Cheerful Event for  Disabled Soldiers

Rotary Club of Poona Downtown with the support of Rotary Club of Khadki, Rotary Club of North, Rotary Club of Riverside, Rotary Club of  Poona conducted a music program to entertain about 170 disabled soldiers at Kargil Hall ,Queen Mary's Technical Institute (QMTI) in Khadki, Pune.

Dr Prof P.N.N. Iyer President  of Rotary  Club of Downtown welcomed the audience and also felicitated the singers.

  A group of singers comprising retired naval officers and their wives, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Stars, a two-hour melodious rendition of the golden era of Bollywood music, provided an enjoyable recital of two hours.They sang popular songs from the Golden era of Hindi films. Capt & Mrs Rajiv & Ranita Bhattacharjee, Mrs Uma Naphde, Mrs Nirmala Ananth, Mr Anupam Banerjee & their leader Commodore Sridar Raswamy simply enthralled the audience with solos & duets, of several moods. The audience sang with them, clapped in rhythm, and even danced to some of the songs.

Col Dr. Vasant Bannerwal,  Dean & Dy CEO of QMTI was the guest of honour. He also played a popular song on the harmonica.Two injured soldiers & one of their daughters also sang & delighted the audience.

 On this occasion Col Virender Kapoor, an author of 45 books on Bharat (Rotary Club of Poona), Rtn Seema Bedekar(President Rotary Club of Khadki), Rtn Shanthi Shridhar, (Rotary  Poona North's President) Rtn. Dr. Prof. PNN Iyer(Rotary Downtown's President)  were felicitated for conducting the grand success of  this enjoyable & memorable event.

This special musical program featured evergreen Bollywood songs from 1960 to 2022 along with karaoke tracks.

Cataract Eye Check-up Camp

On Sunday, 19th January 2025 a ‘Cataract Eye Check-up Camp’ was set-up by Rotary Club Of Poona Downtown with the help of Ex. Dy. Mayor, Mrs Sunita Parshuram Wadekar and Chairman of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Cultural Festival Committee, Parshuram Wadekar.  This camp was supported   by H. V. Desai Eye Hospital, Hadapsar and conducted at Samayak Vihar and Vikas Centre, Bhau Patil Road Bopodi, Pune.  It was inaugurated by Chairman, Parshuram Wadekar.

A total no of 179 OPD patients of the age group of 30- 80 yrs were checked.   Of these,  free  reading spectacles were distributed to 101 beneficiaries. 20 patients were diagnosed for cataract surgery and have been referred to HV Desai Hospital, for free  operations.  RCP Downtown with the help of local politicians creates eye care awareness especially cataracts among seniors in the community. The Rotary Club Of Poona Downtown's  President, Prof. P.N.N.Iyer along with the other members was present for this project.

Interschool Robotics Competitio

'Techno-future'

Is there a way to catch them young, the

budding Engineers, Technologists and Scientists? Yes.

It became evident on 19th January when we witnessed these wonder kids display their science-based talents at the Interschool Robotics Competition. They were divided into three age groups 5 to 8, 9 to 12 & 13 to 16.

53 schools had registered for the competition. About 150 students took part. Many of their teachers and parents were there to cheer the children.

 Some remarkably good, pre-programmed  robots and also robots that can be used for domestic work & fire fighting were seen. All miniature prototype models operating on their own, not remote controlled were seen.

The enthusiasm amongst the kids was to be seen to be believed. Truly talented kids with the spark of brilliance.

Rotary Club of Downtown was one of the  synergy partners with two other Rotary Clubs. The lead club was RCP Magarpatta. I was among the Judges and got so wonderstruck that five hours passed off like a breeze.

We need to support ultra-modern aspects of state of the art technology among our children, the future of our nation. With just a gentle push, our kids can perform wonders. All interact programmes should be children-centric where they display their talents and abilities of project management & problem solving. Children of this generation are much smarter.

Kidney Disease Screening Camp

Preventive Care of Kidneys' a pioneering procedure developed by KEM, Pune, supported by Rotary Club of Downtown, held their first camp on 24th of January at the club's Dialysis Center in Khedekar Hospital, Bopodi, Pune. More to follow. KEM's team of 4  Doctors & 2 Nurses synergised so well with the Doctors and Nurses of Khedekar Hospital.

About 180 adults gathered for giving their blood & urine samples, apart from general check up & consultation  by the team of Doctors.