MINUTES OF CENERS-K AGM 21 JUNE 2019

MINUTES OF CENERS-K AGM 21 JUNE 2019

 

 

 

1. CENERS-K  AGM was held at Victory Lounge, AOI, Fort William at 5 p.m. on 21 June 2019.

 

Attendance 

 

2. Following attended the meeting:-

(a)        In Chair – ACM Arup Raha (Retd)–President

(b)        Lt Gen J R Mukherjee (Retd) ——-    Vice President (Ops)

(c)        Maj Gen Arun Roye (Retd) ——–      Vice President (Policy Implementation,             Planning Finance and Administration )

(d)        Maj Gen SN Mukherjee (Retd)—–     Executive Director

(e)        Brig N S Mukherjee (Retd)——–        Secretary & Treasurer

(f)         Mr. R K Dutta ——–                           Vice President (North Eastern Region)

(g)        Mr. Aniruddha Lahiri ——-                  Vice President ( Industry)

(h)        Mr. Asok Dasgupta

(i)         Mr. Vikash Singh

(j)         Mr. S L Dugar—–                                 Registered Auditor

(k)         Justice Saumitra Pal

(l)         Lt Gen A Chakravarty

(m)         Col Ashish Das

(n)          Dr. Suman Kumar Mukerjee

(o)         Mr. Satyaki Sen

(p)          Maj Anil Bhalla

(q)         Ms Roma Bhagat

(r)          Ms Arpana Dutt

(s)         Mr. N Bhatacharya

(t)          Mr. Dipankar Talukdar

(u)          Mr Ajit Nandkeyolar

(v)          Dr. Rajib Chakravarti

(w)         Air Cmde B C Talukdar

(y)          Mrs Anuradha Singh

TOTAL MEMBERS PRESENT -25

 

Calling to Order- Issues of AGM 2018 and  Welcome Address by President

3. The President welcomed Members, and called the meeting to order having confirmed that the required quorum of more than 14 members, being present.
4. The President sought and granted leave of absence for the General Body Members not present due to personal reasons and /or being outstation members.
5. The President drew attention of members to the Snap Report ( a Brief and abridged version of an Annual Report), 2018–2019, the Audit Report, that had been circulated to members and, was also tabled for perusal at the AGM. He stated that CENERS-K had held all scheduled events, and more, that was planned for the period under review in a most befitting and organised manner, drawing high praise from the audience, participants, sponsors, partners and affiliates. President stated that the Reputation and Credibility of the Organisation had grown and had been widely appreciated by all concerned, and its present profile has acted as a catalyst in drawing very eminent academics and professionals from varied disciplines to join us as new members. The President stated that the three very high profile Seminars viz Energy Seminar held in Shillong, the Economic Seminar held in Kolkata and The Annual Calcutta Dialogue held again in Kolkata were very well appreciated by all associated with the Seminars and the intellectual content in these three Seminars was outstanding in its clarity and content.
6. The President praised the excellent support provided by Ms Linda Mukherjee, wife of our VP Lt Gen J R Mukherjee, during the conduct of the Energy Seminar held at Shillong . He mentioned that she was instrumental in coordinating the presence of a large number of students and teachers from reputed schools to whom we could showcase our presentations as also educate them as to the state of Energy and Power in the North Eastern States. President stated that the contribution of Mr Aniruddha Lahiri, Mr Asok Dasgupta and Maj Gen Arun Roye in conducting the Economic Seminar, the Energy Seminar and The Calcutta Dialogue, respectively, was appreciated by all, and the Organisation was grateful for their unstinted hard work in successfully conducting these.
7. . The President mentioned that because of our organisations growing reputation, very prestigious organisations and agencies including Universities and Consulates were getting in touch with us and inviting our members to participate in their Seminars and discussions. We have also established partnerships and affiliations with BCC& I, ICC, DGAR and the Consulates in Kolkata .
8.   The President mentioned that the E-Journal being published by the organisation is doing well and is well received. He stated that the Journal contains articles of high intellectual content by reputed authors. He informed all that some important decisions has been taken with regards to Restructuring of the Editorial Board as well as out sourcing the tedious work of Editing, Printing ,Publishing and marketing to a Publisher . President stated that recommendations of the GC with regard to the Restructuring of the Editorial Board will be brought before the General Body as an Enabling Resolution for Adoption.
9. Finally President complemented the council members for their support and cooperation as also for their hard work put in to implement the charter of the Think Tank.

 

 Agenda Points

10. The President took up the Agenda Points of the AGM which had been circulated to the members earlier. No additional points were received from any member

 

ITEM- 1. AUDITORS REPORT OF CENERS-K ACCOUNTS  2018-2019

 

11. The President asked the Secretary to Present the Auditors Report. Giving out a brief preamble, The Secretary, NSM, stated CENERS-K was a Non-Funded and Not for Profit organisation, the source of funds was mainly by way of membership fee, sponsorships and donations from members. It is a tax exempt organisation in compliance of Article 80 G, The Organisation has only two paid employees on its roll, one who maintains book of accounts once a week, and a cleaner who cleans the premises once a week. They are paid ₹ 5000/- and ₹ 500/-  per month, respectively,  as salary. In addition we pay the Auditors a fee of ₹10000/- as annual fee. Our yearly expenditure is roughly as follows:-

(a)       Establishment costs to include, salary of accountant, office cleaner, expenses                            for conducting GC meetings , holding of yearly AGM, attending Auditors fee,                                        stationery, office requisites, computer consummables and peripherals  is incurred as                  expenditure  roughly amounting to ₹1,75,000/- per financial year.

(b)       Printing and publication of E-Journal for three publications ( one every four                months) with a print run of 100 copies costs us ₹ 1,50,000/-

(c)       Approximately ₹ 1,50,000/- is incurred for Round Table discussions, @ Approx                       ₹ 50,000/- per discussion

(d)       Seminars are conducted with with affiliates and partner organisations on either                           expenditure or profit sharing basis, depending on sponsorships arranged by affiliates.

12.  The Organisation earns a sum of Approx ₹ 4,72,000/- as interest from 14 FDs of a corpus of ₹ 77,03,016,00 which is used to pay all our running expenses at 11 a to 11 c above. This amount is however taxable. Approximately ₹ 75,000/- is paid as income tax each year out of this amount. The Secretary, asked all present to peruse the Balance Sheet for detailed accounts, and gave salient points and status of accounts on 31 Mar 2019 as under:-

(a)          We have a CORPUS of ₹ 77,03,016.00  ( In 14 FDs)

(b)    A sum of ₹ 2,00,000/- from GAIL  given as sponsorship for the Economic Summit,

13. President thereafter asked the members if they had any queries or clarification on accounts. VP Aniruddha Lahiri stated that the balance sheet does not show receipt of the sum of ₹3,00,000/- as sponsorship amount from HUL given for the Economic Seminar. Secretary stated that the name of HUL will be added in brackets, and that since the amount has been taken on books, there was no error in the balance sheet as presented.
14. There being no other query, Secretary read out the Resolution on Adoption of Accounts as follows:-

” Resolved that the balance sheet of CENERS-K as at 31st March 2019, statement of the Income and expenditure of the organisation i.e. CENERS-K for the financial year ended 31 March 2019 together with the Notes annexed to the Auditors Report, circulated to the members and the Report of the GC committee both dated 31 March 2019 be and hereby approved and adopted”

15. President asked the members if they could propose and second the Resolution. VP Aniruddha Lahiri proposed and Executive Director Maj Gen S N Mukherjee seconded the Resolution. The President thereafter put the Resolution to vote which was the unanimously passed by show of hands. President thereafter declared the Resolution carried unanimously.

 

ITEM-ll- APPOINTMENT OF  AUDITOR FOR  CENERS-K  FOR FINANCIAL  YEAR 2019-2020.

 

16. President stated that the Organisation has received a consent letter from Ms S L Dugar and Associates,Chartered Accountants, who are the current Auditors of the Organisation, to be reappointed as the Auditor for another year on the same terms and conditions. President stated that no other offers had been received. Secretary thereafter read out the

Ordinary Resolution on the Appointment of Auditor as follows:-

” Resolved that Messrs S L Dugar and Associates  Kolkata Regn No. M- 054703 be and are hereby appointed as the Auditors of CENERS-K to hold such office for a period of one year from the conclusion of this AGM, subject to ratification of the General Body Members of this AGM ,at the same remuneration of ₹ 10,000/- plus GST as applicable and reimbursement of travelling and out of pocket expenses incurred in connection with the audit of account.”

17. The Resolution was proposed by Mr Ajit Nandkeyolar  and seconded by Col Ashish Das. The Resolution was put to vote and passed unanimously. President declared the Resolution carried unanimously.

 

ITEM- lll– WELCOMING NEW MEMBERS

 

18. President welcomed the following new members:-
19.     Mr. Satyaki Sen
20.   Mr. Dipankar Talukdar.
21.     Mr. Debajit Choudhury.
22.     Prof Suman Kumar Mukerjee.
23.     Dr. Rajib Chakravarti
24.     Prof Suranjan Das.

G . Brig Surendra Prasad.

19. New Members present introduced themselves to the General Body Members as their names were called out. They were all heartily welcomed by clap of hands . Prof Suranjan Das, Mr Debajit Choudhury and Brigadier Surendra Prasad were not present being out of station.

 

ITEM- lV-  REVIEW OF MEMBERSHIP FEE

20. President stated that the membership fee of the Organisation was last reviewed in 2009. He stated that cost of running the Organisation had gone up considerably and it was getting difficult to make ends meet and also upgrade services. He stated that the issue was discussed in the GC Meeting of 03 June 2019 and it was decided that an enabling Resolution would be brought before the General Body at the AGM to raise the membership fee upto ₹ 7000/- and also require members to pay a sum of upto ₹1500/-  as yearly subscription.
21. It was proposed that, if adopted,  the membership rules would be amended to be effective wef  30 June 2019 as under:-

(a)        Membership Fee–on first joining as new member upto ₹7000/-, on or after 30             June 2019.

(b)       All members to pay a yearly fee of ₹ 1500/- . Payment Cycle being 30 June to 30        June.

(c)       The Membership Fee needs renewal every Three to Five years. The words ‘Life     Membership’ would thus become redundant.

 

22. The Enabling Resolutions as above, was proposed by Maj Gen Arun Roye and Seconded by Brig NS Mukherjee. Lt Gen Mukherjee indicated his dissent on the aspect of renewal. Mr Asok Dasgupta stated that the organisation should concentrate on getting more Corporate members
23. The Enabling Resolution was put to vote and passed by a majority. President declared the Enabling Resolution carried.

 

ITEM- V- RESTRUCTURING OF. EDITORIAL. BOARD.

 

24. President stated that preceding the AGM an Editorial Board Meeting, chaired by him was conducted followed by the GC Meeting of 03 June 2019. He stated that due to differences and disagreements between members as to the structure of the Editorial Board and the Charter of duties of the member a decision was taken to Restructure the Board and Outsource the

process of Editing, Printing, Publishing and Marketing to a reputed Publishing House. It was also decided that a Member Designated as Member Content Review would, under the guidance of the Editor in Chief, screen the articles received and also, if required , send the articles to a peer group of experts for comments as to content and facts mentioned , for final acceptance for publication in our Journal .The President stated that the Editorial Board would consist of the following designated members:-

(a)   Editor in Chief who would  report to the President and be overall responsible for                           the publication of the Journal.

He would also be appointed as Member Journal to the Governing Council.

(b)      Member Content Review.

(c)      Member (s) Security and Defence Consultants – Two.

(d)      Member Finance.

(e)      Member Research Coordinator

(f)       Member Publicity

(g)      Member Accreditation and Affiliation

25. President enquired if any member would like to be appointed to any of the designated posts. There being no volunteers. President stated that he had , with the consent of the members now being announced ,would assume the appointments of the Restructured Editorial Board as follows, subject to the Enabling Resolution being passed by the General Body:-
26.           Dr Harish Mehta – Editor in Chief.
27.           Prof J K Ray —                   Member Content Review
28.          Lt Gen JR Mukherjee—      Security & Defence Consultant.
29.          Mr. Aniruddha Lahiri—        Member Finance.
30.           Amb Sarvajit  Chakravarti—Member Research Coordinator.
31.           Mr. Harsh Poddar —           Member Publicity.
32.          Maj Gen S N Mukherjee— -Member Accreditation and Affiliation.
33.          Brig N S Mukherjee—         Member Defence Consultant .

 

26.  The President put the Enabling Resolution for Appointment of Members to the Restructured Editorial Board before the General Body . The Enabling Resolution was proposed by Justice Saumitra Pal and seconded by Mr Ranjit Dutta. The Resolution was put to vote and passed unanimously. President declared the Resolution carried.

 

ITEM–VI—SCHEDULED EVENTS FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR JUNE 2019  TO MAY 2020

 

27.   President requested Maj Gen Arun Roye.  Vice President (Policy Implementation, Planning. Finance and Administration) to inform the members of the scheduled events for the calendar year 2019-2020. VP Arun Roye drew attention of all members to ITEM-VII ,para 14, of the minutes of the GC Meeting of 03 June 2019  which had been circulated to all members, wherein the scheduled events were put up for approval of the GC Members. He had further discussed with all involved, and the final calendar schedule is as under:-

(a)          RTD on Security Issues in Partnership with HQ EC in Aug 2019.

(b)          Seminar in Imphal in partnership with DGAR in last week of Nov 2019.

(c)          Economic Summit in partnership with BCC&I in first week of December 2019

(d)           RTD on Relations with Nepal. Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar in partnership       with CU/ JU in Dec 2019.

(e).         RTD on Chinese Military Capability in partnership with HQ EC in First Week of                      Jan 2020.

(f).        Seminar on Peace , Security and Stability in Indo Pacific and South China Sea                  in partnership with Japanese Consulate in Second week of  January 2020 (10/11Jan)

(g).        RTD on Economic Issues with China in partnership with Consulate General of                         China  and ICC in fourth week of January 2020

(h).     The Annual Calcutta Dialogue in partnership with ICC in fourth week of                                   February/ First Week of March 2020.

28. The President invited members to discuss or suggest alternatives to the schedule planned. There being no observation, the Schedule was considered as approved by the General Body. Mr Lahiri brought out the aspect of ‘Owning, an event from womb to tomb. All agreed.

 

ITEM –VII– ELECTION TO GOVERNING COUNCIL

29.   President stated that he had not received any names of members or volunteers who desired to stand for election as Members of the GC. He therefore requested VP(Ops) Lt Gen JR Mukherjee to conduct the election / nomination of members to the GC.
30. VP(Ops) announced that as per convention the present members were required to resign and he accepted the resignation of all GC Members by voice vote. He then again asked members if anyone would want to stand for election to any of the GC appointments. As no one volunteered, VP (Ops) stated that the General Body agree to the Reappointment of the out going Members for one more term of two years  He stated that ACM Arup Raha would continue as President as his two year term was not yet over. He asked for and got the consent of the outgoing members to be reelected.The following GC Members were elected:-
31.   Lt Gen J R Mukherjee as VP (Ops). Proposed by NSM and seconded by AR. Put       to vote and elected unanimously.
32. Maj Gen Arun Roye as VP ( Policy Implementation Planning Finance and             Administration). Proposed by President and Seconded by AN . Put to vote and elected             unanimously.
33.   Maj Gen SN Mukherjee as Executive Director. Proposed by AR and Seconded             by Col AD. Put to vote and elected unanimously.
34. Mr Ranjit Kumar Dutta as VP (NER). Proposed by NSM and Seconded by SNM.   Put to vote and elected unanimously.
35. Mr Aniruddha Lahiri as VP( Industry) . Proposed by President and Seconded by        Prof SK Mukerjee. Put to vote and elected unanimously.
36. Mr Amitkiran Deb as Member (Liaison and Coord Govt Agencies). Proposed by        AR and Seconded by NSM. Put to vote and elected unanimously.
37.   Brigadier N S Mukherjee as Secretary & Treasurer. Proposed by AR and             Seconded by SNM. Put to vote and elected unanimously.

CO-OPTED MEMBER TO GC

1.   Dr Harish Mehta as Member E-Journal. Proposed by President and Seconded by        NSM. Put to vote and elected unanimously.
2. Mr Harsh Poddar as Director Research.Proposed by AR and Seconded by JRM.    Put to   vote and elected unanimously.
3. Amb Sarvajit Chakravarti as Director Research.Proposed by. NSM and             Seconded by AR . Put to vote and elected unanimously.
4.   Col Ashish Das as Assistant Director Administration. Proposed by JRM and             Seconded NSM. Put to vote and elected unanimously.

 

31        The President announced that the Agenda Point of Discussion on Affiliation and Collaboration will be taken up in the next GC Meeting as this did not require AGM  ratification. With regard to the last point on the Agenda regarding a discussion and decision on Members not attending meetings.  The President mentioned that whereas he was not in favour of suspending members, they need to make it a point to attend CENERS-K meetings and bolster the morale of participants. He directed Secretary to interact with the Absentee Members and request them to be more active and participate in Organisations activities. All agreed that this was the way forward.

32. The President proposed a vote of thanks to the outgoing GC Members which was seconded by all .He also welcomed the newly elected member of the GC and assured them of all support.
33. There being no other point the AGM was declared closed.

 

 

(Arun Roye)