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Sri Lanka General

Information

Business daysMonday through Saturday. Poya(Full

Moon) day public holiday everymonth.

If Poya falls on a Sunday the followingMonday becomes a holiday.Poya days are

Strictly followed.

Time

GMT + 5:30

Currency ( As of 30/09/2010)1 US Dollar = 112.802 Sri Lanka Rupee

Provinces and their capital

Central- KandyEastern- TrincomaleNorth Central- AnuradhapuraNorthern- Jaffna

North western- KurunegalaSanaragamuva- RatnapuraSouthern- GalleUva- BadullaWestern- Colombo

Current supply imported food productsPresidentKeelsCargillsDirect hotel imports

Basics on Imports

Total Value of Imports 2009 : $13,638 MillionRise in Imports from previous year : $ 2237 Million ( 19.6% )India ranked 1 st in Importers List with $ 2738 Million in ImportsFTA agreement in placePolitical Relations favourable for tradeLocation proximityGDP growth rate @ 3.5% ( 2009 ) , Forecast @ 6.5 % ( 2010 )

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Favourable Currency Conversion Rates

Major Events

1948 Ceylon gains independence from the United Kingdom.

1956 Sri Lanka Freedom Party wins the general election; Solomon Bandaranaikebecomes Prime Minister.

1959 Bandaranaike is assassinated. His widow Sirimavo Bandaranaike succeeds himas SLFP leader and Prime Minister.

1972 The country becomes known as Sri Lanka.

1976 The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam (LTTE) are formed

1978 New Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka comes intoforce.

Jayawardene becomes the countrys fist executive President. The Tamillanguage is recognised in the Constitution.

1983 13 soldiers killed in LTTE ambush. Subsequent anti-Tamil riots leave anestimated several hundred Tamils. Start of First Eelam War.

1985 First attempt of peace talks between the Government and the LTTE fails

1987 Indo-Sri Lankan peace accord signed. Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF)deployed to Sri Lanka

1990 The IPKF leave Sri Lanka. Hostilities between the Government and the LTTEhostilities escalate

1991 LTTE implicated in the assassination of Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi

1993 Assassination of President Premadasa killed in LTTE bomb attack.

1994 Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga comes to power

1995-2001War rages across north and east. Tigers bomb Sri Lanka's holiest Buddhist site.President Kumaratunga is wounded in a bomb attack. Suicide attack on theinternational airport destroys half the Sri Lankan Airlines fleet.

2002 Sri Lankan Government and LTTE sign a cease-fire agreement with the

mediation of Norway. De-commissioning of weapons begins; the A9 road linkingthe Jaffna peninsula with the rest of Sri Lanka reopens after 12 years;

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passenger flights to Jaffna resume. Government lifts ban on Tamil Tigers.Rebels drop demand for separate state.

2003 The LTTE suspend participation in the peace talks but the ceasefire holds

2004 March: Renegade Tamil Tiger commander, known as Colonel Karuna, leadssplit in rebel movement and goes underground with his supporters. The LTTE

regain control of the east with a short offensive.July: Suicide bomb blast in Colombo, the first such incident since 2001December: More than 30,000 people killed in the tsunami

2005 June: row over thedeal reached with the Tamil Tiger rebels to share nearly$3bn in tsunami aid among Sinhalas, Tamils and MuslimsAugust: State of Emergency is declared after foreign minister LakshmanKadirgamar is assassinated.November: Mahinda Rajapakse, at the time prime minister, wins presidentialelections.

2006 February: Government and Tamil Tiger rebels declare their respect for the

2002 ceasefire.April: Explosions and rioting in Trincomalee. The main military compound inColombo is attacked by a suicide bomber (at least eight people are killed). Thearmy launches air strikes on Tamil Tiger targets.June: 64 people are killed in a mine attack on a bus in Anuradhapura district. Afew days later, more than 30 people are killed in a battle between Governmentforces and Tamil Tiger rebels in the Mannar district.August: Clashes between Tamil Tiger rebels and Government forces in thenorth-east, considered the worst fighting since the 2002 ceasefire. Hundreds ofpeople are killed and the UN says tens of thousands have fled.September: The Government says it it has pushed Tamil Tiger rebels from themouth of strategic Trincomalee harbour. This is seen as the first major capture

of enemy territory by either side since a 2002 ceasefire.October: A suicide bomber attacks a military convoy, killing more than 90sailors.December: the Government announces revised though emergency regulations.

2007 January: After weeks of heavy fighting the military announces the capture ofthe Tamil Tiger stronghold of Vakarai, in the east. Tens of thousands of civiliansflee the area. President Rajapakse's Government secures a parliamentarymajority after 25 opposition MPs defect to its ranks.March: Government troops claim continuing success against the Tamil Tigersrebels in coastal areas in the east. Thousands of civilians flee the fighting. TamilTigers launch their first air raid, hitting a military base next to the Katunayake

Colombo international airport.June: Police evict hundreds of Tamils from lodges in Colombo, citing securityconcerns, but the Supreme Court orders an end to the expulsions.July: Government declares it has gained control of Thoppigala the LTTEslast jungle stronghold in the east.October:Eight aircraft destroyed, 30 people killed in Tamil Tiger attack onAnuradhapura air force base2 November: The leader of the Tamil Tiger rebel political wing S.PThamilselvan is killed in a raid by the Sri Lanka Air Force.

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2008 January: Government pulls out of 2002 ceasefire agreement. Governmentminister DM Dassanayake dies after a roadside bomb attack on his convoy inColombo.March: International panel, invited by the government to monitor investigationsinto alleged human rights abuses, announces that it is leaving the country.

April: Highways Minister J. Fernandopulle is killed in an explosion nearColombo blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels.Dozens of soldiers reported killed in clashes with Tamil Tigers in far north.July: Sri Lankan military says it has captured the important Tamil Tiger navalbase of Vidattaltivu in the north of the island.Clashes between Government troops and the LTTE reported in the thedistrictsonf Jaffna, Mannar, Trincomalee and Vavunyia.August: in addition to Trincomalee, the fighting spreads to the Kilinochchi andMullaittivu districts causing large population displacement.November:Fighting intensifies in Kilnochichi district.

2009 January: Government troops capture the northern town of Kilinochchi, heldsince 1998 by the Tamil Tigers as their administrative headquarters.The ban on the LTTE is re-inforced.Government troops regain control of the A-9 highway; capture the entire Jaffnapeninsula and at a later stage Mullaitivu Town, the LTTEs stronghold in theEastern coast.