Minutes of Conference callThe tele-conference opens timely at 9:30 pm.
Bidhu Jha was informed and was supposed to join. but he did not.
One List of membership prepared by Keerti. now fully updated. was being distributed by Ranjit.1. BITSAA INCORPORATION/BYE LAWS ——- NEILThe incorporation papers of BITNA were submitted in Delaware sometimes in late February.
The attorney has suggested hiring of a third party Custodian to maintain Alumni legal documents current with IRS and to deliver them to President’s office. to Dr. Chadda’s address.
Dr. Chadda said he can handle and there may be no need for such assistance..
Neil argued in favor of Custodian. in keeping with the attorney’s advice; and also it is for a small fee …. est. $100 – $200..
Ranjit argued that is not necessary and a decision in this regard will be taken later if there be a need.
The attorney will be filing the papers including bank accounts. annual budget.etc. of  BITNA. next Tuesday to IRS….. as it is required for a Social Corporations asking a tax-exempt provision. .
In the mean time we can operate as a tax-exempt Institution. Form 990 tax return needs to be submitted regularly.
Donations from members living in Canada will not be tax exempt. To set-up a tax-exempt status in Canada is a lot of grief & deliberation.2. PROGRESS IN ALUMNI CONTACT ——- AMAR and NEILNine names were suggested for contacts. They are being contacted.
Amar continues and will continue to contact them.
Neil is contacting members on the membership list. He has gone over list several times and by now he has 127 members.
Additional 10 names are given to him and are being worked out.
At the present we are relying on emails; but later we might use other few medium like Google. Facebook. Linkedin. These media are already in use .
The list will be expanded and refined in times to come.
Ranjit has sent 160-member list.3. ChIEF GUEST : ANNUAL MEETING ——- -NEILTwo Alumni. Dr. K. P. Singh and Vijay Kapur have been invited as Chief Guests.
Dr. Singh is a very successful entrepreneur of global reach. He would talk on his experience as business man in his adopted country. USA.
Vijay Kapur. an accomplished silicon valley engineer. has turned towards Vedanta and teaches in Swami Dayanand’s Gurukul in California.4. WHERE ARE THE ALUMNI FROM 2000?? SUDHAKER and KEERTINaresh Sahu of ’90 batch. has an independent list of his batch mates and Alumni. Currently he administers platforms for three similar organization.
He said he can help technically – make it user friendly and presentable
He can set up a system for collection of membership fees through pay pal.
He has a vision and may develop a website where you get BIT information. facts and figures and a lot more … to know interesting facts. illustrations to entertain and a Web Site you want to go to … and something worth visiting.
Mr. Sahu. as it was evident. was a good discovery. Dr. Chadda is going to authorize him as custodian of Almni website.
Some of the 2005 and 2009 graduates are expected to attend the Annual gathering in July.5. MEMBERSHIP DONATIONS —————- INDRANAND$50/yr as already in talks. is too little.
$120/yr is suggested (on a $10/mo.basis) contribution.
$ 600 is suggested for Life Membership contribution.
Both Amar and Ranjit argued that $50/yr is reasonable. is not burdensome.
Dr. Chadda. Dr. Pundit and Indranand were in favor of higher contribution; Indranand argued that we are not giving to a charitable organization where the sponsors ask to pick any amount … $10 or $5 or $100 or $500. …that we were contributing to BITNA towards its annual budgets. for its smooth running and maintenance as we have sponsored it and we are taking ownership in BITNA. It is contribution and not a donation and we should consider that we need a stream of funds to run this organization; we can not be wishy-washy.and non-committal here.
Of course. we have provision that we do not lose membership for not paying contribution. But to suggest an yearly contribution from members is to guide them to a firm commitment.
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This discussion continues.6. PROGRESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM ——–  RANJITNot much has been done since Ranjit’s last visit to Ranchi to meet BIT Director and officials of the State of Jharkhand. Ranjit suggested that .Dr. Chadda should use his official position and provide a follow-up request w/ Dr. Shyam Kishore Sinha to expedite. Dr Chadda said he would definitely make contacts with Dr. Sinha and see how it gets expedited.
Ranjit had presented a model for collaboration between U of Manitowa and BIT Sindri to include Cyber based teaching exchange for Environmental programs. But Bidhu Jha needs to look into it and explore the possibility of implementing the suggestion. Dr. Chadda gave more than one scenario how such arrangements work… said a Joint-ventures among educational institutions work on a schedule of participations in academic programs; what U of Manitowa was prepared to adopt … needs to be explored.7. WEBSITE UPDATE – NARESH SAHU. SUDHAKERPlease see —- Merged with Item 3.8. LOGISTICS (Audio Visual. Laptop Connections. ..) : Possible names AbhayTiwary. Abhayendra Jha. Virendra Ojha.  Alka SrivastavaThese guys are available to assist Ranjit in conducting the July gathering.
Dr. Chadda would talk to them and itroduce them to Ranjit.9. NEXT MEETINGFriday June 21st..
Friday July 19th.10: ADJOURNThe conference was lively; it ran 30 minutes over the scheduled time.