the lighthouse · 2 bulletin of the rotary club of madras • edition 25 • december 29, 2015 the...

The LighthouseBulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras

Six months ofGoodness and Counting

2015-2016 • Edition No.25 • December 29, 2015 • 8 Pages

Keep LovingIt’ll Change Your HeartIt’ll Change You MindAnd You’ll StartTo Change Your Eyes--So Keep LovingEverything You TouchEveryone You SeeWill Soon BecomeYour FamilyGotta To BeLovingAccepting SharingGotta To Keep On TryingB’coz RCM is One Big Family.

Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering - IT WILL BE HAPPIER.

Warmly,A.S. Venkhat RamaniPresident 2015-16

PRESIDENT Rtn. A S Venkhat Ramani

HoNoRaRy SECRETARY Rtn. Rajasekar Gorantla

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Rtn. S N Srikanth

PRESIDENT ELECT Rtn. Dr N V Arulmozhi Varman

PRESIDENT NOMINEE Rtn. P N Mohan

Asst. SECRETARY / BULLETIN EDITOR Rtn. Sunita Suresh

DIRECTOR CLUB ADMINISTRATION Rtn. Vidya Amarnath

DIRECTOR YOUTH SERVICE Rtn. M Sesha Sai

DIRECTOR PUBLIC IMAGE AND FUND RAISING Rtn. Dr. Srinath Yeshwanth

DIRECTOR ROTARY FOUNDATION & INTERNATIONAL SERVICES Rtn. S. Ravi

DIRECTOR SERVICE PROJECT 1 Rtn. Dr. Chandrashekar

DIRECTOR SERVICE PROJECT 2 Rtn. Nimish C Tolia

TREASURER (CLUB FUNDS) Rtn. Aditya Agarwal

TREASURER (CHARITABLE TRUST) Rtn. R. Ravishankar

TREASURER (SPECIAL PROJECTS) Rtn. Kishor Dandeker

Foundation so far 1.1 Lakh USD has been achieved

Regularly visits all project sites

Spearheaded meticulous planning with team for over two years to source High profile speakers

AFTERLONG, havereceivedUSD 20,000from DDF,for oursanitationproject atKeemalur.

A large number of Rotarians in the Paul Harris Cricket carnival of RCM East.

Regular Trustees Meetings

A people’s person who ably motivates and galvanizes his board and committees chairs to achieve set goals

Awards – Best Teacher Award, Life Time achievement Award and For the Sake of Honour Award has been identified by him.

Ceaselessly motivated RCMers to turn sponsors of the boys at Gummidipoondi

A PRESIdEnT WHO LEAdS FROM THE FROnT

2 Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • Edition 25 • December 29, 2015

The Medical screening and treatment camp conducted at our Rotary Nagar, near Light

House on 19.12.2015 was a huge success with over 150 patients being benefited from the camp activities.

The following are the details of the patients benefited by the camp:Total no. of patients screened: 144Pediatric screening and treatments (by Dr Ratnagar, CSI Kalyani

Hospital) - 129 ENT screening and treatments (by KKR ENT Hospital) - 59Eye screening and treatments (by Uma Eye Clinic) - 137 Dental screening and treatments (by Ragas Dental College) - thanks to the following organizations for their participation in making this event a success:KKR ENT Hospital (Rtn Shanno Ravi)Uma Eye Clinic (Rtn Dr Arulmozhi Varman)Ragas Dental College (Rtn Dr S Ramachandran)Dr Ratnagar from CSI Kalyani Hospital.

The two main o n g o i n g

projects at S e m b a k k a m are Tailoring and Computer Training for the empowerment of women.

Tailoring:The 6 month

Tailoring training program for women started in June 2015, and will be completed Dec end 2015. There were two 2 hour batches, morning and afternoon. Totally 54 students were trained.

Computer Training:From June to August 2015, 51 women (in

four batches) successfully completed the 3 month computer training program at the RCM Ford Digital Literacy center.

Second set of 49 trainees, started in Sep 2015, will be competing the progam Dec end.

Mega Certificate distribution function:Completion certificates were handed over

to about 650 women in Computer training,

and also about 200 Tailoring students. This was done at a mega function at the Community Hall at Sembakkam on Aug 17, 2015. Hon. Minister for Animal Husbandry, Mr TKM Chinnaiah, was the Chief

Guest at the well attended function.

distribution of Toys to Children at GovtBalwadi:

Toys, donated by our Rotarians, and mats were distributed to the children at the Government run Balwadi center at Sembakkam in August. The teachers have also requested chairs for seating the children, which we plan to donate soon.

distribution of Flood Relief Kits:Flood relief kits, donated by the Rotary

District, were distributed to the weaker sections of the Sembakkam community, who were affected by the floods in Dec.

Community Health Care

Sembakkam Community Development Project

TREASuRERS REPORT1. Ensured that the audited accounts

are published on time and the AGM was also held within the stipulated time.

2. The income tax returns of all the entities filed on time.

3. The TDS remittance, TDS returns, service tax remittances and service tax returns are online and up to date.

4. With the help of PP VKCK the FCRA returns and Tamil Nadu societies Act returns filing are upto date.

4. A committee of treasurers, advocates and experienced members formed to facilitate merger of charitable and boys town society to enable effective and efficient administration of service activities.

5. The services of a professional accounting firm engaged to enable proper updating and preparation of required reports.

6. Focus on improving all round administrative efficiency and compliance

Dear Rotarian,The feeling of deja vu engulfs me as I write this column in the lighthouse that was once my baby. Here’s a thought for you to ponder on.Imagine there is a bank, which credits your account each morning with Rs 86,400, carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every pence, of course!Well, everyone has such a bank. Its name is Time.Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. No balance CARRIED FORWARD. No overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the records of the day. There is never enough time. So Live every moment of 2016 to the fullest. Be Good, Do Good. May the new year bring with an abundance of happiness, prosperity and peace.Happy New Year.Rtn. Vidya Amarnath

Sgt-at-arms Rtn M Srinivasan collared President Rtn AS Venkhat Ramani, who called the 25th meeting of RCM

to order, followed by a silent invocation.The minutes of the 22nd dec’15 was

duly confirmed.President welcomed all for the AGM.Birthday & wedding anniversary

wishes were extended by President to the respective Rotarians/spouses who celebrate that week and thanked for their sunshine.

Rtn Archana Sanjay informed members about the K to K fellowship hosted by Rtn M Balasubramanian, where a book on AVM Mr. Meyyappan was released. The sale of books proceeds will go to RCMBTS. Also a free DVD copy of the fellowship photos are available at the reception for members to collect. President thanked Rtn M Balasubramanian for his gesture.

Rtn Harish K Murthi, Golf Committee Chair reminded members that the Golf Tournament is scheduled to be held at Prestige Golf shire on 29th/30th of January 2016, and are looking for sponsors for banners / T- Boxes. The Gala Dinner &

Prize distribution will be at ITC Gardenia in Bangalore. He conveyed that till now we have collected around 30 lacs from various sponsors including our members. Thanked Rtn Harbinder Singh for arranging the golf course. Appealed members to come forward to support in raising funds for the RCM Golf tournament which is the largest initiative of our club and the funds raised are much needed for Rotary Club of Madras’s various charitable activities.

President also echoed the same and if anyone needs the presentation can approach.

Rtn Sesha Sai Director Youth Service said that the RYLA is on the 21st & 22nd Jan’16 at the Bramhakumaris, where about 125 students and coordinators will participate. Requested members to come and encourage the boys

Rtn Ashok Thakkar said that RCM is on the forefront in the flood relief/rehabilitation activities and have plans to build a new model Rotary Nagar with 200 houses with all amenities. Govt has been approached for a location for us to take forward. He hoped that many assurances have come and with our clubs support this will materialize as planned. President added that Rtn Anil Srinvasan has contributed his show money for this cause and thanked for his wonderful gesture.

PP N K Gopinath informed members that all must have received the newly updated constitution by-laws book. He said that it was initiated during PP Rajendran Sabanayagam’s period and thanked PP Gunashekar, PP Vivek Harinarain, Rtn Kapil Chitale & Rtn Sunil Sudhakar Shanker for their help & support. A Lot of clarity has been brought out and members can take it forward in the years to come.

He handed over a flag collected during his visit to RC Chandigarh to President.

PP Satyan Bhatt requested members to attend the function where relief kits will be distributed to the palavakkam families on

ECR tomorrow afternoon 3 pm.PP George Cherian, Dist Chair, UTSAV,

District Conference 2016 gave a brief note on some of the key speakers who will address in the conference – Commerce Minister Nirmala Seetharaman, Dr Seetharaman CEO, Doha Bank, Dr. Sivathanu Pillai, Mr Bala Balachander to name a few. He urged members to attend with spouse and all to see the difference. He wished to have 100% registration from active members. President requested members to show their solidarity by cent percent registration and support our Rotarian who is the Chair for the conference. The cheque to be given favouring ‘Rotary Club of Madras’.

Rtn N Sukumar was pleased to inform that his son-in-law Mr Abhishek has been elected as a Regional Council Member of South India of CA’s. To mark this feat, he announced Rs 15,000 for RCMBTS.

President thanked Madras Club hosts for the wonderful fellowship on 27th Dec’15.

Secretary’s announced that the Next meeting will be on Jan 5th 2016 @ 7 pm – Joint Meeting with Rotary Club of Chennai Kilpauk - Speaker: Mrs. Shabnam Virmani Sing Kabir Songs & explain the meaning of the same. Evening meeting. Spouses are invited.

President requested non-members to retire the hall as the AGM of RCM will commence.

The AGM was convened and the election of office-bearers 2016-17 was announced.

The meeting was then adjourned.

MINUTES



Next week… The next meeting will be on Jan 5th 2016 @ 7 pm – Joint Meeting with Rotary Club of Chennai Kilpauk - Speaker: Mrs. Shabnam Virmani Sing Kabir Songs & explain the meaning of the same. EVENING MEETING. Spouses are invited.

In the Annual General Meeting of the Rotary Club of Madras held on 29th Dec, 2015, the following members were elected unanimously to the Board of Rotary Club of Madras for the year 2016-17. I have great pleasure in announcing the Elected members as follows:

Board Member & Tenure NomineePresident Elect 2016-17 (President 2017-18) Rtn. Mohan P NPresident Nominee 2016-17 (President 2018-19) Rtn. Ranjit PratapSecretary (2016-17) Rtn. Dr. Chandrasekhar RAssistant Secretary (2016-17) Rtn. Mohan RamanDirector - Club Administration (2016-17 & 2017-18) Rtn. Raj RajenderanDirector - Rotary Foundation & International Service 2016-17 & 2017-18) Rtn. Balasubramanian MDirector - Service Projects 1 (2016-17 & 2017-18) Rtn. Vinod Kumar K MDirector - Service Projects 2 (2016-17 & 2017-18) Rtn. Ravishankar RDirector – Public Relations & Fund Raising (2016-17 & 2017-18) Rtn. Harish K MurthiDirector - Vocational Service (2016-17) Rtn. Ravi STreasurer Club Funds (2016-17 & 2017-18) Rtn. Hemant P ChordiaTreasurer – CT (2016-17 & 2017-18) Rtn. Nimish Tolia

We congratulate the above members and wish them all the very best. Rtn. Rajasekar Gorantla, Honorary Secretary

Rotary Club of Madras

A. ROTARY nAGAR ACTIVITIESI. BIRTHdAY CELEBRATIOnS OF AdITYA AnAnTH S/O Rtn. ARJun AnAnTH--- Birthday of Aditya was celebrated on September 5th 2015 in Rotary Nagar in the presence of Rotary Nagar children, Rotarians and special guests Mr. and Mrs. Champa Kumar.--- Lunch was served to 200 students, staff members. Lunch was sponsored by Rtn. Anand Rengaswamy.--- Mrs. Champa Kumar distributed bed linen (175)

2. MEdICAL CAMP In ROTARY nAGAR--- Medical screening and treatment camp conducted at Rotary Nagar on 19/12/2015.Total patients screened - 144Peadiatric - 129ENT - 59Eye - 137Dental - 136

B. SAnITATIOn PROJECT1. RCM adopted Keemalur village in Gummidipoondi Block this year to make the village ODF.2. 100 toilets will be built in the village with contribution from the Government of Tamil Nadu, Rotary Club of Madras and Rotary District 3230. The cost of the project is Rs. 17, 50, 000/-3. The project was started in October 2015 and till date, we have completed construction of 21 toilets. All the 100 toilets would built by February 25, 2015.4. Apart from building toilets RCM is also involved in educating the villagers about the need to use toilets through various means like posters, door to door campaign, street plays etc.5. RCM also plan to improve the sanitation of the village by building dustbins in all the streets. RCM will also focus on Water conservation and providing solar powered street lamps.

C.MEdICAL CAMP1. The first medical camp of the Rotary Year was conducted at Boys Town, Gummidipoondi on 26 July 2015. 97 inmates were screened by Doctors from Sundaram Medical Foundation, Uma Eye Clinic, KKR Ent Hospitals, Rajan Dental Hospital and Erlich Labs.2. A dental and Eye Camp was conducted for the benefit of3014 school children of Susheel Hari International School, Kelambakkam from 27 to 31 July 2015.

d. FLOOd RELIEFChennai was ravaged by floods in November and December 2016 which caused unparalled suffering. The Rotarions of RCM rose to the occasion and worked tirelessly in the relief and rehabilitation of the flood affected victims.RCM has distributed 250 FLOOD RELIEF KITS organised by Rotary District 3230 to deserving families in Selaiyur, Sembakkam Gummidipoondi, Hotel Connemara etc.,

• Weekly meetings ended on time• Proper management of business

meetings• Arranging regular board meetings• Closed door minutes prepared and

filed• Proper co-ordination with the

Directors/Chairmen

Rtn. Rajasekar GorantlaHony. Secretary

Election of Office Bearers for the year 2016-17

Community Services


Rotaract Activities - In General1. Youth Exchange programme conducted

by The Taipei Economic and Cultural Center at Chennai was well attended. 90 Plus Rotaractors Participated. Date 5th September 2015.

2. Glitz 15- Rotaract Clubs of Ethiraj College for Women | M.O.P Vaishnav College for Women | Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan

College of Engineering and Technology | Anand Institute of Higher Technology | Dhanalakshmi College of Engineering | SRM Easwari Engineering College | Rajalakshmi institute of Technology | New College had a cultural programme. The theme for the whole event was based on “WATER CONSERVATION” 27th September 2015. Venue – Ethiraj College. 2000 Rotaracts

Participated.3. RYLA- New College and Loyola college along

with 4 other Rotaract clubs had participated in the RYLA on 25th September 2015.

4. Youth Service Awards on Oct 6th and best Rotaract club award went to Rotaract club of Chennai.

5. December 3rd to 13th - Rotaract clubs participated in flood relief programmes.

ACTIVITIES:1. Independence day Celebrations- 15th

August- Almost 40 Interactors had visited Gummudipoondi and participated in tree plantation and independence day Celebrations.

2. Coimbatore trip- 21st to 23rd August- Objective of the Trip.. The Objective of the Coimbatore trip

was to help Our Interactors visualize what we They are learning at school and also experience what they don’t teach in School. This activity helps them develop their personality since social graces and simplicity are learned only by experience.

More emphasis was given on water

conservation and water recycling. Total Schools participated – 9. Number of students - 64. Total Number of People including

Coordinators and 2 Rotarians. – 76. 3. Youth Service Awards. date Oct 6th. Winners of the 4 way competition.A. MCTM Luz. First Prize.- VP Raman Award. Children garden –Second SSV Adyar. –Third. The other interact awards are as below . Best Interact School – Sri Sankara

Vidhyashramam, Thiruvanmiyur Best Interactor – Interactor Anirudh

Vigneshwar of SSV Zone 1 Best Interact School Winner –

The Chindadripet Higher Secondary School (Boys)

Best Interact School Runner Up – Chintadripet Kalyanam Girls H S S Zone 2 Best Interact School Winner – Sri Sankara

Senior Secondary School Adyar Best Interact School Runner Up – Children’s

Garden School, Mylapore Zone 3 Best Interact School Winner - Shri M Ct

Muthiah Memorial Mat H S School, Kilpauk Best Interact School Runner Up – L M

Dadha School. Totally 11 Awards. 4. Village Rally- 10th October – 20 Students

took part in the village rally around Gummudipondi Boys town. They went to 3 villages and campained on Hygiene factors and open defecation,

5. Shri. Nithya Shanti – Subject – Smiles- date- 20th Oct- Number of participants- 245 students and teachers. Venue- Mctm school- Luz

6. World Interact Week - November 2nd to 8th - Participation in the World Interact week. Students from all schools had Participated in Five different ways of celebrating the World interact week stipulated by world Interactors.

Interact Clubs Report

Rotaract Clubs Report


• Record no of firesides (16) brings RCM closer.

• 5 Rocking Fellowships to bring out the party animal in us - Charter Nite, Octoberfest, K2K , Movie nite and Xmas- Linesh Sundrani

• Inspirational Speakers par excellence- Shiv Nadar Nipun Mehta Newton Kondavetti Ribu Vohra Nityashanti Maya Gaitonde

T.A. Venkateswaran among others helped us stay on the

path of LOVE ACCEPT SHARE and Service above Self.

R.I.P S.A. Kharche- May his soul rest in peace

• Fresh lease of Life: 3 new members inducted

Technology:RCM- website relaunched and updated

6th Jan – Rtn.PP nandita Krishnan7th Jan – Rtn Mahul H Shah9th Jan – Rtn.PP Satyan Bhatt10th Jan – Rtn Vipin Sachdev6th Jan – Ann Priya (Rtn V Sridhar )7th Jan – Ann Rajashree (Rtn dr Gauthamadas udipi)7th Jan – Ann Sashi (Rtn nataraj Ramaiah)8th Jan – Ann Jaya (Rtn Gowri Shanker R)8th Jan – Spouse: Girish Ramdas (Rtn Shakthi Girish)

birthday

5th Jan – Rtn Harish K Murthi Ann.Asha9th Jan – Rtn Thomas Philip Ann.Thangam

WEddiNG

Rtn. Avali Srinivasan `2,000 Rtn. PP George B. Cherian `2,000Rtn. IPP Srikanth S. n. `2,000Rtn. nimish C. Tolia `1000Rtn. Arulmozhi Varman n.V. dr. $1000

(TRF)Rtn. PP George B. Cherian `15,000

(RCMBTS)Rtn. Sukumar n `15,000

(RCMBTS)

suNshiNE

EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY: Rtn. Asst. Secretary, Rotary Club of Madras, ‘Rayala Towers’, 2nd Mezzanine Floor, 158, Anna Salai, Chennai - 2, Ph: 28591020.Contact the editor at: [email protected]. Design: www.studiodescience.com

Visit: www.rotarymadras.in Contact club secretariat at: [email protected]

This was the grand finale for the sweet corner for the year ending 2015. The Macaroons were home made by

Rajendra Sabanayagam’s daughter for our sweet corner!!! And the eggless cup cakes were made by his wife Renu!!

The sweet corner has definitely brought in more bonding and camaraderie amongst fellow Rotarians. May this continue in the year to come.

I would like to thank everyone who have contributed to the success of this sweet corner!!

Happy new year and wishes for a healthy peaceful 2016.

Rtn. Archana Sanjay

Sweet Finish to 2015

Club Administration - Fellowships, firesides and Programs

• Educator extraordinaire- V. ARun• For Sake of Honour - P. Sainath

• Life Achievement award - S. Ramakrishnan of Amar Seva Sangam


RCMBT-Gummidipoondi

Motivational

talksJuly Rtns N R Gupta, Rtn Harikrishna, Rtn GSK Masud, Rtn Sesha Sai

Aug PP George, Rtn Hiren Shah, Rtn Shakthi Girish, Rtn Vivek

Sept PP CS Devapragasam,R Ravishankar, K K rishnan, Rtn Muthupalaniappan,

Rtn Avali Srinivasan, Rtn Prashant Kharche, Rtn Ranjeeth Rathod

Oct Rtn Dr Parkavi M, Rtn Nidhi, Teachers Sri Sankara High Sec Adyar

Nov Punithavalli, Deepak Chander, Kaleetheeswaran & his team

Dec Probus Namasivayam, Probus Ramanathan, N Rama Mohan, Annadurai

Medical camp conducted for the inmates with the help of KKR, Ragas, Sundaram

Foundation, Ehrlich Lab, Uma Eye Clinic


• Target Village KEEMALUR• Total Toilets to be built 100• Total No. of toilets funded by Government 18• No. of Toilets to be funded by RCM 82• Cost of construction per toilet Rs.15,500• Awareness program cost Rs.2,00,000• Total Project Cost Funding Rs.17,50,000• Government Funding Rs.2,16,000• Funding from beneficiaries Rs.1,00,000• District Governor Grant Rs.12,80,000• RCM CT Rs.3,54,000Communication Awareness Initiative• Copies of the film produced last year have been converted as CDs, one

copy given for each house, and an NGO appointed for creating this awareness, has played the video in each house holder, viewed by all members of the family

• Pamphlets on proper sanitation habits have been distributed• Rotractors and interactors have conducted street-wise and door-wise

awareness program• 6 awareness programs have been conducted in the village to bring

about change in mind set on using toilets and proper sanitation habits.

Project Schedule:• 16 toilets completed as on date• Vendors and contractors identified for construction of balance toilets• Quotations received and proposal submitted to District Governor for

funding of US $ 20000 (Rs.12.80 lakhs)• All 100 toilets expected to be completed by end March 2016.

Sanitation Project

and house their flagship project the Boys Town. Established in 1988 this well acclaimed project takes full care of nearly 100 under privileged boys in terms of high quality boarding and lodging in addition facilitating very good school education and Vocational Training. In the same estate. RCM will soon inaugurate their ‘State of the Art’ Primary Health care Center and an organic farm..

This year that day was celebrated by planting as many as 500 saplings most of them fruit bearing trees. The trees were planted in blocks of ten with complete identification of the Rotarians and guests who participated in the meaningful ceremony. Thanks to the meticulous planning by Rtn S Ravi, Director RCM the entire exercise was precisely completed in twenty minutes. The ‘Water Zen Man‘ Shri M Vishwanath from Bangalore was the Chief Guest who gave a convincing address on conservation of water. Our Dist Governor Rtn CR Raju was the Guest of Honor and his practical suggestion of building a catchment tank was well received. The interactors from Sri Sankara Vidyalaya, Tiruvanmiyur donated a sizable quantity of rice collected by them as a project to support the boys.

The day’s proceedings and the delicious lunch that followed were well coordinated under the stewardship of the Club President, Rtn A S Venkhat Ramani.

To all the Rotarians,the guests and all the resident boys, it was a great day of immense inspiration.

Tree Plantation at Boys Town Gummidipoondi

Each year, the Fifteenth Day in August is a Red Letter Day for the members of the Rotary Club of Madras. On that day of

traditional National Significance, they travel more than fifty kilometers to Gummidipoondi to the 36 acre property they own

• Total 83 students studying in Two schools• 26 students from Graduation and Diploma programs• 65 In home students• Out of the 83 students, RCMers have financially supported @

Rs.15,000/- for 70 students till date• Motivational talk by Rotarians being conducted in Second Saturday of

every month. 4 Rotarians from different vocational service address the students each month.

• Birthday of students during the month is celebrated during this motivational talk

• Plantation of 500 fruit bearing and fencing trees done on 15th August 2015. District Governor and other District Officials also participated.

• Music classes being conducted every month by Rtn. Anil Srinivasan’s team.

• Special physical training and yoga classes organized for the children• 2 teachers specially appointed to help children of 10th and 12th

standard• Medical camp conducted at the Boys Town for all children• 9 students of the Boys Town visited Coimbatore to attend a special

program on water conservation and water harvesting• A special diet plan in consultation with a Nutritionist has been finalized

and implemented at the Boys Town.• All statutory approvals and permissions required to run the Boys Town

have been obtained.

Boys Town – Gummidipoondi

the lighthouse · 2 bulletin of the rotary club of madras • edition 25 • december 29, 2015 the...

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