Sunday, 31 May 2015
RCBW Seeks CSR Partnerships with Corporates
Rotary Club of Bombay West, one of the premier rotary clubs
of India which recently celebrated its 61st anniversary, has taken a
first step towards inviting corporates to partner with them to execute
community service projects under the newly introduced CSR initiatives by the
Government of India.
As we are aware, the Indian Companies
Act, 2013 has made it mandatory for companies having a net worth of rupees Indian
Rs.500 crore or more or a turnover of Indian Rs.1000 crore or more or a net
profit of Indian Rs.5 crore or more should mandatorily spend at least 2% of
last 3 years’ average net profits on CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities
as specified in Schedule VII of the said Act. The rules made thereunder came into
effect from 1 April 2014. CSR refers to the way that businesses are managed to
bring about an overall positive impact on the communities, cultures, societies
and environments in which they operate.
At an interactive session organized by
RCBW on May 28, 2015 at Rotary Service Centre, Juhu, Mumbai where invitees from
several corporates were present, CA Sandeep Bhalla representing KPMG gave an
overview of the CSR obligations and guided the audience on how to implement and
be compliant with the CSR provisions of the Act. Queries raised by the representatives of the
Corporates were answered to their satisfaction.
Incoming President Shirish Rege of RCBW
made a slick presentation on the work done in the area of community service,
its flagship projects as well as projects under implementation / scanner. He also explained to the audience on the
benefits of partnership with rotary clubs in general and Rotary Club of Bombay
West in particular. To view
the PPT, please click here.
Several clarifications were sought and
queries raised by the invitees which were responded in detail by President of
the Club, Mohan Joshi and the Incoming President Shirish Rege.
Harminder Patheja, Club’s President Nominee for
rotary year 2017-18 thanked the invitees who represented several well-known
corporate houses including Aditya Birla Financial Services, Reliance
Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Smile Foundation, KPMG, Galderma
India, Saakav and S.P.Jain Institute of Management. He specially thanked Vivek Padgaonkar,
Hon.Rotarian of RCBW and Director of Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers
of India (OPPI) for having supported this initiative of the Club.
Thursday, 14 May 2015
Content Oriented Films Inspire Masses And Preserve Artistic Heritage
Content oriented
cinema carry a social message thru’ medium of entertainment and challenge
our intellect while at the same time broadening our perspective of the society
in which we all exist. Speaking at the
meeting of Rotary Club of Bombay West on
Wednesday, May 13, 2015, Shri Vivek Kajaria, well-known film producer said
content oriented cinema inspire the masses, motivate them towards inner
reflection and preserve artistic heritage.
These films help independent cinema to stand out at International Film
Festivals around the globe.
Shri Vivek Kajaria, is a creative film producer and
is one of the top five Independent Film Producers changing the
face of Indian cinema at a global level. He has to
credit some path breaking films like Fandry,
Shaala and Anumati which have won
several national and international awards and accolades at various Film
Festivals. Introducing Shri Kajaria, Past
President of the Club Shri Rajendra Ruia said that very few producers in India
are dedicated towards making of content
oriented cinema. An MBA and M.Sc.in
Computer Science from Warwick University, UK, Shri Kajaria has set up his own
advertising and media outfit in the name of HolyBasil which is now associated
with Lowe Lintas, Ulka, Leo Brunette, Standard Chartered, Surf Excel, HUL, etc.
Art films or Off-Beat films were a rage prior to the
90s when rising costs discouraged production of such films. However, in recent times, the new-age films
with distinct messages for the audience have once again become popular and most
of them are also making commercial sense due to larger public acceptance. Films like Lunch-Box, Fandry and many more have been commercial success thus
encouraging even the front-line actors and producers to experiment with content oriented cinema. Films like PIKU, Ship of Thesus, NH10 or Bombay Velvet are some of the recent
examples.
According to Shri Kajaria, content oriented cinemas have
great education value and are thought-provoking. These films seek to bring about change and
promote welfare of the society. He urged
the audience to see these films in theatres and encourage the growing talent
while bringing about a change in the society.
-Report by Rtn.Aslam
Merchant
Friday, 8 May 2015
RCBW's Bhavishya Yaan.. A Centre of Excellence
Our Club is associated with the
Bhavishya Yaan Centre at Marathi Municipal School, Dixit Road, Vile Parle East,
Mumbai since its inception over 3 years ago. In the current rotary year, our Club has commenced a similar initiative at Sane
Guruji Marathi Vidyalaya at Santacruz West, Mumbai. Past President Rtn.Sukh Dev Puri and Past
President of Inner Wheel Club of Bombay West R/Ann Urmil Puri have been the
driving force behind success of this project, spending time and money to ensure
high quality results which some of us could witness at the grand finale of the
Summer Camp organized by the students recently.
The students are mostly from an
underprivileged background and are perhaps the first generation in their
respective families to have reached the secondary level in school
education. These students could
effortlessly perform on stage, a variety theme-based
entertainment-cum-educative programme on “Goa”. Their rendition of talks, poems and songs in
English language with clear diction and pronunciations was heartening. It was
quite delighting to witness the event and at some level, feel proud to be a
rotarian from RCBW which had made this transformation possible in them. 
Much of the credit to this
success goes to the Centre Manager, Ms.Deepa Shetiya – a young, energetic,
dynamic, enthusiastic teacher entrusted with the responsibility to conduct the
sessions and manage day-to-day affairs for the project on behalf of our
Partners, Vidya (an NGO engaged among
other things in educating the underprivileged children).
Speaking to her on the sidelines
of the Summer Camp Finale, one could not avoid her contagious smile nor could
one be unaffected by the tremendous passion she has towards this project. In one breadth she talked about how
intelligent the children were in picking up newer skills and in the next she
would be praising their parents for their support. Pride was seen all over her face when she
talked about the toppers in the last Board Exams were all from the first batch
of Bhavishya Yaan project. She
introduced us to some of the potential toppers at the next Board Exams for
which, through her efforts and some assistance from our Club, would be put
through intensive coaching.
Ms.Shetiya and her band of
colleagues from Vidya had organized a trip to Kidzania for students of Bhavishya Yaan, the cost of which was
sponsored by RCBW. She narrated the
enjoyable and learning experience of the children which they will remember for
a long time to come. The students could
first-hand experience different skill-based careers and try their hands at them
for earning tokens which they could later splurge on games and delicacies of
their choice.
Earlier, with the objective of brushing
up their life skills and English skills, giving them vocational guidance,
encouraging them to go for further education and preparing them for adolescence
age by teaching them sex education and stress management, a Finishing School
Session was organized for the students spread over two days at Banganga and
Chembur Bhavishya Yaan Centres. The
methodology used was Interactive Discussions, Role Play and Group
Activities. Among the topics covered
were fear, nervousness, positive thinking, focus, power of thoughts, verbal
communication, non-verbal communication, listening, power of appreciation and
perception. The learning was experiential with games, skits, role plays and
other facilitative techniques to bring the best out of the students. Children were made to present in front of
camera twice and showed increase in confidence level. Experts from the respective fields made
presentations on de-addiction, sexuality, etc.
At the end of the Finishing School Session, students were rewarded with
a visit to Imagica.
Truly, Bhavishya Yaan is turning
out to be a Centre of Excellence, transforming
students from less privileged backgrounds and making them at par with students of accredited private schools. To quote an employer-housewife of a maid
whose daughter is a Bhavishya Yaan student…. ‘how come your daughter speaks as
good an English as my daughter who goes to a convent school’. Ofcourse, the employer-housewife has yet to
see so many other talents of these children which they learn and develop as
part of Bhavishya Yaan.
Would you like to contribute to
this noble project? Your time, your
skills or your money can give a further impetus and can help us in opening
additional Centres of Excellence !!
-
Rtn.Aslam
Merchant with inputs from Ms.Deepa Shetiya, Centre Manager, Bhavishya Yaan
Friday, 1 May 2015
RCBW Launches "Nepal Relief Fund"
Within hours of the announcement, RCBW Members committed donations of over Rs.15 lacs for the Fund. An Appeal has also been made by the Club to members of the public to donate generously for this noble cause and help our neighbours 'rise from the rubble' to its former glory.
RCBW Honours Dr.Bharat Mahale
Rotary Club of Bombay West honoured Dr.Bharat Mahale with Rotary Vocational Excellence Award for his exemplary work on Maternal Mortality Reduction Project at Village Jawahar, Dist.Palghar in State of Maharashtra.
RCBW Celebrates its 61st Anniversary
Rotary Club of Bombay West celebrated its 61st Charter Nite on Wednesday, 29th April, 2015 at "The Club", D.N.Nagar, Andheri West, Mumbai.The highlight of the evening was the dance performance "In Search of Krishna" by former member of our Club, Ms.Namita Bodaji. A disciple of Guru G.Karunambal Pillai (who incidentally passed away on the same day at the ripe age of 92), Namita gave a heart-touching performance in fond memory of her Gurumaa, which left the audience spell-bound.
The event was well attended by members and their spouses, dignitaries from the District 3140 and especially invited guests.
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