CBK literally told to shut up

It was like a magnet. Both the literati and some of the glitterati were at the Galle Literary Festival. One of the authors was speaking to an enthralled audience.

That did not seem to bother former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and one of her then ministers, Mangala Samaraweera. They were chatting away, and doing so loudly.

It was too much for a foreign national seated in a row ahead of them. He turned to the duo and said "would you mind please…." and silence fell.

She should have known that the gathering was there to listen to the speaker and not to her.

An onlooker added the postscript to the saga. "This is the first time a former President has been told to shut up." Or was there other instances?

Lanka's UN mission now owns a floor, it could have owned the building

Sri Lanka's United Nations Mission, which has been in existence since the 1950s, is one of the few key overseas missions whose offices have been on a month-to-month rental eating up scarce resources. Over the years, several ambassadors attempted -- and failed -- to convince the Treasury in Colombo that it is better to own than pay the rent.

The proposal continued to be rejected particularly in the late 1970s. Last month wiser counsel prevailed as the Sri Lanka Mission was authorized to go ahead with the purchase of prime office space -- an entire floor -- in the UN neighbourhood for $5.1 million. Back in 2009, the original asking price for the same piece of property was $7.2 million. But with the declining real estate market in New York City, Sri Lanka succeeded in clinching the deal for $5.1 million. This time, the Central Bank authorized the purchase and advanced the money with the approval of the Cabinet.

Incidentally, the rent for the existing office is $26,000 a month or $312,000 a year. The rent has been on the increase every few years since the 1970s. If Sri Lanka had used the rental to make a purchase back then, it may have owned the entire building by now -- instead of just one floor.

Business with pleasure for political pigeons

Some politicians are being tasked to do what the pigeons did in the yesteryears - carry messages to leaders and policy makers in other lands. All in an effort to save the good name of mother Lanka.
One of them was not only keen to go, but also wanted to take his "secretary." He asked an official dealing with external matters whether she could not receive a Business Class ticket.

As one of his colleagues remarked, there is no business without pleasure. The difference was that the government was going to pay for it from public funds, he said.

Diplomats in defective net

Did any Indian fishing trawler cross the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and "defect" to Sri Lanka? Indian High Commission officials in Colombo vehemently deny that there was any "defection."
However, this is the claim made by the Deputy High Commission of Sri Lanka in Chennai. A news release issued by them this week states:

"The attention of the office of the Deputy High Commission of Sri Lanka in Chennai has been drawn to the reports, being carried out in the media in Tamil Nadu, alleging that the Sri Lankan Navy had attacked a group of Tamil Nadu fishermen near Kachchathivu and that one of the fishermen has been injured in this alleged attack on 21st January 2012.

"This Mission has immediately brought this incident to the attention of the Sri Lanka Navy to ascertain the veracity of this allegation. The Sri Lanka Navy has categorically denied these allegations and furthermore stated thatits personnel had assisted two defective Indian trawlers, found near Pesalai and Talaimannar and arranged to repair those two trawlers with the intention of assisting the Indian fishermen to return.
"This Mission regrets to state that such mischievous and fabricated allegations are directed at the Sri Lanka Navy at a time both sides are committed to alleviate minor irritants with a view to further strengthening of the relations between the two neighbouring nations."

It seems that it is not only new recruits to the External Affairs Ministry (EAM) who need training. Even those serving as Sri Lanka's diplomats abroad and those directing them from the EAM in Colombo need some brushing up, what.

Umpire's word is law - but not for this lawmaker

In the days past, lovers of cricket used to liken umpires to being even more important than judges of an apex court. The reason - their rulings could not be challenged, not until new appeal procedures and electronic review systems came after the game was commercialised.

Notwithstanding that, local umpires find themselves helpless when they have to deal with cricketers who have turned politicians. It was onetime Sri Lanka cricket captain, and batting wizard Sanath Jayasuriya who was playing last week for the Air Force Sports Club in a Premier League match. No sooner he finished batting, he wanted the umpires to excuse him from the game. He said he had to go to Parliament.

After all, the Parliament (Powers and Privileges) Act can punish any person who prevents an MP from attending the House when it is in session. The umpires said they could not take a decision. It had to be referred to the match referee. The latter said it was a matter for Sri Lanka Cricket. By then, the Honourable Sanath Jayasuriya, MP had already left.

When he returned to the grounds next day, it was his side that was batting again. Jayasuriya wanted to bat but was told by umpires that he could go only when five wickets were down. While the Air Force plyers were fielding for the second time, Jayasuriya once again excused himself and left the ground - this time claiming that his child was not well. This week, he pulled out of the Air Force SC match for personal reasons.

Guess who met whom at Thai dinner

Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was at dinner with some friends at the Thai restaurant in Cinnamon Lakeside. Who should walk in? It was Namal Rajapaksa MP and a group of friends who had come from London. They sat for their meal. When Namal noticed that Kumaratunga was getting ready to go, he walked up to her and asked in Sinhala "maawa anduranda puluwanda?" Can you recognise me?

"Ne putha. Mang oyawa dekka. Mata anduraganna beri wuna" (No son, I saw you but could not recognise you). Later, with introductions over, both exchanged pleasantries before Kumaratunga departed.

Shavendra not Ban's choice but Asia's

The selection of Shavendra Silva, Sri Lanka's deputy permanent representative, to an advisory group on UN peacekeeping operations was the subject of a question at the UN's noon briefing on Friday.

Question: Yeah, I wanted to ask you, the Sri Lankan Government is, I call it bragging, but has, is announcing that Shavendra Silva, their deputy PR whose battalion is listed in the Panel of Experts report about crimes in Sri Lanka, has been, quote, "selected" to be on this Senior Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations.

I wanted to know, one, if that is true of the status, I mean, if it has actually been confirmed? And two, if the Secretary-General has any ability to block or speak about such a selection, given that some people say to put a person accused of war crimes on an advisory group about peacekeeping would send the wrong messages?

Spokesperson Martin Nesirky: Well, as I understand it, Major General Shavendra Silva was selected by the Group of Asian States as their representative. He was not selected by the Secretary-General.