The following lists notable events that occurred and which took place during 2017 in Sri Lanka.
Quick Facts Decades:, See also: ...
Close
Below is a list of bank holidays, public holidays and full moon Poya Days in Sri Lanka for the year 2017.[1]
- 12 January – Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day
- 14 January – Tamil Thai Pongal Day
- 4 February – National Day
- 10 February – Navam Full Moon Poya Day
- 24 February – Mahasivarathri Day
- 12 March – Madin Full Moon Poya Day
- 10 April – Bak Full Moon Poya Day
- 13 April – Day prior to Sinhala & Tamil
- 14 April – Sinhala & Tamil New Year Day
- 14 April – Good Friday
- 1 May
- 10 May – Vesak Full Moon Poya Day
- 11 May – Day Following Vesak Full Moon
- 8 June – Poson Full Moon Poya Day
- 26 June – Id-Ul-Fitr (Ramazan Festival Day)
- 8 July – Esala Full Moon Poya Day
- 7 August – Nikini Full Moon Poya Day
- 1 September – Id-Ul-Alha (Hadji Festival Day)
- 5 September – Binara Full Moon Poya Day
- 5 October – Vap Full Moon Poya Day
- 18 October – Deepavali Festival Day
- 3 November – Ill Full Moon Poya Day
- 1 December – Milad-Un-Nabi (Holy Prophet's Birthday)
- 3 December – Unduvap Full Moon Poya Day
- 25 December – Christmas Day
January
- 2 January
- Former Deputy Minister Sarath Kumara Gunaratna has been arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department for alleged misappropriation of funds of the Negombo lagoon development project.[2]
- Jaliya Wickramasuriya, who was the Former Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United States, arrested on charges of misusing state funds.[3]
- 5 January − Mudiyanselage Suranga Kumara alias ‘Rattaran’, an underworld gang, has been shot and killed by two unknown gunmen. [4]
- 7 January − 21 persons including 3 police officers were injured and hospitalized as a result of the clashes which broke out during the protest in Hambantota.[5] Meanwhile, 52 individuals were arrested on charges of violating court orders and damaging public property.[6] On next day, 28 more individuals were arrested.[7][8]
- 10 January
- Ravi Karunanayake was named as the Finance Minister of the Year for Asia-Pacific by The Banker, a magazine of the British daily Financial Times.[9]
- Parliamentaria Wimal Weerawansa was arrested by the Police Financial Crimes Investigations Division who was accused of misusing several vehicles belonging to the presidential secretariat.[10]
- 11 January − President Maithripala Sirisena inaugurated the filling of water to the Moragahakanda reservoir, the biggest multi-functional irrigation project in Sri Lanka.[11]
- 13 January − Former Sri Lankan district judge Geethani Wijesinghe Widanelage swore as new Resident Magistrate of Fiji.[12]
- 18 January − Disaster management officials stated that about 600,000 people have been hit by the drought in nearly 13 of the 25 districts, making it the worst drought since 2006.[13]
- 31 January − Astrologer Vijitha Rohana Wijemuni was arrested by The Criminal Investigations Department for allegedly misleading the public by making false predictions.[14]
February
- 5 February − Chamara Sandaruwan alias ‘Kudu Roshan’ was hacked to death by an unidentified group of people in Wanathamulla.[15]
- 10 February − Sri Lanka opened its first hybrid power plant using wind, solar and diesel located on a small island off the Jaffna, that generate 60 MW of electricity.[16]
- 14 February − For significant contributions in reforms in economy, education and human rights in Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe conferred an honorary doctorate from Deakin University in Australia.[17]
- 21 February
- International cricketer Niroshan Dickwella was suspended for two limited-over matches after his accumulated demerit points reached five within a 24-month period.[18]
- Ministry of Crab and Nihonbashi ranked 29th & 49th at Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants’ awards ceremony.[19]
February
- 1 February – Baptist Fernando, 83 (actor)[32]
- 10 February
- Dr. Ariyadasa Pieris, 91 (journalist)[33]
- Wimal J. Sagara, 84 (singer)[34]
- 13 February – S. A. Francis, (singer)[35]
- 14 February – Boniface Fernando, 83 (actor)[36]
March
- 10 March – Gamini S. Fernando[35]
- 13 March – Renuka Herath, 71 (politician)[37]
- 16 March – Pushpa Janet, (actress)[38]
- 26 March – Anton Alwis, 73 (scriptwriter)[39]
- 27 March – Shantha Kadiragonna[35]
July
- 11 July – Nihal Samarasinghe, (musician)[35]
- 14 July – Dr. Thilokasundari Kariyawasam, 88 (educationist)[53]
- 17 July – Somapala Rathnayake, 69 (musician)[54]
- 20 July – Thilak Atapattu, (film producer)[55]
- 26 July – Daya Kahawala, (author)[56]
August
- 1 August – Dayawansa Karunamuni, (journalist)[56]
- 16 August – Kumari Manel, 76 (actress)[57]
- 20 August – Binoy Surendra, 76 (journalist)[58]
- 24 August – Narawila Patrick, (author)[35]
September
- 20 September
- Sumith Bibile, 87 (actor)[59]
- Berty Galahitiyawa, 80 (announcer)[60]
- Dasun Nishan, 29 (actor)[61]
- 23 September – Amaradasa Weerasinghe, (film critique)[62]
October
- 20 October
- D. A. Balasuriya, (actor)[35]
- Senaka Titus Anthony, (actor)[63]
November
- 1 November – Suvineetha Fernando, (actress)[35]
- 21 November – Dhammika P. Rathnayake, (announcer)[64]
- 28 November – Ruwan Weerasekara, 51 (violinist)[65]
- 30 November – Newton Gunasekara, (writer)[66]
"The Holidays in 2017" (PDF). Ministry of Public Administration and Management. 26 December 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2016.