Minutes of the Second Annual General Meeting of the Gold Award Holders' Society of India

Present: GAHS Executive Committee Treasurer- Sandeep Dutt 51 Members

Hon. Secy- GAHS- Nivedita Samanta

Observers: The Doon School YES Centre Manager- Mr. Skand Bali The Welham Boys’ School YES Centre Manager- Mr. Laxman Singh South Zone Manager- Mrs. Neena Nath Programme Manager- Mr. Bivujit Mukhoty
HR Manager- Gita KeswaniCommunications Intern- Anjani Tandon

Special Invitees: Mr. Prabhjit Singh Didyala- Organizational Development, Fortis Healthcare

Programme Flow: 1 pm- Lunch & Fellowship. Lunch sponsored by Nirula’s. 

2 pm- Gather for Annual Gold Meeting

Agenda
About GAHS President- Ms. Ishita Khanna’s report of GAHS for the year 2010-2011 Reappointment of the auditor and approval of audited statement Any adoption or amendments of Rules and Regulations of the Society, if necessary Any other matters: Award Governance, Life after Gold opportunities- experience sharing by Gold Holders

Minutes of the meeting are as follows:

1. Meeting was called to order at 2.15 pm by Sandeep Dutt on behalf of GAHS President-Ishita Khanna.

He proceeded to talk about the importance of GAHS, its inception to address opportunities for Gold Holders post their Gold Awards. The Gold Award Holders’ Society registered on March 8, 2010 is the premier Alumni network for Gold Holders in India. With the motto of Cherishing Service and Relationship (CSR), GAHS is an effort to create more awareness about the Award in our country and to rope in exuberant Award Holders, who feel for the Award and are keen to give back, GAHS exists for the provision, promotion and preservation of the International Award in India. GAHS will function as a completely independent set-up to assist in alumni relations and growth of the Award Programme as per the Strategic Plan of the National Office.

The Gold Internship Programme (GIP) will address the important issue of providing and placing GAHS members with partner companies and organizations so that the skills of Gold Holders are harnessed and the agendas of organizations to have excellent manpower are met. Prabhjit-Special Invitee from Fortis Healthcare talked about the opportunities at Fortis and in Healthcare ranging from medical operations, human resource management, customer service, etc. Introduction to the need of better governance in ambulance services, support staff, etc are only some examples of where Gold Interns can contribute.

2. President’s Report

Nivedita proceeded to read the minutes of the last AGM held on 24th June 2010 followed by the President’s report of GAHS Activity on behalf of Ishita Khanna

Events where Gold Holders’ Represented:
May 10th 2010 Anniversary Dinner for the World Fellowship, Buckingham Palace 24th June, 2010CSR Summit 25-30 June 2010Asia Pacific Youth Water Forum (AYP10) Singapore 1-8 July 2010 International Youth Forum Seliger Russia 2010 03-09 August 2010International Meeting of "Beginning of Trust", Karelia, Russia September 2010Volunteer Training Workshops, National Office 17th October 2010 Gold Holder at HRH Earl of Wessex dinner in New Delhi 24-30 October 2010Asia Pacific Regional Training Workshop in Seoul, South Korea 18th- 21st Dec 2010Special Projects Workshop, The Doon School, Dehradun February 2011Trained Coordinators at YES Workshop January 2011Beyond Sport Summit, Chicago, USA 3rd AprilUN Regional Consultation, Bangkok to form the Network of Emerging Leaders in Asia and the Pacific (NELAP) 5-9 April 2011Asia Pacific Regional Board Meeting

Forthcoming events:
11-25th June 2011Gold expedition to Spiti, Himachal Pradesh on Solar Project 2-16th Sept 2011International Gold Event 2011, Kenya All of 2011Gold Internships and Volunteerships

Some notable achievements:International Council Youth Rep- Shloka VaidyalingamAsia Pacific Regional Intern, Year 1- Rahul ShankarOpen Awards Centre Leader- Devanjali DuttAsia Pacific Regional Intern, Year 2- Dinesh GajendranInternational Gold Event delegates- Rajarshi Banerjee and Devanjali Dutt

Opportunities:Honorary Award India- quarterly magazineAward Interns and Award Leaders- Gold Holders to lead Award in Delhi Universities

GAHS Member and International Council Youth Rep- Shloka Vaidyalingam enquired to confirm that a record of the selection process and applications in maintained to ensure risk assessment and overall transparency is maintained.

3. Sunil Trehan, Sunil Trehan & Co. Was approved and re-appointed as auditor for GAHS by GAHS members Devyani Dutt and Sandeep Dutt. Audited statements read. Noted that the GAHS Account employs a Gold Intern to take ahead the interests of GAHS and keep in touch with members. GAHS statements available on formal request and will be uploaded on website. Shloka approved the audited statements and Dinesh Gajendran seconded it.

4. Members are free to apply as ad-hoc Executive Committee members by sending in a formal request with their resumes to Nivedita@dofe.in

5. Governance of the Award is an crucial point being addressed worldwide for better administration and quality assurance of the Award while the Award Programme grows to new horizons. The Award Film- Governance and the Award was shown to all and youth representation on all Governance Boards was highlighted on.

‘My Life after Gold’ by Rahul Shankar- 1st Asia Pacific Regional Intern for the Peter Cruddas Social Innovations Initiative introduced the Social Innovators’ project and shared his experiences beginning from the International Gold Event in Mauritius in 2008. The Award truly equips and builds leadership qualities of young people worldwide. For information on the IGE 2011, visit www.intaward.org or connect with the National Office. Contact Rahul Shankar at Rahul@dofe.in.

Dinesh Gajendran, the 2nd Asia Pacific Regional Intern for the Peter Cruddas Social Innovations Initiative briefly spoke of his Social Innovations Project where through his Audacious Academy for Sports, young people’s lives in rural Tamil Nadu are being transformed. For more, contact Dinesh at dinesh.mba.mku@gmail.com
IC Youth Rep, Shloka gave a token of appreciation to Rahul Shankar. The meeting concluded with an introduction of the National Team and with a general assent to share as many experiences and stories to promote the Award in a big away. T-shirts for all Gold Holders were distributed.

Training & Development Manager

The post will be responsible for the key areas of: Developing Partnerships; Extending the Award; and Quality Assurance within India. This post will also actively participate in aspects of the Strengthening the Structure pathway, where this pathway is concerned with areas of Award management and leadership development. Will work closely with the Delhi based National Director and the National team as well as liaise with the London based Programme team to ensure coordination of activity, policy and strategy.

The role has overall responsibility for the key areas of:
I. Work closely with the National Director, to set and meet the country’s annual objectives with particular regard to the Developing Partnerships, QA and Extending the Award pathways.
II. Design, develop and implement the capacity building and training, particularly in the developing and facilitating of best practice in the India and in helping key and emerging Zonal Award Authorities (ZAAs) and Partners to develop training teams and plans.
III. Actively contribute to Award Management and Leadership training and development activity within the country.
IV. Maintain and develop effective and productive relationships with key delivery partnership organisations, such as Partners, World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM), World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) and others.
V. Proactively provide operational advice and pastoral care support to ZAAs, IOs and emerging National alliance partners in the social and corporate sector as required.
VI. Proactively develop and supporting key Gold Award holders throughout the region and follow up work with the Award volunteers and youth representatives.

53 Gold Awardees recognised at the 2011 Annual Gold Award Ceremony and Celebratory Events in Lok Kala Manch

The Annual Gold Celebrations 2011 Event at the Lok Kala Manch in New Delhi was attended by 53 Gold Awardees, their parents and family members, Award Leaders and special guests.

The Ceremony started at 12.30 pm with a Welcome address by National Director- Mr. Sandeep Dutt. 'Gold' is special to everyone, and it is the experiences while doing the Gold that defines lives of young people. The energy of our Gold Awardees was palpable and the experience sharing by our young leaders, truly showcased how the Award allows young people in India, irrespective of backgrounds and abilities, to truly engage and be 'equipped for life' through varied experiences. The experiences will stay on for life, what is important is to build on passions, engage in communities and stay young after the 'Gold'.

Our Chief Guest, Mr. Vikram Chandra- CEO, NDTV Networks graciously presented the Gold Awards to the 51 Awardees present and encouraged them to stay committed to doing their bit for their communities, particularly the environment.

Much appreciation to our Managing Trustee- Dr. Sanat Kaul for his presence and we are grateful to the Trustees of the Award Programme Foundation for their commitment to make this annual celebratory event open to all!

The Gold Award Holders that were recognised are as follows:

East Zone:-

1. Rahul Dutt- La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata
2. Anwesha Ghosh- Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata
3. Anushka Halder- South Point High School, Kolkata
4. Nikhil Jhanji- Birla High School for Boys, Kolkata
5. Ojas Patel- Birla High School for Boys, Kolkata
6. Anisha Jain- La Martiniere for Girls School, Kolkata
7. Naman Kaushal- Sainik School, Purulia

West Zone:-

1. Devavrat Pawar- The Scindia School, Gwalior
2. Vikram Bengani- The Scindia School, Gwalior
3. Siddharth Bansal- The Scindia School, Gwalior
4. OmKrishna Prasad Shah- The Scindia School, Gwalior
5. Rachit Dhammawat- The Scindia School, Gwalior
6. Siddharth Bansal- The Scindia School, Gwalior
   
7. Meet Bhagdev- The Galaxy School, Rajkot

North Zone:-

1. Jai Tegh Singh- Lawrence School, Sanawar
2. Shaleen Goel- Sawan Public School, Delhi
3. Sunita Yadav- Vidyadevi Jindal School, Hissar
4. Chinmaya Goyal- Modern School, Barakhamba Road, Delhi
5. Gunjan Bansal- Modern School, Barakhamba Road, Delhi
6. Jaimeet Gandhok- Vivek High School, Chandigarh
7. Deepak Sharma- Sawan Public School, Delhi
8. Ankur Dang- Modern School, Barakhamba Road, Delhi
9. Sushruti Tripathi- Laxman Public School- Delhi

South Zone:-

1. G. Ranjitha- Bhaktavatsalam Vidyashram, Chennai
2. Arjun Ravindharan- Chettinad Vidyashram, Chennai
3. N. Razal Mohamed- Crescent School, Chennai
4. Sneha Tarway- Good Shepherd International School, Ooty
5. V. Shreenath Krishnan- PSSB School, Chennai
6. Bheru Kothari- The Jain International School, Bangalore
7. Anupama Sundar- PSSB School, Chennai
8. Sanaya Irani- The International School, Bangalore

Open Awards Centre (includes YES Centres and India Special Projects):

1. Yash Vardhan Singhania- The Doon School, Dehradun
2. Saransh Seth- The Doon School, Dehradun
3. Prahlad Singh- The Doon School, Dehradun
4. Narayan Dev Parasar-Welham Boys' School, Dehradun
5. Rupa Mallick- Emmanuel Ministries, Kolkata
6. Rohit Mallick- Emmanuel Ministries, Kolkata
7. Rekha Mallick- Emmanuel Ministries, Kolkata
8. Jyoti Mallick- Emmanuel Ministries, Kolkata
9. Arjun Saha- Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys' Academy, Narendarpur
10. Raju Thapa- Salaam Balaak Trust
11. Prince- Salaam Balaak Trust
12. Ajay- Salaam Balaak Trust
13. Pooja Lakshmi- Salaam Balaak Trust
14. Kumari Yadav- Salaam Balaak Trust
15. Sonia- Salaam Balaak Trust
16. Amarjeet- Salaam Balaak Trust
17. Anish- Salaam Balaak Trust
18. Satender- Salaam Balaak Trust
19. Vijay- Salaam Balaak Trust
20. Zeya-Ul- Salaam Balaak Trust
21. Anil- Salaam Balaak Trust

Young people would not successfully complete their Award levels were it not for the encouragement and the leadership they get from Award Coordinators and Volunteers. The National Recognition Certificates formally recognised and appreciated the efforts of the following Adult Coordinators, who have successfully led young people in their areas:

1. Mrs. Menaka Gupta, East Zone Manager- 5 years
2. Mr. A.K Tiwari, Salaam Balaak Trust Award Coordinator- 5 years
3. Mr. Timothy Barretto- Emmanuel Ministries Award Leader- 5 years
4. Mr. Biswajit Ghosh- Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys' Academy Principal- 5 years
5. Mr. Chandan Majumder- Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys' Academy Award Leader- 5 years
6. Mr. SK Jha- Salaam Balaak Trust Award Leader- 5 years
7. Mr. Skand Bali- YES Centre Manager, The Doon School, Dehradun- 3 years

The Award family thanks each of our Gold Holder, Gold Volunteers and Award Leaders, their families for attending and making the 2011 Ceremony a true success.

Special note of appreciation to Samir Kuckreja- CEO, Nirulas' and his team at Nirulas' for hosting lunch post the Award Ceremony.

We look forward to making this Annual Event even bigger!

National Director at the 1st Meeting of the partners of Australian Sport Outreach Programme (ASOP) at Pune .

IAYP India is exploring the possibility of a partnership with the Australian Sports Commission supported ASOP Programme, to focus on sports development.

Under the ASOP-IAYP partnership, sports coach trainers, mentors, peer leaders and volunteer community sports coaches from marginalised communities, who work with the 5 existing ASOP India partner agencies, will be facilitated to undertake the Award programme, in order to incentivise and reward their spirit of volunteerism. They will undergo character and skill building experiences they would never normally encounter, leading to enhanced individual motivation. They will grow as individuals, become better coaches and eventually qualify as IAYP trainers authorised to deliver and certify the Award program amongst the youth communities they work with, through Open Award Centres (OAC) and Youth Engaging Society (YES) Centres.

"Adverse conditions in the hills builds real leaders"- Award Participants conquer Champtang peak in the Himalayas

Temperatures dropped below -7 degrees Celsius at night water turned ice, tents were covered with snow negotiating narrow paths barely more than 2 feet these were the challenges taken by 19 students of Birla High School for Boys on an expedition to Champtang peak (13,500) in Garhwal Himalayas, Uttarakhand.

We started our journey from Joshimath to Dhak village by Jeep and trek to our first camp at Kuala. Journey to the second camp at Gulin is much tougher than the first days trek. Temperature started dropping from our third camp at Tally, when it snows throughout the night and water turned ice, hands and feet were numb, but we brave our way to climb mount Champtang. Such trips like this change the attitude of young people.

They become more responsible after facing adverse situations. It also helps builds leadership qualities. 19 student climbed the peak under the able leadership of Joydeep Ghosal and his team from Juniper and special thanks to the Award Leaders Gautam Ghose and Pranab Chakraborty.

Photos- Annual Gold Celebrations 2011

Check out all the photos from the Annual Gold Ceremony 2011 held at Lok Kala Manch on 12th May, 2011 at Lok Kala Manch. With near 60 Gold Awardees from all parts of the country attending, the event successfully showcased how the Award 'Equips for Life' and 'Transforms Lives' young Indians.

The Photos can be viewed on Picasa using this link:

https://picasaweb.google.com/nivisamanta/AnnualGoldCelebrations2011LokKalaManchNewDelhi?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ7p9IPQmZiGPw&feat=directlink

Update for Gold Award Ceremony 2011

Near 60 Gold Awards and Merit Certificates will make the Gold Award Ceremony 2011 the biggest ever  Gold Award Ceremony in India. Over the years the numbers have risen and thanks to the good efforts of our Zone Parters, Special Projects and now the Open Awards Centre, we have had plan this major annual event. Keeping in mind the security challenges, the weather and logistics for having wider participation; this year we have decided to have the Gold Award Ceremony in the air-conditioned conference hall at Lok Kala Manch, as this venue can accommodate 200 people.

The Gold Awards will be distributed in the session pre-lunch at the Celebrations. Post lunch will be the Gold Award Holders’ AGM and life beyond the Gold. We will not be having the Ceremony at the Vice President's House please. The venue is great and members of the Gold Award Society are now all most welcome to the Ceremony as per programme on the card.

The Awards and Certificates will be given out at 12.30 PM please, kindly be at the venue by 12.00 PM positively, the gates will close at 12.15 PM.We hope you have received the invitations for the Ceremony, we had sent the same by courier on the 4th and 5th May 2011. Kindly carry the numbered invitation in original to enter the venue, contact Nivedita if you have not received the invitation so far.

We promise the young people will be well looked after and have fun too.

Gold Award Ceremony 2011 & AGM of the GAHS

Members of the Gold Award Holder's Society, New Gold Awardees of 2011, Guests and Volunteers
Please call us at the NAA office in New Delhi - 26497154 or 26493400 for any clarification.