General Hamilton Wanasinghe, a former Army Commander and Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, passed away on Friday (June 13) following a brief illness. He was receiving treatment at the Narahenpita Army Hospital at the time of his death.

His funeral, with full military honours, will be held at the new crematorium of the General Cemetery in Borella today (15) at 5.30 pm. The remains of the late senior officer were kept in Malwana from Friday (13) for the public to pay their final respects.

General Wanasinghe served in Sri Lanka’s armed forces for four decades and was appointed as the the country’s 11th Army Commander in 1988. He also held the posts of Joint Operations Commander (from November 19, 1991 to September 6, 1993, and Defence Secretary from September 1993 to February 1995).

He began his military journey in 1954, joining the Ceylon Army as an Officer Cadet. He received his basic training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was later commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Ceylon Artillery.

he 2025 Silver Screen Awards Ceremony held with the participation of the Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.

The 2025 Silver Screen Awards Ceremony was held on June 13 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), with the participation of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.

The aim of this year’s awards ceremony included appreciating artists who enriched the Sri Lankan cinema industry during the years 1970–1975. At the ceremony, renowned actress Iranganie Serasinghe was presented with the Sumith Bibile Memorial Gold Award by the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister also conferred awards to distinguished artists Padma Sri Kodikara, Dinesh Priyasad, and Indrani Perera.

The government has deleted from the action plan of the Ministry of Justice and National Integration its commitment to abolish the pensions and special privileges of retired presidents and their families, a document obtained through the Right to Information (RTI) Act shows.

In March, the secretary to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake issued a circular to the secretaries of all ministries pointing to a Cabinet decision taken that month to accept the National People’s Power election manifesto—“A thriving nation, a beautiful life”—as their national policy framework.

It also said that “all ministries have reviewed the commitments identified for them and conveyed proposed amendments to the Presidential Secretariat. The finalised benchmarks were published in an annexe that was not publicly released with the circular.

The Sunday Times obtained the annexe by filing an RTI request to the Presidential Secretariat. Among a large number of proposals under the Justice and National Integration Ministry—including to “address unresolved and unprosecuted cases relating to the 2022 protest and expedite legal proceedings with proper protocols”—a proposal to delete

“abolish pensions and special privileges given to retired presidents and their families” has been marked as “accepted”.

Also deleted is the commitment to “safeguard the voting rights of persons migrating for jobs within and outside the country”.

Retained in the relevant ministry’s action plan is the commitment to “abolish the executive presidency and to appoint a president without executive powers by the parliament”.

It was reported earlier this year that a committee appointed by President Dissanayake found that there was a constitutional bar in the way of the government’s intention to cut these privileges. For instance, it was found that some of the benefits could not be abolished without constitutional amendments.

Article 36(2) of the Constitution says, “Upon the assumption of the office of President the holder of such office shall become entitled to the receipt of such salary and allowances and thereafter, of such pension as may be determined by Parliament. Any subsequent amendment, repeal or replacement of this Article and any subsequent law or any provision thereof inconsistent with this Article shall not have retrospective operation.”

And Article 36(4) says, “Parliament may by resolution increase, but shall not reduce, the salary, allowances or pension entitlement of the holders of the office of President.”

(sundaytimes.lk)

(This story, originally published by sundaytimes.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)