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Viet Nam’s President General Luong Cuong paying homage to the Buddha relic brought down from Sarnath, India as part of UN Vesak celebrations in Ho Chi Minh City.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was honoured by an invitation to be the chief guest at the United Nations Vesak Day celebrations in Viet Nam earlier in the week.

For some reason, though, he and his delegation missed paying homage to the sacred Buddha relic presently in the custody of the Maha Bodhi Society of India at the Mulaghandha Kuty Vihara at Sarnath. The relic was specially sent by the Indian
government for exposition at the request of the Viet Nam government as part of the United Nations Vesak celebrations there.

Not that the exposition of the Buddha relic was miles away from the Vesak Day celebrations at which the President spoke in glowing terms of the Buddha’s message. It was at the same Buddhist university premises in Ho Chi Minh City— a walking distance between the meeting venue and the public exposition.

So why did the President miss paying homage to the Buddha relic? No clear explanation has been forthcoming. A VIP member of the delegation said on their return it (paying homage to the relic) was not on the programme. “We didn’t know,” he said.

He also said their programme was tight and people taking selfies with the President and the need to fly back to vote were among the reasons to be “rushed”.

Millions of Viet Buddhists continue to pay homage to the sacred Sarnath Buddha relic as it is taken around the once war-torn country.

Viet Nam’s President General Luong Cuong, who also took part in the Vesak Day celebrations along with President Dissanayake, however, paid his homage to the Buddha relic before the opening ceremony.

Russian embassy security scare: German suspect’s bid to flee country foiled

A German national was arrested by the Cinnamon Gardens Police in connection with the security scare at the Russian Embassy in Colombo after a laptop was left at the embassy security counter a few days ago.

The woman was arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) when she was about to leave the country and handed over to the police. Subsequently, she appeared before the Colombo magistrate’s court and was enlarged on bail.

The incident involving the woman took place on April 28 when she handed over a laptop in her possession to the security officer at the Russian Embassy gate at Colombo’s Bauddhaloka Mawatha and fled the scene.

This led to a security scare with police cordoning off the area and inspecting the laptop but found nothing suspicious. However, they continued the investigation, and the woman was tracked down, following which a court order was obtained preventing her from leaving the country till the case concluded.

However, she had tried to evade the court order and flee the county but was detected at the airport. Police are conducting investigations to find out what the drama was about.

The game of the President’s name: Does anyone know how he spells it?

hat’s in a name?” William Shakespeare may have queried, but there’s a lot in the manner in which a name is spelled, especially when it comes to prominent figures such as the president of a country.

Take the case of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, whose name is widely spelled in the most common manner it’s written in English, but that was before the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began spelling his name as Disanayake, leading to the confusion on how exactly the President’s name should be spelled.

Now it transpires that the President’s Media Division (PMD) is also unaware of which is the right spelling to use. In a media release issued last week on the President’s visit to Viet Nam, in the opening paragraph the President’s name was spelled as Disanayake, while in the next paragraph it was spelled Dissanayake. Hence the confusion continues with no proper intimation from either the MFA or the President’s Office which is the
correct spelling.

Sajith makes a premature chess move

As the results of last Tuesday’s local council election were coming in and it became clear that the government’s popularity was on the decline while the main opposition, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), was seen to be making some gains, SJB leader Sajith Premadasa took to his X account to post a photo of a chess move hinting the government has been checkmate.

It wasn’t long before many were commenting that he had got his chess moves wrong, and the
SJB hasn’t done that well so as to celebrate in such a manner.

Police X post on Pope raises hope

The Police X handle has become well known for some of its innovative posts meant to educate the public and share important information, but the recent post after the election of the new Pope has caught the eye of many.

With the Police coming under fire for its inability to curtail rising crime as well as brutality, the post on the election of the new Pope read, “Our holy father to lead us.”

It is hoped that the words of compassion and tolerance of the head of the Catholic Church will inspire at least some of those in the
Sri Lanka Police to be more conscientious in their duties.

Hamlet: This time with the Lankan Prince

Sri Lankan actor Hiran Abeysekara has been cast as ‘Hamlet’ in the production of William Shakespeare’s play by the National Theatre of Great Britain. The new production is being described by the National Theatre as “a fearless, contemporary take on Shakespeare’s famous tragedy”.

He joins a legendary line-up of actors who’ve portrayed Shakespeare’s most iconic role. They include Sir Ian McKellen, Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, David Tennant, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Scott and Tom Hiddleston (Loki).

Abeysekara won an Olivier Award for his leading role in the West End play ‘Life of Pi’, based on Yann Martel’s Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name.

Message to Pope and policy inconsistency

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took to his X handle to congratulate the newly elected Pope and send him warm regards from Sri Lanka.

“Congratulations to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV on your election as the new leader of the Catholic Church. Your role carries great responsibility and I wish you strength and wisdom as you guide the faithful. May your leadership bring hope and inspiration to people around the world,” he wrote.

While the President’s wishes for the new Pope are welcome, there is no consistency in the manner in which either the President’s office or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sends greetings to world leaders.

There were four world leaders elected in the past two weeks, in Canada, Germany, Australia and Singapore, but no congratulatory messages sent to them have so far been made known or if they were sent at all.

Senior State Counsel’s judicial ambition backfires

At the Attorney General’s Department, a Senior State Counsel (SSC) has raised eyebrows after it emerged that she had personally written to a senior government figure requesting to be made a judge of the Court of Appeal (CA).

The government figure, however, had mistaken the letter from the SSC and thought she was a member of the private bar. The government figure had then reached out to the Bar Association of
Sri Lanka (BASL), asking for the association’s observations on whether the lawyer who made the request is qualified to be a CA judge.

The BASL, though, had written back stating that the lawyer in question is unsuitable to be a judge.

Battle for CMC: Await more drama

The government and the combined opposition are competing to take control of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), the crown jewel among local government bodies.

The NPP secured 48 seats in the 117-member council, while the SJB won 29, UNP 13, SLPP 5 and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress 4. The other seats are split between various independent groups and political parties.

Senior government officials said they are confident of obtaining the majority support in the CMC and are in talks with several independent groups to obtain their support.

CMC has had a colourful past with councillors changing loyalties and entire party lists being rejected during the nomination process; hence, one can expect similar drama around the CMC this time around as well.

Voters are asked to vote for a party or group, but at the end of the day, they will not know where their vote and their party or group will end up and for how much !

Coalition politics: NPP too faces accusations

As negotiations continue between various political parties and independent groups to form administrations in local councils where no party had obtained an outright majority, accusations are flying thick and fast about under-the-table deals where money is being offered to members to support one party or another.

The ruling National People’s Power (NPP) has always prided itself on being a party driven by “clean politics”, with its members being largely untouched by accusations of bribery or corruption.

However, in the aftermath of the local government election, the party too has been unable to escape accusations that it is making offers to lure opposition members to support the NPP to form an administration in local councils.

The accusations may well be false, but be that as it may, the party is finding out that such allegations are part and parcel of the politics of local politics.