Club News - 9 September

Rwanda High Commissioner visits to express gratitude
H.E. Ernest Rwamucyo, High Commissioner of Rwanda to India, visited us on 10 September to express his country’s gratitude for treating children from Rwanda under the Heartline project and for the forthcoming medical mission. 

A medical mission to Ethiopia and Rwanda is going on 29 September. The mission to Ethiopia is being led by PDG Madhukar Malhotra and the mission to Rwanda is being led by PDG Ranjit Bhatia, under overall leadership of PRIP R.K. Saboo.

E-Club Meeting
Rotary E-Club of Chandigarh Technocity  held its once a month formal meeting at JW Marriot on 8 September. Other than President Hassan S Mejie, there were Rotarian visitors from Nasik and Rotary Club of Canada Corner.

Blood Donation Camp at DAV College
Rotaract Club of DAV College organised a blood donation camp on 9 September. [In the pic] PP Parveen Goyal, President Hassan Mejie, Mr Vineet Joshi, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Punjab & Media Advisor to Chief Minster and Mr. Joshan, Principal DAV College.

Lucky Draw

The Lucky Draw on 6 September (a crystal vase) was won by Rtn Jaiprakash Hasrajani.

 

Installation of Team 2013-14 of St Stephen’s School, Sector 45

The 2013-14 Team of Interact Club, St Stephen's, Sector 45, Chandigarh was installed on 9 September 2013 by President Hassan Singh Mejie. He was accompanied by: Rtn R.K. Taneja, Rtn Lalita Jagmohan, Rtn Mona Khattar, Rtn O.P. Sukhija and Rtn Desh Deepak Khanna.

Heartline Update
Surgery # 477: Bhawna Devi, 6 years old daughter of Mr Sunil Dutt from Village Binoi, Tehsil Kasauli, was successfully operated on 2 September.  Patient’s father is a farmer.

Surgery # 478: Taranveer Singh Nehal, 2 years old son of Mr Gurpreet Singh from District Sangrur, was successfully operated on 5 September. Patient’s father is working as daily wager.

Surgery # 479: Mithlesh Kumar, 15 years old son of Raj Dev Yadav from  District Supaul (Bihar), was successfully operated on 6 September. Patient’s brother is working as a labourer.   This was the 16th surgery of 2013-14.

All surgeries were performed by Dr Mahant at Fortis Hospital.

Economic Challenges Facing India

 When a renowned management guru and an economist speaks everyone listens. The same was true of our Club too, which saw a record attendance at the 9 September meeting in which we had Dr S.P.S. Pruthi as the guest speaker.

The current economic crisis, said Dr Pruthi, was triggered by the announcement by USA to tone-down the Quantitative Easing it had triggered to tackle the 2007 sub-prime economic crisis. More than 12 trillion dollars were pumped-in by USA as part of the quantitative easing and that kept everyone going  since then.

But, was the announcement of QE tone-down the sole cause of the rupee tumbling and the beginning of India’s economic problems. Certainly not, said Dr Pruthi. We wasted the first 40 years after our independence doing nothing for the economy. he said. Since 1991 we did usher-in reforms and that helped to turn the tide. But, these reforms have been half-hearted. Political and bureaucratic controls have not been withdrawn the way they should have been.

To meet the economic crisis head-on, we need to ensure growth. For that we require structural changes, foreign money, infrastructure development and, above all, we need to improve the faith of others in us. The comfort level for investors also needs to be improved manifold.

Reserve Bank of India, he added has very limited options available to it. Besides, he added, it has no control over corruption, import & export and business environment.

Dr Pruthi also felt that in today’s globalized environment the authority of the State is limited, especially in economic matters. Markets have their own mechanisms and reasons to go up or down. They do not listen to any authority. Thus, we need to change our decision making patterns to be able to compete better in the international environment.

Dr Pruthi also emphasized on the need for  a strong leadership that  respects constitutional authorities. Besides, it is important that we ensure that money is invested in talent and technology development.
Pragmatic foreign policy is another very essential requirement to become economically strong. Dr Pruthi gave examples of USA and Japan post World War-II, as also USA and China in recent years who improved their relations for strategic reasons and thus gained economically.  “Practical and intelligent policies only can help us become an economic power”, he said. “Soch (thought process) is important. Soch ko badlo,” he added.

Dr Pruthi’s talk was followed by a Q&A session. PP Arvind Mehan wondered why India has inconsistent and changing policies? Inconsistency is due to lack of will, said Dr Pruthi. Today, the need is to indigenise our Railways, Defence etc requirements to save on foreign exchange and improve balance of trade but nothing much is done on this end.

Rtn G.S. Chawla wondered if India can do without FDI. To this Dr Pruthi replied, “There is no need to restrict FDI. USA thrives because the whole world gives money to it. The need of the hour is to promote savings and restrict imports by indigenisation.”

Rtn Ashok Khanna asked “when can we hope to see stability again.” Dr Pruthi was of the opinion that eventually India is an ideal place for growth. It consumes a big percentage of what the world produces. “All we need to do is to take the right economic decisions and things will improve,” he said.

Dr Pruthi was jointly introduced by PP Man Mohan Singh Kohli and President Hassan Mejie. Rtn Mahesh Gupta presented him a memento. PDG Kawal Bedi presented him a bouquet. Rtn Dr Rajinder Kaur presented a bouquet to Mrs Vanita Pruthi. Vote of thanks was proposed by PRIP R.K. Saboo.

Club News - September 2

Farewell to children from Rwanda

On 4 September, the children from Rwanda, their mothers and nurse Chris were seen off at the Chandigarh airport by Rtn Mona Khattar, Rtn Geetika Rao. and Rtn Sukhjit Singh Gill.
Earlier, on September 3, a grand farewell dinner was hosted by PP Man Mohan S. Kohli at Hotel Aquamarine. PRIP Raja Saboo and R’Ann Usha, Presi. Hassan Mejie & R’Ann Harkiran, Rtn Jatinder Kapoor, Rtn Mona Khattar, Rtn Geetika Rao, and Rtn Sukhjit Singh Gill attended.
The children were presented toys, and their mothers and nurse Chris were given gifts. A farewell cake was cut and  everyone  wished them a safe journey.

Congratulations
Rtn Naresh Nanda and R’Ann Reema have been blessed with twin daughters. Our heartiest congratulations to them.

Get Well Soon
R’Ann Neeraj, wife of PP Charanjit Singh, was operated on 4 September. We wish her speedy recovery.

Thank You
We thank Rtn Jagesh Khaitan and his TPK Welfare Trust for donating Rs 65,000 for one heart surgery under our Heartline project.
We also thank Rtn Neenu Vij, Chair Club Administration, for working hard to get the termite ridden RVTC basement rooms cleaned and prepared to house the Library.

Bon Voyage
We wish PP Arvind Mahajan Bon Voyage for his trip to Europe from September  5 to October 11.

MCM DAV Rotaract Club Installation
The Installation Ceremony  of 2013-14 team of Rotaract Club of MCM DAV College for Women was held on 27 August. PP Baldev Aggarwal was the Chief Guest. Ms Manshul Jain has taken over as the new President.

President Hassan Mejie, in his speech, asked Rotaractors to think of out of the box programs and activities for the year. They were also encouraged to organise a big blood donation camp and raise funds for The Rotary Foundation and Uttarakhand Flood victims relief.

Interact Installation
Installation Ceremony of Interact Club, St. Stephen’s School Sector 45, Chandigarh will be held on September 9, at 12.20 pm. Members are requested to attend.

Lucky Draw

The Lucky Draw on 2 September (a crystal vase) was won by PP Vijay Wadhawan. [In the pic] Swami Krishnananda Giri giving the Lucky Gift to PP Vijay Wadhawan (right). Rtn Vivek Atray is standing in the Centre.

Fundraising Dinner

Celebrate Diwali with Rotary
Join us for an Evening with a Difference
To Ensure that no Child Dies for Want of Money!
 

Please join us for the Rotary Club of Chandigarh’s Fund Raising Dinner 2013, as we partner to provide Heartline, Gift of Sight & Hearing surgeries, as also  for  Gift of Knowledge and safe water and sanitation for communities in need.

 Open to Club Members and the public, the signature event will feature live Dance Performances, outstanding local cuisine, a sit down dinner, cocktails, and live auctions.

DATE: Saturday, October 19, 2013, 

Time:  7:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
VENUE: A 5 star Hotel in Chandigarh.

Donate  generously and reserve your seats as a Diwali gift for your spouse

Individual Plate: Rs 11,000,  VIP tables for: Rs 21,000 per plate

LIMITED SEATS. Register before 10 September 2013.

Unique & Exciting options on offer for Corporate Diwali Gifting
Contact President or Club Secretary.

Club News - August 26

Generous Donation
We are grateful to Mr Sandeep Dhawan, son-in-law of Late PP Janak raj Grover, for donating Rs 2.60 lakh for four Heartline surgeries.

Vocational Training Programme Update
As on August 26, 2013, we have 28 students in Tailoring class, five students in Beautician class and 36 students learning computers.

Emergency Preparedness Polio Workshop
PP Praveen Chander Goyal, DPPC 3080, attended the Emergency Preparedness and Response for Polio Workshop at Jaipur on 6-7 August, 2013. He was among the team that attended on behalf of Rotary International. The workshop was jointly hosted by World Health Organization and UNICEF. Topic of discussion was: Action to be taken by Rapid Response teams in case a polio case is detected.

D-3080 Polio Orientation Workshop
The District 3080 Polio Orientation and Planning Workshop for the States of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh was held at Competent Palace, Seilaqui, near Dehradun on 11 August. It  was hosted by Rotary Club of Doon Vikas.

Health Minister of Uttarakhand, Mr Surinder Singh Negi, was the Chief Guest. DG Rakesh Aggarwal, in his address, appreciated the role of Rotarians in the Polio program and wanted them to keep working on it till Polio is eradicated from the face of the earth.

District 3080 Polio Chairman, PP Praveen Chander Goyal told the gathering that although three countries are still having Polio cases, this year there had been an onslaught of Polio cases from Somalia (100 cases) and Kenya (10 cases). These countries were Polio free and the virus was imported to these countries. He also spoke on the Children for Children project, in which school children are motivated to collect funds for  Polio.

Presentation on Hypno-therapy
On August 26, as part of the programme of our weekly meeting, Mr Sandeep Kumar gave a presentation on hypno-therapy and explained how this technique is being successfully used to treat alcohol and drug addiction. He claimed a very high success rate—93 per cent people recover in six sessions, he claimed. Hypno-therapy works on thought, emotion, energy and state of mind, he said, and helps in inculcating  positive thinking for healthy living.

Railings Installed
Railings have been installed on the stairs outside, as well as those leading to the stage in the meeting hall, for the benefit of our senior members. This meets a long pending demand.

LUCKY DRAW

The Lucky Draw on 26 August (a crystal vase) was won by Rtn Jaspal Sidhu. [In the pic] R’Ann Harjeet Kaur, wife of PE Prof Paramjit Singh, giving away the gift to Rtn Jaspal.