
Leading business personality Sebastian Karunakaran has been appointed the new Rotary District Governor for Sri Lanka and Maldives for the year 2019/2020.
Rotary, which is the only service organization with a seat in the UN General Assembly, has 34,282 member clubs and 1.2 million individuals worldwide. In Sri Lanka, Rotary has 73 clubs and 1900 members.
Rotary is known for their contribution towards eradicating polio worldwide, with the deadly virus endemic only in Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.
Rotary currently dedicates itself to six focus areas disease prevention and treatment, economic and community development, peace and conflict resolution, basic education and literacy, maternal and child health and water and sanitation.
The newly appointed Governor Karunakaran is the Founder and Chairman of the Pan Audio Group and Chairman of Zion Corporation Singapore.
A product of St. Joseph’s College Colombo, Karunakaran has had an illustrious career. Holding a BSc in Chemistry and an MBA in Business and Marketing, he became a successful entrepreneur, launching Pan Audio Private Limited in 1982.
A reputed name in business for over three decades, Pan Audio is a market leader for IT related peripherals, data storage, imaging, security solutions and presentation systems. It is today the local representative and sole distributor for more than 10 reputed global technology brands.
Karunakaran, who joined Rotary in 1996,has been an active member over the years, holding several key positions at both Board and District level. Appointed the Club President in 2012/2013, he secured the Most Outstanding President Award as well as the Award for the Best Community Service Project.
Karunakaran has since received a host of accolades for his dedication and achievements in Rotary. These include awards for the Best District Secretary, Outstanding Vocational Service Director and Outstanding Rotarian of the Year on over five successive occasions. He has also served as an Assistant Governor, receiving the award for Best Assistant Governor in 2016.
Among the successful community service projects spearheaded by Karunakaran is the setting up of the Kidney Dialysis Centre at Padaviyain the North Central Province, where the highest kidney failure has been reported. The cost of the project was around Rs.27 million.
He is the Brand Ambassador for the project Dream Cricket, where differently abled children are given the opportunity to enhance their talents in sport. Dream Cricket is organized in over five locations across Sri Lanka each year.
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