Blood donation and gift your sight camp

Kolkata

15th Aug, 2011

A Blood Donation and Gift Your Sight camp was organized by Punarnabha Bangla and the Art of Living in collaboration with People's Blood Bank and M.P Birla Eye bank on 15th August 2011 at 35 Lake Temple Road (Near Menoka Cinema). 72 participants donated blood and 71 pledged their eyes.

Many people like Mr Sudipto Roy, Director of SOIL and Mr Chawla, Director of Tribal Welfare Projects of Art of Living were present to encourage the volunteers and participants and shared knowledge about blood donation. The venue was graciously donated by Dr Vinod Vinakia,owner of Mohan Clinic and Dr Anjula Vinakia, a renowned gynaecologist. Art of Living WB Apex body members - Mr Pronob Guha and Mrs Kajal Nag dropped by to encourage the team. Here are some comments from people present during the event.

Dr Pubali Chakraborty (the medical officer of People’s blood

bank s): “Very well organized and a vibrant volunteer group. Donor outflow is

very good. It is very commendable effort.”

Dr. Vinod Vinakia and Dr. Anjula Vinakia said, “This indeed is a well organized and excellent camp and you can use this place for your future camps.”

Mr. Chawla(Director of Tribal Welfare Projects): “It is a very good arrangement and vibrant participation”.

The group of young and vibrant volunteers ensured that the donors were most comfortable after blood donation and provided them with whatever was needed. Soulful bhajans were also played in the background to create a soothing effect in the environment.

Some photographs are below :

Seminar on Domestic Violence

A seminar on ‘Domestic Violence’ was conducted by Punarnabha Bangla (henceforth called PB in the article) on 11^th June, 2011, at AOL Hall situated at Metropolitan Housing Society. The seminar was started with the welcome address by Tarun Ghoshal. He introduced Smt Harshamanjari Nanda, the main speaker of the event.

About 30 people were present during the seminar in-spite of heavy rainfall. People from various NGOs such as Disha, Uddami, Ravir Chayya,Child in Need took part in the event. Some students of MSW, people from AOL and some of the members of PB Central team participated in the event.

Smt, Harshamanjari Nanda, Protection Officer, Govt. of West Bengal, explained the various aspects of the Act against domestic violence and the protection provided in the act for the victim. This was a very interactive session as there were lot of questions from the audience and Smt. Harshamanjari explained all the questions with ample care and patience to the satisfaction of the audience. District wise list of Protection Officer, the list of Police stations with phone numbers under Kolkata Police, List of service providers, List of family counseling center at Kolkata, were distributed among the participants.

The event was highly appreciated by the participants. It seemed that Smt. Harshamanjari opened a flood gate of queries from the audience. The PB central team received lots of phone calls after the event from various people enquiring about Smt. Harshamanjari. This speaks the success of the event.

Workshop on RTI Act 2005

A three days long workshop on RTI (Right to Information) Act 2005 was conducted under the auspices of Legal Aid Services,West Bengal in collaboration with Punarnabha Bangla (henceforth called PB in the article) at Shri Sikshayatan school. This event was focused to bring the awareness among the participants about RTI Act 2005 and various procedures associated.

The workshop was inaugurated on 17^th June, 2011 by Hon'ble Mr. Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta, Judge Kolkata High Court. Justice D.K.Basu, Chairman, Legal Aid Services, presided over the function. Mr. Sabyasachi Dutta, convener Punarnabha Bangla, addressed the perspective from PB.

About 44 people participated in the workshop. Most of the participants were from various districts of West Bengal, such as Burdwan, Purulia, Nadia, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, East Midnapore, Hooghly, Jamtara (Jharkhand). Some of the participants were from various NGOs of Kolkata, such as Disha, Uddami India Foundation. All the participants attended the inaugural session in-spite of heavy rain and unfavorable weather.

In the workshop Mr. Malaya Bhattachrya, President, West Bengal RTI Mancha, explained in details of the various provisions and stipulations of the RTI ACT, 2005, how to write and file RTI applications, procedure and problems, case studies, activities and practical. Mr. Bhattachrya also explained and answered all the questions with great care and patience. Further discussions on RTI and an introductory session on various sections of Indian Penal Code were part of the workshop. A session on Role play by the participants was conducted to give them better understanding of how to apply RTI in practical situations.

The participants were very happy to learn about the RTI and they felt that it would be a very powerful tool to fight against various non functions at their place of work. Some of them expressed the desire to arrange this event at their place for more people to participate.

Youth Conference at Murshidabad

Murshidabad

19th June, 2011

Around 785 youth participated in a youth conference organized by Punarnabha Bangla, Musrshidabad wing on 19th June 2011. The program started with a song and dance program performed by a youth coir from Murshidabad.

It was followed by an speech by the founder of Punarnabha Bangla Sri Sabyasachi Dutta. He talked to the people about the vision the Punarnabha Bangla and the importance of youth in building a glorious Bengal. He stressed that unless the heritage , glory and high knowledge is brought back to Bengal, no development possible.

The crowd was also addressed by Smt Mukul Mondal , who is the teacher of a reputed high school. Smt Mondal stressed the importance of Art of Living teachings in our lives and how it helpes people live life in a better and more useful way. Furthermore the crowd was also addressed by Shabari Chowdhury who is the youth leader of Punarnabha Bangla. She described the Youth Leadership training programs which are conducted under the aegis of Punarnabha Bangla and how it has helped strengthen and blossom leadership qualities in the youth.

Several NGOs attended the program like Murshidabad Heritage development society , Indian Red Cross society and Khudiram Pathagar. Also several eminent personalities like Mr Ashok Das, district secretary of Congress party and Dr Srikanta Chatterjee , a senior respected doctor of Berhampur Hospital attended the event.

All the participants of the program felt happy and motivated hearing about the vision of PB and many of them commented that they would spread this message to more people of the district. Many partcipants showed eagerness to contribute to this initiative through a greater degree of involvement.

Punarnabha Bangla celebrates World Environment Day at Kolkata

Kolkata

5th June, 2011

Punarnabha Bangla continued its commitment towards a greener and cleaner environment by celebrating World Environment Day on 5th June 2011 at Jodhpur Park , Kolkata.

Around 150 people attended and participated in the program. In this drive it was supported actively by Art of Living foudataion, Magma fincorp and Jodhpur Park Society. The enthusiastic volunteers participated in tree plantation of more than 100 trees and bushes in the Jodhpur Park and a cleanliness drive to clear up a garbage accumulation on the street.

To increase the awareness among the residents of Jodhpur Park about the importance of keeping a clean environment, a series of meetings were conducted and announcements were made through a moving vehicle before the event. Through the various meetings the importance of keeping the neibhourhood clean and sparkling was pointed out. It is often seen that instead of throwing the garbage in earmarked vats or municipality supplied vans, residents throw them on the roadside. It not only looks dirty but also is the breeding place of germs of various diseases.

On 5th June the program started at 4 PM at the triangular part opposite the Jodhpur Park Puja Pandel ground. Trees started getting planted, as well the garbage accumulation which was just outside the park was cleaned up. The volunteers team also consisted of young school going children. These children had done the Art of Living YES (Youth Empowerment Seminar) program for teenagers which had instilled in them a sense of responsibility for the society.

While the tree plantation and garbage cleaning activities were in full swing, eminent guests like noted Bengali author and poet Mr Sunil Gangopadhyay, Councilor Dr Mala Mahalanobis, Sports personality Devang Gandhi,actresses Chandreyi Ghosh and Rim Jhim Mitra and TV Anchor and personality Saswati Guha Thakurta started coming in. Each of them spoke at length about environment and its impact on human life. Dr Mahalanobis (Councilor) pointed out that unless there is effective cooperation from the citizens it is very difficult for the government alone to bring transformation in the society. Mr Sunil Gangopadhyay spoke very eloquently about being sensitive to trees and nature around us. He enthralled the audience by talking about how well the trees and plants respond to emotions. The eminent personalities also participated in the tree plantation drive.

Ms Sraboni Goswami of Punarnabha Bangla team sang a self-composed a song dedicated to the vision of Punarnabha Bangla. It was well appreciated by all. The well organized program ended by singing our national anthem - Jana Gana Mana..