Several international schools have pulled out of the International School’s Athletics Competition (ISAC) after receiving a letter threatening time bombs.

The letter – purportedly from Lyceum College, Nugegoda – had warned students that time bombs would be detonated at the event.

There is no evidence at this stage if the letter is truly from Lyceum International School, but parents point to an incident last year, in which a grenade was found at the Lyceum College premises.

Competition is high at the International School’s Athletics Competition and parents opine the letter is an attempt to scare away the best international schools.

An emergency meeting between the heads of schools was held, at which it was decided that security at the International School’s Athletics Competition would be beefed up.

But several international schools have pulled out of the competition, citing safety issues.

A letter to parents from the Principal of Asian International School says the decision to withdraw is in consideration of students’ safety.

‘We are not happy with this situation and have decided to pull out of the International School’s Athletics Competition in considerations of the safety of our students and staff.’

Parents and students have expressed frustration at the situation – the competitors have spent months at training, they said.

Police has been informed and is investigating.

The International School’s Athletics Competition is for February  25, 26 and 27 at the Diyagama Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium,  in Homagama

Lyceum International College, Nugegoda is responsible for organising this year’s event,  having taken over the reins from Gateway College in 2016.

National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader Wimal Weerawansa, in Parliament today claimed that the five Army personnel arrested in connection to the assault on journalist Keith Noyahr, were not involved in the incident.

“This is a deliberate move to betray officers of the Army’s intelligence,” the parliamentarian, who is currently in remand custody, said. “These five officers were arrested only because their mobile phone usage was within the radius Dehiwala telecommunication tower.”

The MP further alleged that the photos of the five Army personnel were sent across to Keith Noyahr prior to the identification parade, and that Noyahr had picked out the ones based on the photos sent to him.

The NFF parliamentarian, who is being investigated on charges he caused the government a loss of Rs. 91 million by using 45 state-owned vehicles for the private use of his family and friends while minister of Housing in the previous government, was insistent the arrest was a set-up, to tarnish the good name of the armed forces.

The first Cabinet reshuffle of the national unity government has been postponed due to resistance by the Prime Minister, informed political sources said.

President Sirisena had earlier told close allies the first reshuffle of the national unity government would take place in January.

The President intended to replace several key ministers of the current government.

When the matter was discussed between the President and Prime Minister, Premier Wickremesinghe had insisted the Cabinet should not be reshuffled at this juncture.

The two have agreed to reevaluate the decision in March and make a final decision then, our political sources said.

"The government is expected to hold discussions with the IMF In March. The talks on Cabinet reshuffle will commence after that," a source close to the President told Asian Mirror. 

Civil society groups on several occasions have urged the President to reshuffle the current government and remove under-performing ministers.

President Maithripala Sirisena said today, a decision relating to the issue on the status of the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) and private medical colleges would be made in the interest of country.

The President was speaking to a group of parents of students attached to the SAITM campus in Malabe, who had met with the President to voice their grievances.

President Sirisena assured the parents that the views of all those involved would be taken into consideration, and had added – “I will pay special attention to the ideas of Sri Lankan student community.”

“I have already discussed this matter with the Government Medical Officers’ Association and the Government Dental Surgeons’ Association. I also will discuss with the University Grant Commission and the Medical Council”, the President said.

Private medical campus SAITM has come under attack from local university students who feel the free education they are beneficiaries of is under threat when the Sri Lanka Medical Council accredits degree holders from SAITM and other private medical faculties.

Sampath Bank, one of Sri Lanka's largest commercial banks, has come under fire on social media platforms, for revising prices of its SMS alert service. 

According to the new price revision, only the first 10 SMSs were given free per month. The Bank announced it would charge Rs. 1 per additional SMS. The revised Annual Fee was Rs.350. 

As this was announced, many social media users criticised the bank for "fleecing" its customers. Many vowed to close their Sampath Bank accounts in protest of the price revision.

An online petition was even begun on Change.org urging the bank to reverse its decision to revise prices. 

"This is an opportunistic act of earning some quick revenue at the expense of customers who are already burdened with massive taxes. No other SriLankan bank has imposed such a fee on SMS alerts sent out by the bank.

Let us all join hands and sign this Petition to show the Sampath bank that its unfair tactics will not be tolerated. If they don't revoke this fee, lets move our accounts to other banks," the online petition said. 

Sampath Bank, however, defended the price revision, on Friday, by issuing a statement on its official Facebook page. 

"We have had to update our SMS Alertz pricing due to increases in Telecommunication Levies and standardisation of SMS fees by Mobile Network Operators. We are genuinely sorry that this affects you, but it's important to note the following:

• The first 10 SMS alerts per month are free of charge

• All account transactions will be charged at Rs. 1 per SMS alert

• You will NOT be charged for credit card transaction SMS alerts and card offer promotion SMS alerts

• You have not yet been charged for January 2017 SMS alerts - this will happen end of February 2017," the bank said. 

The statement has also came under severe criticism from over 200 Facebook users who said they did not want Sampath Bank's SMS alert service under revised prices. 

MPs attached to the Joint Opposition have decided to remove themselves from all sub-committees set up through the Constitutional Assembly, UPFA parliamentarian Bandula Gunawardene said.

Addressing the media yesterday, Gunawardene said the JO had decided to withdraw from the sub-committees, because they didn’t want to compromise on the unitary nature of the state.

He said there was evidence to prove that the reports of the committees favoured federalism and separatism – which the JO condemned and opposed.

Gunawardene also said the Joint Opposition rejected the reports compiled by the six sub-committees, set up through the Constitutional Assembly.

The six sub-committees were set up in May 5, 2016 to develop constitutional principles on Fundamental Rights, the Judiciary, Law and Order, Public Finance, Public Service and Centre-Periphery Relations, for the consideration of the Constitutional Assembly’s Steering Committee.

South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) Chairman Dr. Neville Fernando has said the institute is prepared to cooperate with the government on measures applied to private education.

In a statement released to the media, Dr. Fernando said, ‘We cooperate and support the government’s future measures applicable to non-state medical education, with a broader objective of ensuring standards of medical graduates.’

He added that SAITM was currently considering the proposals set out by the government and would engage in further discussions with relevant authorities, keeping the rights of SAITM graduates in mind:

‘Without any prejudice to the rights of the graduates granted through the Court of Appeal decision we are considering the proposals set out by the Ministry of Higher Education and the University Grants Commission and we will have further discussions with the relevant authorities,’ the statement read.

It said SAITM has the ‘fullest confidence that the government and legal system of Sri Lanka will take all necessary measures to ensure that students are treated fairly and given equal opportunity.’

Colombo Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said today he would not endorse any move to legalise abortion.

He was speaking at an event in Kalutara, to which he was invited as Chief Guest.

The Cardinal said the Scripture was very clear on the matter – with ‘Thou shalt not kill’ featuring among the Ten Commandments.

The Archbishop said adherents should be committed to a spiritual life and not only when convenient. He said they should not discard the Scripture at other times.

He said that a spiritual life was essential for preserving Sri Lankan culture, and that without a spiritual life, it would be impossible to weed out the darker elements of society.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Deakin University, for economic, educational and human resource reforms.

The Premier was awarded the doctorate while on a four-day official visit to Australia, which began Monday.

The Prime Minister is expected to hold discussion with his counterpart Malcolm Turnbull and sign on several bilateral agreements.

This is the first visit by a Sri Lankan state official to Australia in 60 years. Sri Lanka and Australia established diplomatic relations in 1947 and will celebrate 70 years, this year.

President Maithripala Sirisena has ordered the immediate interdiction of officials attached to the Geological Survey And Mines Bureau in Divulapitiya.

The President alleged that it was these officials that were to blame for the illegal sand mining in Divulapitiya, as highlighted by Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake.

Social Empowerment Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake in a public telephone call, questioned the Divulapitiya District Secretary for allowing illegal sand mining to take place in Divulapitiya.

The Social Empowerment Deputy Minister accused Joint Opposition MP Indika Anuruddha, his brother Thusitha and Wasantha Dangalla of bribing officials to conduct their illegal mining.