by Prashant Kapadia/NHN
Rotary International District 3141 (revenue districts of Mumbai and Palghar) has organized its Annual District Conference (DisCon) on February 3 and 4, 2018 at J W Marriott, Sahar (Near Terminal 2). Aptly called, it is an ambitious and carefully Conference, that will have senior political leaders, Corporate honchos, film luminaries, Consul Generals, Western Command Head of Indian Navy, lyricists, economists, media professionals, bankers, advocates and many other experts in various vocations who will invigorate, inspire and educate them either through Keynote/ Special Addresses or through theme-specific panel discussions.
The event saw the presence of Shatrughan Sinha, Amruta Fadnavis, Dr. Arun Garg and Ashmi Parekh, Gauri Sawant, Mr. Praful Sharma, Spiritual Address by Pujya Shree Bhupendra Pandya ji making a Difference through service, Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala, singer Hrishikesh Churi, Tadesse Tilahun (Regional Director, Ethiopian Airlines), Abha singh, Nisha Jamvwal, Subhash Kulkarni, .
Prafull J Sharma, District Governor 2017-18, for Rotary International District 3141 (Mumbai, India) says, “Mumbai and Palghar, with over 90 clubs, make a huge district and a DisCon gives the Rotarians an opportunity to not only meet at one platform but also get inspired and invigorated from various eminent Speakers to go back to their Clubs and carry on their social service projects with renewed vigour. Rotary runs an Eye Bank and a Skin Bank in Mumbai and carries on hundreds of projects in organ donation, diabetes awareness and treatment, education, water and sanitation, renewable energy, organ donation and many other areas. We also adopt villages and try and uplift them as Gramotthan projects. I want to infuse renewed energy among the over 1000 Rotarians who will gather at Rotary Utsav so that they do get energized to “make a difference” to society which is our theme for this year, given by Rotary International President Ian Riseley”. Singer Hrishikesh said “Rotary club is very close to my heart. Rotary has done good job especially in international level. I’m glad they felicitated me for my singing & it feels good be to a part of rotary” Given the importance of Mumbai as a District for Rotary international (RI), President Ian Riseley has sent RI’s sitting Director Brian A E Stoyel as his representative (RIPR) for Mumbai’s DisCon. Brian and his wife Maxine are already in Mumbai.
Padma Bhushan Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia was felicitated with “Rotary International Super Achiever Icon Award” at the Conference. Transgender Activist, popularly known as the Vicks Ad mom Gauri Sawant, Khabar Lahariya – the news organization formed and run by rural women who bring out their own digital newspaper, Ashok Deshmane who left his secure job to educate the children of farmers who have committed suicide and Sanghpal Tayde, the police constable from Jalgaon who is a media celebrity given his brilliant singing talent will be felicitated at the Conference under a segment titled “Gumnaam Praharee”.
Rotary International (RI), a 112-year-old international organisation spread over 200 nations, has evolved worldwide as a potent change agent for the betterment of society. Rotary, with its Head Office in Evanston, Chicago, is one of the very few NGOs in the world philanthropists Bill Gates and Rajashree Birla trust the right use of their donations with. Of its 529 international districts in the world, RI District 3141 (Mumbai) is a conglomeration of 90+clubs in Mumbai and Palghar. Former President late Shri Zail Singh (as the sitting President), former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Aviation Minister Shri.Praful Patel, former Railway Minister Shri Lalu Prasad Yadav, former HRD (and present Information & Broadcasting) Minister ShrimatiSmritiIrani, former Union Minister Kapil Sibal, super cop late Kanwar Pal Singh, former Commissioner of Police A N Roy, IT wizards NandanNilekani and Azim Premji, corporate leaders like Kumar Mangalam Birla and Nadir Godrej, social activist MedhaPatkar, writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar, actor of the millennium Amitabh Bachchan, actors Shah Rukh Khan, VidyaBalan, R. Madhavan, Ameesha Patel, Dia Mirza, Neha Dhupia, Rani Mukerji, Suniel Shetty, MadhurBhandarkar and Juhi Chawla, film directors SubhashGhai and Ekta Kapoor, cricketer Navjot Singh Siddhu, journalists Kumar Ketkar and Prabhu Chawla and well known industrialists, doctors, and many other leaders in their respective vocations have graced our DISCON over the years.
Rotary in Brief:
Working with various Governments and Non-Governmental bodies, Rotary has been instrumental in eradicating Polio from the world (except in two countries, where the efforts are still on).
Rotary trains 100 Peace Fellows, including bureaucrats and well placed professionals, all over the world every year who return to their countries to spread the message of peace.
Rotary is serving the world in very many areas including literacy, clean water, disease prevention and cure, saving mothers & children and promoting local economies in 529 Districts in the world.
Rotary International has a network of 1.2 million High Net Worth Individuals spread all over the world of which many work collectively on social projects across nations at the same time.
