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IITAV
Newsletter
March 2015
Issue No. 12 |
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| Message from the IITAV
President |
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Dear IITAV
colleagues
and
friends,
Welcome
to this edition of our Newsletter.
Delighted to note that IITAV is
commencing its fifth year. During
this time the initial interest of a
group of like-minded people has
grown encouragingly through our
members and activities. The mixture
of professional, social and
networking activities continues
apace. We thank our members,
friends and well-wishers for your
support and the Management Committee
members, past and present, for your
commitment and hard work.
Over
the past twelve months your
Management Committee has held an
event almost every month and your
participation in these events has
been growing. Two events reported
in this edition are typical
examples. In December, for the
first time we held an IIT
Reminiscences session in which
many interesting experiences and
stories from our IIT days were
shared with enthusiasm and
humour. Our Holi event this
month, traditionally an IITAV
social event, had people
contributing poems, jokes, dances
and songs. We were privileged to
have Pallavi Sharda, Bollywood
actress and Queen of Moomba 2015,
attend and participate.
We
are also working to have
contributions by way of reports
and opinion pieces in our
Newsletters, We look forward to
receiving your contributions and
comments on topical issues.
As mentioned in our previous
newsletter (Issue No.11), the
Management Committee has implemented
a revised membership policy with the
option for multiple year membership
which several members have taken up.
We are encouraged by this show of
support which bodes well for the
sustainability of IITAV. Non-member
IITians are sincerely requested to
use this opportunity and become
members.
IITAV’s
Annual General Meeting (AGM) is
being planned for the first week
of May. Formal notification will
be sent in due course. I strongly
encourage members to nominate for
positions in the 2015-16
Management Committee at the AGM.
Your ideas, commitment and
enthusiasm are critical for the
success of IITAV.
Best wishes,
Raj Rajakumar
Dr. Raj Rajakumar
Mob: 0432 474 385
tarajkumar@optusnet.com.au |
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My IIT
Reminiscences - End of
Year Event |
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In December 2014, over
15 IITAV members met at
IIT alumnus Sunny
Chandra's restaurant, Juliana's cafe, to share their
IIT memories, as part of
IITAV's informal
networking event
programme.
Surrounded by
delicious snacks and
with copious servings of
masala chai, members
rekindled fond college
memories with nostalgia.
The passage of time
remained unnoticed as
the participants started
to share their stories
as diverse
as a near-death
experience, motivational
experiences, ragging
experiences, and what
evolved into a
quasi-contest of worst
professor/student
experience.
It was felt that
informal get togethers
of this sort would
foster stronger bonds
and encourage
participation in other
IITAV programs.
Thanks to Sunny
Chandra, Nikhil Kumar
and Raj Rajakumar for
their efforts in
organizing this event.
Reminiscences were sweet
!!!
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Our visit to
Vibrant Gujarat Summit
- Rachana
Kaudinya, IITAV
Treasurer
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In November 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
addressed a select
gathering of business
leaders and technocrats at
the Governor’s house of
Victoria. My husband
Jai and I attended the
presentations.
In his speech Mr. Modi
made it clear that trade
and investment between
India and Australia will
be an important part of
his foreign policy.
One key goal would be to
improve India’s economic
growth and to raise
India’s ranking in the
World Bank’s ‘Ease of
Doing Business’
index. Impressed by
his simplicity and his
pro-business
announcements, we decided
to attend the Vibrant
Gujarat Summit held in
Gandhi Nagar between 11-13
Jan 2015 to explore
business opportunities in
India.
Vibrant Gujarat, a
brain child of Prime
Minister Modi, is a
biennial event and has
evolved over the past
decade into an
international event.
It is perhaps the biggest
gathering in the world
where budding
entrepreneurs have an
opportunity to see the
president of the World
Bank and also get a chance
to listen to the views of
the UN Secretary General
on issues such as food
security, all on the one
platform.
We reached Ahmedabad on
the 10th of January, 2015,
as part of a delegation of
450 members led by the
Australian Minister for
Trade and Investment, Mr
Andrew Robb. The
delegation, having
participants from the
Victoria Trade Mission and
the Australia India
Business Council, is said
to be the largest ever
delegation from Australia
to India. New South Wales
Premier Mr Mike Baird was
also present.
Following the inauguration
by Mr Modi, the first day
involved presentations
from high level
dignitaries from all over
the world. Among them were
the US Secretary of State
Mr John Kerry, UN
Secretary General Mr Ban
Ki-moon and World Bank
President Dr Jim Yong
Kim. (Read
More)
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Low power uninterrupted
DC technology, brain
child of IIT Madras,
is soon to be trialled at
more than 100,000 homes.
This low cost
technology is aimed at
drastically improving the
electricity supply hours
to homes across India (More).
Indian Goverenment
has given its approval in
2014-15 Union Budget to
setup a new IIT in
Karnataka. Indian
School of Mines, Dhanbad,
will also be upgraded to
become an IIT.
Pan-IIT and Oil and
Natural Gas Corporation
has signed an MoU to
collaborate on research
and development in Energy
sector.(More)
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We welcome our
new member Harvinder
Giddey.
Please renew
your membership for 2015
if you haven't done so.
More information on
membership renewal can
be found here.
We also take this
opportunity to thank all
Members for their
continued participation
in IITAV activities.
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Raj
Rajakumar(President)
Ravi Singh
(Vice-President)
Dilip Desai
(Secretary)
Rachana
Kaudinya(Treasurer)
Nikhil Kumar
Abaran Deep
Kapil Talwar
Rakesh Saraf
Sridhar
Karuppasami
More
information on the
Committee Members can
be found here
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We take this
opportunity to thank
everyone for their
contributions. Special
thanks to our Committee
Members Rachana
Kaudinya, Dilip Desai,
Kapil Talwar, and Raj
Rajakumar for their
efforts in producing
this newsletter.
To help us
improve the newsletter,
please send your
feedback and
contributions (news,
views and memories) for
the next issue to
mail@iitav.org.au or
Contact Sridhar (Mob:
0423 587 163,
kprsridhar@yahoo.com).
Previous editions of the
newsletter are available
here .
Members are
also requested to update
their profiles at our website.
Thank you.
Sridhar
Karuppasami
(On behalf of the IITAV
Committee)
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Songs, Dance and
Colours at Holi Hungama
- Dilip Desai, IITAV Secretary
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Song, Dance with ‘Dholak’ and
colour marked the tenor of the
IITAV's Holi celebrations on 8th
March this year at Aangan,
Footscray. Guests were welcomed
with colourful ‘thali’ and
traditional ‘tilak’, to an
Aangan (means a “courtyard”)
setting. A village type
atmosphere with trees and
rickshaws along with chat shop
provided a colourful atmosphere
which was enjoyed by the
guests with their family and
friends.
Sangeeta Singh and Pallavi Saraf
harmonized the entertainment
throughout the event. Janani
Sridhar started the
festivities with a devotional song
and Radhey Shyam Gupta pepped it
with a popular Holi song. Nalin
Sharda and Vipin
Gaindhar recited their own
creations, extolling the
contribution and role of Indian
women.
Abaran Deep
and Rachana Kaudinya livened up
the mood next with jokes and
different interpretations of
words, ‘ Ï love you” and “AAP ko
vote diya”. Dolan Deep
entertained the gathering with her
melodious voice and the young
Chaitanya Arora made everyone to
dance with her performance.
The highlight
of the event was the arrival of
the 2015 ‘Moomba Queen’, a
daughter of two IITians, and a
well-known Bollywood star, Ms.
Pallavi Sharda. She soon
added her own tempo and enthusiasm
to the dancing that was going on
and charmed everyone. It was
indeed a pleasure to have her on
board. The dancing prize was won
by young Chaitanya Arora, who was
not to be outdone by
others.
The food was excellent. The famous
“Chaat’ and ‘Gol gappas’ lived
upto their reputation and ‘Chhole
Bhature ‘ and ‘Ras Malai’, cooked
and consumed in the outdoor
setting added to the enjoyment of
the attendees. All in all, it was
a very happy, colourful Holi
celebrations enjoyed in the
outdoor settings by the attendees.
Another
milestone in entertainment for
IITAV. Thanks to the hard work of
Rakesh and Pallavi Saraf,
Sangeeta and Ravi Singh and
everyone else involved. More
Photos from this event can be
found here.
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Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) are
the premier institutes of engineering education in
India.
IITAV is the Alumni Association for IIT alumni in
Victoria. |
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