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Rotary E Club empowers night school learners

Projects

The Rotary E-Club of Empowering Youth, RID 3132, undertook literacy initiatives in August, benefiting the 25 night schools in Ahmednagar. Night schools serve as a vital resource for young adults who, despite financial constraints, are determined to pursue education while working to support themselves. The students, aged around 25–28, manage a delicate balance between daytime labour and nighttime learning, says Bindu Shirsath, the project coordinator. These schools typically operate for two hours every evening, with each accommodating around 100 students.

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Renewing the fight against Polio

Projects

The occurrence of two Vaccine Derived Polio (VDPV) cases in India has alarmed all of us. India has been free of the wild polio virus (WPV) since January 14, 2011. The two WPV-endemic countries in the world are Pakistan with 17 cases and Afghanistan with 18 cases to date.

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Interact grows in RID 3090

Projects

Interact clubs in RID 3090 has grown from seven to 382 in three years from 2021 and here is how we did it. I started my Interact chairmanship of the district on July 1, 2021, and served for three years until June 2024. The invaluable support of 125 Rotary clubs gave a gigantic boost taking the count to 382 in the three years, making RID 3090 rank third in India and fourth in South Asia.

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RC Pune Central raises Rs.1.2 crore in 45 minutes

Projects

In just 45 minutes, Rotary Club of Pune Central, RID 3131, garnered an impressive commitment for Rs.1.2 crore from its 118 members during its annual ‘Spirit of Giving’ event. This unique fundraising festival, now a staple of the 40-year-old club, draws contributions each year to support its various service projects.

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Literacy programme for jail inmates

Projects

In an interesting initiative, Rotary India Literacy Mission (RILM) has launched a motivating programme for prison inmates in West Bengal through a comprehensive literacy project. “Thanks to the initiative and help from my friend Imran Zaki, an eminent social worker in Kolkata and Sanjay Singh, ADG, ­Correctional Homes, West Bengal, RILM has been able to give the gift of literacy to about 800 prison inmates from eight correctional homes in West Bengal through our adult ­literacy programme,” says past RI President ­Shekhar Mehta.

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Sartorial standoff

LBW

Should old people wear new clothes? I ask this question in all seriousness because for the last ten years I have been engaged in a running battle with my wife over this. I prefer old clothes. Indeed I have done so all my life. Not just that. I also prefer the same colours — grey or khaki trousers, and a white or grey bush shirt. My determination to not deviate from this was reinforced about 30 years ago. Someone had presented me with a red shirt which I rarely wore. But one day I was obliged to wear it. I had to go to the railway station to bring someone. I was wearing khaki shorts that had been altered from my five-year-old khaki trousers.

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Holistic health for longevity

Health

Swedish sweat in the 19th century is the fountain-head of modern calisthenics — the prime source and course of western exercises today. It is believed that Swedish landlords were aghast when they saw the stooped and sagging peasants’ shoulders at work. The landlords wanted their subjects to be soldier-like in bearing. And hence, devised drills and movements on militarist lines. Erect spines and square shoulders were sought and taught through calisthenics.

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Greenwashing or genuinely organic?

Go Green

Are the products on supermarket shelves marked ‘green’ genuinely green? In a world where consumers are becoming increasingly environment-conscious, there is no dearth of marketers luring unsuspecting shoppers with labels such as “organic, chemical-free, 100 per cent natural, sustainable” or even “vegan”. These tags may appear on a range of goods, from food to cosmetics, and make half-true or often false claims.

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Rotary responds to AP-Telangana flood crisis

News

The recent depression over the Bay of Bengal caused widespread flooding across Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Telangana. The rainfall which began on August 30 intensified through the first week of September, with AP bearing the brunt. Over 27 per cent of the state’s annual rainfall occurred in just 48 hours; an IMD report explains that this extreme weather event was driven by a land-based cyclone, which drew moisture from both the Arabian Sea and the land heat of eastern India, the combination of which led to the two states witnessing an astonishing 500mm of rain in just 24 hours on August 31.

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Cancer care diet for children

Projects

On July 1 this year, RC Thane Ghodbunder Road, RID 3142, launched Project Annapurna at the St Jude Childcare Centre in Parel, Mumbai, to provide nutritional support to 100 children undergoing cancer treatment at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. “We aim to provide nourishing diet packs to 100 families with children battling cancer every week for the entire year,” said project coordinator Shankar Bhagat. Each carefully curated pack costs Rs.500 and the total project cost is estimated at Rs.26 lakh. The initiative will benefit less privileged children undergoing treatment at the Tata Memorial Hospital and staying at all the 20 St Jude centres across Mumbai.

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This Rotarian is on a greening spree

News

Give a gift that keeps giving…. This is the motto of the charitable trust that Janet ­Yegneswaran, a past president (2017–18) of the Rotary Club of Bangalore ­Koramangala (RCBG), RID 3191, set up in memory and name of her late husband Rajanet ­Yegneswaran, a Rotarian of the same club, some 20 years ago.

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Mumbai Rotarians help tribals of Palghar

News

Whether it is enhancing farmers’ income in tribal villages, ­providing wells in villages where women earlier had to walk across several km to carry water over their heads, giving modern ­educational aids to children in rural schools, or organising group ­weddings for ­Adivasis, the Rotary Club of Bombay Bay View, RID 3141, has done it all.

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