The LighthouseBulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras 2015-2016 • Edition No.27 • January 12, 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

Nithyashree Receives RCM’s Young Achiever Award

Recipient Ms Nithyashree Venkataramanan thanked RCM for presenting the award and stated that she was very happy to receive

it. The awardee thanked the almighty for this recognition and said that she was proud to be associated with IOC,CPCL & SBOA.She owed her success to Mr.& Mrs. Gautham Rai - MD of Chennai Petroleum, Mr. Venkataramana - Director of Chennai Petroleum, Mr. Franko, SBOA School – Correspondent, her parents, grandparents & family.The recipient then mesmerized the gathering with her soulful rendition of Hindi & Tamil songs.

Nithyashree’s musical talent was first identified by her parents at the age of 4 when she accidentally corrected the tune of her mother’s singing. Both parents were astonished to see their small kid possessing musical knowledge at a very young age. Hence they approached a nearby music teacher for pursuing Carnatic classes for her. Since she was only 4 then, the teacher accepted to take classes only after she would turn 6. In the meantime, her elder sister, Vhaijaiyanthi Shree Venkataramanan was pursuing Carnatic music.

Nithyashree learnt a lot of Carnatic lessons simply by listening to her sister’s practice sessions. When she turned 5, she started singing in her father’s own band (Sri and Shree Raagas Audio –since 1987). At the age of 6, she started pursuing her Carnatic classes from Guru Smt. Laksmi Raman (Mysore University) followed by Guru Smt. Lalgudi Padmavathy Ananthagopalan (Veena Vidhushi). She is currently learning from Guru Sri. T.S. Venkatraman (Thanjavur Shankar Iyer Shishya).

She was a contestant in the most popular Musical Reality Show of South India, ‘Airtel Super Singer Junior – 2’ conducted by Star Vijay at the age of 9 and a half in the year 2009-2010. She

won a lot of accolades throughout the show and has received appreciation from almost all the Legendary Playback Singers of the South Indian Music Industry. She was the second runner-up of the show. She has also won the ‘Best Entertainer Award’ of the season.

Immediately after Super Singer, her first breakthrough in Playback singing was for Yuvan Shankar Raja for the movie Avan Ivan directed by Film Director Bala in the year 2010 for the

song “Oru Malayoram” followed by many other recording opportunities for albums and movies with Music Director Dheena and other upcoming Music Directors

After Singer Super, accolades through many other reality shows were additional feathers to her cap. Her ambition is to establish herself as a popular nationwide singer.

RCM wishes her all the best in her endeavors and is sure that she will scale greater heights in her musical journey.

2 Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • Edition 27 • January 12, 2016

Sgt-at-arms PP Rtn Vivek Harinarain collared President Rtn A S Venkhat Ramani, who called the 27th meeting

of RCM to order, followed by a silent invocation.

Minutes of the 5th Jan’16 meeting was duly confirmed.

President welcomed Ms Nithyashree Venkataramanan, the recipient of RCMs Young Achiever Award, guests of Nithyashree, her parents and grandparents; Mr Gautham Rai, MD of Chennai Petroleum; Mr Venkataramana, Director of Chennai Petroleum; Mr Franko,Correspondent, SBOA School and everyone who attended the meeting.

President welcomed visiting Rotarians PPM Srinivasan (RCM East), PP M Keshav

(RCM Midtown), Rtn Ambalavanan (RCM Midtown), Rtn J Sridhar (RCM Industrial City), Rtn PP.G Sadagopan and Probus Club members, media persons, interactors and coordinators.

President extended birthday/wedding anniversary wishes to the respective Rotarians/spouses who celebrated that

week and thanked them for their sunshine. Rtn Dr S Ramachandran, Chair,

Community health care said that periodical medical camps were held in flood disaster

areas and thanked Uma Eye, KKR and Ehrlich lab for their support along with his dental team. He reported that around 600 children were screened at Children garden school recently and a big medical camp is to be held Gummidipoondi on 26th Jan’16.A proposed dental awareness program is also being planned in RA Puram on 27th & 28th Jan’16.

Rtn Vidya Amarnath, Director, Club Service gave a PPT on the upcoming outstation Cochin trip planned from 19th Feb’16 – 21st Feb’16.Director said that 35 rooms have been blocked and only 8 is left out to be filled. She requested members (particularly green Rotarians) to join the outstation trip which will have fellowships and interesting places to visit and an opportunity to get to know fellow Rotarians better. Members can contact PP Paul K Jacob.

Rtn Harish K Murthi, Chair, Golf

MINUTES

Induction of three new members

Rtn Srinivas Garapati on behalf of Rtn Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti introduced Mr Deepak Chander and Rtn Krishnamurthy Vijayan on behalf of PP S Gunashekar introduced Mr Gooch Kumar. Rtn EMC Palaniappan introduced Dr Nitesh Jain.

President inducted them into the club by pinning the lapel pin after the Rotary orientation given by PP Ravi Katari & his team.

All members rose and greeted them amidst a round of applause.

President thanked them for the donation of Rs 25,000 towards RCMCT and presented bouquets to their spouses.

3 Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • Edition 27 • January 12, 2016

Committee requested members to chip in and contribute to the major fund raiser – UTSAV - in whatever way they can. He stated that there is a long way to go as we have generated only around 32 lacs of the one crore target. He requested members to sponsor banners of Rs 20,000 as the event date is fast approaching.

Rtn J Sridhar, Dist Conference Secy requested members to register in large numbers and support UTSAV. He also urged green Rotarians to attend and experience the conference.

Rtn P N Mohan informed members that the Tailoring courses will be revived at Rotary Nagar and that we have received 60 applications from the women folk in that area. He applauded the great efforts of Rtn S Ravi in gathering the women of Rotary Nagar. Also at Selaiyur/Gummidipoondi, 9 students were selected by our Rtn Capt Ramaswamy for the Merchant Navy courses at his own expenses to the tune

of 2 lacs along with stipend. Members appreciated his gesture.

Rtn Dr V Ramasubramanian, Chair, Polio Plus, requested members to join on 17th Jan’16 for the polio immunization at Gosha Hospital, Triplicane at 7.15 am. He said that the Govt needs volunteers to monitor the polio booths. Breakfast will be provided. President thanked Rtn Anand Renagswamy for arranging the breakfast and requested Rtn Shesha Sai to rope in Rotaractors for the campaign.

PP Satyan Bhatt handed over Rs 12,000 collected by children of RC Baroda for Chennai flood relief by selling cookies.

Rtn Keshav requested members to join the cycle rally organized by their RCM Midtown on 7th Feb’16, as a fitness program and also support for a good cause by registering & cycling for the rally. Enquiry 9840287578.

PE Dr Arulmozhi Varman, Chair, Awards Committee presented Ms Nithyashree who

has a great budding talent and encouraged her in her musical journey. The Young Achiever Award instituted by RCM promotes the best practice & excellence in creativity. This year, the chosen talent is Ms Nithyashree Venkataramanan, who catapulted to fame in the national voice talent show,Indian Idol Junior.

The Citation of Ms Nithyashree was read by Rtn Dr R Chandrasekar, prepared by Rtn Vidya Amarnath.

RCM was indeed proud to present its Young Achiever Award for 2015-16 to Ms Nithyashree Venkataramanan, with hope & blessings that this talented singing sensation will win many more accolades and become a true idol for future young achievers in the search of fame & excellence.

RCMs Young Achiever Award 2015-16 was presented to Ms Nithyashree by President Venkhat Ramani along with Secy Rajasekar, PE Dr Arulmozhi Varman & Rtn Dr R Chandrasekar amidst thundering applause. A specially made plaque and RCMs traditional memento were presented to Ms Nithyashree.

Nithyashree gave her acceptance speech and thanked RCM for honouring her. She also sang songs requested by members.

Rtn Dr R Chandrasekar thanked all for making the event a memorable one.

The meeting was then adjourned.

District ConferenceUTSAV 2016

Rotary Club of Madras Merchants and Bankers Golf Tournament

Its the Annual Rotary Club of Madras Merchants and Bankers Golf Tournament being held at the Prestige Golfshire course in Bangalore on 29th and 30th Jan 2016.

Relax and enjoy life once in a wayCome on over to Bangalore And have the time of your life

4 Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • Edition 27 • January 12, 2016

22nd Jan – Rtn De Groof Bart23rd Jan – Rtn PP Dr B Shivkumar19th Jan – Ann Kashmira (Rtn Kapil Chitale)20th Jan – Ann Padmvathy (Rtn PP S Gunashekar)22nd Jan – Ann Rucha (Rtn Ashish Gupta)22nd Jan – Ann Usha (Rtn Krishnamurthy Vijayan)22nd Jan – Ann Prerna (Rtn Sumit Kumar Kalra)

birthday

20th Jan – Rtn Rajesh Somasundaram Ann. Midhuna22nd Jan – Rtn A Sankara Narayanan Ann. Chandrika24th Jan – RtnPranay H Gambhir Ann. Dr Khushali24th Jan – Rtn G Ramkumar Ann. Kannamma

WEddiNG

Rtn. Ambalavanan N. DR. `2,000Rtn. Ranjit Pratap `5,000Rtn. Rajendra Mudaliar `1,000Rtn. Suresh Kumar S. RCMBTS `15,000

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 weekly meeting will be held on 19/1/16 at the same place. Time: 1.15 pm.Speaker: Mr. Pramod Bhasin, Founder, GenPactTopic: Leadership and taking risks.

Also on the agenda is the induction of Ms. Mallika Srinivasan, CEO TAFE Ltd as Honorary Member of our Club. The President of Ashok Leyland will officially hand over the keys of Ashok Leyland Stile car to Ms. Preeti Srinivasan.

Trickling or cascading fountains lose less water to evaporation than those that spray water into the air.

Water Tip

EVANSTON, Ill. (13 January 2016) — Rotary announces $35 million in grants to support the global effort to end polio. In 2015, the world saw historic progress against the paralyzing disease, with just two countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan – reporting a single strain of the wild virus. If the current momentum is strengthened, this year may mark the last case of wild poliovirus.

“We are closer than ever to achieving a polio-free world,” said Michael K. McGovern, chair of Rotary’s International PolioPlus Committee. “To ensure that no child ever again suffer the devastating effects of this disease, we must all ensure that the necessary funds and political will are firmly in place in 2016.”

2015 MILESTONESNigeria – the last polio-endemic country in

Africa – was removed from the World Health Organization’s list of endemic countries in September, following one year without a new case of the wild virus. The last wild polio case anywhere on the African continent was in August 2014.

In September 2015, one of the three strains of the wild poliovirus – Type 2 – was certified as eradicated, with no cases since 1999. Type 3 has not been seen anywhere in the world since November 2012.

Pakistan, which continues to report the majority of the world’s polio cases, reduced its caseload by 82 percent in 2015 over the previous year.

FUNDS NEEDEDTo sustain this progress, and protect all

children from polio, experts say $1.5 billion is urgently needed. Without full funding and political commitment, the disease could return to previously polio-free countries, putting children everywhere at risk.

Rotary’s funds will support efforts to end polio in Pakistan ($11.4 million) and Afghanistan ($6 million).

Additional funds will support efforts to keep other at-risk countries polio-free: Nigeria ($5.5), Cameroon ($1.6 million), Chad ($2 million); Ethiopia ($4.1 million), Somalia ($1.8 million), Iraq ($1.6 million) and India ($618,000). Finally, $355,000 in funds will be dedicated to polio research.

Rotary launched its polio immunization program PolioPlus in 1985 and in 1988 became a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative with the WHO, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was later joined by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Since the initiative launched, the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99.9 percent, from about 350,000 cases a year to 70 confirmed to date in 2015.

Rotary has contributed more than $1.5 billion and countless volunteer hours to fight polio. Through 2018, every dollar Rotary commits to polio eradication will be matched two-to-one by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation up to $35 million a year.

About RotaryRotary brings together a global network

of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.2 million members of more than 34,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Their work improves lives at both the local and international levels, from helping families in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world. Visit rotary.org and endpolio.org for more about Rotary and its efforts to eradicate polio. Video and still images are available on the Rotary Media Center.

Rotary Gives US$35 Million To End Polio Worldwide