Sri Lanka Planning Service Exam cheat sheet

Sri Lanka's official name is the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka; the executive capital is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte and the commercial capital is Colombo.

Sri Lanka's legislature is the 225-member Parliament; 196 members are elected by proportional representation from districts and 29 from the national list.

The President is both head of state and head of government, is elected for a five-year term, and may be removed by a two-thirds parliamentary resolution.

Sri Lanka is a founding member of SAARC (1985), a member of the UN since 1955, the Commonwealth, BIMSTEC, and the Colombo Plan; it joined the IMF and World Bank in 1950.

The national flag carries a golden lion holding a sword, a bo leaf, and two vertical stripes (green and orange) representing minorities on a maroon field.

The rupee is divided into 100 cents; the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, established in 1950, is the monetary authority and sole currency issuer.

Sri Lanka's highest point is Pidurutalagala (2,524 m); its longest river is the Mahaweli, which supports the largest irrigation and hydropower scheme.

Anuradhapura (from about the 4th century BCE) was the first great capital; the introduction of Buddhism in the 3rd century BCE is dated to Arahat Mahinda's arrival under King Devanampiya Tissa.

The Mahavamsa, compiled in Pali by the monk Mahanama, is the principal chronicle source for ancient Sri Lankan dynastic history.

Polonnaruwa succeeded Anuradhapura after its fall around 1017 CE and flourished under Vijayabahu I and Parakramabahu I, who built the Parakrama Samudra reservoir.

Sigiriya's rock fortress and frescoes date to King Kashyapa I (5th century CE); the site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, and the Sacred City of Kandy.

The Kingdom of Kandy survived until 1815, when the Kandyan Convention ceded sovereignty to the British; the 1818 Uva Rebellion and 1848 Matale Rebellion were major anti-colonial uprisings.

Sri Lanka's Cultural Triangle links Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, and Kandy; the Esala Perahera in Kandy is an annual Buddhist procession featuring decorated elephants.

The Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim communities, together with Burgher and Malay minorities, underpin the island's plural cultural heritage; Sinhala and Tamil are official languages and English is a link language.

GDP measured at market prices equals consumption plus investment plus government spending plus net exports (exports minus imports); real GDP removes price effects using a base year.

The Human Development Index is the geometric mean of three dimension indices: life expectancy, education (mean and expected years of schooling), and GNI per capita.

The Gini coefficient ranges from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (perfect inequality); a rising Gini for income or consumption signals widening distribution.

Sri Lanka's economy shifted from plantation agriculture (tea, rubber, coconut) toward garments, tourism, remittances, and services after market liberalisation in 1977.

A fiscal deficit is total government expenditure minus total revenue including grants; it is usually expressed as a percentage of GDP for comparability.

The debt-to-GDP ratio equals total public debt divided by nominal GDP; a rising ratio with low growth signals debt distress and higher refinancing risk.

The Mahaweli Development Programme, begun in the 1970s, is Sri Lanka's largest multipurpose river basin scheme, combining irrigation, hydropower, and resettlement.

Multidimensional poverty measures deprivation across health, education, and living standards rather than relying only on the income or consumption poverty line.

The 13th Amendment (1987) established Provincial Councils and devolved specified subjects; the Governor is appointed by the President and the Board of Ministers is led by a Chief Minister.

Article 4 of the Constitution vests legislative power in Parliament, executive power in the President, judicial power in courts, and fundamental-rights jurisdiction in the Supreme Court.

The Public Service Commission, established under Article 54, advises the President on appointments, promotions, transfers, and disciplinary control of public officers.

The Auditor General (Article 153) audits public accounts; the Ombudsman (Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration) investigates citizen complaints against state officials.

Sri Lanka's administrative hierarchy runs from the national ministry level through Provincial Councils to District Secretaries (Government Agents) and Divisional Secretaries.

The Financial Regulations and Establishments Code govern public financial management and human resource administration in the public service.

The Right to Information Act No. 12 of 2016 gives citizens a statutory right of access to public authority information, subject to defined exemptions.

Percentage change equals (new value minus old value) divided by old value, multiplied by 100; a rise then equal fall of x% leaves a net loss of x squared divided by 100 percent.

Simple interest equals principal times rate times time divided by 100; compound amount equals principal times (1 plus rate divided by 100) raised to the number of periods.

Profit or loss percentage is calculated on cost price unless stated otherwise; selling price equals cost price times (100 plus profit percent) divided by 100.

Speed equals distance divided by time; for equal distances at speeds a and b, average speed is 2ab divided by (a plus b).

Work rate problems: if A finishes in a days and B in b days, together they take ab divided by (a plus b) days.

Ratio and proportion: if a:b equals c:d then ad equals bc; successive ratios are chained by matching the shared term to a common multiple.

Permutations count ordered arrangements (nPr equals n factorial divided by (n minus r) factorial); combinations count unordered selections (nCr equals nPr divided by r factorial).

In syllogistic reasoning, a conclusion follows only if it holds in every possible arrangement of the premises; particular conclusions cannot follow from universal negative premises alone.