Personalia
Revered President Maharaj is recuperating at Narendrapur centre.
Swami Gautamanandaji will visit Jayrambati from 2 to 5 January, Mumbai from 6 to 8 January, Coimbatore, Madurai and Ramanathapuram from 15 to 24 January, and Belgharia (Kolkata) from 29 to 31 January.
Swami Suhitanandaji will be visiting Kalady and Kochi from 11 to 17 January, and Bengaluru and Mysuru from 18 to 29 January.
Swami Bhajananandaji is at Belur Math.
Swami Girishanandaji will be visiting Gourhati, Antpur, Prasadpur, Domra, Bagda and Purulia from 4 to 30 January.
All of them are keeping well.
Headquarters
The 114th Annual General Meeting of the Ramakrishna Mission was held at Belur Math on Sunday, 17 December. Swami Bhajananandaji chaired the meeting. In all, 163 monastic members, 47 lay members and 82 associates of the Mission attended the meeting.
Commemoration of the 125th Anniversary of the Ramakrishna Mission
An All-India Youth Convention was held at Belur Math on 25 and 26 December. Swami Suhitanandaji inaugurated the convention. In all, 765 residential and 620 non-residential delegates took part in the convention. Swami Bhajananandaji, the General Secretary, and several monks and renowned speakers addressed the youths.
Sri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law & Justice, and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Culture, Government of India, released a commemorative postage stamp (of 5 rupees) along with a brochure and first day cover, and a coin (of 125 rupees) in a simple function held at Belur Math on 27 December.
An All-India Convention of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Bhava Prachar Parishads was conducted at Belur Math on 29 and 30 December. Swami Suhitanandaji, Swami Bhajananandaji, Swami Girishanandaji and other senior monks chaired the different sessions of the convention. In all, 1512 delegates (all being residential) representing 36 Bhava Prachar Parishads and about 900 Member-Ashramas, and 98 monks of our order who are serving as Presidents or Vice-Presidents of Bhava Prachar Parishads, attended the two-day convention.
At Delhi centre, Sri Harivansh, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, released a commemorative volume on 24 December.
Deoghar Vidyapith held a special programme on 1 December for the promotion of the Sanskrit language. It was attended by 600 students and teachers. A documentary on the vidyarthi vrata produced by the Vidyapith was also screened.
Jalpaiguri: A Ratha Yatra was conducted in 6 districts of West Bengal and Assam from 6 to 20 December. Programmes were held at 30 ashramas and educational institutions along a distance of 791 km traversed by the Ratha. About 10,000 people took part in these programmes.
Nabadwip centre hosted an intrafaith conference on 9 and 10 December in which Swami Bhajananandaji and other monks and scholars spoke. About 850 people attended the conference on both days.
News of Branch Centres in India
The General Secretary inaugurated an archway and laid the foundation stone for the staff quarters at Jhargram centre on 13 December.
At Garbeta centre, the General Secretary dedicated a new building for the English-medium primary school on 14 December.
Swami Gautamanandaji inaugurated a synthetic football field with a running track at Narainpur centre on 15 December.
Our Jhargram school secured 25 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze medals and won the champion title in the Inter-EMRS (Ekalavya Model Residential School) state-level sports meet held in Jhargram on 15 and 16 December.
A statue of Swami Vivekananda was unveiled at Kalpathar sub-centre of Bankura ashrama on 24 December.
News18 Bangla and Rotary Club of Calcutta jointly felicitated Seva Pratishthan hospital for excellence in providing community healthcare. A trophy and a certificate of appreciation were awarded at a healthcare summit held in Kolkata on 27 December.
Narainpur Ashrama conducted a football tournament from 1 to 9 December in which five teams from Delhi, Kerala, Kolkata, Manipur and Narainpur participated.
News of Branch Centres outside India
Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs & Education, Government of India, visited Malaysia centre on 2 December. The minister was accompanied by the High Commissioner and Deputy High Commissioner of India in Malaysia.
Communication Addresses
Phone Number: Indore centre has a new mobile telephone number: 78801 05727.
Websites: Sahudangi centre has launched a website with address: www.rkmsahudangi.org and Varanasi Advaita Ashrama with address: varanasimath.rkmm.org
Baranagar Math has changed its website address from www.rkmbaranagar.org to baranagarmath.rkmm.org
Values Education and Youth Programmes
The following centres held programmes mentioned against their names:
Bagda: A motivational camp on 3 November in Purulia which was attended by 150 students and teachers.
Basavanagudi, Bengaluru: A workshop on values education on 9 December in which 73 school teachers took part.
Chennai Math (at Vivekananda Cultural Centre): (i) Five workshops on values education in November in which altogether 303 students and 17 teachers took part. (ii) A women’s convention on 20 December which was attended by 220 women.
Cooch Behar: A youths’ convention on 22 December attended by 130 students.
Gurugram: (i) Five workshops on values education for the teaching staff of middle schools from 1 to 16 December; in all, 184 school teachers from Ahmedabad and Ranchi participated. (ii) Four social innovation programmes (workshops) from 28 November to 19 December; each programme was attended by 20 management students. (iii) An orientation session in online mode on 16 December in which 42 headmasters and teachers took part.
Hatamuniguda: A motivational workshop on 6 December in which 30 teachers took part.
Hyderabad: A youths’ camp on 16 December attended by 250 students and professionals.
Jammu: Ten youths’ conventions at schools in Jammu from 29 November to 19 December; a total of 2500 students took part in the conventions.
Kathamrita Bhavan, Kolkata: A youths’ convention on 26 November.
Ponnampet: A youths’ convention at a college in Ponnampet on 18 December in which about 200 students participated.
Raipur: (i) A personality development camp at a school in Jhalmala village, Kawardha district, on 9 December in which 240 students and 10 teachers took part. (ii) Personality development camps at three educational institutions in Dhamtari district on 23 December, attended by 310 students and 40 teachers in all.
Rajamahendravaram: Two values education programmes on 15 and 16 December which were attended by a total of 215 students of classes 8 and 9.
Thanjavur: (i) A values education programme for professors and lecturers at a college in Karur on 1 December. (ii) A values education programme for students on 8 and 9 December in which a total of 140 students took part.
Vrindavan: A convention on 5 December in which 385 students and 25 teachers from 22 educational institutions participated.
Yadadri Bhuvanagiri: A values education programme on 18 December attended by 80 students and teachers.
Eye Camps and other Healthcare Services
The following centres conducted medical camps. A summary of the services provided by them is given below.
India:
Bankura: Eye camps from 30 November to 28 December in which a total of 371 eye patients were screened, 79 were operated on and 26 were given spectacles.
Coimbatore Mission: Nine medical camps (2 cardiology, 1 dental, 1 eye, 1 orthopaedic and 4 general camps) in and around Coimbatore from 25 November to 24 December in which a total of 495 patients were treated.
Cooch Behar: A cleft lip and palate camp on 17 December in which 56 patients were examined.
Delhi: Eye operations on 89 patients and distribution of spectacles to 55 patients from 1 May to 30 November.
Guwahati: A medical camp in Simultala village of Morigaon district on 9 December in which 207 patients were treated.
Hyderabad: A blood donation camp on 10 December in which 56 units of blood were collected.
Jammu: A health camp at a school in Jammu on 28 December in which 5 doctors examined 320 students.
Jamshedpur: Three eye camps in November and December in which a total of 241 patients were screened and 127 were operated on.
Khetri: In the eye camps held in December, 68 patients were checked and subsequently 12 were operated on for cataract at an eye hospital in Jaipur.
Lucknow: 6130 eye patients were checked and 374 were operated on and given spectacles in November.
Madurai: (i) An eye camp on 17 December: 129 patients were screened, 33 underwent cataract surgery and 12 were given spectacles. (ii) A health awareness programme on 24 December which was attended by 212 people.
Mumbai: An eye camp at Bhilji village in Raigad district on 26 November: 160 patients were checked, 44 underwent surgery at our Mumbai hospital and 100 were given spectacles.
Nagpur: An eye camp in Kanhan village, Nagpur district, on 3 December in which 240 patients were checked. Subsequently, 46 were operated on for cataract at an eye hospital and 178 spectacles were given.
Naora: (i) Four medical camps (2 ayurvedic and 2 general) in November and December: altogether 985 patients were treated. (ii) Three eye camps in November and December: a total of 44 patients were operated on.
Nattarampalli: An eye camp on 17 December: 362 patients were checked, 77 were operated on for cataract in an eye hospital, and 98 were given spectacles.
Porbandar: An eye camp on 8 December: 89 patients were treated and subsequently 59 were operated on for cataract in an eye hospital.
Rahara: A medical camp in Swarupkati village of North 24 Parganas district on 26 November in which 511 patients were treated.
Rajamahendravaram: (i) A medical camp at Rampachodavaram in Alluri Sitaramaraju district on 10 December in which 303 patients were treated. (ii) Eye camps from October to December in which a total of 384 patients were checked; subsequently 40 were operated on and 106 were given spectacles.
Salem: (i) An eye camp on 10 December: 133 patients were checked, 25 were operated on for cataract in an eye hospital, and 30 were given spectacles. (ii) Three medical camps on 26 November, 3 December and 17 December: in all, 1696 patients were treated, and 10 cataract surgeries were performed in an eye hospital.
Thanjavur: A cardiac medical camp on 28 November in which 275 students were screened for congenital heart disease.
Viveknagar, Agartala: A health awareness camp on 1 December and a medical camp for cancer patients on 14 December; both camps were attended by hundreds of people.
Vrindavan: A urology-cum-general-surgery camp from 29 November to 4 December: 17 specialist doctors examined 342 patients and performed 95 surgeries.
Outside India:
Batticaloa (a sub-centre of Colombo branch), Sri Lanka: Medical camps at Kiran, Kudumimalai and Vaharai in December in which a total of 803 patients received medical aid.