The International Monetary Fund said Monday that its executive board has approved a nearly $3 billion bailout program for Sri Lanka over four years to help salvage the country’s bankrupt economy.

An IMF statement said about $333 million of the funding will be disbursed immediately and the approval will also open up financial support from other institutions.

The Tamil Students Initiative held their inaugural International Women’s Day Brunch showcasing up-and-coming female performers at The Cottons in Shoreditch on 19th March 2023. The exclusively female event looked to celebrate and empower women. Featured acts included Mathura, Vinika Vara, Vyshna, Thanu and Kingston Tamil Society. 

The event was hosted by Shangavi - a talented model and dancer. Shangavi has participated in both Kings of Gaana and Mega Maalai 2023, as well as recently leading her first Bharathanatyam dance workshop with Queen Mary's Tamil society. 

Speaking at the Progress Review Meeting on Aluth Gamek, Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardene, slammed trade unions and claimed that their “vengeful demands” were undermining the rights of workers, the right to unionise and workers’ bargaining power.

His statement follows mass protests by public and private workers which saw half a million people on the streets at the start of this month, in defiance of the government’s ban on strikes for “essential services”.

Speaking at the inauguration of a new exhibition dedicated to Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa, India’s external affairs minister, S Jaishankar, reiterated India’s ongoing support for Sri Lanka during its economic crisis.

“Blood is thicker than water. It was natural for India to see what it could do to stand by Sri Lanka at this very difficult time”, told the audience in New Delhi on Friday.

He further added:

The leader of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, has called on the Sri Lankan state to reveal the amount they had paid to the British mercenary organisation known as Keenie Meenie Services (KMS) to support their suppression of the Tamil armed resistance.

“The Sri Lankan state needs to come clean and tell parliament how much they paid Keenie Meenie Services to help repress Tamils in the 1980s”.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Ali Sabry, is set to journey to London to attend the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers’ Meeting (CFAMM) next Wednesday, where he is expected to meet several international dignitaries.

The CFAMM is set to mark the 10^th anniversary of the Commonwealth Charter which expressed the shared commitment of member states to develop free and democratic societies as well as the promotion of peace and prosperity throughout the Commonwealth.

US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, has stressed that Local Government elections are critical for Sri Lanka's democracy.

Chung spoke as the Chief Guest at the National Law Conference organized by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka in Colombo on 12 March. 

During her speech, the Ambassador said, "democracies are under strain across the globe and no democracy stands without the rule of law." She continued "you are the guardians of that precious rule."

Speaking in Sri Lanka’s parliament on Thursday, Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Tourism, Diana Gamage, encouraged violence against student demonstrators to end their protests.

“These people must be beaten. The country’s people must beat them. It is your money that is being spent on water cannons and tear gas to disperse these groups. Stop these protests immediately. Let us rebuild this country”.

Marcia V. J. Kran, Canadian lawyer and expert member of the UN Human Rights Committee, pressed Sri Lanka delegate Major General Kulatunga about his role in overseeing the Joseph Camp in Vavuniya, plagued with allegations of torture, and the Army Court’s denial of war crimes.