Dear friends,This is notice of a change. Last year I was urged by many of you to continue as President (of the Alumni Association of North America) for one more year and that is ending now. We have accomplished a lot and we are solidly on the path to uplifting BIT Sindri. Here is a short list:Master Plan: Jharkhand Govt has approved a master plan of Renovation of Rs 150+crores. A new 3 story hostel has just been completed. Hostels, academic buildings, medical center, guest house, .. are all planned. A reputed contractor has already started the work. The goal is to bring back the old glory, now modeled after IIT Kharagpur. The Chief Minister and the senior IAS officers are proactively in tune with our wishes, and they are committed.Autonomy: The cabinet is considering a well-documented plan of Autonomy with the proposed name as BIT Sindri University.Recruitment: Positions of Director BIT Sindri, and Director of Higher & Technical Education have been advertized. In July some 180 faculty positions are to be advertized by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission.Volleyball & Badminton courts: are operational in the compounds of the girls’ hostels. This is a minor relief to the girls confined to their hostels after 6pm.Communication: Through our personal visits and interaction with the faculty and students, the line of communication is opened. On Facebook I am friends with some 900 students and some faculty. Many of our Board members are connected as well.Active BOD: Our Board of Directors is fully engaged and determined to carry on our goals with current and planned activities.With the assurance of continuity and enthusiasm, I will be stepping out shortly. Why, what, ..I do not plan to vanish from the earth. Nor do I plan to take on Sanyas. I am on the path of betterment of my health. I will continue to play Badminton 5 days a week, and do biking, and gym visits.Here are a few things related to Alumni affairs that I will be pursuing more strongly:Public Toilets: My personal goal is 100 toilets within a year. We are halfway there. I will continue to chair the committee processing applications, reporting to Dr Krishna Pal Singh, aided by my elders: Drs Onkar Sharma and Lakshman Sinha. Continuing generosity and matching commitment of Kris Singh is too good to waste.International: My goal is to build a worldwide community of alumni, uniting all alumni chapters under the BIT Sindri Association International as its President for at least one more year. I am aided by Prof Dr Raj Dubey from Canada, and Chandrika Prasad, Patron of Delhi NCR Chapter.We are planning a worldwide gathering of some 400 alumni in Delhi around Nov-Dec of this year.Enhancing Alumni membership in North America: I have a commitment from Dr Rajesh Jha (2009 MET), on our Board, to push this effort which remained dormant during his PhD studies.I will miss working closely with our enthusiastic Directors. Our Bylaws specify the line of succession. Accordingly, the following of our Directors will assume the designated roles, effectively immediately with acceptance of my resignation:Ramesh Yadava (1971 EE), in SF Bay Area, as PresidentAnil Singh (1964 MET), in LA area, as VPNaresh Sahu (1990 MIN) in Wash DC area, as Treasurer, andDivy Raj (1991 MET) in NJ area, as Secretary.I feel great and confident that they will continue uplifting alma mater and enhancing alumni bond.Among the rest of the Board members, Mohammed Zaman (1960 ME), whose term is ending this year, has indicated that he would not opt for another term, handover the rein to Bal Trivedi (1965 ME), also in Houston, already on our Board as our Legal Counsel.If the BOD decides to keep the number of directors to continuing 12, there would be no election in 2016.Lastly, I wish to apologize to those whom I may have inadvertently and unwittingly offended or hurt in my aggressive efforts.Sincerely,Neil Pundit