ALUMNI NEWS December 2017

Alumni Association, NCE Bengal, Jadavpur University, Kolkata – 700 032 Founded: January 1921; Reg. No. 6518/179

website: www.hqalumniju.org.in; email: alumniju@gmail.com; Phones: +91 (33) 2413 7113, 2414 6854,+91 90514 81214

This December is the month when winter gradually settled in the city and it came magically alive during Christmas and New Year‟s eve. This year we got wintry feeling from November itself, that made us cheerful. Season‟s lowest temperature attained 13.80 C on 27th Dec‟17. The main attractions of the season were midnight Mass at the St. Paul‟s Cathedral, regular sale of Santa Claus Costume, Plum cake of Nahoum, unending flow of people in festive mood in the illuminated Park Street! Alumni members also enjoyed to the fullest on the occasion of All Day Social on the last Sunday of the year which fell on the last day of the year, 31st December 2017. ANNUAL CONVOCATION 62nd Annual Convocation of Jadavpur University was held at the University Open Air Theatre of the main campus on 24th December 2017. Honourable Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the ex-President of India, addressed the convocation as the Guest-in-Chief. Honourable Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi, the Chancellor of the University and the Governor of West Bengal presided over the function. We, all alumni, after collecting batch-cards & flags to display the year of Graduation/Post-Graduation from Jadavpur University, assembled at our „Alumni stall‟ near the convocation area around 10.30 A.M. We stood in a line according to seniority of passing out from Jadavpur University. The most surprising and worth mentioning fact is that the team of alumni members was led by Prof. Amiya Kr. Chatterjee (1935 EE) , who at over 103 years of age, walked straight unaided by any walking-stick leading the group. Honourable Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi, the Chancellor of the University and the Governor of West Bengal together with the Vice Chancellor Professor Suranjan Das came to greet us. We paraded inside the glorious open-air auditorium with the enchanting tune of "Vande Mataram" sung by the students of our University. Convocation process started with usual honour & pride and we were thankful to be a part of it. The Convocation was preceded by a Special Convocation when the Chancellor conferred the Degree of Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa) on Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the 13th President of India (July 25, 2012 to July 25, 2017) crowning a political career of over five decades of exemplary service to the nation in Government as well as Parliament; and on Shri Ved Prakash, who has served the cause of education during a career spanning almost forty years starting from a humble position with the Association of Indian Universities to the position of the Chairman, University Grant Commission. Degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) was conferred on Shri Ajay Kumar Sood, Secretary General of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and President of Indian National Science Academy and on Shri Arun Kumar Bhaduri, a distinguished scientist and Director at IGCAR, Kalpakkam Over 3665 students from different disciplines were awarded undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degrees. The Vice-Chancellor in his address spoke on educational programme the university has undertaken in various fields and its intrinsic strength in Pursuit of Excellence. He congratulated his colleagues in JU who, in terms of the input-output ratio, have outstripped the national aggregate in the realm of academic excellence having worked under trying conditions. He also

appreciated the distinguished professors of JU, who have received National and International Recognition for their outstanding contribution in their respective fields. There was arrangement for tea and light breakfast. Two photographs are attached below :

STUDENTS ASSISTANCE and AWARD PROGRAMME (2017 – 18) Stipends for the second quarter of the academic year, amounting to Rs.9,58,000.00 have been disbursed to 375 JUAA awardees. 7 (normal category) candidates have been dropped in view of their absence during award ceremony and their failure to respond to the notice. Subcommittee‟s second event is the Award Ceremony for the merit medals to the toppers in the university examinations which has been scheduled to be held on 30th January 2018 at 5.00 PM in Dr. Triguna Sen Auditorium. The Registrar of JU, Dr. Partha Pratim Lahiri has consented to grace the occasion. The list of awardees has been expanded to 75 (from 61 last year); the award now includes the toppers of all UG students in all faculties except in final years. List of the class toppers has been received from the Controller of Examination and the order for the gold plated silver medals has been placed; other preparations for the award ceremony are under way. CHAPTER COORDINATION and INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION SUB-COMMITTEE Website: www.hqalumniju.org.in MAINTENANCE of Website Uploading of the list of Members of Executive Committee as well as all the Sub-Committees are completed and necessary corrections incorporated wherever required. Life members enrolled till 4th December‟17 (Membership ID No. 4845) updated in Membership Directory. All upcoming events duly uploaded including Monthly News of November,2017. TASK FORCE-CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT

As decided in single Agenda 6th EC Meeting held on 17th Nov‟17, draft of Memorandum of Association was further discussed under separate Agenda in last 7th EC Meeting held on 16/12/17. There is still difference in opinions amongst the Members present regarding ”Renaming of the Alumni Association” and no conclusive decision could be taken as yet. In order to resolve the issue, it will be deliberated again in the next EC meeting under separate Agenda.

CHAPTER NEWS

Like every year this year also we had a number of visitors in winter season of December. Date Alumnus/alumni Chapter

11.12.2017 Dr. Nilanjan Sen (‟83 Eco) President JUAA, Singapore chapter 12.12.2017 Shri Sumit Mukhopadhyay (‟75 Ch.E) Alberta chapter 26.12.2017 Shri Prabir Ghosh (‟91 ME) Southern California chapter

Shri Ghosh informed us about their website : http://www.juaasocal.org/

We were delighted to have alumni from various chapters in our All Day Social held on 31st December 2017. The list of those members are given below.

1) Shri Tapas Sanyal (‟78 CE) from New Jersey

2) Shri Subharoop Ghosh (‟99 Arch E) from Los Angeles

3) Shri Apurba Chattopadhyay (‟67 CE) from Toronto

4) Shri Siddthartha Sen Chowdhury (‟69 Ch.E) from UK

5) Shri Malay Bhadra (‟93 CE) from UK

6) Shri Ardhendu Raha (‟62 ME) from California

7) Shri Deepro Basu (‟99 Prod.E) from North Carolina

8) Shri Dibyendu Paul (‟81 Ch.E) from Washington DC

9) Shri Amol Shankar Roy (‟68 ME) from Mumbai

10) Shri Pranab Thakur (‟85 ME) from New Delhi

It was a memorable get-together. Having received donations for „Development JU fund‟ from JUAA NC, JUAA WMA and members of JUAA Singapore we are thankful to all of them. A few photographs are given below.

ALL DAY SOCIAL

All Day Social, the gala event organized by Social sub-committee, at University ground and Alumni building was held on the last Sunday of the year which was 31st December 2017. The Breakfast, „Luchi-Aloordam and Tea‟, welcomed all members, their family and friends in the cool atmosphere at the lobby of Dr.Triguna Sen Auditorium. „Aadda‟ got a powerful fuel after having the breakfast. The sports event started with walking race for men of different age group (60 years and above; below 60 years). Next was the game of „Passing the Pillow‟ participated by the ladies. The sport events were a great source of fun and enjoyment to the whole crowd. Special attraction for the day was awaiting then. So, having completed the physical activities in the ground everyone took seat in Dr.Triguna Sen Auditorium. Prizes were given to the winners of the sports and subsequently Dance-Drama „Chandalika‟ was presented by Prerana Dance Troupe of Jadavpur. It was a very enthralling performance by all artistes. The audience got completely absorbed by the charm of it enjoying the song, dance & drama directed and choreographed by Sm. Rumela Chattopadhyay. By the time it got over it was lunch time. The lunch, with a variety of menu, was arranged at the

roof-top of the Alumni building. Post-lunch session continued at the auditorium when sharing of thoughts and ideas with our Chapter members made it quite interactive. It was followed by cultural activities that started with impromptu dance, songs, recitation by the members and their wards. While the day was coming to the end the lottery draw was conducted with lot of excitement. A lucky few had a broad smile! The day full of aadda, fun, food, humour, sports, cultural activities thus got ended with a cup of hot coffee. The presence of our senior most alumni member Prof. Amiya Kr. Chatterjee (1935 EE) over 103 years of age added to the occasion.

BUDHER AADDAA Budher Aadda is held on every Wednesday at 5.30PM in the Meeting Hall of the Association. Various interesting contemporary topics are discussed within a specific time-slot on every Wednesday other than normal aadda over singara, cakes and tea! All members are invited to join the adda and make it more meaningful. SHANIBAARER AASAR Shanibaarer Aasar was held on 30th December‟17 at 4.30 PM in our Meeting Hall. The main theme was „Md. Rafi Smarane‟. It was a wonderful evening with active participation of the members. NEW MEMBERS

The following New Life-members were enrolled during 29th Nov 2017 to 15th Dec 2017:

Ms Maitreyee Banerjee 2010 Comp Lite Mr Aryyama Kumar Jana 2017 Elect Engg Mr Anirban Datta 2009 Civil E

Mr Dipankar Mukherjee 1977 ETCE Mr Kalyan Bhattacharya 1973 Civil E Ms Maria Bhattacharya 1984 Ch Engg Mr Gora Dutta 1975 Elect Engg Mr Partha Sarathi Roy 1975 Elect Engg Mr Somnath Sarkar 1975 Elect Engg Mr Pranab Kumar Bose 1975 Elect Engg Mr Ramendu Mukhopadhyay 1975 Elect Engg Mr Indranil Bhowmik 2000 Elect Engg Mr Biswajit Singh Sardar 2013 Mech Engg Mr Ajoy Kumar Parai 1969 Mech Engg Mr Amitava Bose 2015 Const Engg

DONATIONS RECEIVED

Donations received during the period from 29th Nov‟17 to 30th Dec‟17 are as follows:

Donor Amount Purpose

JU AA Hyderabad Chapter Rs. 25,000/- Student Assistance Deb Kumar Pal Rs. 20,000/- Student Assistance Rani Chakraborty Rs. 20,000/- Student Assistance Team Raha Ideation Pvt. Ltd Rs. 20,000/- Student Assistance Prabir Kumar Kundu ‟70 EE Rs. 12,000/- Student Assistance Eco Crystal Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore Rs. 10,000/- Student Assistance JUAA SOCAL (Southern California) USA $2000 Student Assistance Anindya Paul (Alberta Chapter) Rs. 24,705/- Student Assistance

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

The Memorial & Seminar sub-committee will arrange Dr. Triguna Sen Memorial Programme on 9th January 2018 at 5.00 PM in Dr. Triguna Sen auditorium when a Memorial lecture will be delivered by Prof. Bikas C Sanyal, former UNESCO Adviser in Higher Education on “The Entrepreneurial University”.

Student Assistance & Awards sub-committee‟s award ceremony for the merit medals to the toppers in the University examinations will be held on 30th January 2018 at 5.00 PM in Dr. Triguna Sen Auditorium. The Registrar of JU, Dr. Partha Pratim Lahiri has consented to grace the occasion.

LIST OF DONORS TO SUPPORT JU‟s PARTICIPATION IN UGC‟s BID FOR INSTITUTION OF

EMINENCE (this is in continuation with last month’s list of 31 donors)

List of Donors Sl. No

Name Year /Dept Amount

(Rs) Receipt

No. Date

32 Sri Santipada Gonchoudhuri „70 EE

10,000.00 333 12/12/2017

33 Sri Lakshmi Kanta Sarkar „61 EE

10,000.00 334 12/12/2017

34 Sri Hiren K Ghosh „61 ME

2,000.00 335 12/12/2017

35 Sri Hirak K Sengupta „61 EE

10,000.00 336 12/12/2017

36 Sri Jatindranath Rudra „63 Civil

1,000.00 337 12/12/2017

37 Sm Kakali Bandyapadhyay Non-member

6,500.00 338 12/13/2017

38 Sri Tanay K Das ‟83 Civil

5,000.00 339 12/14/2017

39 Sri Avijit Paul „08 Civil

5,000.00 340 12/21/2017

49,500.00

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and shows the way.

JOHN C. MAXWELL