Flashback 2010

As firecrackers were lit and church bells rang heralding the end of one year and the beginning of another, 2011 dawned with hopes high in a time of peace.

What will we recall of 2010? For some, it will be remembered as a year that has marked a speedy recovery from the three decades-long separatist war. The peaceful environment that prevailed in the country, free from the fear of bomb blasts and blood baths, gave ample room for a number of celebrations from Independence Day to Victory Day parades and the holding of gala international events such as IIFA Awards.

It was a year of elections that saw President Mahinda Rajapaksa reinforce his popularity with sweeping victories for himself and his party at the Presidential and Parliamentary elections; a year that introduced Constitutional changes, and saw the fall of a war hero.

There were natural calamities as flood waters left many homeless and displaced; also moments of pride when cricketing legend Muttiah Muralitheran grabbed his 800th Test wicket in his final match becoming cricket’s highest wicket taker. Here is brief recap of some of the significant events of the year that was…

Happy year for ‘Bubble baby’

He is now turning and trying to sit up, mischievously smiling at his humble parents in their home in Dippitigala, Lellopitiya, Ratnapura, oblivious to the fact that he is the ‘Bubble Baby’ of Sri Lanka who not only hit the headlines but also made hundreds of people “adopt” him as their own.

Sanjana Praveen Shivanka, who will turn six months on January 12 was the ‘Baby of 2010’ who touched the lives of numerous Sri Lankans here and abroad.

His story resulted in massive public support which came in the form of contributions amounting to Rs. 5.2 million to send him to the Apollo Speciality Hospital in Chennai, India as he is suffering from Severe Combined Immuno-deficiency (SCID) Syndrome, a rare genetic disease.

Baby Shivanka is back in Sri Lanka after initial treatment and reaching the development milestones while his parents K.B.N. Damayanthi and K.W.N. Neil Shantha are ever-grateful to all of his “foster parents”.

January 7

The Court of Appeal granted bail to senior journalist J.S Tissainayagam pending his appeal against his conviction and sentence by the High Court under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. He was arrested on March 2008 on charges of inciting communal hatred in his two articles in the monthly periodical ‘North Eastern Monthly’ and for having received funds from the LTTE. He received a Presidential pardon on May 3 coinciding with World Press Freedom Day.

January 15

An annular and total solar eclipse was visible in Sri Lanka after 55 years. This longest ring like eclipse will not be seen again for over 1000 years.

January 24

Prageeth Ekneligoda, a journalist of Lanka Enews web was abducted on his way home from work in the night.

January 26

The sixth Presidential Elections was held with President Mahinda Rajapaksa scoring a resounding victory over his rival former Army Commander General (Retd.) Sarath Fonseka. President Rajapaksa garnered a record 57.88 percent of the votes cast. This was the first Presidential poll to be held under a unified country in 30 years after the LTTE was defeated in May 2009. A total of 23 candidates were in the fray.

January 27

A tense situation arose at a leading hotel in Colombo in the aftermath of the elections after reports of an attempt being made to arrest a group of Army deserters who were said to be in the hotel with the common Opposition candidate General (Retd.) Sarath Fonseka. He left the hotel on the 28th after being under siege for a day with allegations that a coup was being planned.

February 8

General Sarath Fonseka was arrested at around 9 p.m. on charges of an alleged plot to assassinate President Rajapaksa. He was at a discussion with some of the opposition party members at the time of his arrest.

February 15

EU member states decided to temporarily withdraw GSP+ benefits to Sri Lanka under a special incentive arrangement.

February 18

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) formed a new front called the Democratic National Alliance under the trophy symbol to contest the general election.

March 11

Toddler Amila Sandaruwan Fernando thrown into the Kalu ganga by his mother was rescued by a truck driver Sampath Janaka Jayashantha near Kalutara bridge. The two and a half year old died on the 20th while receiving treatment at Lady Ridgeway hospital.

March 16

Former Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka appeared before the first court martial panel that began sittings at Navy Headquarters on charges of participating in political work while in active service.

March 16

Former Army Commander General (Retd.) Sarath Fonseka appeared before the first court martial where he is charged with engaging in politics while serving as the army chief.

March 22

Armed thugs attacked MTV/MBC office at Braybrooke Place, Colombo 2 at around 3.30 p.m. causing heavy damage to the TV station offices. Staff members were attacked with stones and retaliated. The attack came in protest over the network’s sponsorship of singer Akon’s concert in Colombo which was subsequently cancelled.

April 8

The first Parliamentary elections after the end of the war was held to elect members to the 14th Parliament since independence. Nearly 7000 candidates from 36 political parties and 310 independent groups contested the elections.

The ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) swept the polls winning 144 seats, an increase of 39 since the 2004 election. The main opposition UNF won 60 seats, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) 14 seats, and the DNA, contesting for the first time, won 7 seats.

April 21

Veteran SLFP politician D.M. Jayaratne was sworn in as the 20th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

May 17

Heavy pre-monsoon rains saw floods in 13 districts including Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Ratnapura, Kegalle, Matara, Kurunegala, Galle, Nuwara Eliya, Trincomalee, Puttalam, Mannar, Kandy and Anuradhapura.

The Western Province was the worst affected by the torrential rains that continued for more than a week with Gampaha district having the highest number of displaced people. 20 deaths were reported and a total of 606,072 persons or 141,586 families were affected by the floods. Several roads were under water with even the Bandaranaike international airport being inaccessible.

June 3
The 11th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) week began in Colombo with several Bollywood stars, film directors and designers arriving to attend the three-day long extravaganza from June 3-5. The IIFA Awards Night was held at the Sugathadasa Stadium on June 5. Despite strident protests by Tamil groups in India, stars Vivek Oberoi, Lara Datta, Sophie Chaudhary, Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Ritesh Deshmukh, Dia Mizra and Hrithik Roshan graced the event despite the absence of A list stars like the Bachchans.

June 18

The Victory Day celebrations ceremony which was originally planned to be held on May 18 but was postponed due to bad weather was held at Galle Face Green. It was the first anniversary celebrations of the victory over terrorism.

June 22

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon named a three member panel to advise him on human rights issues relating to Sri Lanka. Former Indonesian AG Maruzuki Darusman (Chairman), American attorney Steven Ratner and South Africa's Ms. Yasmin Sooka, who served on that country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission were appointed as the three members of the panel.

June 3

The 11th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) week began in Colombo with several Bollywood stars, film directors and designers arriving to attend the three-day long extravaganza from June 3-5. The IIFA Awards Night was held at the Sugathadasa Stadium on June 5. Despite strident protests by Tamil groups in India, stars Vivek Oberoi, Lara Datta, Sophie Chaudhary, Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Ritesh Deshmukh, Dia Mizra and Hrithik Roshan graced the event despite the absence of A list stars like the Bachchans.

June 18

The Victory Day celebrations ceremony which was originally planned to be held on May 18 but was postponed due to bad weather was held at Galle Face Green. It was the first anniversary celebrations of the victory over terrorism.

June 22

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon named a three member panel to advise him on human rights issues relating to Sri Lanka. Former Indonesian AG Maruzuki Darusman (Chairman), American attorney Steven Ratner and South Africa's Ms. Yasmin Sooka, who served on that country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission were appointed as the three members of the panel.

July 6

The entrance to the UN office at Bauddhaloka Mawatha Colombo was obstructed by a large group of protestors led by Minister Wimal Weerawansa who erected a stage there preventing the staff from entering or leaving the premises.

Minister Weerawansa carried on a fast unto death campaign for three days demanding the withdrawal of the UN advisory panel before the intervention of President Rajapaksa saw him calling off the fast.

July 22

Lankan cricketer and spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan reached another milestone in his career picking up his 800th test wicket during the test match against India in Galle while playing his final Test match. He had announced his retirement from test cricket prior to the series.

August 3

Deputy Minister Mervyn Silva tied a Samurdhi officer to a mango tree over his failure to attend a dengue prevention programme in Kelaniya. The controversial deputy minister was removed from his post after the incident

However, he was cleared of all charges by the SLFP Disciplinary Committee that was appointed to look into the matter and reinstated in his position as the Deputy Minister of Highways on September 9.

August 11

The Sri Lankan Commission on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa began sittings at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies. The Commission was appointed to inquire and report on several areas relating to the conflict between the period of February 21, 2002 and May 19, 2009.

August 6

The alleged fraudster Sakvithi Ranasinghe and his wife who were evading arrest after they were involved in a money scam were arrested in a house in Nawagamuwa. Ranasinghe had fled the island with over Rs.1000 million invested under his financial institutions by depositors.

August 13

A military tribunal stripped Army chief Sarath Fonseka of his rank and medals after finding him guilty of engaging in politics, while in service.

August 20

A 47-year-old Sri Lankan housemaid L.T Ariyawathie from Thihagoda who returned to Sri Lanka from Saudi Arabia hit the headlines when she was found to have had 23 nails inserted into her body. She underwent a series of medical tests and surgery, her case triggering public outrage.

September 8

After much debate and controversy the 18th Amendment to the Constitution which lifted the two-term limit of a serving President was passed in Parliament with 161 votes in favour and 17 against.

September 15

Seven-year-old Sadil Nilupul was accidentally shot dead during a crossfire between police and a group of thieves on the run in Beruwela. The victim was travelling in a trishaw with his parents. Sadil died while he was being taken to hospital.

September 17

An accidental explosion that occurred inside a container that had dynamite for stone quarrying, close to the Karadiyanaru police station in Batticaloa killed 21 persons including policemen, civilians and two Chinese nationals. Around 50 persons were injured.

September 28

The High Court Trial-at-Bar hearing the 'White flag' case in which former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka is charged with making controversial remarks to the Sunday Leader newspaper that Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered a senior military officer not to spare any of the LTTE cadres surrendering, commenced.

September 30

With President Mahinda Rajapaksa endorsing the judgment of the Second Court Martial that imposed a sentence of two and half years rigorous imprisonment on the former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka after he was found guilty of "disgraceful conduct" over military procurements with regard HiCorp Pvt Ltd, he was taken to Welikada prison.

October 13

Manju Wanniarachchi won a gold medal for boxing –Bantam weight (56 kg) in Delhi in Common wealth Games, Sri Lanka’s first gold after 72 years. He was later stripped of his medal on the grounds that he was under the influence of performance enhancing drugs at the Games.

October 14

Members of the Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) forcibly entered the Higher Education Ministry in Ward Place and some 20 persons including 12 policemen and eight students were hospitalized following the clash between the protestors and police. Some of the students were also arrested for questioning.

October 20

Ruhunu University VC Prof. Susirith Mendis and two staff members were assaulted by a group of students inside the campus premises.

October 26

President Mahinda Rajapaksa writes to the King of Saudi Arabia asking him to revoke the death sentence imposed on Rizana Nafeek, the Sri Lankan maid convicted of killing a baby in her care in Saudi Arabia. She was under 18 at the time. The Saudi Supreme Court had upheld the sentence despite appeals from human rights organizations.

November 7

Prisoners at Welikada attacked a group of policemen during a search operation to detect hidden narcotics and drugs. Some 50 policemen were hospitalized.

November 10

The controversial Gaming (Special Provisions) Bill, introduced by the government with the title changed to read Casino Business (Regulation) Bill was passed in Parliament, with amendments, with 114 voting for while 33 voted against.

The new Bill permits anyone who so wishes to engage in the business of operating a Casino in an area to be designated by the subject minister.

November 11

Colombo was flooded as the highest rainfall in 18 years -440 mm rain during 12 hours - was recorded in the city and its suburbs. Around 57920 families were affected in the Western Province. Parliament also went under water due to the torrential rains.

November 18

The newly constructed Magampura Port in Hambantota was opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The public was able to witness the arrival of the first ship ‘Jetliner’ amidst chanting of pirith on board.

November 19

President Mahinda Rajapaksa took oaths for his second term before Chief Justice Asoka De Silva at the Presidential Secretariat.

November 20

Archbishop of Colombo Most Rev. Dr. Malcolm Ranjith was elevated to the position of Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI.

November 22

The new Cabinet of 61 ministers and 31 deputy ministers were sworn in before President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat.

The president also appointed 10 senior ministers selected from senior members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and other parties in the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA).

November 23

A massive tusker from Galgamuwa Migawela Ulpathagama, believed to be the largest tusker in the wild died while being transporting in a truck by the Department of Wildlife Conservation for release at the Uda Walawe sanctuary.

November 29

The Colombo High Court acquitted Deputy Minister Abdul Cader and two other suspects from all charges over an alleged misappropriation of Samurdhi Funds.

December 3

President Mahinda Rajapaksa returned to the country after the unexpected cancellation of the invitation given to him to address the Oxford Union due to security concerns.

December 12

The much debated UNP constitution was adopted at the Party’s special convention in Sirikotha.