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SANDESH India Association of Nebraska

February 2016, Volume 13, Issue 1

Namaste,

This is our first edition of SANDESH (the e-newsletter of IAN- India

Association of Nebraska) for 2016. Please welcome the new 2016 IAN committee,

headed by President Dr. Meera Verman. The members of the committee are listed

in the Appendix and more information about IAN’s primary functions is listed at

http://www.indiaassociationofnebraska.org/Iancommitte.aspx

President’s Message Dear Friends,

Namaste! It is my honor and privilege to be elected as the President of the India Association of Nebraska for 2016. I am impressed by the hard work and commitment of the current IAN committee who are enthusiastically working on the programs for the upcoming year. The recently concluded 67th Republic day celebrations was well received by audience and has received good feedback.

We will continue using the e-newsletter Sandesh as a mode of IAN communication. The main focus of the newsletter will be to highlight IAN activities and to shed light on the diversity of India through our events conducted here. Effective communication via newsletter is essential to the successful collaboration of IAN with regional organization to achieve the goal. We will also communicate via social media (IAN web site, Facebook), flyers and electronic media to spread the information to the community.

The overwhelming support from each and every member who are willing to go above and beyond their job functions ensures an efficient, successful and enjoyable year. I would like to thank all the members and volunteers for their hard work, time, dedication and creativity. It is definitely a team effort which has made IAN strong.

I appreciate the continued support of ex-committee members in making this a successful year. Please continue to participate actively in all the programs. Please contact us at http://www.indiaassociationofnebraska.org/contactus.aspx

with any suggestions on how IAN can better serve the community needs. Further, the Chennai flood relief funds have been transferred by the IAN

treasurer to Tamil Nadu. On behalf of IAN, we sincerely appreciate the overwhelming community support towards this noble cause.

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Please note:

1. IAN is planning to conduct inter regional sports competitions. We will develop a framework for it. Regional organization are expected to develop teams for

a. Children b. Women c. Men

2. Please register for upcoming Educational bees and there is a need to disseminate the information through local organizations. 3. Consider promoting IAN membership/lifetime membership

Thank you & Best Regards, Meera Varman, President, India Association of Nebraska

Highlights:

Indian Republic Day Celebrations.

The 67th Indian Republic day was celebrated at the Hindu Temple, Omaha

- Social Hall on 1/30/2016.

The occasion was marked with the singing of Indian National Anthem by

the Balvihar Kids, American National Anthem, Cultural activities such as

Yoga Demo by UPFNA students, classical dance and music and singing of

patriotic songs.

One of the highlights of this year's Republic day celebrations was the

Fancy Dress competition performed by young and enthusiastic kids, based

around India's patriotic and freedom fighter characters.

The event was also preceded by a Discussion on the North South

Foundation (NSF) Bee Competitions consisting of Spelling, Math,

Vocabulary and Geography, Science & Public Speaking to be held on

March 19th and 20th, 2016.

Shri.Muralidhar Chinatapalli & Shri.Srinivas Mallipudi were honored for

their contributions to IAN and our community.

Dinner was catered by Flavors-Indian cuisine at a nominal price.

Winners of the Fancy Dress competition

Group -I (Ages 3-6) - Sahasra Kumaraguru (1st), Shravan Dev (2nd), Nishita Nadig (3rd)

Group-II (Ages 7-9) – Partha Chaturvedi (1st), Ninad Rao (2nd), Meha Majhail (3rd)

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Please check out the event gallery for more pictures of the Republic Day

celebration. http://www.indiaassociationofnebraska.org/events/2016/RepublicDayCelebration.aspx

Feed the hunger:

Feed the hunger program is one of the many community service events

organized and conducted by IAN. IAN has been sponsoring the feed the

hunger program for over 12 years. It is conducted 3rd Sunday of every

month by IAN volunteers.

Fund distribution-Chennai Flood relief-fund raising conducted on

Dec 12, 2015.

The funds raised from the event have been equally distributed to the

organizations - Tamil Nadu Foundation USA and Udavum Karangal (as

identified by Omaha Tamil Sangam) and both organizations

have confirmed that they have 0% administrative cost towards Chennai

flood relief/rebuilding activities. Thanks to the joint efforts of several organizations in helping to raise the

funds.

Upcoming - IAN’s confirmed Events for 2016

Event Date Location Feed the Hunger 3rd Sunday of every month St. Stephen’s Center NSF Bee contests March 19th & 20th Mammel Hall, 6708 Pine

St, Omaha NE 68106 Sports Day TBD

Multiple Locations

70th Independence Day Celebrations

August

Hindu Temple Social Hall, Omaha

Health Fair September 4, 2016 Hindu Temple Social Hall, Omaha

Flu Shot day TBD Hindu Temple Social Hall Rhythms of India-2016 TBD TBD

NSF Bee registration is now open for 2016. Below is the link to login and register. http://www.indiaassociationofnebraska.org/events/2016/NSFBeeContest.aspx

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Membership

Please do renew your membership or signup for life membership if you are not

yet life members. Membership can be obtained by filling the information at

http://www.indiaassociationofnebraska.org/Membership.aspx and the payment is made

securely through PayPal. Your membership is tax deductible as IAN is a non-

profit organization.

IAN THANKS YOU

Publication e-newsletter- Prepared & Edited by Mrs. Asha Deshpande

Publication & Communication Chair, IAN

Appendix

IAN 2016 Committee

Executive Board Members

President Dr. Meera Varman

President Elect Mr. Kantharaj Etigi

Secretary Mrs. Naveen Uppala

Asst. Secretary Mrs. Anitha Magesh

Treasurer Mrs. Malathi Balu

Cultural Dr. Amar Natarajan

Past President Mr. Srinivas Mallipudi

Permanent Member Dr. Syed Mohiuddin

Permanent Member Dr. Alekha Dash

Member 2016 Mr. Madu Gowridhar

Member 2016 Mrs. Asha Deshpande

Member 2016 Mrs. Swathi Ponnapalli

Member 2016 Mr. Sundar Chokkara

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Committee Members

Committee Chair Co-chair Members

Banquet Mr. Arul Nambi Mr. Kantharaj Etigi

Community Service Mr. Arul Nambi Dr. Sushama Kunnathil Mrs. Gayathri Ram Mr. Chidambaranathan Alagar Mrs. Dinesh Nambiar

Cultural Dr. Amar Natarajan Mrs. Sudha Sivamani Mrs. Shabna Babu Mr. Manoj Rajappan Mrs. Malathi Balu Mrs. Asha Deshpande Mrs.Swati Ponnapalli

Education Mr. Tirumala Chengalasetty

Mr. Prasad Dharmavarapu

Mr. Ravikumar Kalyanasundaram Mrs. Roshni Rao Mr. Amar Natarajan Mrs. Asha Deshpande

Emergency Response Mr. Muralidhar Chintapalli

Mr. Joseph Selvaraj Mrs. Swarna Gopi

Finance Mrs. Malathi Balu Mr. Venu Potineni Mr. Srinivas Mallipudi Dr. Meera Varman Dr. Alekha Dash

Information Technology

Mr. Vijayakumar Murugesan

Mr. Karthikeyan Pragasam

Long Range Planning committee

Dr. Sanjay Singh Dr.Phani T Adidam Past Presidents

Membership Mr. Josheph Selvaraj Mr. Sundar Chokkara Mr. Kameshwara Rao Myneni Mr. Dinesh Nambiar Mrs. Roshni Rao Mrs. Malathi Balu Mrs. Swathi Ponnapalli

Publications & Communication

Mrs. Asha Deshpande Mrs. Swathi Ponnapalli Ms. Manju

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Committee Chair Co-chair Members

Nomination Mr. Joseph Selvaraj Mr. Srinivas Mallipudi Dr. Meera Varman Mr. Muralidhar Chintapalli

Public Relations Mr. Sundar Chokkara Mr. Arun Prasad Kothandaraman

Mr. Gopi Gopalakrishnan Mr. Ramakrishna Devanaboyina

Youth & Sport Mr. Madu Gowridhar Mr. Chidambaranathan Alagar

Mr. Dinesh Nambiar Mrs Asha Deshpande

Volunteer Mr Arul Nambi Dr. Sushama Kunnathil Mrs. Gayathri Ram Mr. Chidambaranathan Alagar Mr. Dinesh Nambiar

Event Planning Mr. Madu Gowridhar Mrs. Sudha Sivamani Mrs. Anitha Magesh Mrs. Naveen Uppala Mrs. Malathi Balu Mr. Arul Nambi

University Liason Mr. Vijay Varma Ms. Manju

Backstage Mrs. Deepa Kashyap Mrs. Elakiya Harish Mr. Magesh Mani Mrs. Keerthi Ranjith

Flyer/Poster Design Mr. Ramasubramaniam Mrs. Elakiya Harish Mr. Magesh Mani Mrs. Keerthi Ranjith

Sponsorship / Food Mr. Arul Nambi Mr. Kantharaj Etigi

External Affairs Mr. Srinivas Mallipudi Mr. Gopi Gopalakrishnan

Mr. Joseph Selvaraj