Jungle Telegraph

28th June 1998

Not that Batalanda

Sri Lanka's first ever Army Staff College, established with the assistance from the British Government, will be formally opened on July 5. The first batch of students are already following the inaugural course under the direction of a senior British military official.

The College seems to be in for international recognition even before it has been formally declared open.

The United States which has imposed sanctions on both India and Pakistan, after the two countries exploded nuclear devices, now want to direct their students to Sri Lanka Army's Staff College.

Needless to say that Batalanda, where the Staff College is located, will become known for better things.

Who is the father?

The man in a hurry to execute one self-imposed deadline after another has been told enough is enough.

Insiders say the boss has made it very clear he should not put too much pressure on the top men to crash their way through.

Let them play the game without getting hurt in numbers, was the message that came loud and clear.

Whether the overtly ambitious man will decelerate is another matter altogether. More so when he has started blaming everyone else except himself. That covers the "lazy" top men, media and even stars and the weather.

Who said success has many fathers and failure is an orphan?

Censor and the BBC

A telephone call from London sent shivers down the top brass at Navy Headquarters last week.

One of the prized acquisitions, due for shipment to Colombo, had caught the attention of a BBC camera crew. If it was in Colombo, the Military Censor could have kept it away from the TV screen. But it was in UK where they do not believe in any censorship.

So wires began humming between NHQ and the Sri Lanka High Commission in London. It seems they succeeded in getting the BBC crew to keep away. So let's hope the BBC will not pass on "strategic information" to the enemy !!

New dates

Even if he won a short new tenure, our hero decided to go it all without that large glossy calendar adorning the wood panelled wall of his upstairs office.

This came as the word got around in the defence establishment that the hero, with access to many a quarter, sat before a large as life calendar. He ruled from there.

The calendar of course belonged to a most controversial business conglomerate dabbling in billions in defence procurements.

Though the calendar is not there, one witty defence boy asked whether the hero would stop dating. A good question indeed.

Editorial/Opinion Contents