BIT Sindri Alumni Association of North America

2015 Alumni Meet in Washington DC Area
2015-06-13 00:00 UTC
Placeholder. More details will be published here. Stay Tuned

2015 Alumni Meet in Allentown PA
2015-05-16 00:00

BOD Telecon Meeting of Apr 28. 2015
2015-04-28 00:00

2015 Alumni Meet in Charlotte. NC
2015-04-12 00:00
Dear alumni friends in Carolinas.We will have an Alumni MEET in Charlotte. NC. at the PF Chang Restaurant in South Park*. from noon to 3pm. [* 704-552-6644. 6809 Phillips Pl Ct. Charlotte. NC 28210].Shailendra Suman is your host.We need your commitment to attend ASAP latest by March 15. and promise you a lovely coffee mug with BIT logo. Additionally. Nanak Foods founder Satya Swaroop Taneja (1962 CE) may have complementary sweets for us to take home.Cost: We will all share in the lunch cost. Children (of any age) are free – a courtesy tradition of the Association to foster family participation. Don’t forget the Member Fee of $50 annually or $600 Lifetime.

BOD Telecon Meeting of Mar 31. 2015
2015-03-31 00:00
AGENDA for March TeleconDiscussion of the following topics:
A: Organizational Matters:
1. Number of Directors – The number of Directors is currently 9. Election is on August 15 Meeting in San Francisco at which I have to put forward a slate of candidates. You must tell me ASAP your thoughts.
Monthly telecons have been very difficult to secure a quorum. One thought is to reduce the number of Directors. but expand the list of participants by including the Organizers of the meetings.
2. RE-ELECTION: I seek your thoughts on standing for a second term. weighting your priorities for job. family. and other commitments. If you wish to continue I would like a personal letter from you listing your priorities for the second term.
3. Raised Expectation: With the LIFE MEMBER fee reduced to $600 I would like that each Director or candidate become a Life Member. and commit to attend at least one large meeting (in east coast or west coast) and 4 Regional meetings. and 80% of the Monthly telecons.
4. Dr. Pundit: Personally I am not running for the second term. as indicated earlier. However. I will serve the upcoming BIT Sindri Association International to get it started. I will make a trip to Ranchi and Sindri as soon as responsible leaders (elected and appointed) are in place. I plan to meet with the Chief Minister. Minister of Sc & Technology. the IAS Officers. Director Dey. faculty. and students. I will also plan to attend a number of chapters in India.
5. The 1965 batch will have their Golden Anniversary. We need to appoint an Ambassador. Anil Singh will please address this topic from his experience. Also. we need to revisit the Travel Grant that we started last year. We should consider this as a recurring event. and include in our plan.
B: Priorities – We need to revisit our priorities. which in turn are based on current status. and our desires for change. Our current priorities from our July NJ meetings are:
-Safety and Security of Girl Students
– Recruitment of faculty
– Wi fi in all buildings. hostels. and Alumni House
– Infrastructure Maintenance
With Kumar Arun’s report Toilets Renovation has become a priority. with Anil Singh volunteering to address the MET Dept building. There is a thread of correspondence on the subject. An estimate is expected shortly for the MET building which can be replicated.
Please consider these major topics and related matters. Feel free to share your thoughts.
These are the most important matters.

2015 Alumni Meet in Boston
2015-03-15 00:00
Boston area Alumni Meeting is now on Sunday. March 15. 2015. in Sudbusy. MA at the Lotus Blossom Chinese Restaurant. from noon to 3 pm.Dear alumni friends in greater Boston area.As we have communicated to you earlier. we will meet on March 15. noon to 3 pm. for Sunday Brunch Buffet at the Lotus Blossom Chinese Restaurant in Sudbury. www.lotuscuisine.comHere are some updates:1. Please commit immediately latest by March 8 by email to Alka Singh telling how many in your party. You will get a lovely coffee mug with BIT logo. We may have Nanak Sweets for you to take home.2. The Sunday Brunch Buffet costs $19.95 per person. With gratuity. separate area consideration and such. let us say $25 per adult. Children (of any age) are free – a courtesy tradition of the Association. [Dont forget the Member Fee: $50 annually or $600 Life.] The entire amount is tax deductible donation. You may pay by the DONATE button on our website www.bitsindri.org. You may pay by cash or check payable to BITSAA of NA. mail to me or bring it to the restaurant.Your Hosts are: Alka Singh (1991 EC). Shitanshu Shekhar (1988 MET). and their children: Akshat 18. Annika 9. and Ayan 82015 Boston Meet MEET2015 Boston Meet MEETPrevious Slide 1/3 Next

Greater LA Area BITS HOLI Fest
2015-02-28 00:00
Greater Los Angeles Area alumni members had Hoil Feast hosted by Rasmi Kumar (1991 Met) and her husband Manoj at her house in Arcadia. California on February 28. 2015. A total 25 people were in attendance that included ten BITS alumni members . their spouses. children and guests.Rashmi and Manoj were wonderful hosts. and they cooked variety of foods with all the Holi trimmings suchas puaa. malpuaa. goat meat. chicken. karhi-bari. dal. chhole. dahiwada. dhekua. kathal pakore. pulao. kachhori. ice cream. thandahi (no bhang). Indian sweets etc. Everyone had a blast. The sumptuous feast was followed by Antarakshari conducted by Kalika Gupta (91 EE) and her husband Navin. Some photos are attached.Our next get together will be on April 18. 2015. Rajesh Jha (1977 Civil) has invited the members for lunch and dinner. and to watch/view Toyota Gran Prix from his Penthouse in Long Beach. California. All are welcome.In between. the food and Antarakshari. I briefed the alumni members about the our efforts for renovating the washrooms for girls in various department buildings at Sindri as well Ranjit Bhai’s foundation in the memory of their daughter Shini.As regards to the toilet renovation project. members had some concerns that even if we fix/repair the toilets. maintenance/upkeep will be a real problem. Members suggested that after toilets are fixed. the maintenance of these shall be contracted to Sulav Sauchalaya (SS). a company that is active in building and maintaining the toilets in various parts of India. The maintenance money may be generated by charging some nominal user fees that may still need to be supplemented by outside grant. say by BITS NA Association.Members also indicated that unless the present students and staff at BIT really want to have/demand workable/clean toilets. the renovation project would not be successful. So. it is imperative that we somehow wake them up. so they see the need for clean toilets.Our youngest member. Rakesh Kumar (2007 CSE). suggested that we should establish contacts with Rotract/GRS club and Leo Club BIT Sindri. as student members in these clubs are much more socially oriented. and will act favorably if we ask them to bring home to other students the importance of clean toilets. They may even take up the matter with the staff and management at Sindri.Greater LA Holi MEETGreater LA Holi MEETPrevious Slide 3/4 Next

BOD Telecon Meeting of Feb 24. 2015
2015-02-24 00:00
BOD and ADVBD meeting started on Feb 24th at 9:30pm
Attendees: Naresh Sahu. Neil Pundit. Anil Singh. Divy Raj. Mohammed Zaman. Yogi Chadda. Arunima Thakur. Raj Dubey. Bharat Sahay

1. January Meeting Minutes approved by the board.

2. Need for having an International Alumni Association (umbrella) was revisited for united voice for uplifting Alma mater. Director Dey is in favor of having an International body of the Alumni Association. With the same attorney’s (as the one for BITSAA of NA) help. it will be easier to form the International body based in DE. Discussed the option of Mother Chapter vs a new International chapter. Mother Chapter is also in agreement of having an International body.

3. Three Regional Alumni Meetings took place in February:
a. Florida – 9 Alumni joined the meeting including Uday Sinha with his wife
b. Houston – Everybody was excited and expressed lots of interest
c. Dallas – Jagannath Giri. our senior most alumni joined the meeting. overall got very good response. this was another successful regional meeting.
Alumni meeting at local level are warmly welcomed across every part of US so far and people have expressed interest in working united towards uplifting Alma mater.

4. Holi meeting is scheduled at Rashmi Chandra (Metal ’91)’s residence in March 1st week.

5. Our ex President Ranjit Sinha has expressed an interest of starting a memorial fund in the memory of her daughter to be used for educational activities and publish it on our website post BOD approval. He would like to start the fund with a donation of $5000 and open this for all the alumni to add. He would further like to add a matching dollar to dollar contribution.

6. Toilet Renovation – No PWD approval is needed. it should be as simple as getting an estimate. fund for the same and get the renovation done. Project will start with Metallurgical building girls toilet; Anil Singh has already made a donation of $200 for the purpose. Later it will be extended to other department building toilets – both girls and boys.

7. Kumar Arun wants to initiate a letter writing project to govt regarding maintenance of department building. lack of facility in building etc.

8. Wi-fi connectivity – Few years back. there was a contract of wi-fi service (funded by some rich alumni). Wi-fi connectivity was available in all the hostels. and departments; however after the end of the contract of 5 years. this service ended. Now wi-fi is available only in library. An initiative to make this service available all over again throughout the campus started couple of years back. A proposal was submitted with a budget of over a million USD to Jharkhand govt. but never got approved.

9. Web site – Needs some brainstorming on how this can be made more user-friendly.

10. Next Board meeting is scheduled for 31st March.

We managed our time very efficiently and adjourned at 10:50 pm eastern time.

2015 Alumni Meet at Dallas
2015-02-22 00:00
We are pleased to announce our Alumni Get Togethers in Texas as follows:Feb 22. Sunday. noon to 3pm in Dallas at the Mughlai Restaurant. Private Room. Host is: Jagannath Giri (1957 ME). and I will be coming from Houston possibly with Mohammed Zaman.Children. family. and friends are welcome. Members are expected to pay member fee of $50 annually (or $600 for LIfe). Food cost is estimated at $15 per adult. Children of alumni (of any age) are free. All payments are tax deductible for US residents.PLEDGE by Feb 16 gets you a beautiful coffee mug with BIT Sindri logo.You may use the DONATE button on our website (www.bitsindri.org) to pay through Paypal or credit cards. OR write a check payable to BITSAA of NA. sent to the address above or pledge and present the check at the meeting.AGENDA: Each attendee introduces oneself preferably in 60 seconds; a recap of the situation at Sindri; strengthen alumni bond; share what is high on your mind.We are responding to your preference to meet in smaller groups locally. [We will have large gatherings in NJ area on July 25. and in the San Francisco area on August 15. We had very successful local meetings in Seattle and Los Angeles area in January. a meeting in Fort Lauderdale area on Feb 7. and we have local meetings planned every month at a metropolis in US and Canada.]We look forward to seeing you.

2015 Alumni Meet in Houston
2015-02-21 00:00
We met at Huston on Feb 21Here are some pictures of the meetHuston Alumni MEETHuston Alumni MEETPrevious Slide 3/4 Next

2015 Alumni Meet at Florida
2015-02-07 00:00
We met in Florida on Feb 07 2015. A rare attendee is Dr Uday Sinha and his wife Geeta.Here are some pictures of the meetFlorida Alumni MEETFlorida Alumni MEETPrevious Slide 3/14 Next

Minutes of Telecon Meeting of Jan 27. 2015
2015-01-27 00:00
Attendees: Ramesh Yadav. Mohammed Zaman. Divy Raj. Neil Pundit. Bharat Sahay. Naresh Sahu. Alka Srivastava. Yogi Chadda1. Earlier Meeting Minutes from November approved by the board
2. Scholarships: Ramesh and Bharat sir summarized the scholarship report. A Consolidated list of 66 scholarships is identified. These are already in place since 2011 called NA scholarships. A full report was earlier distributed by Ramesh sir. Continue to coordinate with Mother Chapter for the disbursement of the scholarship. In addition to scholarships. we discussed about the various Annual Gift Programs. Motion agreed on authorizing Ramesh and Bharat to complete the report with any unfinished work. A concise version of the report can be uploaded to the website
3. While West coast regional meetings. Alumni talked about a need of a unanimous appeal or demand for the betterment of Alma mater to the Govt. – may be something like an international body of BIT Sindri Alumni Association. Some of the lingering issues. Govt is not heeding so far are:
a. Hiring additional (sufficient number) faculty members
b. Bathroom remodeling
4. Regional meeting vs Annual meetings: In order to differentiate between various meetings. what shall we call the regional huge meetings like East coast or west coast regional meetings? Quorum agreed on having only one annual meeting.
5. Next Board meeting is scheduled for 24th February.

2015 Alumni Meet at Los Angeles
2015-01-11 00:00
Los Angeles Area Alumni MEET is on Sunday. January 11. 2015. at the Amaya Restaurant in Buena Park. from 11:30am to 3:30pm.Friends and families are encouraged to the MEET and the buffet. Alumni are expected to pay annual fee of $50. tax deductible in the US. You may use our DONATE button for the fee and the meal. Neil Pundit. President. will be flying in from Florida for the event. Organizer is Dr Anil Singh. Chair of the Advisory Board.Here are some pictures of the meetLA Alumni MEETLA Alumni MEETPrevious Slide 14/17 Next

2015 Alumni Meet at Seattle
2015-01-10 00:00
Seattle Area Alumni MEET is on January 10. Saturday. 2015. at the New Delhi Palace Restaurant in Bellevue. from 11:30am to 3:30pm. Friends and families are encouraged to the MEET and the buffet. Alumni are expected to pay annual fee of $50. tax deductible in the US. You may use our DONATE button for the fee and the meal. Neil Pundit. President. will be flying in from Florida for the event. Local Host is Meher Afroz. Chief of Staff at Microsoft HQ. Organizers are Sumit Sinha and Dr Uttara Sahaym.Here are some pictures of the meetSeattle Area Alumni MEETSeattle Area Alumni MEETPrevious Slide 4/9 Next

Minutes of Telecon Meeting of November 25. 2014
2014-11-25 00:00
[List]

Minutes of Telecon Meeting of November 04. 2014
2014-11-04 00:00
BOD and ADVBD meeting started on Nov 4th at 9:30pmAttendees: Ramesh. Neil. Naresh. Raj. Alka. Divy. Anil (ADVBD). Uttara (ADVBD)1. Earlier Meeting Minutes approved froma. Telecon meet July 15th. July 22ndb. Annual meet July 26thc. West Coast meet Sept 7thd. Chicago Meet Sept 20the. Niagra meet Sept 21stf. Atlanta meet Oct 11th2. Proposed date for 2015 annual meet in Bay area – tentative date August 15th. East Coast Regional Meet on July 25th in NJ.3. Action items from Atlanta meet – Atlanta team wants to know what North America chapter of BITSAA is doing. Our website has all the meeting minutes published; Alka will be circulating them to the Atlanta regional group making it a PUSH communication rather than PULL communication. which team Atlanta is finding a bit tedious job while stay connected with the BIT Sindri Alumni Association.4. Alka also confirmed about LinkedIn consolidation being done for NA; link to join the LinkedIn group is: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/BIT-Sindri-Alumni-Association-North-4689734?gid=4689734&mostPopular=&trk=tyah&trkInfo=idx%3A1-4-4%2CtarId%3A1415239234198%2Ctas%3Asindri5. Facebook consolidation for global Alumni of BIT Sindri; link to join the facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BITSAA/.6. Money in Scholarship Fund is intact; list of these scholarship recipients is available. However some scholarships are combined together. without proper notification to the donors which did not meet the donor’s original intent. This resulted in missing recognition part of the scholarship. but not the actual scholarship amount was ever missing. Involvement of BITSAA mother chapter is still on debate. we could not come to a conclusion. because of the time constraint. Resolution proposed so far:a. Disbursement of Scholarship Money (by Mother Chapter?)b. Recognition has to be there. we can not consolidate the Scholarshipsc. Management of Scholarships – BITSAA NA can delegate the disbursement piece and manage the Scholarships by performing an audit on the same.7. Worldwide Alumni Meeting will take place in Sindri on Nov 23rd & Golden Jubilee of 1964 Graduates on Nov 22nd. Anil Singh will be joining and representing NA chapter of BIT Sindri Alumni Association. He will be addressing the students talk about some of the challenges students are facing and their possible solution. He will be visiting the hostels to see the girls security in place. talk to warden. talk about some short term solution. He will also try get a first hand information on the status of progress of building the toilets. which currently is on hold as the 2/3 of the money was asked for the bribe. before the project gets started.8. Neil mentioned that the action Items are on hold due to lack of stable elected Government. Anil Sir to explore during his Annual meet trip to India :a. What can we (NA BITSAA) do to enhance the Recruitment of Facultyb. Infrastructurec. Safety and Security of girl studentsd. Wifi for all the buildings as well as Hostels9. Effort to connect with other chapters all over India .10. Fist phase of Toilet project already started in the Home Town of Dr Krishna Pal Singh. some issues have come-up; however Sree Sharma is waiting on first successful installation and then it can be generalized for future projects.11. Our next meeting will take place on Nov 25th – we will mainly focus on strategy to increase the number of our members.12. There will ne no meeting in December. enjoy the Holiday time.13. Jan meeting will take place on 28th – this will be devoted to Scholarship discussion only.

2014 Alumni Meet at Atlanta
2014-10-11 00:00
Meeting MinutesBhavani and Nagesh. Prakash and Kanchan Chandra. Ajeet and Lekha Das. Vineeta and Sanjay Gupta. Vipul and Rajani Sinha. Alka and Neeraj Verma1. What is the goal of Alumni Association towards both Alma Mater and Alumni Association in US. It would be nice to see the bullet point first. Each goal can have details in it with group assigned. We do not need to have lots of goal in starting. we can start with one small goal for each and track the progress. ATL Chapter is willing to take over one small goal in either of the above two. They are willing to take the leadership of this goal.
2. They are looking forward for communication from associations. for each regional meeting. A Brief meeting of each meeting. What was discussed and what was the outcome of the meeting. This can be distributed to each region through the Regional Directors.
3. There was a big discussion of the projects to be accomplished in Alma Mater. It was discussed that it will be very helpful. if we have a small group in college. may be group of students. (From first year to fourth year). Third year student being the president of this group. Some kind of awards/scholarships to this student. This group works directly with the Alumni Association for getting requirements or developments of these Alma Mater projects.
4. One Year book (Hard Copy) for Alumni Association to be mailed to Alumni. Some one who does not have time to read emails. but will be nice to have year book.a. Details about each regional groups meeting and outcomes.
b. Achievements done by assoications for Alma Mater and Alumni. and their progress.
c. Alumnis who have exceled in their career.
d. Pics of Alumni Meets.

2014 Alumni Meet at Niagara
2014-09-21 00:00
Your strong feedback to us is to have local meetings. and more often. In response we have the following for you in addition to the NJ Meet on July 26. and the West Coast Meet on Sept 7. communicated earlier.SEPT 21. SUNDAY LUNCH MEETING starting at 11am local time in Touch of India Restaurant. St. Catharines. ONT. Canada. www.touchofindia.ca/contact.php. 905-988-1155. This location should be particularly suitable to alumni in greater Toronto area and the upper northeastern US.
This is hosted by our VPs Bharat Sahay and Arunima Thakur.
We will end by 3pm.Mr. Shrawan Singh (1961 ME). Retired Corporate Vice President. Xerox. will be our Key Note Speaker.
Pictures on the occasion of North America BIT Alumni Meet held in Niagara on Sept. 21st.. 2014
Niagara on Sept. 21st.Previous Slide 30/39 Next
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2014 Alumni Meet at Willowbrook IL
2014-09-20 00:00

2014 Chicago Meeting
2014-09-20 00:00
Chicago Meeting starting at 3pm on Sept 20. Saturday.Neil Pundit from Florida. and Arunima Thakur from Detroit area will be driving from Detroit directly to the Saffron Restaurant.
We are looking forward to an informal GET TOGETHER. information sharing. alumni views. and enhancing our alumni bond.

Minutes of Telecon Meeting of September 10. 2013
2014-09-10 00:00
A meeting of BoD of BITSAA of NA was held by teleconference on September 10. 2013 as the Agenda distributed earlier. Three Board members Dilip Gupta. Dr Raj Dubey. and Arunima Thakur (out of the country on business travel) were absent.This telecon was originally scheduled for August but got pushed into September for unfortunate reasons.Arunima had sent an update about the Sept 21 Get Together in Detroit area earlier. and was represented by Divyanshu Raj. We met for about 95 minutes.We had the following invited alumni join us: Dr Uttara Sahaym. and Shyam Choudhary. Dr Chadda was invited but could not attend it.The following is a brief summary. listed in the order of the Agenda:0. Prof Dr Uttara introduced herself. Professor at WSU. mother of two. daughter of alum Prof Dr Priya Ranjan Prasad. who taught at Sindri. She is volunteering to do whatever the Association needs. A few Directors recalled her father fondly. He is enjoying his retirement in Bangalore with trips to Patna.1. Updates: Directors’ updatesa. San Jose Picnic on Sept 14. as the 3rd West Coast Get Together. is promising to be an unprecedented success as over 35 alumni and family and friends exceeding a total of 85 are expected to attend. Ramesh was aided by Shyam Choudhary. another key organizer. who provided more details with a great deal of enthusiasm. I commented that I am more excited to join this event. There will be a post picnic evening dinner for the organizers at a restaurant starting at 7pm to which others are welcome to join.b. Detroit area dinner meeting on Sept 21: Arunima. out of the country. had sent an update stating that 15+ alumni are family are expected to join. I am planning to attend this event as well. and I am looking forward to meeting Arunima in person.c. Prof Dr Onkar P Sharma’s visit to Sindri on Sept 22 is confirmed. He will be meeting with faculty and students. and interviewing a few final year students desirous of higher studies at his Marist College in Poughkeepsie. NY.d. My visit to Sindri Nov 13 -17 is confirmed. Prof Girijesh Kumar is assigned by the Director S K Singh to work out the details. I may have to make a trip to Ranchi to meet with the Chief Secretary of Science & Technology Sharma and his staff. Additional Secretary Pande. and Director Dr Arun Kumar. Prof Dr Arun Sahay from Birla Mgmt School in Delhi. Prof TP Verma. and Prof DK Singh (now at NIT. Patna) ae expected to join me. Nov 16 is being planned as a seminar day. Nov 17 is the Alumni Day.e. Dr Chadda is planning to attend the 1963 batch Golden Jubilee in New Delhi on Nov 24. being organized by Prof Chandrika Prasad.f. Alka reported some progress on merging major Alumni groups in LinkedIn. She will be aided by Naresh Sahu. and ex-Treasurer Sudhaker Raj. She also reported on on an excellent Lunch Meeting of Atlanta area alumni on Aug 2. arranged at a short notice. There were exciting discussions leveraging the alumni community and their contacts for the alumni in US and Canada. and to leverage the alumni bond for benefiting the Alma Mater beyond the scholarship program.g. Update on Autonomy for BIT: Neil mentioned that he sent out a summary interim report on the subject just a while ago on Sept 10. He mentioned that low staffing level (under 50% now) against the minimum required of 55% is standing in the way of academic autonomy although a Board of Governors. headed by an ex Vice Chancellor of Vinoba Bhave University. is in place now. TEQIP Phase II funding ( from World Bank) of Rs 18 crores has been denied to Sindri. Mesra did get the funding!h. Auburn University’s 2+2 Program: Neil briefly described a program of Auburn University whereby an engineering institution in India can send a student to Auburn after completing 2 years in India. with the remaining 2 years at Auburn. earning a degree from Auburn U. Neil has requested the Director SK Singh to sign an attached sample MOU. and he thinks he has copied the BOD. He will check and send it to BOD if not sent already.i. Updates by other Directors: Divy is exploring a Regional meeting in the east coast. and concludes that the respondents still prefer NY/NJ area. Naresh Sahu mentioned that he is unable to get volunteers to update the database. and the progress has been slow. Neil will work with him to make progress.2. GOALS/OBJECTIVES/PLAN: Bharat had sent out an email of a major goal of increasing our member base to 1000 in 2 years in a recommended format. He asked that we adopt the format for all of our major projects. For this project the Leader is Arunima. and deputy leader is Uttara. He will help them think through the details and complete the write up.3. ADVISORY BOARD: In absence of Dr Chadda. head of the Advisory Board.Neil briefly described the underlying idea of planning for the future by a team of senior alumni and past officers. Out of the box thinking to carve our future is the goal. A more definable Awards and Recognition process has also been assigned to the Advisory Board. Dr Chadda and I are trying to come up with a slate and would seek BOD approval. Incidentally. the Board decided to name the head of the Advisory Board as Chair (rather than President).4. TRAVEL AWARD: this item was deferred to the next meeting.5. FUTURE TELECON MEETINGS: After some discussion of the alternatives the BOD decided to hold the telecons on the last TUESDAY of EVERY MONTH starting at 9:30pm ET. Accordingly. our next telecon will be on Sept 24. 2013.6. New Business: Ramesh. in connection with Awards and Recognition. suggested that alumni so recognized should be posted on the website with their citation. Naresh caution against flowery and verbose exercise in self-aggrandisement. We concluded that professional resume’ style narrative can be added by the members themselves. The Award and Recognition listing on the web will only include the citation approved by the BOD.7. We adjourned at about 11:10 pm ET.

2014 Alumni Meet at Los Gatos. CA
2014-09-07 00:00
Sunday. September 7. 2014 from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PMSite# Circle @ Vasona Lake Park 333 Blossom Hill Rd Los Gatos. CA 95032An Evite invitation has been sent out for the same.
Please check your mailboxes and RSVP at your earliest convenience.
Let us know if you haven’t received it…..be sure to check your junk folders as well!Join us with your families for a day of fun. food and festivities as you meet old friends. fellow BITians of different generations and make new contacts as you relive some of your best memories of BIT Sindri.
Also help spread the word to other BITians we might have missed in our mailing list. Feel free to invite other BITians not in this list and share this invitation with them.
CALLING VOLUNTEERS
Volunteer to help organize this event! We need your energy and expertise in making this a fun event for everyone. If you can help. let us know.Photos:California meetPrevious Slide 30/103 NextOPEN LETTERDear Alumni.
We are very happy to conclude this year’s Alumni Meet on a very high note!
The meet on Sunday September 7th at Lake Vasona Park in Los Gatos was attended by 21 Alumni from 1957 to 2006 batches. and their families!!!
It was a multigenerational gathering. of people whose paths might not have crossed ever…..but were bound by the love of their institution of learning….BIT Sindri.
The warmth and camaraderie was visible from smiling faces. handshakes. hugs and laughter as everyone relived those 4 golden years of their youth spent at BIT!We had Dr Neil Pundit join us from Florida. A surprise addition was Prashant Jayaswal (2006 batch) who flew in from Salt Lake City to attend the Meet. Their enthusiasm is inspirational! Thanks for attending!As always the arrangements and food were excellent…..the kids were kept entertained by arts/crafts and park activities. and little Ria (Our VP Ramesh Yadava’s grand-daughter) pitched in with twisting balloons for all the other kids!!
And the food……mouthwatering dishes with a Bihari touch and some surprise entrees beyond anyone’s imagination (if you want to find out. wait till the next meet!!). Thanks to Shyam Chowdhry (81 EE) of Shiva’s Indian Restaurant for providing us with this excellent lunch!In an informal gathering. all the attendees. from senior-most Sri Bijoy Chatterjee to junior-most Prashant Jayaswal. introduced themselves and their families. shared their stories about BIT and their journey after college.
We had an inspiring talk by our Distinguished Alumni Sri Vijay Kapoor. enumerating the wonderful selfless work he is involved in. in bringing education to needy families in Bihar. This was followed by the journey and story of our fellow Alumni Mr Taneja (Owner of Nanak Foods) delivered by his representative Ms Shalini Chibber who joined us as our guest….we all had a sweet surprise in store as Mr Taneja had sent a box each of Kaju Katli for all the Alumni!!We also had Sri T Prasad (1960 BCE Patna) as a guest speaker.That is not all…..Seema Verma (96 Met) delighted everyone with a couple of beautiful songs….and soon she was joined by several members of the audience…each displaying their hidden talents in singing. telling jokes and poetry….the hours just flew by and we finally realized it was time to wrap up the afternoon.A big thanks to the team that makes this all happen….who volunteer their personal time in careful planning and execution of this event. If you can volunteer some of your time for planning next year’s event. please do come forward.Sanjay Kumar ( 06 CSE)
Rajan Kumar (97 CS)
Anupama Srivastava (95 EC)
Ujjwal Sinha (97 CHE)
Ramesh Yadava (71 EE)
Shyam Choudhary (81 EE)It was just a wonderful afternoon that everyone enjoyed. Almost everyone present there expressed how much they had enjoyed and how blessed and thankful they felt to be part of this Alumni Family.Though we were missing some of our Alumni who attended previous meets and could not join us this time. we were very happy to see a lot of new faces!
We hope that next year’s meet would be bigger and better and hope you all can join us again next year. Thanks for all your support and encouragement!Regards.
Anupama Srivastava

2014 Alumni Meet at New Jersey (Photos)
2014-07-26 00:00

2014 Alumni Meet at New Jersey
2014-07-26 00:00
Invitation:BIT Sindri Alumni AssociationNorth America ChapterCordially invites you to Annual Alumni MeetAtRoyal Alberts Palace1050 King Georges Post Rd. Edison. NJ 08837OnSaturday. July 26th 2014;From 10:00 am to 3:30pmPlease join us for a fun filled networking eventEarly Bird Registration per Adult: $20 by June 11 2014Regular Registration per Adult: $25 by July 11 2014Late or At the Door Registration: $30 after July 11 2014(Absolutely no charges for kids – irrespective of their age)As Always membership is $50 per alumni except Life members.Make check Payable to BITSAA of NAMail it to Divy Raj. Treasurer BITSAA NA. 42 Liberty Ridge Road . Basking Ridge . NJ 07920Please inquire with us. in case interested in Life membership.Attire: CasualAgenda:July 25. Friday. starting Noon: Family Lunch Buffet in Moghul Restaurant in Iselin. NJJuly 25. Friday. starting 6:30pm: Family Social Function. at the Residence of Divyanshu Raj. 42 Liberty Ridge Rd. Basking Ridge. NJ 07920. Tel 908-326-3704. MC Bidhu Shekhar Jha (62 ME)
Show off your skills in poetry. ghazals. comedy. singing. dance. drama. ..
July 26. Saturday. starting at 10am: FAMILY Annual Meet
Royal Albert’s Palace. Edison. NJ. [Children activities in a separate room – Divy]
I. 10:00*am to 10:30am: REPORT & ELECTION SESSION: Moderator Dr Anil Singh (64 MET). Distinguished Alumni Certificates by Yogi Chadda. Addition to Distinguished list and Year in Review by Neil; Election of Mohammed B. Zaman (60 ME). Acting.
II. 10:30 am to 11:15 am: Keynote Address by B P Sinha (54 ME) on good old days of Sindri. retired life. spirituality. and more. Interactive session.
Mr & Mrs Sinha are visiting their daughter Ambalika and son-in-law Raj Verma (70 MET). who will do the introduction.
III.11:15 am to Noon: What the Association Should Do? Moderator: Bidhu.
Alumni feedback from regional meetings in Atlanta. SF Bay area. and Detroit by Neil.
Floor open for alumni participation.
IV. Noon to 12:30pm: Welcome by the Local Chair Dr Kris Singh. Update on ultra-safe Nuclear Reactor. Q&A
12:30pm to 01:30pm: LUNCH and Mingle [Buffet line staggered by Table Number]
V. 01:30pm to 2:15pm: PANEL DISCUSSION: Wish List for Sindri. Moderator: Dr Onkar P Sharma – our stated priorities. Panelists 5 minutes each representing decades 50’s thru 90’s: Dr Ravi Kapoor (58 ME). Prof Dr Ramesh Chandra (64 MET). Raj Verma (70 MET). Naresh Kumar (80 ME). Prof Dr Sandeep Kumar (94 CHE).
At the conclusion show of hands for important suggestions.
02:15 pm to 02:30 pm BREAK
VI. 2:30pm to 3:30pm. Keynote Address by Dr Raj Dubey on Deep Breathing & Meditation. Introduction by S Rao Ponamgi (61TC)
3:30pm ADJOURN. [Annual Meeting 2015 on July 25. Saturday?]
—————————————
* Those registering at the door should arrive earlier.
%All presentations should be posted on the website by July 25. For names see the Alumni Directory on the web.Photos :http://bitsindri.org/content/annual-alumni-meet-2014-photosAttachments (see Below):
Attached are major items displayed in the meeting
1. BPS_Keynote
2. Kris Singh’s Slides
3. Dubey_keynoteVideo:This year(2014) we did a Live transmission of the Alumni Meet which happened in NJ. Here is the recording of the whole meeting. Video Quality is not so good But we promise next year it will be in HD

Minutes of Telecon Meeting of May 27. 2014
2014-05-27 00:00
We did have our telecon meeting on May 27. 2014. starting at 9:30pm ET. with the following present: Arunima. Neil. Alka. Divy. Naresh. and Bharat (joining late).o Minutes of the meeting of April 29. 2014 were approved.o We skipped the Updates – I will cover these in email.o Planning for July 26 Meeting: Divy mentioned that there would be a Registration Desk. and name tag and handout material. Neil mentioned that all speakers have accepted. Krishna Pal Singh insists that we have a Panel Discussion with pre-screened presentation. Here is a summary of all speakers:Dr Kris Singh (67 ME) – Local Chair. would be late. He will do 8 slides on reactor update.Dr Jagannath Giri (57 ME) will give a keynote talk based on his just published Autobiography with Lessons Learned.Dr Raj Dubey (61 CE. on our BOD) will give a keynote talk on Deep Breathing & Meditation.This would be an updated version of his invited talk to Chinmaya Mission India last year.Dr Onkar Sharma (59EE) would be the Moderator for the Panel Discussion on What Do We Want the Govt to Do?. with Dr A K Pandey. IAS. as one of the Panelists. Other Panelists TBD.The Panelists will be selected based on the material they submit.Dr Anil Singh ( 64 MET) will Moderate the Usual Reports and Updates. which will be much abbreviated this year. This would also include a few pre-screened what’s on your mind.Ramesh Yadava will summarize Alumni suggestions from the west coast meeting in Sept 2014.Website Update: Naresh led us thru the new website. registration process. etc. He was asked to simplify the authentication process.Adjournment: We adjourned at 10:20pm ET.Next regularly scheduled Meeting is on June 24. 2014. starting at 9:30pm ET.

Minutes of Telecon Meeting of April 29. 2014
2014-04-29 00:00
From:Neil Dwivedi Pundit. PhD. 1961 TC
President. BITSAA of North America
1354 Plumosa Way
Weston. FL 33327
H: 505-821-3295

Dear Friends.

We started our telecon meeting on April 29 at 9:30 pm ET.
Present: Neil. Arunima. Yogi. Raj. Anil. Divy. Naresh. Alka. and Ramesh.

1. CONSENT- Minutes of March 25 Meeting were approved.

2. ACTION – APPROVAL of Distinguished Alumni with citation was obtained by email prior to the meeting. Citation can be edited by the recipient within 45 days.

3. ACTION – Process and Criteria for Distinguished Alumni were discussed by Anil as circulated earlier. and the document was approved.

4. ACTION- Fund Request for Open Air Theater at Sindri was discussed by Dr Chadda: alumni in India have already contributed. the open air theater was recently inaugurated by the Director S K Singh. Raj pledged $1.000.; Dr Chadda pledged $500 ( $250 each from him and brother Surendra). Board approved a total of $2K. the rest to come from general fund reserves.
Editorial Note: Neil pledged his own personal fund so as not to dip into the Association’s reserves.

5. APPROVAL – MEMBER TRAVEL AWARD as circulated by Ramesh was approved.

6. PRESIDENT TRAVEL AWARD – Ramesh articulated the cause beyond the circulated sheet. a good discussion followed. Questions raised were: Association’s ability to spend the sum every year; ROI. Ramesh will circulate a revised draft for consideration at the next meeting.

7. APPROVAL – MEMBER SEEKING MATERIAL. circulated by Arunima. received much praise. was approved with proviso to update with the sense of comments.

8. DISCUSSION – Giveaways. Plaque. cups. etc. The presentation circulated needs more time for discussion. Comments should be directed to Divy who would make recommendations at the next meeting. However. it was recommended that per plaque expense be limited under $25.

9. DISCUSSION & REPORTS: Late hour. noisy line. and smaller number remaining on line necessitated tabling the item for future.

10. NEW BUSINESS – none. We adjourned around 11:15pm ET.

Cheers.
Neil

Minutes of Telecon Meeting of March 25. 2014
2014-03-25 00:00
From:Neil Dwivedi Pundit. PhD. 1961 TC
President. BITSAA of North America
1354 Plumosa Way
Weston. FL 33327
H: 505-821-3295

Dear BOD. ADVBD. and other alumni friends.

We had a teleconference meeting of the BITSAA BOD & ADV BD on March 25. 2014. starting at 9:30pm ET with the pre-sent Agenda. Present were:
Neil. Prahlad. Alka. Ramesh. Divy. Naresh. Uttara. Anil. and Yogi. Raj Dubey had expressed his inability to attend to Neil earlier. The phone connection was considerably poor at times impeding deliberations. The minutes follow the published Agenda.

CONSENT: BOD Approved the Corporate Resolution to add Arunima Thakur on the Association’s account with Fidelity. This is in addition to Neil Pundit and Divy Raj.

1. DIRECTORS Reports – Neil reported on the Ranchi visit by Honorable MLA Bidhu Shekhar Jha (1962 ME) on Feb 28 and March 1. At the request of Ranjit Sinha and I. Bidhu was persuaded to extend his official visit to India as the head of Manitoba Technical Delegation. He spent a couple of days in Ranchi and met with: the Honorable Chief Minister Hemant Soren. Chief Secretary Dr R S Sharma. Additional Chief Secretary (IAS in-charge for Sindri) Dr A K Pandey. Sindri Director Dr S K Singh. and a few others. The MOU with the U of Manitoba now needs approval by the Vinoba Bhave University (to which BIT is affiliated for degree purposes). He impressed on Soren and Pandey to effect progress at BIT Sindri to which he got assurances.

2. ANNUAL ALUMNI MEETING 2014 – Treasurer Divy has been researching restaurants with a few local alumni such as Amar Mishra and Sudhaker Raj. Selected is Royal Albert’s Palace at 1050 King Georges Post Rd. Edison. NJ 08837 Phone:(732) 661-1070 as the meeting place for the 2014 Annual Meeting on July 26. Saturday. The contract is for a minimum of 70 attendees @$23 per head. starting at 10am and ending at 3:30pm. (A 30 minute extension is allowable.) The BOD agreed to ensure attendance by charging as follows:

Early Registration by June 11 with payment of only $20 per adult;
Regular Registration between June 12 and July 11 with payment of $25 per adult; and
Late (or at the door) Registration starting July 12 of $30 per adult.
[The Association encourages children by waiving any cost.] Registration covers refreshments and lunch. and is not tax deductible.

Divy will address activities for children.

The BOD appointed Dr Anil Singh as the Moderator. based on his superb performance as the Moderator at the 2013 Annual Meeting.
The BOD appointed VIP alum Dr Krishna Pal Singh. a keynote speaker in 2013. as the LOCAL CHAIR. By popular demand he is asked to provide an update on the ultra-safe reactor his company (Holtec International) produces.

3. CY2013 Fiscal Summary: Neil and Divy will answer any questions on the report already distributed – as the telephone connection left much to be desired.

4. DISCUSSION – Director Annual Travel Award – I (Neil) have sent out an email proposing a discussion on establishing an Annual Director Travel Award to send one Director to the Annual Alumni Meeting at Sindri. The Award amount is US$3.000. [The awardee is free to decline the money or donate it back to the Association any part or all of the award sum.]
This item was tabled. and assigned to Ramesh for consideration and report at the next meeting. based on his superb work on the Travel Award.

5. Special Projects’ Reports:

a. Getting to 1000 by 2015 – Arunima and Uttara – a brochure prepared by Arunima is to be distributed to the BOD and the ADV BD. It addresses superbly why any alum should join our Alumni Association.
b. Website Update – Naresh reported inability to make progress but will connect with Neil to update the website.
c. Travel Award – Ramesh reported and had active discussion on his draft. to be continued at the next meeting.
d. LinkedIn Consolidations – Alka and Naresh reported getting started on it but not much tangible progress worth reporting yet.
e. Director candidates for Houston/Dallas area – Dilip’s replacement – Neil said that he would have a candidate by the next meeting.
f. Wi fi access at Sindri – estimate is still awaited (from Prof Girijesh Kumar. along with viable vendors)
g. Progress on Distinguished Alumni matter – Anil reported on his draft. had a meaningful discussion mainly on the process. and he will circulate a modified draft soon.

6. Open Air Theater at Sindri – Dr Chadda has sent an email to a few of us asking for financial support. This matter came up at the Annual Alumni Meet in Sindri in Nov 2013. The background is that with the current increased enrolment. the Deshpande Auditorium can not accommodate the population.
A good idea but we need to prioritize where we spend our Alumni funds.
Dr Chadda had to leave early. and this item will be taken up at the next meeting. However. in an earlier phone conversation to Neil. he said that we should try to raise around $2K for the purpose.

7. No New Business. and we Adjourned at about 11:20pm.

Regards.
Neil Pundit

Minutes of Telecon Meeting of January 28. 2014
2014-01-28 00:00
From:Neil Dwivedi Pundit. PhD. 1961 TC
President. BITSAA of North America
1354 Plumosa Way
Weston. FL 33327
H: 505-821-3295

Dear Friends.

The BOD and the ADV BD of the BIT Sindri Alumni Association of North America (BITSAA of NA) met by teleconference starting at 10:30pm ET on January 28 (Tuesday). 2014 for about 90 minutes. Weather in GA. TX. and elsewhere prevented some attendance. Late start was necessitated by the State of the Union Address of President Obama.

Present were: Neil. Arunima. Uttara. Bharat. Anil. Naresh. Ramesh. and Raj.

The Agenda for the meeting was sent out earlier. and we followed it. The summary Minutes follow the Agenda.

1. Directors Reports:

– Arunima. joined by Uttara. emphasized the need for a succinct material to seek out alumni. yet to join our Association. The material can be distributed at Indian gatherings. posted on Indian Grocery Stores. Temples. Gurudwaras. etc. Also used for Radio Ads. It should cover: why join the Alumni Association? Sense of belonging. helping Alma Mater. some highlighted recent activities. reports of visits to Sindri. etc can be elements covered in the brochure. It should address why be a member. It was a spirited discussion in which everyone chimed in.

ACTION: Neil promised to send some text to Arunima. Others are also encouraged.

– Bharat plans to visit Sindri in March. and would like to give a talk there – to be arranged. He is planning a Regional meeting in Niagara area to attract people from upstate NY and Toronto area. Sometime in May or June. It would be in collaboration with Raj. who joined later (teleconference number does NOT work in Canada!) Memorial Day Weekend was mentioned as a possibility.

– Ramesh talked about his frequent communication with his active team in the SF Bay Area. He suggested a monthly communication of the Association.

– Raj in his first teleconference participation. enabled thru a call to Neil’s iPad. explained his being on travel a lot. but hopes to be more active. He mentioned of possible participation by an alum Dr Ajit Singh (sp?). EE Professor at Waterloo. While he is not in our list yet. Ramesh(?) mentioned he knows Ajit.

– Naresh mentioned that his open invitations on our website for alumni to join attracted only bogus entries. resulting in his shutting down the invitation pending stronger filtering. Lateness of the hour prevented a discussion.

2. ADVBD Role and Responsibilities: Anil led the discussion by summarizing the pertinent bylaws. communications from me (Neil); Uttara added prior discussions in emails and BOD deliberations; many chimed in. We concluded that all alumni listed anywhere as Distinguished should be grandfathered. The ADVBD will nominate. in addition. a few more from our list of some 400 members. Neil expressed a need for a defined process with criteria for nominations. Uttara and Neil will provide to Anil our prior deliberations on the topic. Neil mentioned service to the Association. to Alma Mater. in addition to other qualifications. as an important factor.

3. Calendar Year 2013 Summary: In absence of Divy we did not fully address the matter except some parts covered by Neil in a letter to Life Members. copied to BOD and ADVBD. At Anil’s request Neil elaborated on Merger issue which is essentially postponed by the Chief Minister who wishes to retain BIT Sindri as the only established State institution. The Jharkhand Public Service Commission has advertised 160+ faculty positions. An investigation has been launched for the incomplete IT building which lacks windows. doors. and indoor finishes. Raj pointed out from his own prior experience that retired and/or visiting professors on duty can be counted toward meeting UGC’s minimum staffing ratio of 55%.

4. Annual Meeting 2014 in NJ Area: This topic was skipped in absence of Divy who is to propose a Local Chair.

5. Special Projects:

a. Getting to 1000 by 2015 – was partly covered under item 1 by Arunima and Uttara.

b. Naresh on Website Update – to be covered at the next meeting

c. Ramesh on Travel Award: He outlined a process for choosing candidates. criteria to be met. a number of days of stay and talk at Sindri. etc. He will follow by email.

6. New Business: Neil mentioned that Dilip has taken a job in Atlanta. and is in the process of moving there. We need to find a replacement for a Regional Director. preferably in greater Houston or greater Dallas area.

7. Then. we adjourned.
——-
PS:
1. Neil was able to get enough votes to approve the minutes of the November 2013 telemeeting distributed earlier.

2. Our Next scheduled meeting is on February 25 (last Tuesday) starting at 9:30pm ET.

3. Comments/Approval of these minutes would be appreciated. particularly by the attendees.

2013 Alumni Meet at New Jersey
2013-09-27 00:00
Minutes of the Annual Meeting held Saturday. 27 July. 2013Indra N. Jha. Member Ad Hoc Committee
Saturday. 27 July. 2013 was a historic day in the life of BIT Sindri Alumni Association of North America (BIT SAA. NA). A decade long oblivion of the Association was ending as if a new light was switched on. The Association was in lime-light again!
Once very active under the guidance of Dr. T. Prasad. Dr. N. K. Sinha and led by Dr. Uday Sinha and the group of BIT alumni. those early immigrants of 60s & 70s. the Association had lost its attraction by the time it was YK2 and it was moving fast into a status of oblivion in the following decade. Then Dr. Yogi Chadda came as President and. he started plans to resurrect the Alumni back to life; and in 2012 Annual Meet on 15 September. he formed the Ad Hoc Committee of Indra Jha. Amar Mishra. Neil Pundit. Ranjit Sinha to rejuvenate the Alumni Association and bring it back to its glorious past. The Committee worked diligently hands in hands together and this Annual Gathering was a show-piece of its efforts and promise. Leaders of the Ad Hoc pack. Dr. Chadda and Dr. Neil Pundit published the agenda for the day and the Annual Meet was afoot. As envisioned. a large attendance (official count of 60+) of Alumni was buzzing in the hall. They came from Texas. California. Midwest. Florida and North-east; from all over the US; all happy faces; and little chaotic at times. The day was filled with happy moments for all Alumni. young and old; and indeed. it felt like the day of a new beginning.
The Minutes of Meeting has been put together by Indra Jha. is presented categorically alongside the agenda items (see agenda items in small fonts). Please refer to Appendices for reports and read on.

From: Neil Pundit
To: BIT Sindri Alumni in US and Canada Date: Tuesday. 23 July 2013
AGENDA (updated July 22. 2013)
Subject: Notice of Annual Meeting and ELECTION
As announced earlier. the PLACE for our Annual Meeting and Election on July 27. 2013. SATURDAY. is Crown of India Restaurant. 660 Plainsboro Rd. Plainsboro. NJ 08536. ph 609-275-5707. Their website is www.crown-of-india.com . It is in the Princeton Meadows Shopping Center.
9:00 am: Registration – collect badge and handouts (coffee mugs for early registrants)
Caution: Divy Raj and volunteers will help us keep on track with Time Remaining Cards and finally buzzer!
9:30 am WELCOME & OPENING REMARKS – President Dr Chadda (57 ME). MODERATOR: Dr Anil Singh (64 MET)
President Chadda welcomed the guests and introduced Dr. Anil Singh to the audience. Dr. Anil Singh had come from California to participate in this Annual Meet. He took over from here on and conducted the proceedings of the Meeting.
Consent Agenda
Secretary’s Report: Keerti Prasad (90 E&C)
Treasurer’s Report: Sudhaker Raj (87 EC). Neil Pundit (61 TC) ACCOMPLISHMENTS & CHALLENGES – Dr Chadda
Please see appendices for details of these reports.
Memorium: one minute of silent prayer for the departed souls (list and details on website under Departed Souls)
All attendees stood up and observed one minute of silence in memory of friends who had already travelled to higher world.
10:00 am CURRENT INITIATIVES & UPDATE: MODERATOR: Raj Verma (70 MET)
a. Exchange with U of Manitoba . and Env Engrg Initiative – Dr chadda
Dr. Chadda updated the audience with efforts put forth by Bidhu Jha for Educational Exchange between BIT Sindri and Univ. of Manitoba; and another effort by Ranjit Sinha for initiative to include Environmental Science Education in the Civil Engineering PG-curriculum at BIT Sindri.
Please see appendices for details of these reports.
b. Rejuvenation Committee Report – Amar Mishra (62 CE). Indra Jha (63 CE)
Amar Mishra and Indra Jha presented the arduous efforts made by the Ad Hoc Committee to make this Annual meet a success. They looked around and declared .. it is a success!
Here Is Yogi Chadda who presided over the Rejuvenation Efforts; Here is Neil Pundit who has worked all waking hours of his life after July 29th. 2012. Today where we are is the fruit of his Bhagirath Praytna. Here is Ranjit Sinha who never missed an opportunity to provide compliance with Federal law and our Alumni By-laws. Here is Amar Mishra who got on phone. and Here is Indra Jha who fought and worked with these gifted Ad Hoc Members towards the big tent open Structure to make it accessible and transparent for one and all. And of course. here are Sudhakar Raj and Keerti Prasad who helped all these happen!
Objective No 2 …to provide structures and stability … has been initiated; Look at our Slate of Directors … quite impressive! Is not it! And. Objective No. 3 .. thought of the Continuity of BIT Pride?…. of its Grandeur? … Of course! Well. we cannot bring back Dr. Despande! Nor. Dr. T. Prasad ! Nor. Dr. N. K. Sinha ! But we can do what we saw them doing — help make BIT a Prime Institution! — bring continuity to the cultures of giving. initiated and glorified by Dr. Uday Sinha and the Committee he had organized.
Now it is our turn. to show something happening!
This is our 3rd.. 4th.. 5th. … and nth. Objective! We should learn to give! … to BIT Campus. We should devote our time to impart some of our experience to the Graduating Class. We should initiate many constructive projects at BIT Campus. Like. Ranjit Sinha initiating Environmental Education for Civil Engineering curriculum…. Like. Bidhu Jha initiating Manitoba Collaboration.
Please see appendices for details of these reports from Ranjit Sinha and Bidhu Jha.
c. Website Update and plan – Naresh Sahu. Sudhaker Raj
d. Interactions with Alumni worldwide and nostalgia – Divyanshu Raj (91 MET)
e. Summary of Bylaws – Ranjit Sinha (62 CHE). a past President. Short Break
Please see appendices for details of these reports.
11:15 am ELECTION SESSION – Dr Chadda; MODERATOR: Shiva S. Tripathi (59 ME) The Slate; Nominations from floor; Voting; Results Announced by Dr Chadda
Farewell by outgoing Directors: Keerti Prasad. Sudhaker Raj. Dr Chadda Elected Directors – what do you wish to accomplish (in 25 words or less)
The following SLATE of CANDIDATES was presented to the General Body present there in the hall and the Slate of Candidates was voted and accepted and thus confirmed the election of the Board of Directors to manage and run the affairs of the Alumni Association for a two year term. 2013 to 2015. Here is the Slate of Candidates:
SLATE
As required by the Bylaws. President Dr Chadda presents the following SLATE of Candidates for Directors for a term of 2 years. Nomination of additional candidates is welcome from the floor. While the newly elected Directors can decide by election within themselves who would hold what office. Dr Chadda suggests a particular officer position for each candidate. All the candidates are on LinkedIn. and you may contact them directly by email.
1. (1961 TC) Neil Pundit. from Fort Lauderdale/Miami area. FL. current VP. and also a past VP. Proposed officer position: President. Neil is a retired Supercomputing R&D Executive from Sandia National Labs. pundit@ieee.org
2. (1961 CE) Raj Dubey. from Waterloo. Ontario. Canada. as Regional Vice President.
Raj is a Professor Emeritus at the U of Waterloo. r4dubey@yahoo.com (unable to attend)
3. (1971 EE) Ramesh Yadava. from CA Bay Area. as Regional Vice President. Ramesh has been a key organizer of West- Coast Meets.
Ramesh is a Technology and Social Entrepreneur. yadava@aol.com
(unable to attend. Ramesh and Neil will attend the west-coast meet on Sept 14 in San Jose. CA)
4. (1974 EE) Bharat Sahay. from Greater Rochester. NY area. as Regional Vice President. Bharat is in Software consulting business. bharatsahay@gmail.com
5. (1984 EC) Dilip Gupta. from Dallas. TX area. as Regional Vice President.
Dilip is a past Secretary; a Project Mgmt professional. exploring new opportunity. dilipgupta@hotmail.com
6. (1990 MIN) Naresh K. Sahu. from greater Washington DC Area. as Secretary. Naresh is designing and managing our website. He is an expert web designer. nksahu@yahoo.com
7. (1991 EE) Arunima Thakur from greater Detroit area. as Vice President. and also as Regional Vice President.
Arunima is a Quality Control executive. arunima_thakur@yahoo.com (unable to attend)
8. (1991 MET) Divyanshu (Divy) Raj. from greater NY/NJ area as Treasurer. and also as Regional Vice President. Divy is a AVP with Citi. and has worked on many financial products. divyanshu_raj@yahoo.com
9. (1995 ELC) Alka Srivastava. from Atlanta. GA area. as Regional Vice President.
Alka is a Database Senior Manager. alkasrivastava@yahoo.com
(unable to attend; She and Neil will meet with Atlanta area alumni on August 2)
RE: 2014 GET TOGETHER: July 26 (last Saturday in July)?
The Date July 26. 2014 was unanimously accepted and confirmed.
Among several suggestions for the venue of the next Annual meeting … Orlando – Host Vijay Kumar (75 ME); Miami/ Ft. Lauderdale area – Host Uday Sinha (60 MET); Huston; Vancouver Canada – Host Satya Taneja (62 CE) and NY/NJ area for its central location; ——- The venue of NY/NJ area was accepted for its central location and confirmed as venue for the next Annual Meet of July 26. 2014.
c. 12:00 noon ………LUNCH …. LUNCH
Afternoon Session:
01:00 pm DISCUSSION: WHAT IS HIGH ON YOUR MIND? MODERATOR: Dr Onkar P Sharma (59 EE). planning a visit to Sindri in September
Ideas Heard on FaceBook and from emails and phone calls: Neil Pundit What else can we (alumni in US & Canada) do for our Alma Mater? – all
Dr. Onkar P Sharma took the podium and spoke at length his experience in trying to do any collaborations and or partnership to help institutions in India. Some of the renderings. to quote him verbatim. are as follows: — “I expressed my frustration in working with Indian Institutions on establishing academic partnership because of bureaucratic and archaic academic system.
Institutions. particularly at college level. have very little freedom and flexibility on matters of external relationships. They are controlled by UGC (University grants Commission) and also AICTE (All India Council Technical Education) if they award Engineering and Management degrees. One such example is that of an institution in Hyderabad. AICTE first approved the MOU and then cancelled it. The Indian institution has gone to court but the case has not come up for hearing for three years now.
There are additional problems with institutions like BIT which are government-supported and government-controlled. Then Government secretaries and directors come in picture. These officers. as we all know. are mostly interested in advancement of their career rather than the State they serve. I will give examples. I wrote more than once to director. NIT Patna. Director BIT Sindri. as well as director of Technical education/ concerned Government department secretaries in Ranchi and Patna but never got a response. This was my experience of working with government (public) colleges in India.
Private institutions do take some interest but goal is to make money and not the advancement of the institution vis-a-vis students and faculty. I have worked with two such institutions with exactly the same experience. I don’t know if I want to give out the names. One was in Delhi and the other in Pune. After spending time. money. and effort. the MOU which was signed was cancelled. These institutions were not prepared to spend money in promotion and advertising up-front which was their responsibility as laid out in the MOU.
I am currently working with a private University in UP. Universities seem to have some authority. I was personally impressed by the VC of this university who. like me. is a Fulbright Scholar and was placed in USA for a year. I believe.
Programs which I work on are; two-plus-two where students will complete 2 years in India and last two years in USA and get US Bachelor degree. two-plus three where students complete 2 years in India and three years in USA and get US Bachelor and Master degrees. offering US curriculum and Bachelor and Master degrees on the campus of partner universities. faculty exchange. student exchange. and some others. Private institutions are not very interested in student transfer programs for loss of tuition money for 2 years. They get fixed quota from AICTE.”
Summing up his inputs to this minute of meeting. he wrote:
“Jha Ji. I could go on and on if I start detailing all the intricacies involved in establishing partnership.
Select whatever information you consider relevant for the minute.As regards BIT Sindri. I will shy away from any talk of establishing partnership but will do my best to help those students who desire to come to my institution for higher studies.”
I sincerely applaud his candid overviews of the state of things in India; and I intend by presenting them here with only intension to get the message and follow it in our efforts.
01:45 pm INSPIRATION # 1: Experiences of an Immigrant Entrepreneur
by Dr Krishna Pal Singh* (67 ME). Founder & President of Holtec International Introduction by Dr Lakshman P Sinha (60 EE). Retiree of Bell Labs and AT&T.
Dr. Singh will share his personal perspectives based on the experiences gained from three decades of technological entrepreneurship that may be relevant to other immigrants to America.
Q&A. Short Break
Dr. Lakshman P Sinha spoke very highly of Dr. Krishna Pal Singh (67 ME) while introducing him to the audience. Dr. Sinha knew him as PG student at U- Penn. Dr. Sinha added that he does not see these days. students coming from BIT Sindri of the caliber – of the class and qualifications as of Dr. Singh. There is no surprise to see Dr. Krishna Pal Singh so successful as Founder/Owner – President of Holtec. a multi-billion dollar enterprise specializing in processing and disposal of Nuclear Waste. Dr. Singh holds many patents in the complex science of Nuclear Energy. He is a member of NAE (National Academy of Engineering). and a Trustee of U- Penn.
Dr. Singh got up and gave a very personal account of him-self as he was growing up in India. He expressed an admiration for his teacher. a missionary from Hungary. who asked him to read Sanskrit. Kalidas and Meghdoot. He said he attended U-Penn to learn Nuclear Science and Business of producing energy but all of the engineering he learnt was at BIT Sindri. To me his life story was very inspiring and still better as it was spoken so lucidly; the audience was spell-bound listening to this man of success. I also happen to know him personally and I congratulated him on his grand success by saying “we all knew you were going to be a success. but we (Dr. Diwakar Mishra and I) did not know. you will be such a grand success”!
People heard him and took with them what they saw in him.
Dr. Chadda recalled “he gave us a talk sharing his life experiences as an immigrant entrepreneur but reminding us of his humble beginning growing up in a village in a poor family where his diligence in studies kept him focused. While attending a missionary high school in Ranchi he was much impressed by a teacher. a Hungarian Sanskrit scholar. who imparted much wisdom by having him read the Sanskrit classics. which he enjoyed. After his PhD from UPenn. he worked for a company but soon after he founded his own company Holistic Technology. shortened as Holtec International in NJ. which is now an international company with offices in many countries worldwide. He shared the struggles he faced in developing his business. (with) his wife (and) Martha (was) more stressed than him. Prudent risk taking with self confidence in the undertaking is the essential step to success in entrepreneurship. He briefly touched upon his current efforts in ultra-safe self-contained nuclear reactors that his company is installing worldwide. He mentioned that he has committed to India that all the nuclear installations in India would be at the cost – no profits.
His humbleness. integrity. and down to earth manners were a pleasant surprise to the audience which showered him with a lot of questions. and he answered all with utmost sincerity and patience until the time ran out. Apologizing Neil asked the alumni whose questions could not be entertained to email him their questions. and he would relay Dr. Singh’s answers”.
This was a unique experience for us all alumni – so uplifting. so heartwarming. and it made us all so proud of our Alma Mater BIT Sindri. and our motherland India.”
This is how Neil Pundit recalled Dr. Singh speaking:
“He spoke about the products of his company: Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management and specially about Manufacture of Modular Power Generation System using Nuclear Fuel for providing Safe and affordable energy and Storage and Transportation of Nuclear Fuel etc. He discussed how he got involved in these activities (These are part of his Ph.D. Research. He has 10 patents in his name on the Storage of Nuclear waste) and he has companies all over the world including India. He explained his plans to remove the energy shortage of India by installing Modular Power Generating system which are safe. He is a philanthropist and all his earning goes to charity in KPS FOUNDATION. Because of this he expressed his desire to improve the SANITATION system of India. specially starting from his State of Bihar. He has made starts in Bihar but with some disappointments. There were interesting questions from the audience which were politely answered.”
“ After achieving the highest point as an entrepreneur. KRISHNA Pal is very modest in nature.”
02:30 pm INSPIRATION #2: Intelligent Way of Living to Reach Human Goals
by Shri Vijay Kapoor*(61 TC). Founder of Arsha Vidya Center and a disciple of Swami Dayananda Saraswati Introduction by Gurdeep Singh Dhanjal (61 ME)
Shri Vijay Kapoor will analyze and shatter a common flaw in our life: Our hunger for food is fulfilled but our hunger for unconditional happiness is NOT fulfilled!
Q&A
Shri Vijay Kapoor was the second inspirational speaker. All in one word. he is an “Engineer turned Swami”. In my recollection of the college days. I remember him as inventor of “bolo re bhai bum … bolo re bhai bum … bum bolo” that he came up during a cricket match with arch-rival. ISMAG. What a turn a life takes; in his case it is unique and definitely for better!
Shri Vijay Kapoor (61 TC) did his MS at UC Berkeley. and worked for high technology companies like IBM and HP. In early 1970’s he personally met and was influenced by Swami Chinmayananda and Swami Dayanand Saraswati. He became an early disciple of Swami Dayananda. went through years of devoted learning in upstate California. and finally founded Arsha Vidya Center in Silicon Valley. taking early retirement from HP. He teaches two courses in Vedanta philosophy and one course in Sanskrit.
I am quoting Dr. Chadda the way he recalled him speak:
“What he chose to speak to us about is a paradox in our lives. We are born with hunger for food. and we know how to satisfy the hunger by eating. Similarly our thirst is quenched by drinking water. We all also have a yearning. a hunger or a thirst for unconditional happiness in our lives but most of us are unable to satisfy this yearning. This observation is a paradox. a puzzle. a mystery. and a disappointment for most. Shri Vijay Kapoor has found the answer in ancient Indian writings upnishads & shastras. as have many before us. He meticulously articulated our failings and how we can overcome”. This was a sublime moment as we delved into the wisdom of a mere mortal before us. one of us. a fellowalum”.
Now I am quoting Neil Pundit the way he recalled him speak:
“Mr. Vijay Kapoor did his MS in EE from . UC BERKELEY. worked with IBM and took an early retirement. He is an early disciple of Swami Dayananda Saraswati of PA and founder of Arsha Vidya Center in Silicon Valley. He teaches Sanskrit and Vedanta.
He spoke essentially on fulfillment of human desires which vary with individuals. But the desires which are given to us by nature such as Hunger and Thirst can certainly be fulfilled. Even then. we are unhappy though the fundamental desire to be unconditionally happy is also given to us. We create our own desires and human goals and they are not fulfilled. He explained that our Shastras only provide the answer.
In his talk he examined the problem and tried to explain that happiness is your own internal bliss. The time was not enough to complete this EXCELLENT spiritual discussion. He was the last speaker and we had to clear the hall for the other group party in the evening. He cut his talk short. We were running late. and we could not entertain any questions from the audience. However. Vijay had assured his friend Neil that he will answer questions..
With his presence. California was well represented”.
The meeting was adjourned at 4.30 PM of SATURDAY. JULY 27th. 2013.
It was a great get together.
Alumni as far as Vancouver. Canada. came. Mr. Satya Taneja our Alumni(62-CE) happens to be owner of famous NANAK SWEETS’. He was kind enough to get 100 packets of sweets to be distributed to the Alumni.Photos:http://bitsindri.org/content/alumni-meet-2013

Minutes of Telecon Meeting of September 24. 2013
2013-09-24 00:00
Directors Raj Dubey. Bharat Sahay. Dilip Gupta. and Alka Srivastava were unable to attend. Some of them had advised us earlier. Dr Chadda was absent probably because he is on his India trip. Uttara Sahaym was present.
Referring to the AGENDA sent out by me. here is the summary of deliberations and actions:

– Minutes of the last meeting of Sept 10. 2013 was approved.

ACTION ITEMS:

1. Corporate Resolution to open a Fidelity Brokerage Account was approved unanimously. Divy will complete her part of the form in consultation with her employer. She would also need to do the signature document.

2. TRAVEL GRANT. as proposed by Neil was approved unanimously. Ramesh mentioned that he would seek candidates from all possible sources including the regional directors.

3. The Advisory Board slate as proposed by Dr Chadda was approved unanimously. The absentee directors have communicated their approval by email to me separately. [I will communicate with the Advisory Board. and copy the BOD.]

DISCUSSION ITEMS:

a. Getting to 1000: Arunima discussed a well thought out plan of multi level marketing and sales which she would refine with promotion materials. Uttara mentioned her own initiative of contacting alumni friends in Seattle area and beyond.

b. Future Regional Meetings: In absence of Bharat. Dilip. and Raj. this matter will be taken up at the next meeting. However. Neil mentioned that he has suggested to Bharat to consider Niagara Falls and to invite Canadian alumni in Ontario. working with Raj. Arunima mentioned a possibility of Chicago area for her next planning.

UPDATES: All the items were briefly covered. some thru prior emails. Neil provided additional details of the Autonomy documents approved by the Jharkhand government in 2010 but not acted upon fully yet. Neil. Yogi. and Surendra Chadda will try to nudge them in their November visit to Sindri. Neil may have to extend his trip as he has been invited to meet with the Government officers in Ranchi.

A discussion initiated by Ramesh to provide simple mechanisms on the website for payments (for Membership Fee. Event. Donation) concluded with Naresh taking the Action to investigate and report at the next meeting.

NEXT TELECON: Oct 29. to be presided by Arunima ( as I will be in India).

No new business. and we adjourned at about 11:40 pm ET.

Cheers.
Neil
