Time stops for no one.

It is 9 months down Rotary Year 2013-14 and what a gratifying fun year it has been so far.

Being offered the honour to host the celebrations of what was probably Rotary's greatest moment ever , " Declaring India Polio Free ", added a Kohinoor to the Queen's Necklace.

The fact that against an expected expense of Rs 1.50 lakhs, we hosted the function at a cost of Rs 15,000 was an icing on the cake.

The money saved is being used to sponsor beds for an old age home.

Keep your cake and eat it too.

In this quarterly edition of our bulletin you will find a summary of all fun and work done for the period.

My team and I have enjoyed the planning and execution of every meeting, spouse nights and service projects

Hope you enjoy reading about them. In case you missed them.

It would be of great help if you would send feedback and opinions for whatever you have witnessed. Good or Bad.

It will also tell us that you are reading what our Executive Secretary, Mrs Methoo Surty, puts a lot of heart in creating

Plug into Rotary

Rtn Sanjiv MehtaPresident (2013-14)

NECKLACE GLITTERSNECKLACE GLITTERSROTARY CLUB OF MUMBAI QUEEN’S NECKALCEROTARY CLUB OF MUMBAI QUEEN’S NECKALCE

R.I . PresidentRTN RON BURTON

Club PresidentRTN SANJIV MEHTA

District GovernorRTN LATA SUBRAIDU

Dear Fellow Rotarians

6th Jan INSTALLATION OF FIRST ROTARACT CLUB

The President & Office Bearers of the Club's First Rotaract Club - Rotaract Club of Mumbai Queen's Necklace were installed on 6th January by the hands of AG Rtn PP Anita Shantaram at the Royal Oak. The 50 odd Rotaractors include children of Rotarians and their friends.

Their first project was helping the Rotaractors and the Members of the Club in completing the voter registration forms, new registration forms and change of address forms.

MONDAY MEETINGS

Continue..

20th Jan MR KISHORE MANDHYAN

Mr Kishore Mandhyan addressed the Club on “Transition from Diplomacy to Politics : UN to AAP”. He was nostalgic of coming to Rotary. He started his career on a full paid Scholarship for Peace Fellowship at Harvards - Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. How do we use our knowledge to bring about a change in society. He spoke about the notion of doing good in whatever form and doing something for our country. You dreamt, you dared and it happened.

Role of UN is peacekeeping and prevention of outbreak. If conflict breaks out then there is a need to bring about peace through negotiations, agreement, etc. UN sends army with contribution and establishes the rule of law. Develop human rights issues setting up interim parliament, elections, constitution and then elections.

The AAM Admi Party has the desire to bring about change in society by bringing people together from all segments of society. Mr Mandhyan believes in “Swaraj” self rule and empowerment and also decentralization power to the individuals, decentralization from the centre, to the state to the panchayat level. Today, decisions made by the ruling party need to be dependable and reliable in the eyes of the foreigners. “We will make mistakes and move forward”.

Mr Kishore Mandhyan was reluctant to join the Congress or BJP but gladly joined the AAP. A pedigree diplomat he retired as the Political Director in the Executive Office of the Secretary General of the United Nations. He returned to Mumbai 10 months ago & has joined the AAP. Someone who has the experience of heading the peace keeping forces of the UN in Kuwait, Czechoslovakia, Iraq etc he is one powerhouse of knowledge. A batch mate of the likes of Shashi Tharoor & someone who rubbed shoulders with Obama, Clinton, Bush and Carter.

Mr Shailesh Gandhi, Pioneer of the RTI movement in India, spoke on How, Why, What, When ? A boon or a nuisance”. He is today the Commissioner for RTI.

In his opening statement he mentioned, “India became independent on 15 August, 1947. But are we happy with the governance in the country? Are we content with the political system that rules our nation? Swaraj means “our Raj” “our own Rule”. It is transfer of Raj from whites to the browns. For the bad state of governance it is we the people who should be blamed. We have failed to analyze why our government has not been able to perform. Our government is not

designed to deliver. Corruption is a by-product of this failure to perform. Our Government though has Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT), it does not have HR specialists who can recruit the correct people for the correct job. The Government does not know how to allocate work to the people or judge the people. Thus they give this job to public private partnerships on contract basis. The annual appraisals conducted by DOPT are a farce. There is lack of thinking about our democracy. We are looking for a “masiah”. We the people of India are the government of the nation and are not taking responsibility. We need to wake up and start picking up issues that concerns all of us and which is good for all and try to resolve them. RTI is a tool to file a RTI application.

Continue..

MONDAY MEETINGS

27th Jan MR SHAILESH GANDHI

On Sunday, 26th January, they visited the St Jude India Child Care Centre at Parel and spent quality time with the children and their parents. They helped them in making “India” shaped paper masks, played housie with them and also showed a short film with a patriotic theme. The children as well as the Rotaractors had a great time.

10th Feb MS GURLEEN PURI RAHEJA

Décor Diva, Ms Gurleen Puri Raheja, shared her expertise in planning a “Dream Wedding”.

She has been in the business of wedding décor since over two decades. She is not only popularly known as India's most successful wedding planners but an Events and Wedding Stylist. As per her, “Its a conscious decision to stick to the creative elements of a wedding we of course do have our affiliations with companies who take care of wedding logistics & management but I focus on the style story - after all, every one of our clients look for a unique theme, chic designs, and the most 'wow' décor for the big day.”

24th Feb MR S.S. MUNDRA

MONDAY MEETINGS

Mr S. S. Mundra, Chairman, Bank of Baroda, addressed the Club.

Today, Bank of Baroda is the country's second largest lender. He has been it's Chairman since January 2013. He joined Bank of Baroda on March 21, 1977 as a Directly Recruited Officer. From 1994 to 1997, he was posted at Bank Of Baroda's subsidiary at Uganda. He served in Bank Of Baroda's Treasury function from year 2001 to 2005 and again in the year 2007. During the stint, he has worked in various Treasury functions including in charge of Money Market Operations, Heading the Treasury Back Office, Heading the Treasury Front Office and finally rising to the post of General Manager of entire Treasury Operations.

Continue..

He served as Secretary to the Board of Directors of Bank Of Baroda since 2006 and also been associated with Investor Relationship Function of the Bank for a long time.

Every individual has the right to change society and work together to make the government work”. Almost 30 per cent of corruption in the country can be monitored if the data is recorded and stored. We need to introspect amongst ourselves and pin down the inefficiency of the government and question the functionaries in case of any delay in delivery mechanisms. As long as the information is available and records exist, there is no question of denial unless the disclosure of information is exempted under certain clauses of the RTI Act. RTI cannot be used to solve one's problems but helps to seek information to place a check on the delay in service of any public governance. It is the best possible method to expose the abuse of power and scams.

Following District Awards & Trophies were presented by IPP Rtn Radhika Mehta for the RY 2012-13 :

1. R.I. District 3140 Fellowship "Soul of Rotary" Trophy 2. PDG Jyotindra Vakil Best Bulletin Shield 3. PDG Surendra Mehta Sports Trophy 4. PDG Hasham Premji Memorial District Shield for Outstanding Vocational Service 5. Bombay East Best Interact Activity Award 6. Certificate of Appreciation: Outstanding work in all 5 Avenues of Service 7. Certificate of Appreciation: Care of Eyes8. Certificate of Appreciation: Promotion of the Functional Literacy Programme

24th Mar SWAMI SUKHABODHANANDA

Swami Sukhabodhananda, Spiritual Leader and Corporate Guru addressed the Club on “Shakti : The Power of Women”.He believes that the 'giving' role of a woman is tremendous. The virtues of a woman include her ability to learn, she is personified as Goddess of Wealth and inner strength. In his many self development programs he taught people to “respond” and not to “react”. We should recognize and validate what we have. A woman is compassionate and has a soft heart which is truly wise. We should mean what we say and not just react mechanically. When autopilot takes over we lose control of ourselves. Most of us try to minimize our experiences with the result we do not “experience” the experienced. The past experiences dominate the current experience with the result the purity of the experience is lost. We also do not optimize on an experience. Our past is polluting the present when actually we can take joy out of nothing. Joy is in what is. We should not demand happiness. Many a times we do not get fulfillment even after success. In every family there is conflict and dissatisfaction. Time is present. We should be happy in this very moment. He requested Rotary to focus on “psychological and good mental health” of people to become successful and fulfilled.

MONDAY MEETINGS

10th Mar PADMA SHRI MRS ANU AGA

Padma Shri Mrs Anu Aga, Former Chairperson, Thermax spoke on “Managing Difficult Times”. She walks the talk and paves the path for others to follow in her stead. Heading the HR division in the family held, Thermax , she was forced to take over the reins as Chairperson on the untimely death of her husband. This loss was further aggravated deeply when in the same year she lost her 25 year old son and her mother in law. Life shattering and a most daunting task to resurrect a company which was already facing troubled times and when you have lost your dearest. Most had started to write them off. Probably the first company in history to replace its entire board. Mrs Aga took the company to a new high and Thermax is, today, a Billion dollar enterprise.

Members appreciated her frank and genuine thoughts. Her pointers on what to focus in life were found to be useful.

He has also been a visiting faculty to the Bank Of Baroda's Training Institutions as well as Training Institutions of other Banks and Banking Bodies. In I n d i a , M r . M u n d r a h a s represented the Bank as a Director on the Board of many companies viz. MITCON, Pune, Clearing Corporation of Indian Limited (CCIL), Mumbai and Bob Asset Management Company. He serves as a Nominee Director of Govt. of India on the Board of India Infrastructure Finance Company (UK) Limited (IIFCL), London. He serves as Director of Export-Import Bank of India. He served as an Executive Director of Union Bank of India since September 1, 2010 until January 2013.

The Club inducted Rtn Divyesh & Vandana Shah into the family of RCMQN.

Visiting Rotarian PP Sushil Bagla of RC of Calcutta was present for the Meeting.

RCMQN was the Platinum Sponsor Club for the ACE TRF Seminar held on 27th December at Hotel United 21, Thane. Chief Guests were RI President RIPE GARY Huang and PRIP KALYAN Banerjee.

27th Dec PLATINUM SPONSOR CLUB OR ACE TRF SEMINAR

13th Jan POLIO FREE - LEAD HOST CLUB FOR ILLUMINATION OF AIR INDIA BUILDING

Monday, January 13th 2014 was a Historic day when India completed 3 consecutive years with Zero Polio cases.

To commemorate this day, our Club was the Lead Club in organizing a small function on the Terrace of Shreyas Building as well as illumination of iconic, Air India building with the India Is Polio Free message and the new Rotary logo.

The illumination was inaugurated by Smt. Rajashree Birla. Noted singer Mr. Anoop Jalota, PRID Rtn. Ashok Mahajan & DG Lata Subaidu were the Guests of Honour. It was well attended by around 135 Rotarians from all across District 3140. Rtn. Ashok Mahajan gave an overview of Polio and spoke about the great contribution of the Aditya Birla family. DG Lata Subraidu spoke about D 3140 involvement. Mr Anoop Jalota appreciated the work and efforts of Rotary in Polio eradication and captured the hearts of all present by singing 2 appropriate bhajans in his melodious voice.

Many thanks to our Rtn Rasesh Parekh for the illumination and the displaying of balloons of 5.5 ft in diameter at various locations. Also special thanks to Bankim and Nita Doshi whose reference to the Shreyas Building society got us their lovely terrace with their staff and infrastructure free of cost. The event organized by our Club was well appreciated by the District. It was also well attended by the members of our club.

PARTICIPATION IN DISTRICT PROGRAMS

1st & 2nd February DISCON 2014

On 1st and 2nd February four members of our Club attended DISCON 2014-15 at the Renaissance, Powai

The Club had organized Beer Evening

At Irish House, Kalaghoda For its Members and Spouses.

3rd Mar BEER EVENING

FELLOWSHIP

10th Jan AT MINI CLUB, RACE COURSE

The Spouses' Night was held on Friday, 10th January at Front Lawns Mini Club, Race Course. The event was hosted by President Rtn Sanjiv & First Lady Heena Mehta and Rtn Pranabh & Sejal Mody. It was a huge success with 185 members and

spouses attending the event. It was an evening full of fun and frolic, music, dance and more fellowship.

Continue..

FELLOWSHIP

The highlights included:

Ø Cricket Bat against your favourite bowlers at your desired level from 12 to 2

Ø 10 pin bowling 3 lanes reserved for us - from 12.30 to 2.30

Ø Arcade games Unlimited use of arcade games from 1 to 3

Ø Robokeeper Try your football skills against a robotic goal keeper one set of kicks - anytime you wish

Ø 9D simulator try this unique simulator ride - once anytime you wish

Ø X2 motor racing simulator once anytime you wish

Ø The bar is always open vodka & beer available throughout

Ø Starters from 11.30 am to 2 pm

Ø Lunch from 2 onwards

16th Feb BRUNCH AT SMAASH

FELLOWSHIP

On Sunday, 16th February we had organized a fellowship brunch at Smaash, Kamala Mills, Lower Parel. The venue had a bowling alley, F1 racing, a whole host of latest video arcade games, giant screens playing sports events, peppy music and the best part was the cricket arena. A whole section was dedicated to virtual cricket which is fun and quite professional. 120 members and spouses attended this fellowship event.

The program included House music by their own DJ Mikhail, Cocktails, mocktails, martinis, starters galore from 12 noon onwards followed by lunch after 2.30 pm.

The following PPs sponsored the brunch: Anju Siraj, Bindu Sheth, Radhika Mehta, Manoj Gursahani, Bharat Shah, Chandu Mehta, Ajay Agarwal, Bhavin Kothari, Premal Udani, Ashok Shah, Mahesh Dalal, Vinesh Dawda, Saurin Shah and Gaurav Patel. The Brunch was attended by 140 members and spouses.

30th Mar PAST PRESIDENTS SPONSORED BRUNCH

FELLOWSHIP

On Sunday, 30th March, Past Presidents of our Club sponsored the Brunch for all Members and Spouses at the Wink, Vivanta by Taj President, Colaba.

PROJECTS

Our Club has received the Blood Bank License from Maharashtra State FDA as well as approval from DCGI, New Delhi for starting state-of-the-art Blood Bank at Somaiya Hospital, Sion.

The inauguration will be held on Saturday, 19th April at 10 am. Set up at a cost of Rupees One Crore this blood bank will subsidize the cost of blood, platelets and plasma by 75%. Importantly it will ensure that the less fortunate are provided the quality that is the right of every human. Along with the inauguration of this Project, a blood donation drive will also be held. Mr Samirbhai Somaiya, DG Rtn Lata Subraidu, DFRC and PDG Rtn Raju Subramanium and Major Donor

Guru Kher have confirmed their presence. Professor Sendurai A. Mani, Ph.D, Co-Director, Metastasis Research Centre, Co-Director, Center for Stem Cells & Developmental Biology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX will speak on “Causes of cancer and prevention strategies”. MD Anderson is the largest cancer facility in the USA.

INAUGURATION OF STATE-OF-THE-ART BLOOD BANK AT K J SOMAIYA HOSPITAL PROJECT COST RS 1 CRORE

SPONSORING LEADERS OF TOMORROW PROJECT IN ONE SCHOOL & SCHOLARSHIP FOR TWO STUDENTS

Dr P N Singh Foundation runs the Leaders of Tomorrow project in 82 schools in Mumbai. The program is a 40 session program conducted for 9th Std students weekly for two hours for a period of one year per school. The cost per school is Rs 10,000/-. The cost of scholarship per student for five years upto graduation is Rs 20,000/- per student. Our Club is sponsoring the Leaders of Tomorrow Project in one school @ Rs 10,000 and also sponsoring the scholarship amount of Rs 40,000 for two students upto graduation.

On Saturday, 8th February, our Club co-hosted the Career Guidance Seminar for Interactors at the Hall of Culture, Nehru Centre. The topics covered were Career Guidance by Rtn Aditya Singh, Effective Communication by Rtn Anita Shantaram, Etiquette and Personality Development by Rtn Raman Abrol and Stress Management by Keyur Trivedi. DG Rtn Lata Subraidu was the Chief Guest. This was a project jointly sponsored by eleven Rotary Clubs. More than 180 students of Std VIII and IX and moderators from various Interact Schools and English speaking Municipal Schools participated. 40 Interactors and Moderators from our four Interact Schools attended the Seminar. Our Club distributed pens and writing pads for the participants as well as gifts for the speakers and Chief Guest.

8th Feb CO-HOSTED CAREER GUIDANCE SEMINAR FOR INTERACTORS

23rd Mar CANCER SCREENING & DETECTION CAMP

On Sunday, 23rd March, our Club sponsored Cancer Screening and Detection Camp at District Complex Mumbai, Dharavi Sion Bandra Link Road, Dharavi, wherein about 250 underprivileged local people were screened. Their team included two surgeons, two gynec doctors. Blood check up was also done simultaneously. Those people who tested positive were recommended to Tata Memorial Hospital for treatment. This camp had been organized under the leadership of Rtn Dr Chandrashekhar Joshi and in association with Cancer Patients Aid Association. The project cost was Rs 40,000/-. Guests of Honour included Mayor of Mumbai and Mr Ashish Shelar.

SPONSORED EDUCATIONAL TRIP FOR DIFFERENTLY ABLED STUDENTS OF AK MUNSHI YOJANA

From 11th Feb to 15th Feb our Club sponsored five day educational camp to Ajanta and Ellora, Aurangabad, for 17 and 33 differently abled girls and boy students of the age group of 7 to 42 years of A K Munshi Yojana. They were accompanied by 8 teachers and 2 caretakers. The project cost was Rs 96,000/- and included transport, boarding and lodging plus all meals and snacks. They visited Daulatabad Fort, Biwi-Ka-Muckbara, Water Mill, Camp Fire, Ellora and Ajanta Caves, Ghrushneshwar Temple, Sleeping Hanuman Temple and Paithan Garden. The aim is to provide training to reduce their dependence on their over protective families and experience the world from outside their routine lives of home and school. They develop self-dependent daily Living skills and become independent. They learn to bond with each other in natural surroundings. It was a great experience for them and the students did not want to come back.

PROJECTS

On Saturday, 4th January we won the second District Cricket Match against RC of Borivli. Winning the toss Captain Pranabh decided to field first. Anil Chauhan took 2 wickets in an over. Due to over confidence we dropped 4 catches but we restricted them to 121 runs. After a sleepy start of 8 runs in 4 overs, Samir Haji and Neeraj Gandhi woke up to massacre the opposition with 20 runs in one over. Both retired with 36 runs. Neeraj became the man of the match. He hit the last ball out of the stadium. We won the match.

On Saturday, 11th January our Club won the cricket match played against RC of Nariman Point. They won the toss and chose to bat. They were down by 5 wickets with just 59 runs. We let go a few catches, let 5 boundaries slip through our legs. They ended with a score of 151 runs in 20 overs. RCMQN Captain hit 36 in 23 balls. Last ball a six. The first of his career. Rtn Samir Haji hit 36 in 24 balls. He also hits the first six of his career. Rtns Samir Sanghavi, Rtn Neeraj Gandhi and Rtn Amit Shah finished with super style in 17 overs. Three highest scores in a row. Three wins in three matches.

On Saturday, 15th February the Club played against RC of Bombay Peninsula and unfortunately lost the match.

On Saturday, 22nd February we played against RC of Bombay Bayview. Unfortunately we lost again. We were all out for 90 runs. Anil and Vinay took brilliant one wicket each in the first two overs. Bayview achieved the required score of 104 runs thereafter in 16 overs. A very special thanks to Rtn Gaurav Patel and Rtn Ajay Agarwal for agreeing to fill in for the missing members of the regular team. Incidentally 5 of the top 11 players did not play today.

On Friday, 7th March our Cricket Team lost the last match against Rotary Club of Thane and we are now out of the tournament. Congratulations to the full cricket team comprising of 22 players for not only leaving their work and setting high standard of sportsmanship but for displaying high levels of Fellowship and contributing physically and financially to the Service Projects of the Club. Queen's Necklace Cricket Team is Victorious All the Way.

On Sunday, 19th January, 9 members, spouses and children of members participated in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. Many thanks to IPP Radhika and Dipan Mehta for hosting the brunch for all participants post the Marathon at the Bombay Gymkhana.

STANDARD CHARTERED MUMBAI MARATHON

Our Club is undertaking a unique project “Project Jeevan Saathi” wherein we collect the basic details and expectations of all to be brides and bridegrooms. These men and women could be our own Rotarian children or their relatives' children or friends' son and daughter who are looking for their “Jeevan Saathi”. A Committee comprising of our very own Inner Wheel Members President Rtn Sonal Shah, Rtn Sonal Jhaveri, R/ann Bhavna Shah, R/ann Zarna Shah has been constituted. The Committee will simply connect the aspirants families and wish them well from there. Many Members' children have sent their resume to the Committee and also a couple of meetings have taken place after getting connected. An email ID has also been opened rcmqnjeevansaathi@gmail.com

PROJECT JEEVAN SAATHI

An in-principle sanction letter from the Office of Education Officer, MCGM addressed to ISKCON Food Relief Foundation allowing the construction of Centralized Kitchen building has been collected from MCGM. The Club is now pursuing to get the construction work started soon. Also, the High Court Stay Order has been vacated and is hundred percent in favour of setting up centralized kitchens.

ROTARY ISKCON CENTRALIZED KITCHEN PROJECT

CRICKET

SPONSORSHIP OF EIGHT NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT BEDS AT RUXMANI HOSPITAL PROJECT COST RS 18.4 LAKHS

On 29th March the Club had organized a small function at 10 am to inaugurate the project of sponsorship of NICU beds at Ruxmani Hospital, Babulnath. But at Queens Necklace there is a abundance of big hearts & philanthropy is a norm.The project to sponsor 2 NICU beds at Ruxmani Hospital culminated in sponsorship of an entire ward of 8 beds at a total cost of 18.4 lacs. Spontaneous donations from Rtn Kalpesh Shah Rs 90,000/-, Rtn Sunil Davda Rs 25,000/-, Rtn Hemen Vissanji Rs 50,000/- and Rtn Nikhil Shah Rs 1,80,000/- ensured funding closure. Attendance of over 25 members at a service project and seeing 8 premature babies already on the NICU beds getting life saving treatment, was heartwarming. The Inner Wheel Club of Mumbai Queen's Necklace sponsored half the cost of one bed amounting to Rs 1,15,000/-. Each bed is a AMPLA MODEL 2085-7 (7 segment display + phototherapy) marketed by Wellman. These new beds provide for a large amount of monitoring and testing without human handling of the neonatal, premature and fragile babies.

DISTRIBUTION OF GUIDES TO TWO MUNICIPAL SCHOOLS

To help the children score well in their upcoming SSC exams, our Club distributed 25 sets and 17 sets of Navneet Guides to Std X students of Tardeo Municipal School (Marathi Medium) and Gilder Path Municipal School (Hindi Medium), respectively.