Sri Lanka Planning Service Exam flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Executive and commercial capitals

Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is Sri Lanka's executive and legislative capital, while Colombo remains the commercial capital and principal port and financial centre.

Parliament national list seats

Of the 225 parliamentary seats, 196 are elected from districts under proportional representation and 29 are filled from national lists nominated by parties.

Central Bank of Sri Lanka

Established in 1950, it is the monetary authority and sole issuer of the rupee, divided into 100 cents, and conducts monetary and exchange rate policy.

SAARC founding membership

Sri Lanka hosted and co-founded SAARC in 1985 in Dhaka, alongside Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Pakistan; Afghanistan joined later.

Pidurutalagala and Mahaweli

Pidurutalagala at 2,524 metres is the highest peak, and the Mahaweli is the longest river, supporting the largest irrigation and hydropower scheme.

Mahavamsa chronicle

A Pali-language chronicle compiled by the monk Mahanama, it is the principal written source for ancient Sri Lankan dynastic and religious history.

Anuradhapura and Buddhism

Anuradhapura served as the first great capital from around the 4th century BCE, and Buddhism arrived in the 3rd century BCE under King Devanampiya Tissa.

Parakramabahu I works

This 12th-century Polonnaruwa king built the Parakrama Samudra reservoir and consolidated irrigation works, symbolising the classical hydraulic civilisation.

Sigiriya rock fortress

Built by King Kashyapa I in the 5th century CE, Sigiriya features rock frescoes, water gardens, and a lion staircase, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kandyan Convention 1815

This agreement ceded Kandyan sovereignty to the British, ending the last independent kingdom and beginning full colonial rule over the island.

Esala Perahera

An annual Buddhist procession in Kandy featuring decorated elephants, dancers, and drummers, honouring the Sacred Tooth Relic enshrined in the Temple of the Tooth.

Cultural Triangle

A heritage programme linking Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, and Kandy with Sigiriya and Dambulla, aimed at conserving and promoting ancient sites.

GDP expenditure identity

Market-price GDP equals consumption plus investment plus government expenditure plus exports minus imports; real GDP adjusts this for price changes.

Human Development Index

The HDI is the geometric mean of indices for life expectancy, education (mean and expected schooling years), and GNI per capita.

Gini coefficient range

A measure of inequality from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (perfect inequality), commonly applied to income or consumption distribution across households.

Fiscal deficit definition

Total government expenditure minus total revenue including grants, usually expressed as a percentage of GDP to allow comparison across years and countries.

Debt-to-GDP ratio

Total public debt divided by nominal GDP; a rising ratio combined with low growth raises refinancing risk and signals debt distress.

Mahaweli Development Programme

Sri Lanka's largest multipurpose river basin scheme, begun in the 1970s, combining irrigation, hydropower generation, and resettlement of farming communities.

Multidimensional poverty index

A measure counting overlapping deprivations in health, education, and living standards, capturing poverty beyond the income or consumption line.

Thirteenth Amendment devolution

The 1987 amendment created Provincial Councils with devolved subjects; a President-appointed Governor heads each province and a Chief Minister leads its Board of Ministers.

Public Service Commission

Constituted under Article 54, it advises the President on appointment, promotion, transfer, and disciplinary control of public officers.

Auditor General role

Under Article 153, the Auditor General audits public accounts and reports to Parliament, supporting legislative oversight of public financial management.

District and Divisional Secretaries

District Secretaries, also called Government Agents, head district administration, while Divisional Secretaries manage sub-district units and coordinate service delivery.

Right to Information Act 2016

Act No. 12 of 2016 grants citizens a statutory right of access to information held by public authorities, subject to defined exemptions and appeal procedures.

Financial Regulations and Establishments Code

These instruments govern public financial management and public service human resource administration, covering procurement, expenditure control, and appointment procedures.

Percentage change formula

Percentage change equals new value minus old value, divided by old value, multiplied by 100; equal percentage rise and fall gives a net loss.

Simple and compound interest

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

Average speed equal distances

For equal distances travelled at speeds a and b, average speed equals 2ab divided by a plus b, which is the harmonic mean, not the arithmetic mean.

Combined work formula

If A completes a task in a days and B in b days, working together they finish in ab divided by a plus b days.

Permutation and combination

nPr equals n factorial divided by (n minus r) factorial for ordered arrangements; nCr divides nPr by r factorial for unordered selections.

Ratio equality rule

If a:b equals c:d then ad equals bc; successive ratios are combined by expressing shared terms as a common multiple before comparing.

Syllogism validity test

A conclusion follows only if true in every possible arrangement of the premises; a particular conclusion cannot follow from two universal negative premises.