News Bulletin : 01 October 2023

Revered President Maharaj was admitted to Peerless Hospital, Kolkata, on 27 September for the treatment of chest infection.  He is responding well to the treatment.

Swami Gautamanandaji, who is now in Gujarat, will be visiting Raipur and Bilaspur from 3 to 9 October, Vrindavan from 10 to 12 October, and Baghbazar Math (in Kolkata) from 26 to 30 October.

Swami Suhitanandaji is scheduled to visit Tirupati and Kadapa from 6 to 13 October, and Kasundia centre (in Howrah) from 29 to 31 October.

Swami Bhajananandaji is at Belur Math.

Swami Girishanandaji will be visiting Ayodhya and Basti from 6 to 11 October, Baghbazar Math from 16 to 18 October, and Raniganj and Asansol from 27 to 31 October.

All of them are keeping well.

Smt Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Minister for Women & Child Development and Minority Affairs, visited Belur Math on 14 September.

TV9 Bangla, a Bengali news Channel, presented the Nakshatra Samman award to the Ramakrishna Mission on 27 September in recognition of its contribution towards the greater good of society.  The award carried a trophy and a sum of fifty-one thousand rupees.

Ramakrishna Math, Dakshineshwar, which was started as a sub-centre directly under the supervision of the headquarters, is now upgraded to the status of a full-fledged branch centre.

The address of the centre is

Ramakrishna Math,
22, T N Biswas Road,
Dakshineshwar, Kolkata 700035
Phone number: 74394 89799
Email id: dakshineshwar@rkmm.org

Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Ujjain, was taken over and a new centre of the Ramakrishna Mission started there last month.

The address of the centre is

Ramakrishna Mission,
Triveni, Indore Road, Ujjain,
Madhya Pradesh 456006
Phone number: 0734-2991422
Email id: ujjain@rkmm.org

The Ashrama was founded in 1985.

A sub-centre of Somsar branch was formally inaugurated at Indas in Bankura district by the General Secretary on 24 September, following the taking over of Indas Sri Ramkrishna–Gouri Pandit Smriti Kendra.  In this connection, special worship, homa, a procession, a public meeting and bhajans were held.  Indas is the birthplace of Gourikanta Tarkabhusan (Gouri Pandit), a renowned scholar and ascetic who was associated with Sri Ramakrishna.  The address of the sub-centre is “Ramakrishna Mission, Divakar Bati, Indas, Dist. Bankura, West Bengal 722205”.

In Malaysia, Sri Ramakrishna Panimandram (in Johor state) and Sri Ramakrishna Dhivya Sangam (in Perak state) were taken over by Ramakrishna Mission, Malaysia, and made its sub-centres.  In this connection, a day-long programme was held at Malaysia centre on 31 August.  The addresses of the sub-centres are: “Ramakrishna Mission, No. 9, Jalan 12, Taman Sri Kulang, 86000 Kluang, Johor, Malaysia” and “Ramakrishna Mission, Pt. 130057, Lorong Jelapang 44/1, Jelapang Tambahan, 30020 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia”.

Phone Numbers

Lalgarh centre has changed its phone number from 94337 09164 to 94754 12956.

Nattarampalli Math has discontinued its telephone number: 242227.  It has a new telephone connection: 78453 14186.

Patna centre has discontinued the following landline telephone connections: Office: 272 1512 & 272 1513, and Dispensary: 2721514.  It has obtained the following mobile telephone numbers: Office: 73200 40847, Secretary: 62019 57588, and Dispensary: 73200 66346 & 94712 11466.

Vadodara centre has discontinued its telephone number: 70690 00016.

Websites

Chengam centre has launched a website with address: chengam.rkmm.org and Raiganj centre with address: rkmraiganj.org

Hyderabad centre held a seminar on ‘Education in India: Past, Present and Future’ on 9 September.  The General Secretary presided over the seminar in which 1600 people took part.

Narendrapur centre hosted a three-day seminar on “Contributions of the Ramakrishna Mission in the field of education in the last 125 years” from 22 to 24 September.  The General Secretary inaugurated the seminar in which 16 speakers from different parts of India presented their papers.  In all, 300 students, scholars and devotees attended the seminar.

Prayagraj centre conducted a public meeting on 3 September in which 150 people took part.

Viveknagar centre, Agartala, held the concluding programme of the 125th anniversary on 17 September.  Sri Manik Saha, Chief Minister of Tripura, was the Chief Guest at the programme which was presided over by the General Secretary.  About 800 persons attended the event.

Revered President Maharaj laid the foundation stone for a medical building at RKMVERI (deemed university) on 7 September, the sacred Krishna Janmashtami, in the presence of Swami Bhajananandaji, the General Secretary and several monks, faculty and students.

Swami Gautamanandaji inaugurated the working women’s hostel at Chennai Sarada Vidyalaya on 27 August.  The hostel had been discontinued in 2016 owing to the dilapidated condition of its building.  It is now reopened after the repair and renovation of the building.

A bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda was unveiled at Kalady centre on 11 September.

Narottam Nagar centre held the concluding function of its golden jubilee celebration on 11  September.  Sri Kaiwalya Trivikram Parnaik, Governor of Arunachal Pradesh; Sri Wangki Lowang, Cabinet Minister in the Government of Arunachal Pradesh, and others took part in the programme.

Revered President Maharaj laid the foundation stone for the proposed Sri Ramakrishna Temple at Dakshineshwar centre on 13 September, the sacred birthday of Swami Advaitanandaji Maharaj. Swami Girishanandaji, the General Secretary and others spoke in the public meeting held in this connection.  About 800 devotees and 175 monks attended the programme.

The General Secretary opened Sarada Bhavan at Kailashahar ashrama on 18 September.  The building will house a dispensary and other units.

Revered President Maharaj dedicated ‘Chinu Shankharir Bari and Gadadhar Vidyamandir’ at Kamarpukur on 19 September.  This new building of Kamarpukur centre stands as a memorial to Chinu Shankhari at the place where he lived and adored the boy Gadadhar, as Sri Ramakrishna was known in his childhood.

The General Secretary opened Chandramani Bhawan (monks’ quarters) at Viveknagar centre, Agartala, on 19 September.

A new archway, named ‘Bodhi Dwar’, constructed on the campus of Narottam Nagar centre was inaugurated on 22 September.

The newly constructed boys’ hostel at Irakbhatti tribal development centre of Narainpur Ashrama was opened on 27 September.

The off-campus centre of RKMVERI (deemed university) in Ranchi Morabadi centre held its convocation on 27 September.  In all, 158 successful candidates were awarded certificates and degrees. The Chief Minister of Jharkhand Sri Hemant Soren, Agriculture Minister of Jharkhand Sri Badal Patralekh and the General Secretary addressed the students.

A team of six students of Chennai Vidyapith won the first prize in the music competition conducted by Akashvani Chennai on 24 and 25 August.  Smt Tamilisai Soundararajan, Governor of Telangana & Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, presented the award at a programme in Chennai on 3 September.

The Education Department of the Government of West Bengal presented the ‘Sera Vidyalaya Sammanana’ (Best School Award) to our six schools at Asansol, Kamarpukur, Malda, Medinipur, Narendrapur and Sarisha centres on 5 September, Teachers’ Day.  Each school received a trophy, a citation and a sum of one lakh rupees.  In all, only eleven schools in West Bengal received the award for academic excellence this year; out of which six belonged to the Ramakrishna Mission.

A teacher at our Narottam Nagar school received the National Teachers’ Award from Smt Droupadi Murmu, President of India, at a function held in Delhi on 5 September.  The award carried a memento, a citation and a cash prize of 50,000 rupees.  On the same day, another teacher of the school received the State Teachers’ Award from Sri Pema Khandu, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh.  The award carried a memento, a citation and a cash prize of 25,000 rupees.

A teacher at Purulia Vidyapith and a lecturer at our Narendrapur college were awarded the Shiksha-ratna Sammanana awards on 5 September.

A student of the Blind Boys’ Academy of Narendrapur Ashrama achieved a top position in the All India Trade Test held in July.

Students of the Matriculation Higher Secondary School of Chennai Mission Ashrama took part in the zonal level athletic meet conducted by the Education Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, in Chennai and secured 21 gold medals, 12 silver medals and 11 bronze medals. The school won the Overall Championship Trophy in the tournament.

Pune Math opened a bookstall at Pune Railway Station on 2 August. It is located on platform no. 1.

Lucknow Sevashrama conducted a masterclass on endometriosis (a disorder that affects women) on 4 and 5 August.  It was attended and appreciated by some renowned gynaecologists from India and abroad.

Mr Moe Kyaw Aung, Ambassador of Myanmar to India, visited Chennai Math on 12 September.

Two new STEM laboratories were inaugurated at the schools run by Malda (on 11 September) and Visakhapatnam (on 13 September) centres.  (STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.)

Sri Aparesh Kumar Singh, Chief Justice of Tripura High Court, paid a visit to Viveknagar centre, Agartala, on 20 September.

The new ashrama campus of Berlin centre, Germany, was formally inaugurated with special worship, homa, devotional singing and public meetings from 5 to 10 September.  The shrine with a marble image of Sri Ramakrishna was consecrated on 7 September, the sacred Krishna Janmashtami.  Sri Harish Parvathaneni, Ambassador of India to Germany, ten visiting monks and about 100 devotees in each session attended the celebrations.  The news of moving Berlin centre from its earlier place to the new campus was announced in the April 2023 Bulletin along with the address of the new campus.

Dinajpur centre, Bangladesh, celebrated its centenary through a series of programmes from 7 to 9 September with grandeur.  Swami Suhitanandaji, Mr Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, Minister of State for Shipping, Government of Bangladesh, and several other dignitaries and monks from our centres in India and Bangladesh took part in the celebration.  A colourful procession, public meetings, cultural events, release of a documentary and a commemorative volume, cultural competitions among students, and welfare activities formed part of the celebration.

Swami Akhandananda Bhavan (monks’ quarters) at the Narail sub-centre of Jashore Ashrama, Bangladesh, was inaugurated  on 11 September.

Batticaloa ashrama, a sub-centre of Colombo branch in Sri Lanka, installed a bust of Swami Vivekananda at N/Derryclare Tamil Vidyalayam in Kotagala on 24 September.

The following centres observed Universal Brotherhood Day with different events:

India

Baranagar Math: A public meeting on 11 September in which 133 people were in attendance.

Basavanagudi, Bengaluru: Cultural competitions among college students on 9 and 10 September in which altogether 800 students took part.  The winners were given prizes on 11 September.

Chennai Math: A public meeting on 11 September attended by 500 people comprising mostly students.

Kalady: A public meeting on 11 September in which Sri P S Sreedharan Pillai, Governor of Goa, and others spoke.

Lucknow: An interfaith meet on 11 September.

Mangaluru: Two seminars on youth empowerment and women empowerment on 12 and 13 September each of which was attended by 600 delegates.

Muzaffarpur: A public meeting on 11 September attended by 60 teachers and others.

Nattarampalli: Talks by teachers and students on 11 September at the school run by the centre.

Purulia: In the cultural competitions held, 2568 students from 130 schools, colleges and cultural groups took part.  The prize-giving ceremony was held on 11 September in which 650 students from 38 institutions took part.

Thanjavur: (i) Special talks at five colleges in Thanjavur and Kumbakonam from 11 to 13 September attended altogether by 6350 students.  (ii) A drawing competition at a school for hearing impaired children on 14 September in which 30 students took part.

Varanasi Advaita Ashrama & Varanasi Home of Service: A speech competition and special talks on 10 September.

Visakhapatnam: An essay writing competition in which 1500 students from 100 colleges in and around Visakhapatnam took part.  The winners were given prizes on 11 September.

The following centres held youths’ conventions on 11 September.  The programmes included guided meditation, prayer, special talks by eminent personalities, group discussions, physical exercises and games.

Outside India

Kathmandu, Nepal: A public meeting on 23 September which was attended by 200 people.

The following centres held programmes mentioned against their names:

India:

Almora: (i) A seminar on 15 September in which 80 students and research fellows from a university in Almora took part.  Swami Gautamanandaji gave a benedictory address. (ii) A special talk for a group of 17 students and their parents on 26 September.

Coimbatore Mission: (i) District-level literary competitions for differently-abled students on 31 August in which 88 students took part. (ii) A two-day teachers’ conventions on 1 and 2 September attended by 44 teachers from 16 schools.

Cooch Behar: Special talks at a place in Kalchini block of Alipurduar district attended by 50 students studying in primary classes.

Dibrugarh: An educative programme for cycle rickshaw drivers on 16 September; 133 of them took part.

Gurugram: (i) Twenty-eight workshops, including ten in online mode, on values education for teaching staff of primary and middle schools from 24 July to 26 August: in all, 1005 school teachers from different parts of India participated.  (ii) A workshop for parents on 24 and 25 August, attended by 31 people.

Halasuru, Bengaluru: Youth awakening programmes at 13 schools and colleges in Bengaluru, Tumakuru, Chikkaballapura and Bellari districts from 9 August to 15 September in which a total of 5675 students took part.  The programme included a mono act play on Swami Vivekananda at 7 venues.

Haripad: Values education camps at two schools in Naduvattom and Mavelikara on 18 and 19 September in which altogether 168 students participated.

Jhargram: Cultural competitions among students of classes 5 to 12 in August and September.  In all, 1448 students from 68 schools took part in the competitions.  Prizes were awarded on 11 September.

Medinipur: Two values education programmes in Kharagpur and Mugberia on 1 and 6 September in which a total of 800 students and 50 teachers participated.

Raipur: Personality development camps at nine schools in Bagbahra and Fingeshwar on 31 August and 13 September in which a total of 1547 students took part.

Rajkot: Nineteen values education programmes at the Ashrama and sixteen programmes in different schools and colleges from 22 August to 24 September in which altogether 6675 students took part.

Salem: (i) Cultural competitions from 21 to 28 August in which altogether 1720 students from 26 schools took part.  Prizes were given away in a programme held on 18 September. (ii) Values education programmes at four colleges in Salem district from 30 August to 21 September in which a total of 675 students participated.

Shyampukur Bati, Kolkata: Speech competitions were held in August amongst 300 students.

Thanjavur: (i) A values education programme for teachers on 5 September attended by 135 teachers.  (ii) A motivational programme for 40 parents of special children on 27 September.

Viveknagar, Agartala: A workshop on cybercrime awareness on 29 August attended by 650 students.

Yadadri Bhuvanagiri: Values education programmes at four nearby schools from 8 to 19 September in which altogether 390 teachers and students took part.

The following centres held youths’ conventions.  The programmes included guided meditation, prayer, special talks by eminent personalities, group discussions, physical exercises and games.

* In the youths’ convention held at Delhi centre, Swami Gautamanandaji, Dr M Srinivas, Director of AIIMS, New Delhi, and many other eminent personalities spoke.  Sri Anurag Thakur, Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports and Information & Broadcasting, addressed the youths through video conferencing.

Outside India:

Batticaloa (a sub-centre of Colombo branch), Sri Lanka: (i) Four personality development programmes in September in which a total of 260 students participated.  (ii) A workshop for parents and teachers in which a total of 35 people were in attendance.

The following centres conducted medical camps.  A summary of the services provided by them is given below.

India:

Asansol: A medical camp on 3 September in Alladi, Paschim Bardhaman; 500 patients were treated by 16 doctors.

Bajepratappur, Bardhaman: A blood donation camp and a medical camp on 23 September at the ashrama’s sub-centre in Aeorah village in which 60 units of blood were collected and 270 patients were treated.

Coimbatore Mission: Twelve medical camps (1 cardiology, 1 dental, 2 eye, 1 orthopaedics, 1  ENT and 6 general camps) in rural and tribal areas of Coimbatore district from 27 August to 24 September in which a total of 709 patients were treated.

Gurap: Eye camps in August and September in which altogether 64 patients were checked; 11 of them were operated on at an eye hospital.

Halasuru, Bengaluru: Seven eye camps in August and September: A total of 640 patients were checked and 78 were operated on for cataract in an eye hospital.

Hatamuniguda: An eye camp on 10 September: 73 patients were checked, 19 were given spectacles and 15 were operated on in an eye hospital.

Jammu: A medical camp on 3 September in which 11 doctors treated 315 patients.

Jamtara: A medical camp in Rashidih village of Jamtara district on 7 September in which 102 tribal people were treated by 3 doctors.

Kamarpukur: 692 eye patients were checked, 116 were operated on and 97 were given spectacles in September.

Khetri: 41 eye patients were checked and subsequently 13 were operated on for cataract at an eye hospital in September.

Lucknow: 8301 eye patients were checked and 386 were operated on and given spectacles in August.

Madurai: (i) A blood donation camp on 3 September in which 42 people donated blood. (ii) A health awareness programme on 24 September which was attended by 193 people.  (iii) An eye camp on 17 September: 115 patients were screened, 37 underwent cataract surgery and 16 were given spectacles.

Manasadwip: (i) Conducted eye camps on 30 July, 6 August & 3 September in which altogether 362 patients were treated.  (ii) Arranged cataract surgery for a total of 93 patients on 13 July, 2 & 17 August and 7 September in association with another institution.

Nagpur: An eye camp in Vadoda village, Nagpur district, on 10 September in which 300 patients were checked.  Subsequently, 68 were operated on for cataract at an eye hospital and 162 spectacles were given.

Naora: (i) Three medical camps (2 ayurvedic and 1 general) on 4, 18 and 28 August: altogether 260 patients were treated.  (ii) Two eye operation camps on 12 & 19 August: a total of 22 people were operated on.

Nattarampalli: An eye camp on 17 September in which 251 patients were treated, 61 were given spectacles and 48 were referred to surgery.

Porbandar: An eye camp on 16 September: 23 patients were treated and subsequently 9 were operated on for cataract in an eye hospital.

Rahara: A medical camp in Gosaba block of South 24 Parganas district on 27 August in which 703 patients were treated.

Rajamahendravaram: Eye camps from July to September in which 429 patients were checked; subsequently 52 were operated on and 104 were given spectacles.

Salem: (i) An eye camp on 3 September: 94 patients were checked, 22 were given spectacles and 23 were operated on in an eye hospital.  (ii) A medical camp on 27 August attended by 98 patients.

Thanjavur: Three medical camps (2 dental and 1 cardiology) and one health awareness programme from 4 to 26 September which benefitted 755 students.

Outside India:

Batticaloa (a sub-centre of Colombo branch), Sri Lanka: Medical camps at Kiran, Sittandy and Kudumimalai in September in which a total of 765 patients received medical aid.

Dhaka, Bangladesh: A homeopathy camp on 21 September in which 112 patients were treated.

Phoenix, South Africa: A medical camp in Tongaat, Durban, on 10 September in which 72 specialist doctors from various disciplines and 90 support staff treated 2276 patients.