General Knowledge and Current Affairs
The General Knowledge and Current Affairs paper tests whether a candidate can connect Sri Lanka's institutions, geography and recent decisions to administrative work. It rewards stable knowledge first, then current awareness.
What to anchor
- Legislature: Parliament, its committees, the Appropriation Act process.
- Executive: President, Cabinet, ministries, provincial councils, district and divisional secretariats; Sri Lanka has 9 provinces and 25 districts.
- Judiciary: Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, fundamental-rights and writ jurisdiction.
- Economy: Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Ministry of Finance, Treasury, Auditor-General.
- Recent framework laws: 21st Amendment (2022), Central Bank Act No. 16 of 2023, IMF-supported reform programme (2023).
- International bodies: UN, Commonwealth, SAARC, IMF, World Bank, Asian Development Bank.
Worked example
Question: 'Which body authorises the annual national budget?' Reasoning: the Ministry of Finance prepares estimates; Cabinet approves the draft; Parliament controls public finance and passes the Appropriation Act; the Central Bank does not authorise spending. Answer: Parliament, through the Appropriation Act.
Traps
- Confusing current officeholders with constitutional offices; know the office, not only the person.
- Mixing up the roles of the Attorney-General, Solicitor General and Auditor-General.
- Treating news headlines as settled law; check Gazette, Parliament and CBSL publications.
- Assuming provincial councils are sovereign bodies; they derive powers from the Constitution and 13th Amendment.