REPORT
AFUNPI hosted a reception on 12 February evening at the Century Club for its members and spouses. Invitees included members from Bangalore, and outstation members who had travelled from Vienna (Austria), New Delhi, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh-Telangana, Kolkata. The Annual General Body (AGM) on 13 February started at 9.30 a.m. with registration and coffee.
Welcome by AFUNPI Honorary Secretary
Ms. Magdalene Chand Hon. Secretary, AFUNPI welcomed the participants warmly and introduced the ground rules for the meeting. A special welcome accorded to Padma Bhushan Dr. R.B. Singh and Mrs Sushma Singh. Dr Singh was honoured with a shawl and Mysore turban. Ms. Chand also paid a tribute to members who had passed away in the past year. The meeting observed a minute of silence.
Election of the President of the AGM
Participants of the AGM unanimously endorsed election of Mr. D.V.S. Narasimhan as the President of the AGM. In his address Mr. Narasimhan recalled his long association with members of AFUNPI and the yeoman services rendered by all office bearers. He was delighted as always to be in Bangalore, as he resides in Vienna, and congratulated AFUNPI for holding this important meeting.
Presentation of the Annual Report by the President AFUNPI
Dr. Seenappa, President, AFUNPI, presented the annual report for 2022. He recalled that the year 2022 had been a busy one for AFUNPI. With cases of COVID 19 declining in India and globally, the monthly in-person meetings resumed in Bangalore on a regular basis. The AFUNPI hubs in New Delhi and Hyderabad initiated frequent meetings for locally residing AFUNPI members. AFUNPI delegation participated in the FAFICS Council held in Vienna in July 2022. AFUNPI conducted a Pre-Retirement seminar at UNDP in New Delhi for UN staff planning to retire or separate in a year or two. Dr. Seenappa as FAFICS Vice President continued to participate in the monthly virtual meetings of the FAFICS Bureau and as a FAFICS representative in the Fund Solvency Assets and Liability Monitoring Committee meetings at UNJSPF in New York.
Member Recognitions
The following members were congratulated and recognised for their individual achievements:
- Ms. Rita Chhablani for having authored and published three books, namely, we will Be Together Always, Despite Odds- tales of Choices and Cross Connection
- Mrs. Geetha Gopalan, spouse of Dr. H.N.B. Gopalan being cited in the International Wonder Book of records for having chanted Vishnu Sahasranama one crore times in 2021
- Dr. Prem Nath for his book The Culinary Melons of South India
- Mr. Ram Chaudhary, former Senior FAO officer and Chairman of PRDF Gorakhpur (UP) for dedicated work to support rural farming
- Dr. Prem Sharma AFUNPI Vice President on his series of four articles on State of Global Greenhouse emissions in Global Bihari News Portal
New Members
The following new members were welcomed
Mr. Bharat B. Manocha, Dr. S.K. Chaturvedi, Ms. Ruth Sarala Benjamin, Ms. Lucille Frantz, Mr. Uday Raju, Ms. Nutan Prakash, Ms. Pushpinder Seera, Ms.Sonia Thakur, Mr. Mukesh Arya, Mr. U.S. Baweja, Mr. Debashish Patnaik, Mr. V.K. Sibal, Mr. Desh B. Sahae, Mr. M.R. Kanaga Rajan, Mrs. Preeti Chandra, Mr. Venkataswamy Manivel, Mrs. Veena Wadhwani, Mr. Shivam Chaturvedi, Mrs. Manorama Pant, Mr. Peter Chen and Mrs. Asha Dutia.
Bereavements
A collage of available photographs of members who had passed away was displayed in the lobby of the meeting hall at Century Club. The bereaved members are
Mr. Gerson Da Cunha, Mrs. Mala Pal, Mrs. Dayawanti Gupta, Mr. V.S. Rao, Mr. G.V. Subba Rao, Ms. Parin Vakharia, Mr. Krish Vemi Reddy, Dr. P.S. Pant, Dr. R.S.S. Sarma, Dr. Dilip Mahalanobis, Mrs. Chetana Kohli, Mr. K.P. Mahalingam, Mr. Har Mander Singh, Mr. S. Rangarajan, Mr. M. Lakshmanan, Mrs. R. Padmini and Mr. Subhash Dasgupta.
Review of income and expenditure statements by Mr. R. Manohar, AFUNPI Treasurer
An overview of the Receipts and Payments or Charges during 2022 was presented to the members. AFUNPI registered receipts of Rs.3,65,595 that included the bank interest received for the three term deposits and on the Savings accounts maintained with the designated banks. Receipt of Rs. 1,20,000 from our members to meet the operational expenses of AFUNPI was gratefully acknowledged. In addition, FAFICS provided a grant of Rs. 45,000 to cover the air tickets of 3 AFUNPI members to address the Pre-Retirement Seminar held in New Delhi in the month of November 2022. The Pre-Retirement Seminar paid dividends resulting in enrolment of new members, which yielded receipt of Rs. 60,000. The receipts were applied to the expenses incurred during the year under review. Major expenses included the payments related to holding the AGM at Pune, the affiliation fees paid to FAFICS and the expenses for the pre-retirement seminar held in Delhi.
Planned Activities and Budget for 2023 by Mr. N. Srinivasan, AFUNPI Vice President: The proposed planned activities include organising monthly meetings; participating in FAFICS Council meetings; organising the 49th AGM in 2024 at a place decided at this AGM and providing member services in matters related to pension and advisory services to issue DCE along with other relevant issues. An estimated amount of Rs. 320,000 has been provided to meet the expenses for the planned activities that included reimbursement of FAFICS subscription and payment of FAFICS subscription in 2023. The budget has also provision for travel subsidy, honorarium for office bearers to meet office expenses and maintenance of website.
Open discussion on Pension Issues
During the discussion on pension matters participants were informed that the Association is open to only pensioners and beneficiaries of the United Nations staff members. Members of the Executive Committee work voluntarily. With a corpus fund of 12 lakhs, accounts of AFUNPI are annually audited by Chartered Accountant Mr. K. Sachitanand, who is also a member and does not seek remuneration. It is advised that pensioners ensure all necessary documents as mandated by the UN Pension system be made available in their respective MSS page of the UNJSPF website.
Decision on Venue for 49th AGM in 2024
As all are aware it has been the practice for AFUNPI to hold its AGM alternatively between Bangalore and other cities. Since the 48th AGM is being held in Bangalore, the meeting proposed to organise the 49th AGM in New Delhi. The AFUNPI New Delhi hub will work out the details. Padma Bhushan Dr. R B. Singh was requested to share his views on his vision of science and its impact on society. Dr. Singh highlighted the fact that nearly 50 per cent of the impoverished people live in India and a difference could be made in their livelihoods by humanizing science. He recounted his experiences in advising the policy makers of the Government of India on agrarian economy in the Indo- Gangetic plains. He called upon the members of AFUNPI who collectively possessed tremendous intellectual capital to make a difference to our society by suggesting changes towards a new constructive paradigm shift.
Executive Committee of AFUNPI
A decision was taken to strengthen the existing Executive Committee by incorporating additional members, namely: Mr. Venkatesh Malur, Ms. Sudha Murali and Ms. Rita Chhablani.
Concluding Remarks and Vote of Thanks
Dr. Narasimhan in his concluding address appreciated the valuable in-depth discussions amongst participants on matters pertaining to pension, the links forged by AFUNPI with the FAFICS Council and Pension Board and the UNJSPF to help address queries and issues of concern of AFUNPI members.
Vote of Thanks
Dr. Prem Sharma, AFUNPI Vice President then proposed a vote of thanks. The meeting concluded at 1.00 p.m.
