1. Issue : 06Vol. : 33 14-08-2013Date : Pages : 04
Friendship day celebration with Innerwheel
International Friendship Day is a day for celebrating friendship. The day
has beencelebratedinseveralsouthern South American countriesformany
years, particularly in Paraguay, where the first World Friendship Day was
proposedin1958.
Initially created by the greeting card industry, evidence from social
networking sites shows a revival of interest in the holiday that may have
grown with the spread of the Internet, particularly in India, Bangladesh, and
Malaysia. Digital communication modes such as the Internet and mobile
phones may be helping to popularize the custom, since greeting friends en
masse is now easier than before. Those who promote the holiday in South Asia attribute the tradition of
dedicating a day in honour of friends to have originated in the U.S. in 1935, but it actually dates from 1919. The
exchange of Friendship Day gifts like flowers, cards and wrist bands is a popular tradition of this
occasion.(Source:Wikipedia)
Whoever created the day for whatever reason, it surely is a great thought to remember and share the great
moments with friends. As Aristotle once said “Friendship is one soul dwelling in two bodies”. It is time to
celebrateFriendshipdaywithInnerwheelmembers.Letusjointhefriendshipfrenzyandcelebrate.
ROTARY IN INDIA – BEFORE INDEPENDENCE
Ÿ First Rotary Club in India was started in the year 1920 by R.J.Coombes, a manager
inasteelcompany
Ÿ FirstIndianmemberwasS.C.RudrajoinedRotaryintheyear1921
Ÿ The first Indian to become the club secretary was Nitish C. Laharry (1926) who
climbedallstepstoreachRotary'stopslotviz.R.I.Presidentshipin1962-'63
Ÿ A.FM.AbdulAliwasthefirstIndiantoadornthecollarofaclubpresident
Ÿ Of the 38 charter members of the club in Bombay, 37 were non-Indians. The only
IndianwasSirPhirozSethna,alegislativemember
Ÿ Mahatma Gandhi addressed Rotary Club of Calcutta which had only non-Indians
ontherollseventhen
Ÿ FirstRotaryclubinsouthIndiawasstartedin1929atMadras.Allthechartermemberswerenon-Indians
Ÿ Asmanyastenclubswerecharteredin1947
Ÿ Bythe timeIndia becameindependent,therewere71Rotary clubs(14 in Gujarat,10in Maharashtra,10in UP,7 in Tamil
Nadu,7inKarnatakaand23inanother10states)withatotalmembershipof3121members (todayIndiahasmorethan
3191clubsand1,23,941Rotarians)
“About Us” wishes all readers a very happy “Independence Day”. Jai hind.
August is Membership and Extension month - emphasizing Membership development and the creation of new
Rotary clubs. Introduce your friends and acquaintances to Rotary Midtown.

2. A deserving student was sponsored with 2
years tuition fees for his ITI course in
Vishweshwaraiah Industrial Training Centre,
Mysore. A cheque of Rs.15000/- was
presented by Rtn.PP.Alagappan and
th
Sec.Rtn.Dr.Prahlad on 8 July 2013.
K.R. (Ravi) Ravindran, of the
Rotary Club of Colombo,
Western Province, Sri Lanka,
is the selection of the
Nominating Committee for
P r e s i d e n t o f Ro ta r y
International in 2015-16.
Ravindran will become the
president-nominee on 1 October if there are
nochallengingcandidates.
Rtn.Ravi had addressed Midtown during the
presidentshipofRtn.PrakashS(1999-2000).
–By Rtn.Harish
Community Service project RI President Nominee 2015-16
Community Service project
Inadvertently the months were wrongly mentioned in article "RMA News" (page 2) in the previous
issue of "About Us". The first two projects were in July and not in August. The error is regretted. - Editor
Quirky facts on Indian Independence Day
Q: Do you know why Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy and the first Governor General of
IndiadecideonAug15astheIndianIndependenceDay?
Ans: Mountbatten chose the day since Aug 15 also commemorated the second anniversary
ofJapan'ssurrendertotheAlliedForces
Q:DoesIndiashareitsIndependenceDaywithanyothercountry?
Ans:SouthKoreawonitsindependencefromJapanon15thAugust1945,BahrainfromUKin
1971andRepublicoftheCongofromFrancein1960.
Q: What was the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi doing on the day of Indian
Independence?
Ans: Gandhiji was away from all the celebrations and was fasting and negotiating with
communalleadersafteraHindu-Muslimflare-upinBengal.
Q:WhydidLordMountbattendecideonAug14asPakistan'sIndependenceDayasthelastViceroyofundividedBritishIndia?
Ans: In the capacity of the Last Viceroy of British India, Mountbatten was forced to attend both the independence day functions in both
countries.Toavoidinconvenience,MountbattenshiftedPakIndependenceDaytoAug14,makingitonedayaheadtoIndia's.
Q:WasPanditJawaharlLalNehruthePrimeMinisterwhenhedeliveredthefamed“TrystwithDestiny"speech?
Ans: No he was not technically the Prime Minister when he delivered the speech because he was elevated to the role only onAug 15 while
hedeliveredthespeechonthemidnightofAug14.
Q:HowlonghasIndiabeenindependentcomparedtothesuperpowerUS?
Ans:USAhasbeenenjoyingitsindependencesincethelast225yearswhileIndiahasbeenafreebirdonlysincethelast64years
Q:WhatinspiredGandhitogoonaCivilDisobediencemovement?
Ans: Gandhi got his inspiration from famousAmerican philosopher DavidThoreau who wrote a book that declared that no one ought to pay
taxes. Gandhiji so inspired by the book that he used the same tactic in the struggle for Independence. He employed the method in the
boycottofforeigngoodsandabolishtax
onsaltandledhisfollowerstomakesaltthemselves
Q:WhowasthefirstpersontohaveraisedtheIndianflaginforeignsoil?
Ans:BhikhajiRustomCamaisthefirstpersontoraisethetri-colourinGermanyon22ndofAugust1907.Butthisflagwasadifferentversion
than the original one.This flag consisted of three colors- the topmost being green followed by golden saffron in the middle and the red color
atthebottom.Ithad'VandeMataram'inscribedonit.
Source:http://www.oneindia.in/independence-day/2011/english-interesting-facts-on-indian-independence-day-080811.html
District Polio plus & Membership Development Seminar
Polio Plus and Membership Development Seminar was held at Manipal, Udupi on 10th & 11th August 2013.
Rtn.Nandakumar,Rtn.Bheemesh,Rtn.BhanuchandranandRtn.Dr.PrahladrepresentedMidtown.

3. New team of Rotaract installed at Mahajana's College
Rtr.Nikhil Maruthi & his team were In his address Rtn.Raghu stressed on the
installed at Mahajana's First Grade College importance of focusing on “Resources”, his
th
interesting & inspiring talk included jokes,on 7 August 2013. The regular meeting of
quotes and even cricket incidents drawingMidtown was called to order by President
inspiration among the young ones.Rtn.Bhanu chandran. Heart touching
Rtr.Nikhil in his acceptance speech assurednational anthem was played moisting most
to try his best. Rotaractors donated sportsof the eyes. Rtn.Bhanu chandran welcomed
equipment to few government schoolthe gathering before Rtn.Prahlad spoke on
representatives among other projects.Rotary and Rotaract movement. It was then
Dr.Naga Srinivas shared his thoughts beforetime for the installation of the new team,
Chief guest R.Vasudeva Murthy addressedChief guest Rtn.R.Vasudeva Murthy,
the gathering, he said that the Midtown isPresident, Mahjana Education Society,
doing commendable job in supportingInstalling officer Rtn.M.S.Raghu,
Rotaract and wished that the 16 year oldRtn.S.Bhanu chandran & Dr.P.R.Naga
association lasts for a long time to come.Srinivasa- Hon. Secretary, Mahajana
Closing remarks were given by Rtn.BhanuEducation Society – guests of Honour,
and a formal vote of thanks was given byProf.K.V.Prahakara-Principal of Mahajana's
R t n . P r i y a P r a s a d . M e a n w h i l eCollege, Rtn.Raju Baliga-Chairman of
Rtn.Bhanuchandran announced Rs.5000/-Rotaract Club & Prof.Mary Eapen –
as seed money for Rotaract projects andRotaract co-ordinator were seen onstage.
assured toassist astheprojectneedsarise.After the invocation, welcome speech by
Rtr.Shivendra Urs the dignitaries lit the End note: Rtn.Raghu in his address
b e a u t i f u l l y d e c o r a t e d l a m p . mentioned that he had 30 plus years of
Rtn.Balakrishna Kini introduced experience in Rotary. Taking a cue on this
Rtn.Raghu. Rtn.Megha read out the when Rtn.Vasudevamurthy spoke, he
impressive report of 2011-12, Rotaract mentioned to the gathering that he is
Mahajanas were recognized at District level currently the oldest Rotarian with maximum
for their outstanding projects. Rtn.Raju gave years in Rotary in entire RI District.3180
the oath to new Rotaract members. The new with 60 plus years of experience in Rotary.
team was installed by Rtn.Raghu before We are proud of you Rtn.Vasudevamurthy
addressingthegathering. sir.
· Fourteen Rotaractors attended the Webinar on E-hacking, organized by Midtown on 27th
July 2013 at Bahadur Institute Of Management Sciences
· AnamountofRs12700/-waspresentedtoMr.NaveenaBtowardshisadmissionfees
th
· SportsmaterialsweredistributedtovariousGovernmentschoolsofthecityon7 August2013
· As a part of ongoing “Go green project”, guests at the Installation ceremony were presented
th
withindoorplantson7 August2013
Rotaract Mahajana's Projects:

4. Rotary Quiz
Answer:GustavusLoehr
Room 711 of the Unity Building in Chicago was the
site of Rotary's first meeting. At that time, it was the
office of which founding member?
a.Paul Harris b.Paul Hewson
c. Gustavus Loehr d.Arch Klumph
Rtn.R.Venkatesh
17th August
Birthday Wishes
Rtn.P.S.Chengappa
20thAugust
1. Is it the TRUTH ?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned ?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and
BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all
concerned ?
Rotary Information
Free Eye Screening
for all and free cataract
surgeryfor thepoor.
The Rotary Eye
Centre is the only one of
its kind in District 3310.
The Eye Centre is owned
and funded by the Rotary
Club of Pasir Gudang
Eye Foundation. The
Foundation is a tax
exempted body. The Eye
Centre is opened 5 days a
week providing free eye
screening for all. For the
poor, the Eye Centre provides free cataract surgery,
cornea transplant and reading glasses. To date more
than a 1000 patients have been screened and about
400 cataract surgeries and 10 cornea transplants
carried out free and 100 reading glasses given free.
Through this about 500 people had their eyesights
restored.Projectlocation:Malaysia
Anniversary Wishes
Rtn.Kumaraswamy
21st August
Rtn.N.Narendra
19th August
Visit to Community
Centre – 'Ajitha Nele'
Time: 6.30 pm
Venue:
'Ajitha Nele' , Bogadi
Please Attend
Next Week
Practical Innovation
Most of us consume way too much sodium, either
sprinkling it on fries or gobbling it unawares via prepared
and processed foods. We'd all like to cut down to avoid
high blood pressure and heart disease, but apart from
reading nutritional information labels, it's hard to
determine how much sodium a dish contains. Well, the
mighty gadget-spawning samurai at Japan's Thanko have
unsheathed the Handy Salt Meter for hot liquid foods.
This portable salt content thermometer, as it were,
works with soup broth and is geared to people who love
dishes like ramen or udon noodles. It also works with curry
and pasta sauce. The device can be inserted into liquid or
semi-liquid food with a temperature of about 140 to 176
degrees Fahrenheit. Stick it in and the sensors measure
salt content in less than a second, displaying results on an
LED scale from 0.3 to 2 percent. If you're having salty
foods like soup or pasta, expect a high reading.
More details at: http://news.cnet.com/8301-
17938_105-57596582-1/want-salt-with-that-sodium-
meter-checks-soups-sauces/
Today's
Tea
Host
Mrs.Uma Vivek
Humour
What would have happened if Rajnikanth
wasborn150yearsago?
The British would have fought for
independence!
Why did Superman and Batman visit Rajnikanth? Because it
wasTeacher'sDay.
Rajinikanth is the only person in the world who can make his
girlfriendadmithermistake.
Rajinikanth once ordered idli in McDonald's and got it.
Rajinikanthcaneatdosawithchopsticks.
Rajnikanth got his driver's licence at the age of 16 seconds.
WheneverRajnikanthmakesanerror,itisaninvention.
If Rajnikanth was born 100 years earlier, British would have
foughttogetindependencefromIndia.
An email was sent from Pune to Mumbai but Rajinikanth
stoppeditinLonavala.
RajnikanthkilledaterroristinanothercountryviaBluetooth
The apple which fell on Newton was actually thrown by
Rajinikanth.
RajinikanthknowsVictoria'ssecret.
Rajinikanthcanansweramissedcall.
Rajninikanthcansneezewithhiseyesopen.
People update Facebook status via BlackBerry and iPhone.
Rajinikanthupdateshisstatusviacalculator.
WhenAlexander Bell first used his telephone, he realised he
alreadyhadtwomissedcallsfromRajinikanth.
RajnikanthhasastatueofMadameTussaudsinhishouse!
Rajnikanth's next movie is called Twitter. He plays 140
characters.