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OPA NEWS Editor- Eng. D.D.S.Jayawardena Volume No 11/03 – October 2013

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Chief Guest Mr.Basil Rajapaksa is introduced to Past Presidents, Prof. Mohan Munasinghe addressing those present

and Office-bearers

Annual Conference and National Apex Awards

The Inauguration of the Annual Conference and National Apex Awards was held on 24th

October 2013 at the Kingsbury Colombo before a distinguished a gathering of over 350

Professionals. Mr.Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Affairs graced the occasion as the

Chief Guest representing His Excellency the President, and Mr. Maithripala Sirisena,

Minister of Health and Prof. Mohan Munasinghe, Founder Chairman, Munasinghe Institute

for as Guests of Honour. ( To Page 2)

President 2013/2014

Mr. V. Ganesh , President –Elect , will take over as the President for the

session 2013/2014. Mr. Ganesh had been a Vice President for several

years and is an active member of the OPA.He took an active interest in

getting the OPA column published in the Daily News. He had been the

President of The Institute of Supplies and Materials Management from

2002-2005.

(From Page 1)

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Annual……

Mr.Tadcteru Hayashi, Senior Country Economist of the Asian Development Bank delivered the Keynote

Address. The event was very well organized and included Entertainment and a Band in attendance.

Mr. Maithripala Sirisena gave away the Awards to ten distinguished Professionals under ten categories

who had excelled in their Profession, with emphasis on their achievements and taking into consideration

the contributions made to their own Profession as well as Civil Society as a whole.

The selection of Award Winners were done by an Independent Panel of Judges, based on the

recommendations of six eminent Judges consisting of Professor Dayantha Wijesekera, Chairman,

Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission and Chancellor of the University of Vocational

Technology and former Vice Chancellor, University of Moratuwa and Open University of Sri Lanka, Prof.

Willie Mendis, Emirate Professor of the Department of Town and Country Planning, Former Vice

Chancellor, University of Moratuwa and Former Chairman, Urban Development Authority, Mrs.Rohini

Nanayakkara, Chairperson, Lanka Orix Leasing Company and former General Manager, Bank of Ceylon

and Seylan Bank, Mr.A.K.Ratnarajah, Chairman, National Cleaner Production/Managing Director, Ceylon

Tapes Ltd., Mr.Niraj De Mel, Former Managing Director, Van Rees Ceylon Ltd., and former Chairman,

Ceylon Tea Board and Mr.H.P.S.Sumanasekera, Assistant Auditor General, Auditor General’s

Department.

The Recipients of Awards were as follows –

NAME CATEGORY

Mr.Y.R.Karunaratne Science & Technology

Mr.Wijedasa Rajapaksa Legal

Mr.Anthony Fernando Legal

Dr.Hilary Cooray Health & Medical Science

Dr.M.D.Kumarasinghe de Silva Health & Medical Science

Prof.(Mrs.)N.D.Kumarasinghe Health & Medical Science

Prof.A.D.V.de S.Indraratna Economics

Dr.Nath Amarakone Engineering

Eng.L.R.L.Perera Engineering

Dr.D.S.Kodikara Agriculture

The Technical Sessions

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The Technical Sessions were held on the following day, 25th September 2013, on the theme “Human

Capital Towards 2020” with the participation of distinguished and eminent speakers presenting

Papers.These included two Foreign Speakers from Malaysia and Australia. The Sessions had four Sub-

themes “Future of Sri Lanka Education System”, “Gearing the next Generation for Enhancing Human

Capital”, “Building Competencies for 2020” for the first three Sessions and finally the Panel Discussion

on “Vision 2020”.

HIGHLIGHTS DURING THE YEAR 2013/2014 Visit of Mr.Vijay Krishnaraya, Director General of the Commonwealth Foundation Mr.Vijay Krishnaraya, Director General of the Commonwealth Foundation visited the OPA on 1st July 2013. This was a very important event as the OPA was able to strengthen the bonding with the Commonwealth Foundation which helped the setting up of the OPA with a very generous donation of GBP 55,000 towards the construction of the Professional Centre National Apex Awards 2013 The OPA embarked in organizing the “National Apex Awards” the first of its kind in order to recognize Professionals and their achievements and contributions to their own Professions and to Civil Society as a whole. Annual Conference 2013 25 Annual Sessions have been held by the OPA since it was inaugurated in 1988. This year’s theme is “Human Capital Towards 2020” which has been selected carefully considering the need for Human Capital for the speedy development of the Country which is the main focus of the Government. Meet the Minister and Meet the Opposition Programme The OPA launched a new Programme called “Meet the Minister” and “Meet the Opposition” which facilitated a direct dialogue and exchanging of ideas with Cabinet Ministers and Members of the Opposition. Budget Proposals for the year 2013/2014 On the invitation of the Ministry of Finance, the OPA prepared a set of Budget Proposals for the year 2013/2014 in consultation with Member Associations and presented at a meeting to His Excellency the President. Skills and Career Guidance Programme Several Workshops were conducted in Jaffna, Embilipitya, Polonnaruwa and Bandarawela during the year under review, focusing on the capacity building of semi-skilled workers engaged in the Construction Industry in collaboration with the Department of Technical Education and Training (DTET) under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development. A new Memorandum of Understanding was also signed on 17th September 2013 with the DTET for a further period of two years to provide Resource Personnel, use of Technical Colleges and Transport for the said programme. Establishment of an on-Line Career Guidance Website At present, a new Committee is collecting data from Educational and Training Institutions with a view to establishing an on-line Career Guidance Website for the benefit of Youth in this Country . Seminars Conducted during the Year Fourteen Seminars on various important issues were conducted during the year out of which seven

were organized jointly with Member Associations. Proposals on Constitutional Reforms

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A set of proposals on Constitutional Reforms to the Sri Lanka Constitution were forwarded to the

Parliamentary Select Committee in August 2013.These were drafted by the Constitution and By-laws

Committee of the OPA.

Representations to the government

During the Session, the OPA took up several National Issues, such as, the increase in Electricity

Tariff and its repercussions on the local industries which made the end products more expensive,

being unable to compete with the export market and faced the danger of a financial crisis in the

local Industrial Sector.

The OPA wrote to the Government emphasizing the need for the re-establishment of Independent

Commissions, such as, Election Commission, Police Commission, Public Service Commission,

Judicial Commission etc., in addition to calling for the repeal of the 13th Amendment to the

Constitution of Sri Lanka, and also called for the implementation of the 17th Amendment which the

OPA took a leading role to draft.

A set of proposals was submitted on 29th August 2013 to the Parliamentary Select Committee on

Constitutional Reforms to the Constitution of Sri Lanka which was appointed by the Speaker of

Parliament.

Thank You

I wish to thank all members of the OPA for the kind cooperation extended to me during my

tenure as the Editor of OPA Journal and OPA News. This includes all the Presidents, General

Secretaries, Office bearers, and Forum members from 2006-2013, who helped me in many

ways, with praise, criticism, and suggestions. My particular thanks are due to all those who

contributed articles to the Journal, especially those who wrote regularly. Finally I much

appreciate the assistance rendered by the Centre Director and the OPA staff who contributed

to the best of their abilities, to make available the publications to members in time.

Eng. D.D.S.Jayawardena

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Mr. Somawansa Amarasinghe, the JVP Leader, addressed the members of OPA on the 3rd September, in the “Meet the Opposition” Programme

President OPA Mr. B. Ulluvishewa lighting the traditional oil lamp at the Skills Upgrading workshop at Bandarawela on the 13th August 2013.The

Workshop focused on the capacity building of semi-skilled workers engaged in the construction industry in collaboration with the

Department of Technical Education and Training (DTET) under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development.

Inter Associations Annual six-a-side Soft ball Cricket Tournament was held on 1st September 2013 at the Bloomfield Cricket Grounds with

twenty one teams participating which was a great success and facilitated Members of Member Associations to interact with each other in a

friendly environment. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka became the Champions, whilst the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers became Runners

Up.

The President OPA is presenting the trophy to the winning team BASL.

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38th Annual General Meeting of the Organisation of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka

Notice is hereby given that the 38th Annual General Meeting of the Organisation of Professional

Associations of Sri Lanka will be held at the OPA Auditorium at 275/75, Prof. Stanley Wijesundera

Mawatha, off Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7, commencing 5.00 p.m. on, Friday 25th October 2013.

AGENDA

5.00 p.m. 1 Calling the meeting to order 2 National Anthem

3 Notice convening the Annual General Meeting. 4 Excuses

5.05 p.m 5 Table Minutes of the 37th Annual General Meeting for adoption. 6 Confirmation of Minutes of 37th Annual General Meeting. 7 Matters arising from the Minutes

5.30 p.m. 8 Annual Report for the year 2012-2013 to be presented by the General Secretary, Mr Aruna Fernando 5.45 p.m. 9 Filling of Vacancies-Representative Members for Gemology, Nursing, Banking, Marketing, Economics, Architecture and Surveying 6.00 p.m. 10 Address by Candidates for the Post of President-Elect 6.30 p.m.-8.00 p.m. Voting time –(Election of Office Bearers)

11 Statement of Accounts for the Year ending 31st December 2012 and the Auditor’s

12 Report to be presented by the Treasurer- Mr Laknath C.Peiris-(Annex I) 13 Appointment of Auditors. 14 Review by the President OPA-Mr Benedict Ulluwishewa

15 Address by the new President-Mr V Ganesh 16 Any other business

17 Announcement of Results of the Election by the Chairman Election Panel.

18 Address by the President-Elect 19 Termination of Meeting

Aruna Fernando

General Secretary

Please Note: Voting time will be from 6.30 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. while the meeting continues

KINDLY BRING YOUR POLLING CARD FOR VOTING

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Office Bearers 2012/2013

President Mr. Benedict K Ulluwishewa President-Elect Mr.V Ganesh General Secretary Mr.Aruna Fernando Treasurer Mr. P Laknath C Peiris Vice Presidents Mr. S A Athureliya Mr.M N Gunasekera Mr. Jayanta Jayaratne Mr. Raja B M Korale Eng.J K Lankatilake Prof. P Mandawala Mr.Danesha Perera Mr.Adrian Perera Mr. Leo M E P Perera Ms. Sriyani Ranatunge Mr. Nihal Serasinha Mr. Lalith A P Wijetunga Editor Eng. D D S Jayawardena

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Asst. Secretaries Mr.Rohan Fernando AVM Kingsley Samaratunaga Mr.Tissa J A Seneviratne Asst. Treasurer Mr. Keerthi Mihiripenna

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A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.

-- George Bernard Shaw

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A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off

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Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in

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-- Douglas Case ,

Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

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Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another

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It Is Very Easy To Defeat Someone, But It Is Very Hard To Win Some

- Dr Abdul Kalaam

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