Edition No.35

Transcription

1 The Lighthouse Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras Edition No.35 February 28, Pages Election Commission a glance Padma Bhushan Dr Narasimha Gopalaswami, Former CEC of India addressed the RCM meeting on the evolution of the Election Commision and touched upon the funding that goes into election campaign. Speaker said that the Election Commision came into being on the 25th Jan 1950 but was started in 1952.He narrated with facts on how the first election was conducted spreading for a period of 7 months from Sept 1951 to Feb 1952.This is due to the fact that since it is the first election,lot of aspects has to be taken into consideration like educating people,as the literacy rate was only 15% then and also create awareness about the Elections & the Election Commission. He went on to say that the voting was started with one box initially for each candidate,which continued for two elections and later became one box for all the candidates. He gave an interesting fact that today the EC is working over 90 crore voters with 543 constituencies and 300 elections held for various assemblies and 15 lok sabha elections.speaker recounted that the EC has deputed staff for handling for a single person in the middle of the forest area in the north,just to underline the idea that even that voter can access the ballot to cast his franchise He said that the EVM was conceived in 1978, as it was found that the time taken for counting the votes was too much. Though this was an novel idea, lot of objections were raised by some contestants regularly, and everytime it has to be got approved by the standing politicians. So the EC has to stop the EV machine and come out with the necessary amendments in the Constitution, as many were in the belief that it can be tampered. The Parliament in 1992 approved to go ahead and CEC Gill started to implement slowly in various places.,the first EVM was introduced fully in Tamilnadu in 2001 and later in all places of the country. He interestingly pointed out that all those who questioned the EVM in Courts ultimately won the elections. Speaker said that Tamilnadu was connected in the three major milestones in the election scenario namely. a)before Seshan & after Seshan b)before EVM & after EVM C)before Thirumangalam & after Thirumangalam. Seshan wanted to keep the elections clean and introduced identity cards to avoid bogus votes. Only after the 2G& 3G scams,the election situation got worse as lot of ill-gotten money started to come in as bribes to achieve their objectives in elections. But in the speakers point of view the money spent is only a symptom but the disease is elsewhere. Corruption & under table funding gradually grew up to win the elections. So what is spent in elections is an investment for raking money in due course. Also many politicians charge that the sealing of spending money has to be increased.but when the accounts submitted by them always shows that they have spent less against the fixed amount for the elections. Here he cited a quote of Vajpayee that every member of the parliament enters the parliament with a big lie on the first day itself, by stating that he has spent for the elections less than what the sealing has been prescribed. Citing on the freebies, speaker said that the manufacturer, receiver and the politician are all happy, as they are all benefitted in some way or other. Speaker was apologetic to paint a bad picture, as he considers that this will not end but was worried that this political spending and consequent corruption is eating the vitals of the country but wished that this could be spent for a noble cause for the betterment of the country. A very interesting Q and A session followed. PRESIDENT Rtn. Dr. N.V. Arulmozhi Varman Honorary SECRETARY Rtn. Dr. R. Chandrasekhar IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Rtn. A.S. Venkhat Ramani PRESIDENT ELECT Rtn. P N Mohan PRESIDENT NOMINEE Rtn. Ranjit Pratap Asst. SECRETARY / BULLETIN EDITOR Rtn. Mohan Raman DIRECTOR CLUB ADMINISTRATION Rtn. R. Rajenderan DIRECTOR YOUTH SERVICE Rtn. M Sesha Sai DIRECTOR PUBLIC IMAGE AND FUND RAISING Rtn. Harish K. Murthi DIRECTOR ROTARY FOUNDATION & INTERNATIONAL SERVICES Rtn. M. Balasubramaniam DIRECTOR SERVICE PROJECT 1 Rtn. R. Ravishankar DIRECTOR SERVICE PROJECT 2 Rtn. K.M. Vinod Kumar DIRECTOR VOCATIONAL SERVICE Rtn. S. Ravi TREASURER (CLUB FUNDS) Rtn. Hemant Chordia TREASURER (CHARITABLE TRUST) Rtn. Nimish C. Tolia TREASURER (SPECIAL PROJECTS) Rtn. Kishor Dandeker

2 2 minutes 21st FEBRUARY 2017 St-at-arms Rtn M Srinivasan collared President Rtn Dr Arulmozhi Varman who called the 34th meeting of RCM to order, followed by a silent invocation The minutes of the 21st Feb 17 meeting was duly confirmed. President welcomed the guest speaker Dr N Gopalaswami, former CEC of India, who will talk on Indian Elections some highlights & many problems. President welcomed visiting Rtn Jennifer Richmond from Austin University Area and PP DS Reddy and guest of members and Probus club Sivagaminathan & Muthammal. President then extended birthday & wedding anniversary wishes to the respective Rotarians/spouses and thanked for their sunshine. Rtn R Ravishankar, Director, Community Service invited all for the inauguration of Water & Sanitation Project by PRIP KR Ravi Ravindran in the presence of DG Natarajan Nagoji at Periyapuliyur,Gummidipoondi on 3rd March 17 at 9 am and the function will be till am. Interested members can contact him or Secretariat, so that car pooling can be arranged. We have constructed 175 toilets and 2 wells in this area under the global grant and requested members to come and encourage the team. Rtn Vikram Chesetty gave a report on the international trip to Srilanka with a help of a PPT. Rtn NK Gopinath said that our Flame has become eternal and the two flames will be received by RIP John Germ & wife Judy at the Atlanta Convention in June 17. Two projects namely Sanitation & Flame which are the brain Child of PP SN Srikanth had received a great recognition globally and made it to the RI that year. PP SN Srikanth added that he has suggested RI Bob to garner funds for the TRF which is celebrating the centenary year by proposing a project 35, where one PHF from each club around the world can add value to this project 35.This will definitely fetch 35 million dollars to the TRF, when 35,000 Rotary clubs worldwide contribute.this is still in the discussion stage by Rotary leaders,he said.it is a great honour to RCM for the flame taken by the RIP John Germ into the house of friendship. President reminded members about the inauguration of the Water & Sanitation project on the 3rd March and the DG official visit to our Club on the 7th March evening.requested members to attend with spouse. President said that our club has 50 registrations for PDG JB Kamdars Rotary South Asia Literacy Summit which is on the 3,4,5 March 17 at the Chennai Trade Centre. President congratulated the bulletin Committee for securing second place for the bulletin Awards conducted by RCM Metro on the 24th Feb 17. Rtn Vinod Kumar informed that Rtn Bhaswar in his acceptance speech highlighted the special features, namely ours being a weekly and continuous release despite natural calamities or death of a CM etc. Secretary Rtn Dr R Chandrasekhar announced that the next weekly meeting on the 7th March 17 will be the official visit to our Club at 6.30 Abbotsbury Hall, Hyatt. 11th March 17 Saturday will be a evening meeting where Mr Akshay Kothari, Head of Linkedin will be the speaker. 14th March 17, Tuesday no meeting. Requested members to note the above programs. Rtn PP K Gopal Ratnam introduced the guest speaker Padmabhushan Dr Narasimha Gopalaswami, former CEC by reading out his profile. Speaker N Gopalaswami spoke interestingly with facts about the Election Commission and the funding aspects. There was a very absorbing Q &A after his talk. President presented a memento and our Clubs 80 year history book to N Gopalaswami on behalf of RCM. Rtn Dr S Ramachandran thanked N Goplaswami for the insight on the election commission / developments / difficulties encountered and applauded the great job done. The meeting was then adjourned.

3 3 Joint meeting of 1929 ROTARY CLUBS OF MADRAS, COLOMBO and SEREMBAN on World understanding day. The official part of the SRILANKA visit started with on Informal Board Meeting with the Rotary Club of Colombo. The RCM Board was represented by 10 members. The meeting was held at Rtn. Kaushik s Chinese restuarant. Both the Clubs gave a detailed account of the projects done by them over the decades and their future plans. We also discussed the challenges faced by Clubs to attract new members and to raise donations to fund new projects. It was an enriching meeting and both the Clubs gained a lot of new perspectives. The Meeting was followed by fellowship and lunch. 8th BM OF RCM Rtn Balu had a long cherished dream of having a Board Meeting at an International Venue. This materialised when we had the 8th Board Meeting at the Ball room on the10th floor of the Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo. The view was scenic and the hall was freezing. Inspite of the distractions we had a very detailed and meaningful exchange of ideas in the BM which was followed by Fellowship and dinner. CLUBS OF 1929 INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP Dressed in our traditional veshti, shirt and Angavastram and the ladies looking gorgeous in their sarees the RCM army marched into the Ball room of the Taj Samudra for the Group of 1929 Clubs Fellowship. The meeting stared with a presentation by the President Rtn. Abidali of RC Colombo. This was followed by a very absorbing talk by PRIP Ravindran. Rtn. Aruls A-V presentation highlighting RCM activities was very well received. There was also apresentation by Our Sister Club RC of Serembem Malaysia and RC of Kochi. This was followed by fellowship and dinner.

4 Clubs Meet Colombo Joint Meeting Rotary Club of Madras was well represented by 35 Rotarians and spouses hosted by Rotary Club of Colombo at Taj Samudra, Colombo. Clockwise from the top : President Arulmozhi Varman address the joint meeting calling for more cooperation between our clubs Our ladies looking stunning in sarees PP Vivek Harinarain catches up with past RI President Mr KR Ravindran Bottom left : Anil Sreenivasan on the Piano, enthralled the audience with his signature medleys.

5 5 World 1929 Clubs Colombo Fellowship Fabulous fellowship, fine dining restaurants, casino nights, bars in the sky, shopping and taking in the sights of Colombo - this trip did it all in style. Clockwise from the top : Arul and Uma, connoisseurs of crab leading from the front Rajesh looking dapper, surveys the scene Prabha, Tanu and Asha with their Rama! Archana and Rita strike a pose at the roof top Sky Bar At the Ministry of Crab a stylish restaurant owned by Kumara Sangakkara. Bottom Right : Vijaya Bharathi, Rukmani and Bharat head out shopping to Odel and Paradise Road.

6 Meet & More... Balu and Paul Raise the bar for RCM outstation fellowships yet again Clockwise from the top : Secretaries past and present Ravi and Dr Chandru at Shri Ponnambalawaneswaram Kovil High Performing RCMers Bharat, Nimish, Balu, Ravi, Harish, Ravi and Chandru with Past RI President Prakash's word of advice to RCM high command upto "when in doubt just dance" Raman, Krishna and Chandru with Vijaya and Archana enjoying the Kingsbury party The Big three- Paul, Balu who made this trip possible with Anil who added his touch of class Both our Ashoks toasting Rtn Kumudhu of RCC Bottom left : Paul, Tanu and Prabha arrive for lunch at the historic Galle Face Hotel looking super cool. PHOTO ESSAY BY VIKRAM CHESETTY [PICS BY PARTICIPANTS]

7 7 Rtn PP N.K.Gopinath announced that our Rotary Flame continues to travel the globe and that the RI President John Germ and his wife Judy may carry two torches into the Atlanta convention in June. This will be preceded by a 100 mile run from Chattanooga to the House of Friendship. Rtn Gopi said that Rtn PP Srikanth was a visionary President. The Flame was a huge success and the sanitation project started by Rtn Srikanth has also now blossomed into a big affair. Rtn PP Srikanth then took the mike to say that he had made a proposal called Project 35M to RI wherein each club in the world would contribute $1000 to the Foundation. With 35,000 clubs in Rotary, that would be $35 million, hence Project 35M. Rtn Srikanth said that the proposal was under discussion by RI leaders. RI president s John F Germ message PRESIDENT MARCH 2017 Forty years ago, the Rotary Club of Duarte, Calif., admitted three women members, in violation of the Rotary International Constitution. As a result, the club s charter was terminated by RI. Undeterred, the club s members continued to meet. They put an X over their Rotary insignia, made themselves new pins, and dubbed themselves the Ex-Rotary Club of Duarte as they continued to fight for the right of women to serve as Rotarians. Ten years later, a restored Rotary Club of Duarte sent Sylvia Whitlock, Rotary s first female club president, to a presidents-elect training seminar. Not long after that, in 1989, Rotary s Council on Legislation permanently ended Rotary s status as a men-only organization. Today, with more than 240,000 women in our clubs, Rotary is stronger than ever. We are women and men from nearly every country of the world, serving our communities in more than 35,000 clubs. At the club level, we need men and women of all backgrounds, ages, cultures, and professions; internationally, we need clubs in every city, country, and region of the world. The better our clubs reflect their communities, the better we can serve them. Our diversity is our strength. It is difficult for most of us to imagine today why anyone argued so strongly against the idea of women in Rotary. Looking back, I think that opposition came from a simple resistance to change. Rotarians loved Rotary the way it was and couldn t imagine it any other way. We still love Rotary as much as we ever did. We love the friendships and connections we make there, and the ability Rotary provides us to serve humanity. We believe Rotary has tremendous value in our own lives and in the world at large. And we recognize, more than ever, that for Rotary to continue to grow, it needs to embrace the world it serves in all of its diversity, all of its variety, and all of its evolving needs for service. The Rotarians of today owe a debt of gratitude to the Rotarians of Duarte 40 years ago. Their determination, persistence, and enduring goodwill set the stage for the organization we have become: Rotary Serving Humanity. Birthday 10th March Rtn Dr K Rajan 11th March Rtn Rajesh Somasundaram 13th March Rtn PP Vijay Krishna 8th March Ann Rashmi (Rtn Sunil Sudhakar Shankar) 9th March Ann.Komal (Rtn Harbinder Singh Rattha) 9th March Ann Rajshri (Rtn Linesh Sanatkumar) 9th March Ann Renu (Rtn Shankar Jalan ) Wedding 7th March Rtn Madhav Sehgal Ann. Simran 9th March Rtn Bhaswar Mukherjee Ann. Dr Saswati 11th March Rtn Girdhar Hemdev Ann. Asha Sunshine PDG S Krishnaswami ` 2000 Rtn R Ravishankar ` 1000 Rtn T Shivaraman ` 2000 Rtn N Subramanian ` 1000 EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Advisors: Rtn. PP N.K. Gopinath, Rtn. Sunita Suresh Chairman: Rtn. Mohan Raman Rtn. Shaan Katari Libby, Rtn. Bhaswar Mukherjee, Rtn. Shakthi Girish, Rtn. Biswajit Babu, Rtn. Sandhya Sridhar, Rtn. R. Ravishankar, Rtn. Hiren B. Shah, P.S. Sridharan EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY: Rtn. Asst. Secretary, Rotary Club of Madras, Rayala Towers, 2nd Mezzanine Floor, 158, Anna Salai, Chennai - 2, Ph: Contact the editor at: mohanraman@gmail.com. Design: Visit: Contact club secretariat at: office@rotarymadras.in With best compliments from: