Society Scenes 8212; Pune

Blood donation drive
Lions Club of Pune Megacity is organising a blood donation drive under the able guidance of Armed forces Medical College, Department of Blood Transfusion. This camp is primarily for the jawans admitted in the Command Hospital. The blood donation drive will be held on Thursday, September 2, 1999 at the Suvarna Smruti Karyalaya, Deccan Gymkhana, between 9 am to 1 pm.

Treatment and rehabilitation centre
The Diocese of Poona and Kripa Foundation inaugurated their Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Drug and Alcohol Abusers on Thursday, August 26 at 11.30 am. Rev. Valerian D8217;Souza, Bishop of Poona, offered the Eucharist at noon and thereafter blessed the premises and the patients.

Art for a cause
Sabina Sanghvi, publisher, Pune Midday, Anu Patwardhan of Artline and Dilip Puri, Holiday Inn, presented a cheque worth Rs 5,60,000 to Gen. Sharma towards the Army Central Welfare Fund. The money was raised from the 8216;Art for Kargil8217; show. The show raised Rs 4,20,000 through the sale of M F Hussain8217;s painting and Rs 1,40,000 was raised from the sale of paintings of local artists. Mehek foundation contributed Rs 20,000 for the cause.

Amusement programme for children
Rotary Club of Pune Nigdi organised an amusement programme for physically challenged children on Independence Day. The programme was held at the Physically Handicap School, Yamunagar. The school has around 60 students. The Rotractors scheduled the programmes and also participated in the games with the children. To encourage the students the Rotractors gave them awards and fellowships sponsored by Shyam Sirur.

Musical evening
Poona Sangeetha Sabha is organising a saxophone concert by G Ramnat, accompanied on the violin by C K Vijaya Raghavan and on the mridangam by V Rajasekhar. The concert will take place on September 5, at 6 pm, at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Hall, off Senapati Bapat Road. Admission passes will be available at the hall from 5.30 pm onwards.

New Baner Citizens8217; Forum celebrates second anniversary
New Baner Citizens8217; Forum celebrated its second anniversary on August 22. The children presented an interesting and lively entertainment programme. Sheetal Pendharkar, Deepti Khedekar, Sabnis sisters, performed a dance item. Sangam Sardesai presented a magic show and Runak Salvi performed a solo tabla vadan. Rangoli and flower arrangement programmes were held for the ladies. The first two prizes were given to Sangita Chavan and Rucha Patil. Prizes were given off to all participants by Babasaheb Garware and freedom fighter, S P Gupta. Col. Ashok Thumbre concluded the function with a short address.

Inauguration of Kirkee Tamil Sangam
The Kirkee Tamil Sangam KTS Board was inaugurated on August 15 at the hands of Sudhakar Panikar, president of Maharashtra South Indian Association and Bharatiya Vikas Parishad. The function was held at Survey No 26, near Pawale Chawl, Bopodi, Pune. M R Lingam hoisted the flag, Mohan Sundar presided over the function. R Rajaram, joint secretary gave a welcome speech in Tamil and Selvi Manickam, committee member, gave a brief introduction of accounts and activities of KTS.

Release of Vilwapatra8217;
The first publication of 8216;Vilwapatra8217;, a collection of 18 short stories written by Pandurang Bhagwat of State Bank of India, was released by Shivaji Sawant, the author of Mrityunjay8217;. The credit of publishing the book goes to Rahul and Vaishali Talekar of VR Publications.

Write stuff
Bharat Forge Limited has been awarded the prestigious Gadima Shram Sahitya Puraskar8217; for the year 1999, for its inhouse magazine Parivar8217;. The award was given to them on August 22, at the hands of renowned poet Padmashri Narayan Surve in a function held at Hotel Poonam. Celebrities from the field of Marathi literature were present at the occasion.

Mahaarti at Untade Maruti Mandir
Abhishekam, pooja and Mahaarti will be arranged at Untade Maruti Mandir near KEM hospital in Rasta Peth on September 4. For further details one can contact Bal Raj Telgu, V N Deshmukh, R H Krishnan, V Mahadevan, K B Kulkarni and Sudarshan Moodliar, chief trustee of Maruti Mandir, from 8 am to noon and from 5 pm to 8 pm. The abhishekam, pooja and mahaarti has been arranged for four consecutive Saturdays. September 5 being the last one. Devotees are requested to participate and seek the blessing of Lord Anjenya.

Yajurveda Upakarma conducted
S M Sundaram Sastrigal, S Jayaraman Sastrigal and B Kumar Sastrigal conducted Yajurveda Upakarma on the auspicious Shravan Poornima Day on Thursday, August 26, at Ram Mandir in Rasta Peth. The Yajurveda Upakarma was conducted at Mrithunjeshwar temple in Kothrud, Shiva temple in Kirkee and Vishranti society in Vishrantwadi, respectively. The congregation exchanged sacred thread on the occasion with the chanting of Vedic mantras.

Discourse on Shree Narayana Dharma Yagna
Shree Narayana Guru Samiti, a social, cultural and spiritual organisation, has arranged a discourse by Shreemat Sachidananda Swamikal, an eminent scholar and head priest of Gayatri Ashram, Chalakudi, in different parts of Pune. The discourse will mainly be on quot;Shree Narayana Dharma Charya Yagnaquot;. The programme will be held on Monday, August 30, at P N P Enterprises, Wadgaonsheri, and on August 31 at Pimpri Samiti Office.