The LighthouseBulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras 2015-2016 • Edition No.36 • March 22, 2016 • 4 Pages

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

Conserve EnergyProfessor R. Rajagopalan, IIT Madras, shifted

his focus to environmental issues more than 20 years ago, served as the Director of

International Ocean Institute (IOI India), coordinated several international ocean and environment-related courses, and written many books on environment and climate change.

Professor opened his talk by speaking about his life, family, future generations and the crisis of unprecedented magnitude that we all face today. If proper steps are taken, some changes are possible. He stated that extreme weather events are on the rise and we must be ready to cope with such events.

The professor recalled the recent natural disaster experienced in Tamil Nadu, where there was an excessive record of rainfall/floods. Meteorologists attributed the heavy rains to the phenomenon of El Nino, an oscillation of the ocean-atmosphere system in the tropical Pacific. This happened due to the unplanned and illegal development over water bodies, allowing no exit route for the rain water. El Nino itself might be influenced by climate change.

The Intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) and other world meteorological organisations report that the average surface temperature of the earth has been increasing day by day, making it warmer marginally. Even small increases in the Earth’s temperature caused by climate change can have severe effects.

Climate change (also called global warming) refers to the rise in average surface temperatures on Earth..This is due primarily to the human use of fossil fuels, which releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Professor was concerned that many coastal areas in the world will submerge in water in the future, along with the melting of the Himalayas.

The next concern of the Professor is the drowning of cities in a sea of garbage, which will be a great challenge for the world to deal with in the future. The

rubbish thrown in the sea gets accumulated in certain areas in the pacific and the species in the sea die after consuming them. Due to our human activities, Professor indicated that there will be water scarcity, collapse of fisheries and a startling food crises.

Professor specified that using natural resources immensely and polluting the planet are the primary reasons for this.

This results in our ecological foot print being much larger than the geographical area, as we are overusing

the resources meant for our future generations. Professor stated that the natural capital we use has to be included while measuring our GDP growth.

After detailing about the causes & effects of the climate change, Professor suggested that the 3 areas to be focused on are - water, waste and energy. By working together, we can have a positive effect on reducing the consequences of global warming and seriously strive for a sustainable living.

Solution: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Rain Water Harvesting, renovate ponds/tanks, make litter-free places, increase organic food intake, create parks.

TreaT NaTure wiTh more respecT

2 Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • Edition 36 • March 22, 2016

Holi, the festival that signifies the onset of

spring is celebrated with a lot of fun, frolic

and a riot of colours. The official date of Holi 2016

falls on 23rd March but we at the Rotary club of

Madras decided to usher in the celebrations a

little early on Sunday, 20th March.

Owing to the various diverse cultural

backgrounds and regions our members hail

from, it is an enviable privilege that we the

members of this club get to participate, celebrate

and enjoy the various religious festivals from all

parts of our vast country. A sudden change in

venue from Rtn Harish Murthi’s residence to Rtn

Rajesh Somasundaram’s was carried out swiftly

and efficiently by our very able fellowship

team, supported by our generous battalion of

hosts. Though Rtn Rajesh was away in Burma

on business, Midhuna was a gracious hostess

who took care of all the necessary coordination

along with the organizers and left no stone

unturned in putting together a truly wonderful

afternoon wherein the ambience, food, music,

dance and the intoxicating bhang were all

planned perfectly.

As the invite promised, only members who

were comfortable going the whole hog were

splashed with colours. The rest were simply

welcomed with a symbolic ‘tika’ on the forehead

by a cheerful Rtn Archana. Guests were lured on

to the dance floor by Rtn Linesh, Bharat Pujara,

Nimish Tolia and many more, whose faces were

unrecognizable! The beating of the traditional

dhol (drums) set the tempo of the occasion.

The professional singers and dancers kept the

mood upbeat and the audience engaged. They

also got Rtn Vivek Harinarain to serenade a love

song from an old Hindi movie to Chicky. The

colorful afternoon was spent amongst a lot of

chatter and fun with some of the mischievous

Rotarians like Tony, Chin Chin and Prez Venkat

coming around giving their friendly hugs (with

the main intention of transferring color onto

unsuspecting receivers!).

The hosts ensured that we all tried all the

delicacies starting from the chaat, to the large

main course with couple of live stations and a

variety of specialty Indian breads. The array

of desserts included yummy hot jalebies, soft

rasgullas, and a specialty called chocolate

dipped pani puri and many more including kulfi

and paan. On behalf of the President and all the

members, I would like to thank Rtn Suresh

Kumar who was the man at the helm looking

into all the finer details, the hosts, Rajesh and

Midhuna and the fellowship team for putting

together this well-curated Holi fellowship. -- Tanuja Paul

3 Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • Edition 36 • March 22, 2016

Sgt-at-arms PP Vivek Harinarain collared President Rtn A S Venkhat Ramani, who called the 36th meeting of RCM to order,

followed by a silent invocation. President welcomed the guest speaker Prof

R Rajagopalan who addressed us on Climate changes and Environmental crises.

President welcomed guests introduced by members, Probus Club members Namasivayan\Chandrasekar, Spouses/IWC members and visiting Rtn Albert from Germany.

Birthday/wedding anniversary wishes were extended by the President to the respective Rotarians/spouses who celebrated that week and thanked them for their sunshine.

PP Indra Subramanyam, District Director, Community Service Development reported on her 6 day visit with PDG Krishnaswamy to Colombo/Jaffna/Kandy. 5 rotarians from Canada and 5 rotarians from Chennai visited these places. PP Indra handed over the flag collected from RC Kandy. She briefly spoke about the projects in progress there.

PP Vivek Harinarain informed members about the fabulous Holi full club fellowship celebrated in Rtn Rajesh Somasundaram’s home. He

thanked the hosts and the 145 members who turned up that afternoon with their families. It was a great sense of encouragement and appreciated the efforts of Rtns. Suresh Kumar, Linesh, Archana and the dancers who made Holi a wonderful day to remember. President thanked Rtn Rajesh for spontaneously agreeing to give his place at the last minute due to the venue change.

President thanked the efforts of PDG Benjamin Cherian for getting the contract from CTS for the renovation of 50 schools under the “Schools into Smiles” Project.

Rtn Dr S Ramachandran, Chair, Community Health Care informed members that with the initiative of Rtn Sesha Sai, we could get Rs 5 lacs as sponsorship from Karur Vysya Bank to conduct medical camps. He gave the medical camp schedule to be held in March’161. 19th March Attur village near sholavaram,

Redhills.3. 28th March Chrompet Vaishnav College.

4. 30th March Gummudipoondi Periya puliyur. 5. Childrens Garden school spectacles.6. Child trust hospital free camp for children.

He thanked Uma Eye Clinic, Ragas and SMF for participating in these camps. Around 200 people will be benefitted from each camp, he said. President thanked Rtn PP Paul K Jacob for being instrumental in getting the funds from KVB.

President thanked Rtn PP Linda Calson of Cannon City, Colorado for the donation of $1500 for IWC.

President said that the mother of IWC, President Renuka Sabanayagam passed away recently and conveyed the condolences to the bereaved family.

Rtn Gowri Shanker introduced the guest speaker Prof R Rajagopalan by reading out his profile & accomplishments.

Prof R Rajagopalan addressed the club on “Climate Change and the Global Environmental Crisis: What does it mean to you and what should you do about it?”. The speaker explained facts & figures with the help of visual aids.

President presented our clubs 80 year history book to Prof Rajagopalan on behalf of RCM.

Rtn PP Gopal Ratnam thanked the speaker Prof R Rajagopalan for his eye-opening speech.

The meeting was then adjourned.

MINUTES

District Governor Visit:monday 4th april’16 – Club Assembly 7pm @ Wallajah Room, Taj Connemera Tuesday 5th april’16 – DG visit to Club 6.45 pm @ Ball Room, Taj Connemera. Requested members to attend the above.

4 New members inductionpresident invitedRtn Jayant Hemdev to introduce Mr.Arindam Kunar on behalf of Rtn Ashok Thakkar.Rtn.Gowri Shanker to introduce Mr.Balaji ChinniRtn Vikram Chesetty to introduce Mr Rajit MhetrasRtn Gowri Shanker to introduce Mr Vijay Kumar Kadel on behalf of Rtn Rajesh Somasundaram.

President inducted them into the club by pinning the lapel pin, after the Rotary orientation was given PP Ravi Katari and his team earlier.All members rose and greeted the newly inducted members amidst a big round of applausePresident thanked him for the donation of Rs 25,000 towards RCMCT

4 Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • Edition 36 • March 22, 2016

29th mar – rtn pc shyam sunder31st mar – rtn Dr anuradha Ganesan2nd april – rtn Dr p.V.srinath Yeshwanth3rd april – rtn V Gopalan3rd april – rtn p.V.mohan raman29th mar – ann Laura (rtn Nikhil raj)30th mar – ann.sarita (rtn mahinder Jain)2nd April – Ann.Devdatta (rtn anil mulchandani)3rd april – spouse: sanjay Balram (rtn archana shri sanjay)

birthday

30th mar – rtn emc palaniappan ann.parvathi3rd april – rtn s subramaniam ann.ranjitha

WEddiNG

rtn ravi moorthy – rs 1000rtn emc palaniappan – rs 1000

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: lighthouse201516@gmail.com. Design: www.studiodescience.com

Visit: www.rotarymadras.in Contact club secretariat at: office@rotarymadras.in

Next week… The next regular weekly meeting is on the 29/3/2016 , which will be a Closed Door Meeting (PHC, Rehab & Financial status)

Aerate your lawn periodically. Holes every six inches will allow water to reach the roots, rather than run off the surface.

Water Tip

I am overwhelmed by the response and support I have got from all for the Full Club Fellowship,

HOLI HUNGAMA ‘16.This year, all the fellowships are at its peak and

the HOLI festivity is no exception. The last minute change in venue was very seamless thanks to Rtn. Rajesh Somasundaram. No one could feel the afternoon sun thanks to the covered ‘shamiana’ and the water coolers (pun intended - Mojitos’ &

Tiger Beers) The huge spread of exotic food from snacks to chat to chocolate rabadis to malpuas, was all mind blowing and tickled our taste buds. And of course the thandai (with bhang) for those who wanted it. All of this was possible due the efforts of a single man army - Rtn Suresh Kumar. Rtn. Archana Sanjay did a splendid job in anchoring the entire program.

The good music and dhol got everyone to the dance floor thanks to Rtn. Bharat Pujara, Vivek Harinarain, Aditya Agarwal, Sharon, Satyan Bhatt, Mohan Raman, Ashok Thakkar, Pres. Venkhat, Madhav, Tony, Gopalratnam, and whole lot of members with their Spouse and Kids. The best

was, of course, Rtn. Pratap doing the Nagin Dance and Rtn. Ashok Banerjee playing the Dhol.

These fellowships are a great way to bind bonds and it would be nicer if the Green Rotarians come in larger numbers in future.

Rtn Suresh and Archana join me in thanking everyone who came and the Hosts for making this fellowship a success.

- Rtn Linesh

R I Dist 3230 Rotary Centenary Charitable trust which was formed in the centenary year of

Rotary to initiate the ‘Schools into Smiles’ Project, has successfully partnered with Coca Cola, Charity Aid Foundation and Aircel in improving the infrastructure of Govt Schools under the ‘Support my School’ Programme.

On 16th March 2016, Our Dist 3230 and R I

Dist 3230 Rotary Centenary Charitable trust have signed an agreement with Cognizant Technology Solutions India Pvt Ltd for the renovation & refurbishing of 50 schools at a cost of Rs. 7.5 crores. This project will be executed by Rotary clubs of Dist 3230 in the next 4 – 5 months.

- PDG Benjamin Cherian, Founder TrusteeR I Dist 3230 Rotary centenary Charitable Trust

corporate connect

Letter to the Rotary Family

Medical CampThe medical screening and treatment camp

conducted at Manapathi Village near Thiruporur, conducted on 19.3.2016 was a huge success with over 120 patients benefiting from the camp. Special thanks to the following organization for sending their team of doctors:

1. Eye check up by Uma Eye Clinic (Rtn Dr

Arulmozhi Varman)2. General health screening by doctors

from Ragas General Hospital (Rtn Dr S

Ramachandran)3. Dental screening by Ragas Dental College

(Rtn Dr S Ramachandran) Rtn Sesha Sai, who organized this camp

attended the camp personally. This camp was made possible with the financial assistance provided by Karur Vysa Bank.

The details of the patients benefited by the camp are as follows:

Total number of medical screening done by doctors of Ragas GH: 90

Total no. of eye checkups done by Uma eye clinic: 118

Dental treatments and procedures done by Ragas Dental College:

Total no. of screenings: 43Total no. of scalings: 21Total no. of extractions: 03Total no. of restorations: 01I thank all our members in making this camp

a huge success.- Rtn Dr S Ramachandran