ICT Celebrates Birth Centenary of PP Shri D.M.Trivedi

Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Indian Chemical Council and Indian Plastics Institute are celebrating the birth centenary of our Charter Member and Past President Late Dr.D.M.Trivedi, a pioneer in chemical and polymer industry in India, by organizing Three D.M.Trivedi Endowment Lectures on 1st April, 2015.

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RCBW Confers Vocational Excellence Award on Shri Natvarbhai Desai

Rotary Club of Bombay West has conferred Vocational Excellence Award on Shri  Natvarbhai Desai for his yeomen service to differently-abled people in Bhavnagar. 

WOW... What A District Conference !!

WOW DISCON 2015 - A Brief Report

The Annual District Conference of Dist.3140 “WOW DISCON 2015” was held on 31^st January and 1^st February 2015 at NSCI, Worli, Mumbai.  More than 25 rotarians, anns and rotractors from our Club attended the event which was described as the largest Rotary District Conference ever with participation of over 2500.  For the first time, the Conference was streamed live on Internet and again for the first time, participants could ask and vote for questions to the Speakers through their smartphones which were moderated and flashed on the giant screens.

Third E-Learning Centre Launched by RC of Bombay West

Third E-Learning Centre Launched by RC of Bombay West

Rotary Club of Bombay West is proud to announce launch of its 3^rd E-Learning Centre at Sane Guruji Vidyalaya, Santacruz West, Mumbai on Saturday, 22 November 2014.  Earlier this month, the Club launched E-Learning Centres at Municipal Marathi School, Vile Parle East, Mumbai and B.L.Agarwal School, Khar West, Mumbai.

RCBW launches E-Learning @ Municipal School, Vile Parle, Mumbai

Launch of First E-Learning Module at Municipal School

11^th November 2014 will go down in the history of Rotary Club of Bombay West as yet another red letter day when the First E-Learning Module sponsored by our Club was launched at the Municipal Secondary Marathi School, Vile Parle E, Mumbai by President Elect Shirish Rege in presence of PP Sukhdev Puri, R/Ann.Urmil Puri, Rtn.Shefali Shah and Vice President Rtn.Aslam Merchant.  Also present were Ms. Sangita Gupta, Vice Chairperson, Ms.Deepa Shetiya, Centre Manager and teachers Mehtab Jafferwala, Vinita Fernandes, Amit Banagi from the Vidya team which runs the Bhavishya Yaan programme at the same school since last three years. 

The equipment consisting mainly of LED projector and set of accessories was handed over to Ms.Neeta Gavit, Principal of the School and Mr.Sagar Kamble, Teacher amidst applause from those present at the brief ceremony. Children from the Bhavishya Yaan programme performed skits, dance, speech, etc. and impressed the Rotarians on personality development achieved by the dedicated team of teachers attached to the programme.  Later, a representative from Tirubaa Technologies conducted a training session for the teachers on the use of the equipments donated to the school.

The Rotary e-Learning program (RELP) is designed to bring quality education in such schools. It helps students to repeat lessons at their own pace, carry out extra studies and also give tests to hone their skills through use of technology and at an affordable cost. This is a proven Rotary program which has reversed negative trends leading to increased attendance, higher level of learning, employability and eventual empowerment of youth. The equipment with solar back-up option is a high definition LED projector with pre-loaded  educational software meeting the curriculum needs from standard 1 to 10. With its wi-fi capability and a USB port, it facilitates showing additional contents on health & hygiene, value education and other topics useful for students and teachers.

Kudos to the Literacy Team of RCBW led ably by Club Director Rtn.Hemant Joshi for having achieved the first successful launch of E-Learning with many more to follow in the months and years to come.

-       Report by Rtn.Aslam Merchant

SUPA FARMS ROTARY EXCELLENCE AWARDS to Adivasi Children in rural Maharashtra

Supa Farm Rotary Excellence Awards

On Saturday, 8^th November, 2014, the first Supa Farms Rotary Excellence Awards Ceremony was held at Girinivas Education Trust School at Nareshwadi, Dhundhalwadi Village, Talasari Taluka, Dist.Thane in Maharashtra.

As you are aware, Supa Farms Rotary Excellence Awards were recently instituted by our Club with a donation of Rs.50 lacs received from Dr.Mohanbhai Patel through Surajba Charitable Trust for students from tribal belts in Dahanu and Talasari Talukas, in Maharashtra.  Students securing 1st, 2nd and 3rd ranks in their respective schools at the SSC Board Exams will be awarded cash prizes of Rs.5000, Rs.3000 and Rs.2000 respectively every year from the income earned on the corpus created from the donation.  This year, around 35 schools were selected cash awards were given away to more than 100 students to motivate towards higher achievements.

President Elect Shirish Rege welcomed the gathering and briefly introduced the activities of our Club to the audience.  He spoke about our community service projects – both permanent and one-off projects – which we have been successfully implementing over the last six decades.  He then gave glimpse of our proposed projects viz. Improvement in Infrastructure at Kosbad Ashram Shaala, Introducing E-Learning at schools in Mumbai suburbs as well as rural areas and Setting up of Language Lab at Sathaye College.

Dr.Mohanbhai Patel, Past President of our Club and Ex-Sheriff of Mumbai, graced the occasion whereas Dr.(Mrs.) Kavita Rege, Principal of Sathaye College, Vile Parle, Mumbai was the Chief Guest at the event.  The awardees were accompanied by the School Principals / Teachers as well as their parents / guardians.  Also present were Smt.Lilaben Kotak, Trustee of Girinivas Education Trust along with Principals, Teachers and Admin Officials of the Trust. PP Arvind Shah, Club Secretary Sandeep Vasani, Vice President Aslam Merchant, Club Directors Sampati Patel and Gautam Chande and Rtns.Mohanlal Gupta, Hiralal Suthar, Ramesh Damani and Nilesh Samant and R/Ann Shahin Merchant were also present.

Addressing the gathering, Dr.Mohanbhai Patel talked what “Excellence” meant to him.  The phenomenal work done by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to unite India post-freedom from the Britishers was epitome of “Excellence” and so was the communication skills of Mahatma Gandhi who could effectively communicate with 40 crore Indians without the availability of present day technology-based tools.  Today, every child in India has equal opportunity to excel.  In his several interactions with tribal people, he found them to be extremely intelligent and sharp though may have lacked opportunities in the past.  The intention of the Supa Farm Rotary Excellence Awards was to recognize the potential amongst the tribal children and encourage them to have high ambitions in life.  By bringing Rotary to the doorstep of these villages, his objective was to encourage interactions of rural students with urban professionals and contribute towards their  development.

Dr.(Mrs) Kavita Rege in her address to the audience at the function talked about overall development of personality for success in life. She emphasized the need to ensure everyone in the community grows by leveragng on diverse individual strengths.  Internet was a great leveler as irrespective of where you are located, you have access to the same information which any other child will have any where in the world. She encouraged children to look at their own competencies and listen to their own inner desires before selecting a vocation or career. Its only when you like what you’re doing and having fun in what you’re doing that you can build a successful career for yourself and thus contribute towards building a strong nation.

After distribution of the cash awards and certificates at the hands of the Chief Guest, the awardees were handed a framed photograph of their receiving the award before they left the venue with a broad smile on their faces.  Rtn.Aslam Merchant proposed a vote of thanks.

E-Learning Demo

Earlier, before the commencement of the Awards Ceremony, representatives from Tirubaa Technologies gave a demo of E-Learning Modules to the Principals and Teachers from over 35 rural schools.  Should the school authorities find the E-Learning useful for their respective schools, our Club has offered to consider investing in the capital cost of the E-Learning Equipment, subject to availability of sponsors / funds for the project.  The feedback received from those present was quite positive about the utility of the modules for enhancing quality of education amongst rural children.

 

- Rtn.Aslam Merchant