Calcutta University Alumni Association

CUAA-DC members held their annual meeting on November 11, 2007 at the Potomac Community Center, Potomac, MD. According to several members, this meeting was a great success in terms of attendance (75 people) and collections received for yearly memberships and other donations. The highlights are outlined below:

The meeting started with a welcome address and Bijoya greetings by Tapas Pradhan. He gave a brief review of the past activities and future plans for the Association. Several members from the floor voiced their opinion that the Association should charge $10.00 membership fee/person/year so that the organization may implement future donations to some charitable organizations. The membership fee was passed by almost unanimous vote.

Asok Pal and Bidhan Bandyopadhyay joined as new core members. Nandita Bagchi, Rina Dalal and Sanchita Ghosh wanted to help the Association as on needed basis.

Asok/Saswati Motayed contributed $200.00 for the Association's scholarship fund.
Pramita Chatterjee, Aparna Pradhan, Utpal Das Gupta and Indrani Dey contributed
to the Association for the singer, Dr. Sreekumar Chatterjee.

The Association presented a variety of cultural programs to the delight of the audience. Pramita Chatterjee organized the cultural program. Sikha Bhar was in charge of the food preparation.

The meeting ended after a vote of thanks by Tapas Pradhan.

With best wishes to all,
Tapas Pradhan

Minutes of the Meeting
February 4, 2006

CUAA members held a meeting on 2/4/06 at the Saraswati Pujo. The discussion revolved around formation of the Executive Committee for 2006. The minutes are outlined below:

Tapash Pradhan is the new President
Dilip Som will continue to be the Treasurer (a life-time appointment)
Ashoke Ganguli will continue as the Secretary (consent by phone)
Mihir Ghosh is a new member
Pramita Chatterjee will now be in the forefront, instead of her worse-half, Debu Chatterjee
Luna Basak will continue as a member (consent by phone)

Tapan Bera is not available this year

Sudeshna Basu is not available this year

Tarak Bhar and Bratin Saha stepped down to make room for new comers

Nitya Nath, Tarak Bhar and Bratin Saha will join a new cadre termed "member-at-large" (?)

Amongst the others present, Tanaji Mitra and Utpal Dasgupta were willing to extend hands when needed.

Jaysree Nath and Raka Saha did not appear to extend any hands

Shikha Bhar and Aparna Pradhan were conspicuously missing at the meeting

Three new names were proposed for the committee: Ranjan Gupta, Sutapa Ghosh, and Shweta Sen

Ranjan was at the meeting; he wished not to be included in the committee, but promised to help as needed.

I had a candid discussion with Sutapa and Shweta after the meeting. They too did not wish to join the committee, but promised to help as needed

Thus the current committee is somewhat lean (but not mean) and may wish to add some fat (especially unsaturated and trans fats)!

I am sending this memo to all parties named herein. Please contact me should you find any errors or omissions.

With best wishes to CUAA and you all,

Bratin Saha.

Minutes of theMeeting
June 28, 2005

CUSCA/CUAA members (see below for the list of attendee) met at Tarak Bhar’s residence on May 27, 2005. The minutes are as follows:

1) Change of name from CUSCAA (Calcutta University Science College Alumni Association) to CUAA (Calcutta University Alumni Association) will considerably broaden the membership base and scope of the association

2) Change of CUSCAA to CUAA will require a new EIA number

3) A transition team (interim work group) consisting of 7 members (*) was formed to oversee CUAA functions till the next election

4) Three office bearers, President, Secretary, and Treasurer, were appointed from the work group

5) A committee of three members was also formed to organize the cultural program during the annual meeting

6) New office bearers will be elected/selected during the annual meeting

7) CUAA is neither a substitute, nor a competitor of Sanskriti

8) A booth will be set at the next Sanskriti-sponsored Durga Puja to disseminate the goals and purposes of CUAA, and enroll new members

9) Annual picnic will be held on July 23 (Saturday). Luna and Debashis Basak will arrange for a picnic shed at the Ridge Park. The picnic will start at 10:30 AM with breakfast of Moori, Ghugni, Jilipi, and Cha. The lunch menu and other events will be planned later. The suggested contribution is $7 per adult

10) The annual meeting will be held on November 12 or 19 at Briggs Chenny Elementary School. Dilip Som will confirm the date. The suggested contribution is $12 per adult

11) An annual membership due of $ 10 per person/15 per family was suggested. Students would be free. Membership dues are voluntary and the collection will be sent in its entirety to Calcutta University for student scholarships, etc.

The following persons/members/office bearers attended the meeting:

Debasis Basak
Luna Basak*
Sudeshna Basu* (Cultural Committee)
Tapan Bera*
Sikha Bhar
Tarak Bhar (Cultural Committee)
Asok Ganguly* (Secretary)
Ranjan Gupta (late arrival)
Tapas Pradhan* (consented by phone)
Bratin Saha* (President)
Raka Saha
Dilip Som* (Treasurer)
Promita Chatterjee (Cultural Committee, consented by phone)

Minutes of Previous Meeting

Working Committee Meeting
Feb. 21, 2004

A meeting of the CUSCAA Working Committee was held at the residence of Tarak and Shikha Bhar on Saturday, February 21st , 2-5 p.m. The attendees were:

Tarak/Shikha Bhar
Tapas Pradhan
Dilip Som
Ranjan Gupta
Kaushik/Sheela Ray
Parthasarathi Mitra

The agenda items discussed included:
1. Revisiting the topics discussed in the last Annual meeting.

It was decided that the Membership Fee of CUSCAA would be set at $10.00. This fee would be waived for temporary residents. Also, a new form of "live membership" would be introduced for a one-time fee of $100. Live members would not have to pay the annual dues but would be expected to pay the on-site fees charged for picnics/socials, etc.

2. Fixing the date and agenda for Picnic (Note: Sanskriti Picnic is set for June 19)

The date of the Annual Picnic was set for Saturday, July 17, 2004.

The venue suggested was Black Hill Regional Park. Free park benches may be available at this regional park, on a first come first serve basis. If free benches are available, the picnic goers would be notified in advance to meet at a specific shelter from where they would be directed to the spot chosen for the day. Kaushik Ray and Dilip Som will investigate further regarding availability of space.

Partha Mukherjee and Dilip Som will draft flyers and post at the CUSCAA website. CUSCAA members will be notified far in advance by email and these flyers will also be mailed to the members 3 weeks prior to the picnic.

Parthasarathi Mitra will provide all mailing addresses to Utpal Dasgupta, who will then print out adhesive mailing labels and send to Ranjan Gupta. Ranjan will download the online flyer, make copies and mail them out by the last week of June.

Kaushik will be in charge of the entertainment activities (such as sports for children and adults)

Food will be managed by Aparna Pradhan, Sheela Ray and Shikha Bhar.

3. Hosting CUSCAA-sponsored Calcutta University Reunion at Banga Sammelan 2004. The cost will be about $100. This would provide an opportunity to meet number of alumni from all around the US and Canada, and also to showcase CUSCAA activities.

It was decided that CUSCAA would sponsor a Calcutta University Reunion at Banga Sanmelan 2004. The format preferred would be to host a half-hour or one-hour mixer/reception in a specific room designated by the Sanmelan organizers. Dilip Som will check with the Sanmelan organizers regarding the possibility of displaying a poster announcement for this mixer in the hallway, in order to get maximum attention of the Sanmelan attendees.

4. CUSCAA Annual Meeting will be held on Saturday, November 6, 2004. Kaushik Ray will organize the Cultural Program.

5. Miscellaneous: The Working Committee also discussed the possibility of opening CUSCAA to all CU alumni. Dilip will send out an email to all CUSCAA members to solicit comments on this item.

Minutes of the Sixth CUSCAA Meeting
December 8, 2001

The sixth annual Calcutta University Science College Alumni Association (CUSCAA) meeting was held on December 8, 2001 at Robert Frost Middle School, Rockville, MD. In spite of inclement weather, the turnout was an overwhelming one and the event was a grand success. We had more than 60 people at the meeting.

The meeting was followed by a nice cultural program performed by Pritwish Dasgupta (disciple of Debabrata Biswas) and Mandira Sarkar (disciple of Chabi Banerjee). Enayet Rajjak played Tabla with both of them.

Dinner was served afterward. Both the cultural program and dinner was enjoyed by the members.

Topics discussed in the meeting:

Remembering late Ranjit Dasgupta and his contributions to CUSCAA.
Allocating $200/$250 from the CUSCAA fund to buy books for the Physics Dept, Science College in the memory of Ranjit Dasgupta. We can also raise money from individuals to add to this fund to make a bigger contribution.
Raise fund to contribute to the new Technology Campus of Calcutta University. Since CUSCAA is not a non-profit organization, our contributions will not be tax deductible. An idea came about that if we can redirect the money through Sanskriti, our local Bengali organization which happens to a non-profit organization. We need to find out if we can do this and still CUSCAA is recognized by the CU as the donor.
An Issue was raised whether to send any contribution for the new Tech Campus until we find out the actual status of the project. There has been some skepticism that after we send our contribution, the money might not be used in the near future.

Dilip Som
on behalf of the CUSCAA Executive Committee

Time: Aug 12, 2:30PM, 2001
Place: NIH, Bldg 31, Room 6C8 (Sixth floor, Conference room 8)

Direction: From the Wisconsin Avenue, enter NIH via North Drive. Building 31C (C Wing of Building 31. Drive a short distance. Veer left and the Building 31 will appear in front of you up on a hill. Park in the parking lot on the top of the hill.

There is a red phone on the right hand side of the Entrance to the Building. Ask the security to open the door to the conference room.

Time: April 8, 3PM, 2001
Place: NIH, Bldg 10, Room 9S235. (9th floor south section #235).

Please attend this very important meeting. If you absolutely cannot come to the meeting, please send me an email and confirm that you will take one of the positions or not.

The following names have been nominated for the CUSCAA BOD. I invite all of you to come to our next meeting.

Bula Ghosh
Deb Kumar Chatterjee
Dilip Som
Koushik Ray
Mintu Pal
Mukul Kundu
Pallabi Ghosh
Radharaman Ray
Ranjit Dasgupta
Sruti Chattoraj
Tapas Pradhan
Tarak Bhar
(I do not know whether the nominators had taken consents
from their nominees before giving me the names)

We have the following agenda:
1. Form the board of directors
2. Decide whether we will hold a meeting at the Banga Sammelan in Boston
3. Details on the picnic on June 9
4. Our next plan of action

a. Sending Books/Journals to Calcutta Univ. Science College.

b. Add list of US faculties on our web site who can help students from Calcutta to come here for further studies.

c. Advertise CUSCAA in Calcutta local newspaper.

Each new Board member is expected to serve a two-year term, starting July 1, 2001. We invite all CUSCAA members to either nominate themselves or other members, to join the Board for a two-year term. To be eligible, an individual must be a current member of CUSCAA in good standing. If you are nominating an Individual other than you, please make sure he/she is willing to serve in the Board for a two-year term. The new CUSCAA office bearers, namely President, Secretary, and Treasurer, will be elected directly by members of the new Board. There are also going to be 6 (six) other positions totaling 9 (nine) office Bearer positions all together.

Direction to NIH from 495:
I-495, take the exit for Old Georgetown Road (RT 187) and drive about a mile or so towards Bethesda. Turn left on Lincoln Drive to enter NIH (across Suburban Hospital). On the third stop sign, turn left to enter a Parking lot that faces Bldg. 10.

Direction to NIH from 355:
Turn right on Center Dr., left on South Dr. and then turn right to enter a parking lot that faces Bldg. 10.

Minutes of the Second CUSCAA Meeting
November 8, 1997

The second annual Calcutta University Science College Alumni Association (CUSCAA) meeting was held on November 8, 1997 at Briggs Chanev Middle School, Silver Spring, MD. In spite of inclement weather, the turnout was an overwhelming one and the event was a grand success.

Tarak Bhar welcomed the members with his opening remarks about the association's eventful success and the fruitful achievement so far. He remarked that CUSCAA already sent two books to the library of the Physics Dept· and some software programs to the Computer Center of the University, of Calcutta. He also reminded the members about the finalization of the CUSCAA brochure, the first beautiful publication of the newsletter and the creation of CUSCAA homepage.

Ranjit Dasgupta discussed that currently all our members are from the greater Washington area and we drastically need the out of area membership drive. He proposed $10 out of area membership fee and reduction of current $20 annual fee for local members in order to encourage the membership drive. However, after some discussions from the floor, it was decided to keep the annual membership fee at $20 per person for all members.

Jagadish Sharma discussed in details the guidelines of CUSCAA academic excellence award to the first year Science College students of the University of Calcutta. Manoj Banerjee raised an issue that the award should also be considered for the students of other universities too. After some discussions from the floor, it was suggested that 1) the award for the time being will be based on the highest scores in the B.Sc. (Hons.) Exam of the Calcutta University students 2) the amount of each award will be $100.00 3) the current fields under consideration are Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Zoology, Botany, Psychology, Physiology, and Statistics 4) the number of award to be given in a particular year will be determined at the annual CUSCAA meeting of the preceding year 5) the proposed award is due to start from 1998.

Tarak Bhar announced that the CUSCAA newsletter will be published at least once a year. He suggested that while the members are visiting Calcutta, they try to contact the respective departments and if possible, other departments too, to get some feedback from the Calcutta University staff. He urged all members to participate fully to make our organization a better and successful one.

We are extremely pleased that three members a) Deb Chatterjee (301-251-4732) b) Kalisankar Mallick (410-252-4865) and Utpal Mukhopadhyay (703-319-7710) agreed to serve in the present working committee.

The general meeting was followed by an exciting and truly enjoyable cultural programs like Rabindra Sangeet by Pramita Chattejee, recitation by Arun Chakrabarti, Nazrulgeeti and Bhajan by Namita Kundu, modern Hindi and Bengali songs by Mitali Saha and last but not least, Mime by Kamanashis Chakravorty and Jayanta Sarkar.

Finally, all the attendees enjoyed a very palatable and delicious dinner with varieties of foods and sweets. It was really an enjoyable and successful night to remember.

Tapas Pradhan, on behalf of the CUSCAA Working Committee

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