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Chevaan Devavarathan Daniel
Born
Chevaan Devavarathan Daniel

(1978-05-11) 11 May 1978 (age 46)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
NationalitySri Lankan
OccupationGroup Director - Capital Maharaja Organization (Pvt) Ltd.

Chevaan Devavarathan Daniel (born 11 May 1978) is a Sri Lankan former TV news anchor. He founded one of Sri Lanka's pioneering tech start-ups in the late 1990s. Today, he sits on the board of the Capital Maharaja Organization, one of Sri Lanka's largest diversified conglomerates. He is also known for his role in 'Gammadda', an award-winning rural development movement.

He is a Fulbright Scholar, Eisenhower Global Fellow (EF Special Award- UTC Fellowship,’17).[1][2][3][4][5] UN Official Charge de Cérémonie for OCHA- World Humanitarian Summit, Geneva, Head of Sri Lankan business delegation, The Bali Process Modern Day Slavery Summit in Perth Australia, Asia 21 Fellow and Advisory Board Member and a Global Advisory Board member at Brown University – Humanitarian Innovation Initiative.[6][7][8][9] Daniel has been twice selected as Sri Lanka's 40 Under 40 outstanding Young Business Leaders[10] and was the winner of the Junior Chamber 'Most outstanding young person of the year' award in 2008.[11][12] He is the Group Director of the Capital Maharaja Organization.[13][14]

He is an A-PAD / IRIA-ASIA- Level II certified Swift Water Rescuer.[relevant?]

In 2019, he was selected by Echelon Magazine to the New Establishment List of 100 Sri Lankan leaders set to lead transitional change in the nation.

Early life and family

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Daniel was born to parents of mixed racial heritage. Having begun at several rural schools, he was admitted to S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, in 1988. Chevaan is married to Raaidah Daniel ńee Wahab and together, they have a son, Chelian. He joined Capital Maharaja as a part-time typist in the newsroom.[15][16]

Career

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He is Group Director at Capital Maharaja, which is Sri Lanka’s largest and most diversified privately held conglomerate.[17] He was one of the youngest ever to be appointed to the Main Board of the 80 year old conglomerate.[18]

He has consistently attributed his success to his mentor, R. Rajamahendran, the chairman and managing director of the Maharaja Organization. Early on, Daniel launched eezee2.com, Sri Lanka's first classified advertisement website, in 1998.[19] Daniel launched Sri Lanka's first ever SMS news alert service in 2000. He worked as a media coordinator to the Sri Lanka Cricket board for a period of two years, from 2000 to 2002, including a stint for the ICC.

Daniel also spent a few years working for the Victoria's Secret brand at MAS Holdings, under the tutelage of Dian Gomes. However, he is perhaps best known as an English news anchor on MTV Sri Lanka, becoming a household name in his early twenties.[20][21][22]

Humanitarian work

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Chevaan spearheads Gammadda, a concept by R. Rajamahendran and perhaps Sri Lanka's largest rural development movement.

Daniel represented the Capital Maharaja Organization, at the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) – Regional Consultation, which was held in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, in July 2015.[23][24][25] Subsequently he was invited by the United Nations for Global Consultation on Humanitarian Efforts which was held in Geneva, Switzerland, in October 2015.[26] Daniel was the Master of Ceremony for the duration of the WHS Global Consultation.[27] Daniel delivered an official statement at the United Nations World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey in May 2016.[28]

Education

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With a Degree in Economics and a Master's in Political Philosophy, he was selected as a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow in 2010,[29] a part of the Fulbright Programme administered by the US State Department. He was admitted to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, where he specialized in digital media under Dr. Bill Silcock. While living in the US, he also worked for NBC and MSNBC in New York City.

Honours and awards

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Daniel has been widely recognized for his rapid rise in the world of business in general and media in particular. In 2007 he was awarded the Most Outstanding Young Person of the Year award by Junior Chamber International.[30][31] In 2012 and 2013, he was picked as one of Sri Lanka’s 40 Under 40 Business Leaders by Echelon Magazine.[32] In 2012, Daniel was also selected by the Asia Foundation to its Asia 21 list of young leaders. In 2013, he was awarded the Maharaja Gold Medal for Business Achievement.[33] He, was appointed to the Advisory Committee of the Asia Foundations flagship initiative, Asia 21, in May 2016, a group of global leaders selected from spheres including politics, Science, Business and Social Work.[34] In 2017, he was awarded the Eisenhower Fellowship – Multination Programme and awarded the first Eisenhower Special Award conferred on a Sri Lankan, the UTC Fellowship, 2017.[35][36] In 2017, he was appointed to the Global Advisory Board of the Humanitarian Innovation Initiative at Brown University.[37][38]

Controversy

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In 2009, after his station was attacked and burned by unidentified gunmen, Daniel was interviewed on CNN about the incident. Soon after, he was placed under an investigation and tipped to be arrested. He was forced to make a dangerous exit out of Sri Lanka but returned within a week, and remained in Sri Lanka turning down many offers for asylum overseas.[39][40][41][42][43]

In 2010, he was famously 'hauled out' of Temple Trees for standing his ground against the then president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, when warned not to criticize the government.[44]

Music and poetry

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An avid composer, singer and lyricist, Chevaan has several English and Sinhalese singles to his name, most of which he has composed and sung himself.[45][46][47] He has also composed music for several national programmes including campaigns for peace and reconciliation.[48][49][50]

Other interests

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An amateur historian, specializing in the Anuradhapura period in Sri Lankan history, he recently published his first book on the subject, Island of Antiquity.

Public speeches

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  • Daniel, Chevaan (2018). "TCMOL Group Director Chevaan Daniel addresses the 7th Bali Process Ministerial Conference". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)[51]

References

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  1. ^ "2011 Humphrey Fellows Profile: Chevaan Daniel".
  2. ^ "Chevaan Daniel: Audacity".
  3. ^ "MEET OUR FELLOWS". Archived from the original on 2017-07-05. Retrieved 2017-07-28.
  4. ^ "26 Global Leaders Selected as Eisenhower Fellows".
  5. ^ "Fulbright Sri Lanka".
  6. ^ "Capital Maharaja Organisation Group Director Chevaan Daniel recognised as UTC Fellow".
  7. ^ "HUMANITARIAN INNOVATION INITIATIVE".
  8. ^ "HI2 GLOBAL ADVISORY BOARD".
  9. ^ "Leaders Folio".
  10. ^ "Sri Lanka's "40 under 40? business leaders".
  11. ^ "Chevaan bags TOYP award". Archived from the original on 2013-04-02.
  12. ^ "Chevaan bags TOYP award".
  13. ^ "Appointed Group Directors of Capital Maharaja Organization Limited". Archived from the original on 23 October 2013.
  14. ^ "Group Directors of Capital Maharaja Organization". Archived from the original on 2015-04-20. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  15. ^ "Sunday Island Face to Face :"Always Focused on the Bigger Picture - Chevaan Daniel"". Archived from the original on 2008-02-03.
  16. ^ "IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING".
  17. ^ "Appointed Group Directors of Capital Maharaja Organization Limited". Archived from the original on 23 October 2013.
  18. ^ Cornerman: stories from the life of Dian Gomes. Vidhura Ralapanawe, Shevanthi Fernando (1st ed.). Colombo: Westgate International. 2014. p. 138. ISBN 978-955-4953-00-0. OCLC 908286807.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  19. ^ "Start-up firms seek recognition from business community".
  20. ^ "Chevaan DANIEL on TV from over a decade ago". YouTube.
  21. ^ "The three D's that are Chevaan". Archived from the original on 2003-11-25.
  22. ^ "Image and personality on TV". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  23. ^ "UN invites The Capital Maharaja Organisation to World Humanitarian Summit". 26 July 2015.
  24. ^ "Sri Lanka Represents World Humanitarian Summit – Regional Consultation, South and Central Asia".
  25. ^ "UN invites TCMOL to World Humanitarian Summit".
  26. ^ "Capital Maharaja invited to Geneva by UN for global consultation on humanitarian efforts".
  27. ^ "World Humanitarian Summit begins in Geneva".
  28. ^ "TCMOL's Chevaan Daniel delivers special statement at UN World Humanitarian Summit (VIDEO)". 25 May 2016.
  29. ^ "Humphrey Fellows 2010-2011".
  30. ^ "Chevaan bags TOYP award". Archived from the original on 2013-04-02.
  31. ^ "Chevaan bags TOYP award".
  32. ^ "Sri Lanka's "40 under 40? business leaders".
  33. ^ "Channel Head Chevaan Daniel is Capital Maharaja Organisation's Executive of the Year". YouTube.
  34. ^ "Chevaan Daniel appointed to the Advisory Committee of 'Asia 21'". 9 May 2016.
  35. ^ "MEET OUR FELLOWS". Archived from the original on 2017-07-05. Retrieved 2017-07-28.
  36. ^ "Capital Maharaja Organisation Group Director Chevaan Daniel recognised as UTC Fellow".
  37. ^ "HUMANITARIAN INNOVATION INITIATIVE".
  38. ^ "HI2 GLOBAL ADVISORY BOARD".
  39. ^ "Gota instructs Police to arrest MTV News Chief Chevaan Daniels". Archived from the original on 2012-05-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  40. ^ "Anniversary of terror attack on MTV-MBC Radio/TV Station".
  41. ^ "Chevaan Daniel CNN". YouTube.
  42. ^ "Journalists face death threats for resisting Government MP's thuggery".
  43. ^ "Attempted arrest of MTV Channel 1 Chief Chevaan Daniel was yet another blow to media freedom". 17 January 2009.
  44. ^ "WikiLeaks: Rajapaksa, In A Harsh Tone,Told Daniels That MTV Would Face Consequences". 12 July 2012.
  45. ^ "Obe Adare Mata Amila Manikak Wage - Chevaan Daniel". Archived from the original on 2015-03-18. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  46. ^ "Shrungara Nethu - Chevaan Daniel".
  47. ^ "Obe Adare Mata Amila Manikak Wage - Chevaan Daniel". YouTube.
  48. ^ "Heart like a hurricane- Chevaan Daniel". YouTube.
  49. ^ "The world for you Chevaan Daniel". YouTube.
  50. ^ "Eventually- Chevaan Daniel". YouTube.
  51. ^ "TCMOL Group Director Chevaan Daniel addresses the 7th Bali Process Ministerial Conference, Colombo". YouTube.
  52. ^ "Australian FM Julie Bishop hold discussions at the Bali Forum". YouTube.
  53. ^ "ශෙවාන් ඩෑනියල් නොකියූ ප්‍රවෘත්ති". YouTube.
  54. ^ "Key Note Speech, The Junior National Law Conference". YouTube.
  55. ^ "Chevaan Daniel speaks of a new type of democracy, NITC". YouTube.
  56. ^ "Foreign Policy Think Tank, BCIS, Colombo". YouTube.
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