflict were detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

"The ICRC monitored the application of such detentionrelated laws and abandoned its fruitless efforts to obtain access to people held in rehabilitation centres."

The ICRC criticised the Sri Lankan government for issuing an order to force the organisation to pullt out from northern Sri Lanka, which has severly affected war displaced.

The ICRC said that it had to stop several projects including 'the provision of seed and tools to farmers to boost crop production; the provision of tackle to fishermen to help them resume livelihood activities; cash grants or vocational training to vulnerable families to invest in improving their future; and the rehabilitation and/or extension of municipal water systems'.

'Over 15,000 missing in Sri Lanka' : Report reveals - JDS (03 Jul 12)

Sri Lankan police have arrested 53 people for failing to clear stagnating water and other mosquito breeding grounds around their homes.

Police, army soldiers and health officials have searched 11,500 homes in Colombo on Sunday, in order to check whether government guidelines for ‘dengue eradication month’ are being followed.

Suspects could face fines and up to 6 months in prison, if found guilty.

Over 10,000 personnel of the security forces have been drafted in to help efforts during ‘dengue eradication month’.

Dengue fever has killed over 74 people in Sri Lanka this year.

Government officials have blamed the spread of the disease on people who fail to clean their properties and leave mosquito breeding grounds.

Sri Lanka police arrest 53 people for failing to remove stagnant water where mosquitoes breed - Washington Post (02 Jul 2012)

The United States has decided to not change the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits to Sri Lanka.

The GSP country practice review of Sri Lanka was closed based on the Sri Lankan government’s efforts to address worker rights issues over the past few years.

“The GSP country practice review on worker rights in Sri Lanka has closed without any change to Sri Lanka’s GSP trade benefits,” Ron Kirk, Trade representative for the US said.

The review on Sri Lanka was initially carried out after a petition was filed in 2008, outlining shortcomings in Sri Lanka’s recognition of worker rights.

Subsequently the benefits for Sri Lanka were suspended in 2010. Then in late October 2011, the GSP bill was approved again allowing Sri Lanka and 129 other nations to receive the benefits of the GSP.

As part of the annual GSP review, an US government committee receives and considers petitions seeking to withdraw or limit a country’s eligibility for GSP benefits according to that country’s compliance with legal eligibility criteria, a key criteria being the provision of internationally recognized worker rights to workers in the country.

US imports from Sri Lanka under the GSP amounted to a total of $135milion in 2011.

Six Tamil political prisoners, who were transferred from Vavuniya prison to Anuradhapura prison in amidst of the recent attacks, have been attacked by prison officials, reported Uthayan on Saturday.

Families of the attacked prisoners told TNA MP P.Airyenthiran that four have been injured severely, with one in a very critical condition. Families state that the injured are yet to receive adequate medical attention.

Expressing concern over the continued attacks against Tamil political prisoners, MP Ariyenthiran called for the attack to be investigated and for the injured to receive treatment without delay.