Author: Gunjan Rastogi

NIAASC Holds 34th Conference In Tavares, Florida

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The National Indo-American for Senior Citizens (NIAASC) held its 34th annual conference in the town of Tavares, Florida on Saturday, November 18th, 2023. This event which was attended by over 100 participants was held in collaboration with Shantiniketan-3, Tavares, Florida. Being that it was the signature annual event of NIAASC, a plethora of renowned professionals were in attendance and talked on various topics. The theme of the conference was: “Empowering Aging”.

NIAASC Holds 34th Conference In Tavares Florida 5Topics are appended below:

1 Protecting Seniors Citizens (Safeguarding against Scams) by Alicia Ramirez (AARP)

2 Aging — A Curse or Boon by Baldev Seekri

3 Debunking Anti-Aging Myths by Srinivasa Rao

The above-named speakers are nationally known professionals and have been endeared by the community-at-large. Alicia Ramirez is a retired professional from AARP and in her speech cautioned that AI technology is being used to scam the seniors and advised that seniors need to be cognizant on the aforementioned. Baldev Seekri is the author of ‘Meaningful Aging’ and one of the highlighting topics was how the mind-set can make meaningful aging happen. Srinivasa Rao, a bio-medical scientist who has authored a slew of articles on food and nutrition and in his presentation shed light on reverse aging via nutrition.

The conference started with lighting of the lamp and invocation by Acharya Praygraj, followed by the openingNIAASC Holds 34th Conference In Tavares Florida 1 remarks provided by Yogesh Naik from Shantiniketan-3 (Advisory Committee) and Chandrakant Shah (NIAASC Conference Coordinator) who welcomed all the participants and the guests. This was followed by the lecture topics as per above. All the above-named speakers are subject matter experts, and the delivery of the topics were succinct and material content was one that allayed a lot of apprehension/misgivings that the attendees had relating to Aging and its effects.

In her welcome speech, Gunjan Rastogi, NIAASC president greeted all participants and talked about the detailed program and in her concluding remarks assured the members of her unwavering commitment to the organization and further reiterated that the vision will continue to fortify the organization’s mission to be a force multiplier for helping the Seniors. Gunjan’s speech was followed by Rajeshwar Prasad who is the Founder and Chairman of NIAASC. He spoke at length the need to foster partnerships and collaboration which in an effort to seek synergy so as to pave the way for organizing an array of nation-wide workshops for Seniors.

NIAASC Holds 34th Conference In Tavares Florida 3The conference was financially supported by various sponsors and donations ranged from $51.00 to $10,000.00. The major sponsor being Santosh Kumar from Chicago she is also known as “Mother Teresa of Chicago”. India Home (NY) was another notable sponsor and supported the event by sponsoring the food. The cultural program was emceed by Tara Ashok and thoroughly regaled the audience with great fanfare.

At the end of every conference, it is the practice of getting evaluations done by the members in attendance with the sole purpose of getting better the next time. Deep dive into what works and what does not work are carefully examined so that areas and opportunities for improvement are taken intoNIAASC Holds 34th Conference In Tavares Florida 4 cognizance at the subsequent events.

NIAASC has been in operation since its inception of Spring of 1999 with the stated objectives “To provide help to seniors through information, referral and advocacy services.”.

For more information about NIAASC, please visit www.NIAASC.org or email at [email protected].

Rotary Club of North Shore District 7255, NY Installed

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It was a special evening at Antuns’ on October 29, 2023. The Installation of Newly formed Rotary Charter the Rotary Club of North Shore, which was initiated by the Rotary Club of Hicksville was held at the Antun’s, LI. Rotary District 7255, District Governor Tom Crowley officiated the Oath ceremony of the Rotary Club of North Shore President Dr. Mamta Shaha along with her slate of officers, board members, and founding members to serve the club for fiscal year 2023-24.

Rotary Club of North Shore District 7255 NY Installed 1Dr. Mamta Shaha thanked all members for putting their trust in as their Charter president. She talked about the importance of the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self” and added that Honesty, Integrity, and Transparency will be the guiding principles for this club. She mentioned the work of club for the year will be focused on 1) Feeding Hungry 2) Protecting the Environment and 3) Mentoring and education of children.

She thanked Rotary district Governor Tom Crowley and his team. Special thanks was given to the host club-Rotary Club of Hicksville South, the charter President and Past District Governor Mr. Kamalesh Mehta, current President Mr. Mizan Rehman for their help through the process.

Nilima Madan- Past President of the Rotary Club of Hicksville South, was appreciated for her vision and leadership. She is also the Stewardship Chair of District 7255. She had the vision of starting a new club which came to fruition on October 29,2023. She has been a great mentor and guide to all of us throughout the process.

At this occasion, Indian Consul General Mr. Randhir Jaiswal was conferred upon the honorary membership ofRotary Club of North Shore District 7255 NY Installed 3 Rotary Club of North Shore. The Honorable Consul General was not able to attend. He will be presented with the plaque soon.

Naveen Shah of the Navika Capital Inc. was honored with a plaque for his leadership and philanthropy in the community. Nilima Madan was honored with a plaque for her mentorship and guidance.

Prominent among  those who were in attendance included:  North Hempstead Supervisor, Jennifer S. DeSena; North Hempstead Town Clerk Ragini Srivastava ; Nassau County Minority Affairs Executive Director, Lionel Chitty; Town of Oyster Bay Asian American Affairs Director. They all presented the Citations to the Rotary Club of North Shore and the awardees.

All the members of the Club celebrated by cutting a cake. The beautiful evening concluded with musical entertainment and dinner.

Rajeshwar Prasad Presented Life Time Achievement Award At NIAASC Annual Meeting In New York

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Rajeshwar Prasad, founder and chairman of  The National Indo-American Association for Senior Citizens (NIAASC) was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award, During the 32nd annual Conference and 23rd Annual meeting of NIAASC on Sunday, November 7th, 2021 at the India Home in Jamaica, New York. He was recognized for his 23 years of admirable and outstanding community outlook and service, creating and nurturing NIAASC and dedicated to all seniors across the USA.

Dr. Vasundhara Kalasapudi, who is the founder of India Home nonprofit organization and a current board member of NIAASC hosted the conference, which  was informative and entertaining with vegan breakfast and lunch served.  Dr. Bhavani Srinivasan, Vice president – NIAASC was the coordinator of the conference and coordinated the event effectively and flawlessly.

The conference started with opening remarks and greetings by NIAASC Chairman and founder Rajeshwar Prasad. in his speech, Prasad reflected on the growth of the organization since its inception in 1998. He stated “NIAASC helps Senior Citizens and Senior Associations through information, referral and advocacy services “. Following the Chairman’s speech, Mrs. Gunjan Rastogi, the current president of NIAASC welcomed ­­the attendees and echoed the chairman’s message and reaffirmed and reminded everyone that NIAASC is a unique nonprofit organization that provides resources for all the seniors while collaborating with other nonprofit organizations and this was well received and acknowledged.

The main speaker was Dr. Vikas Malik, a board-certified medical professional in both Child-Adolescent Psychiatry and Adult Psychiatry and his PowerPoint presentation on Mental Health in light of COVID-19 captivated the audience of roughly 70 physical attendees and 30 virtual attendees, who appreciated the information and knowledge that was succinctly explained.  His presentation was followed by Dr. Swaminathan Giridharan, a Geriatric specialist, who spoke about COVID-19 Vaccination.  The conference also focused on physical health and a presentation by   Mrs. Suman Munjal, president of World Vegan Vision, who discussed the health benefits pertaining to a vegan diet.

The occasion marked NIAASC honoring Mr. Mukund Mehta, President of Indo-American Senior citizen center, a nonprofit organization and the President of India Home. In introducing Mr. Mukund Mehta, Dr. Vasundhara Kalasapudi informed the audience about his active involvement as a director with the Federation of Indian American Seniors Associations of North America (FISANA).

NIAASC’s goal of collaboration with other organizations was evident as the conference was well attended by members of the National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA). Members included current executive board members and past presidents who made the effort to connect via zoom. NFIA attendees belonged to different states/different time zones and remained present throughout the duration of the program. Also in attendance were members from several other organizations such as World Vegan Vision (WVV) and India Association of Long Island (IALI). Many IALI members attended In-person and on Zoom, including nine past presidents. Other NIAASC Board members that joined via zoom were: Satpal and Satya Malhotra(New York), Baldev Seekri ( Florida), Chandrakant Shah (Florida), Santosh Kumar (Chicago), Asha Samant (New Jersey ) and Jyotsna Kalavar (Indiana).

Lunch was followed by Diwali cultural program that was presented by Ms. Jyoti Gupta and her team consisted of several singers, Dr.Jag Kalra, Kul Bhooshan Sharma, Gautam Chopra and Raj Dhingra. The group entertained and regaled the audience with lively Bollywood songs. Music program was followed by Diwali Felicitation by Nilima Madan.

In her closing remarks, Gunjan Rastogi thanked the sponsors that supported the entire event financially and also thanked the India Home volunteers who had helped set up the venue while precluding any hiccups.

The vote of thanks was given by Mr. Harbachan Singh, NIAASC Secretary who appreciated the presence of large number of audiences, sponsors, and well-wishers.

Upon adjournment of the conference, the 23rd general body meeting was conducted by NIAASC president, Gunjan Rastogi, who requested Mr. Rajeshwar Prasad to present the report of nominating committee, since the chairman of the nominating committee Chandrakant Shah, was not able to the report due to some technical issue. Rajeshwar Prasad informed the members that as per NIAASC constitution and bylaws; 1/3rd members retire every year, but based on eligibility criteria, members are eligible to be re-elected for another term of three years that resulted in all the retiring members Gunjan Rastogi, Bhavani Srinivasan, E.M. Stephen, Santosh Kumar, and Rajeshwar Prasad to be elected for three additional years and was approved by the General Body.        For additional information about NIAASC, please email the president at [email protected].

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