Monday, January 28, 2019

Slum Women come together for Economic & Social Empowerment

Annapurna Pariwar celebrated its 26th Annual Rally at Pandit Farms, Karve Nagar, Pune on 25th January
More than 8,000 women attended the Annual Rally of Annapurna.
On this occasion 21 women were felicitated for their entrepreneurship while 8 women were felicitated for their contribution to social change & 21 women were honored as Ideal Mothers.   


Starting a small work of wafers packaging at home with the loan of seven thousands rupees from Annapurna Pariwar, Ms. Subhadra Suryawanshi from Pune is now running a successful business in wafers packaging along with other food products. Now, she is doing business with loan of INR 98,000/- annually and providing employment to 8-10 other womens from the slum.

Similarly, Ms. Rekha Kamble, another women entrepreneur from slum. Who had started flowers business 10 years ago with the loan of ‘Ten Thousand’ has flourished in such a way, there are 7 other womens working with Ms. Kamble and running flowers business in Khadki.

Many such women entrepreneurs were felicitated at Annapurna Pariwar’s annual rally which was recently held at Pandit Farm, Karve Road, Pune. Where more than 8,000 thousand members were present, on this occasion, Ms. Manisha Gupte, renowned social activist and co-founder of Mahila Sarvangeen Utkarsha Mandal (MASUM) was the Chief Guest and Mr.Thomas Miranda (Asst. General Manager, Indian Overseas Bank) was the Guest of Honour.

Annapurna Pariwar is a group of 5 Developmental Organizations working in Pune and Mumbai with an aim of empowering poor women and their families in terms of finance, education, health and child development.

During 2018, Annapurna Group gave micro loans of around Rs.200 crores to the poor women and has collected savings to the tune of Rs.60 crores. Loans are given without any collateral or security and yet the repayment rate is 100%.  Over Rs.1.70 crores were distributed to help the poor and their families at the time of sickness and deaths among the members by its micro insurance wing.  Educational sponsorships of Rs.25 lakhs were distributed to 988 poor children in this year.
In the function Dr. Medha Purao-Samant, Founder Chairperson of Annapurna mentioned that this year Annapurna has begun making cashless disbursements with members as their bank accounts have now been opened with great efforts. Loans ranging from Rs.30,000 to Rs.2 lakhs are given without  any collateral. Health insurance claims benefit range from minimum Rs.1,700 to a maximum of Rs.30,000.  She also appealed to them to enroll themselves in the Adharpurna scheme brought to them by Annapurna and to take loans only if necessary.

Major decisions announced in the meeting included:

Declaration of dividend of 12% to members;
Higher loan slabs for existing members and old members who suffered during demonetization - first loan size of Rs.30,000/- to a maximum of Rs.5 lakhs;
Interest on fixed deposit, recurring deposit schemes raised to 10%, 11% and 12% for 1, 2 and 3 years respectively;
No rise in the contribution of Community based Health, Life Insurance but the amount of financial assistance has been increased;
Special scheme has been launched for loyal members – preventive health checkup package @ Rs.575 per year per one family member to be reimbursed.

A small play was presented by Annapurna Staff to educate women on the micro credit services of Annapurna. The event which began with a prayer sung by Annapurna Day Care Centers’ young slum children ended with an oath taken by all the members to stay united and fight against injustice towards women and saving the girl child.  The rally ended with the National Anthem sung in unison.

Sunday, January 27, 2019

CEEAMATECH-2019 Mega event For Electrical engineering. Exhibition kick starts from 8th February

Organized by Consulting Electrical Engineers Association Of Maharashtra. (CEEAMA)
Event managed by: FAIRACT

  • CEEAMATECH-2019 will be held at Auto Cluster, Chinchwad, from 8th to 10th February 2019 between 10.00 AM to 6.00 PM.
  • Mega event for electrical engineering fraternity
  • Creating pool between consulting electrical engineers, Contractors, suppliers, product manufactures
  • Manifesto for devolvement of Statutory procedures to ensure Electrical safety.
  • Engineering students contribution in event for encouraging them to become future entrepreneur
CEEAMA was formed in 2004 with an aim to create a platform for consulting electrical engineers fraternity. Consulting Electrical Engineers Association of Maharashtra (CEEAMA) is registered under companies Act 1956, under section 25 as amended.
Current focus areas decided by CEEAMA are:
  1. Electrical Safety
  2. Energy Conservation
  3. Solar Power
CEEAMA conducts training programs for members and other electrical engineers to educate them in said areas in the form of workshops, factory visits and discussions related to case studies. This helps in lifting bench mark of engineering knowledge within CEEAMA associates. Members work in different areas of electrical consultancy & engineering and share their experiences and newly gathered knowledge.
CEEAMA website www.ceeama.org is geared to cater to new generation of electrical engineers by sharing the knowledge DIGITALLY.
CEEAMATECH is series of technical events arranged by CEEAMA every year. CEEAMATECH 2019 is 8th in this series. 
Honorary president of CEEAMA Mr. Anil Bhandari said, “After the mega success of CEEAMA TECH 2017, we are happy to announce CEEAMATECH 2019 which starts from 8th February 2019. We are conducting this biyearly exhibition in Pune for the benefit of electrical engineering fraternity spread in Maharashtra away from Mumbai. Our purpose is to bring all consulting electrical engineering professionals on one platform. CEEAMATECH 2019 venue is Auto Cluster, Chinchwad, Pune situated in the middle of Industrial hub. Exhibition is opportunity for manufacturers to show case their products, display new technologies. This will provide unique opportunity to electrical engineers to know details on range of products available, and opportunity to witness new state of the art technologies.”
“Various technical presentations and panel discussions for all three days will be excellent opportunity for young Electrical Consultants & engineers to learn about electrical safety, electrical accidents - reasons for accidents, statutory regulations for electrical safety. These programs will also highlight ongoing CEEAMA efforts and follow up with government authorities related to electrical system stability, creating chartered electrical engineers to help Industry and government authorities implementing electrical safety”   He added.
Some of the reputed companies participating in CEEAMATECH-2019 are as follows:
  • ABB India Ltd,
  • Polycab Wires Private Limited
  • R R Kabel
  • Sterling & Wilson
  • C&S Electric Ltd
  • Consul Neowatt
  • Delta India Electronics Pvt Ltd
  • Jindal Rectifiers
  • LAPP India Pvt Ltd
  • Success Engineers
About CEEAMATECH-2019:-
CEEAMATECH-2019 -7th Exhibition & Conference on Electrical Industry being organized by CEEAMA will be held at Auto Cluster at Chinchwad , Pune on 8th, 9th & 10th February, 2019. After grand success of CEEAMATECH 2017, this is a mega event & exhibition for all electrical engineers and those associated with electrical engineering. Here vendors will show case their products, technologies and capabilities for Electrical Consultants -who are product specifiers, Electrical Contractors who install & commission various electrical equipments. The products and services showcased will be “Consultant’s Choice” and will be in line with standard engineering practices, IE Rules and set guidelines which are expected to be followed by ultimate users / trade representatives.

Friday, January 11, 2019

Annapurna awarded the NCDC Regional Award for Cooperative Excellence 2018


The State Level Selection Committee under the Chairmanship of Commissioner for Cooperation and Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Govt. of Maharashtra selected Annapurna Mahila Coop Credit Society Ltd, Warje, Pune for Cooperative Excellence Award – first prize in Women Cooperative category.



The award ceremony was held on 4th January 2019 at NCDC Pune premises and the award was presented to Annapurna by Mr.Satish Soni, the State Commissioner for Cooperation.  The award comprised of a cheque for Rs.25,000, citation and a certificate.  On this occasion Ms.Ujwala Waghole, Annapurna’s Microfinance Head spoke about the various initiatives taken up by Annapurna for women empowerment like loans, savings, insurance, pension and chain of day care centers for slum children during the last 25 years.  She also drew attention to the fact that Annapurna has successfully inculcated financial discipline into its members and these poor women have never defaulted on loan repayments.

The award was accepted on behalf of Annapurna by Ms.Ujwala Waghole – MF Head, Ms.Sujata Bhat - Finance Manager, Ms.Varsha Gaikwad and Ms.Reshma Tamboli – both of whom are Community Representatives and successful micro entrepreneurs.






Tuesday, January 8, 2019

QNET Entrepreneurs kick off 2019 by Raising Funds for Underprivileged Community in 22 Cities including 3 cities from Maharashtra


  • Funds raised to support basic necessities, essential commodities, sports materials, first-aid kits
  • 26 events planned across 22 cities in the country
  • Pledged sums of up to INR 1 Lakh in each city

Pune, January 08, 2019: Independent representatives of Direct Selling company QNET have once again come together, this time to brighten up the New Year for the underprivileged. In a series of events spread across 22 cities throughout India, various groups of Independent Representatives have come forward to raise funds and help underprivileged communities.



Over hundreds of entrepreneurs, who are professionals across all age group, run a successful direct selling business with QNET, have pledged up to INR 1 lakh per city towards important causes benefiting a local community in need. While various Independent Representatives have been coming together during Diwali every year, this is the second year that some of them have initiated such activities during the New Year to reinforce their commitment to helping communities and their own belief in the spirit of giving.

As part of this effort the group of entrepreneurs in Maharashtra covered three cities including Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur by providing essential commodities including toiletries, stationaries, books, sports materials, first-aid kits and audio-visual equipment.

The activities were carried across various organisations including Bhatkya Vimukt Jati Sjokshan Samatha in Pune, Save the Smile Social Foundation in Mumbai and Jeevan Ashray Seva Sanstha in Nagpur.

The effort in all the three cities along with other entrepreneurs in other centres echoed the sentiments of the group saying “QNET has helped us transform not only our lives, but the lives of those around us. Sharing the abundance created by the opportunity provided to us by the direct selling industry is our way of giving back to the community this New Year.”

Commenting on the effort, QNET Global CEO Trevor Kuna said “The initiative undertaken by our Independent Representatives in their individual capacity is truly encouraging. QNET’s underlying philosophy of RYTHM – Raise Yourself To Help Mankind is the force that drives a lot of what we do. It is a reflection of our business, which is about empowering people to take control of their lives, so that they can, in turn, help empower their communities. After all, there is no better feeling than doing well while you are doing good”.

QNET had in the past partnered with the Cancer Patients Aid Association in Mumbai to support the treatment of children with cancer from low-income families. QNET had also contributed significantly towards the Swachh Bharat Swachh Vidyalaya campaign by partnering with the Lions Club in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad on a number of projects including clean drinking water, nutrition education and health camps for children.

Bright Future partners with Cognizant Foundation’sTech4All program to ensure sustainable livelihoods for young women of marginalized communities in Pune

·        215 female aspirants registered in the first batch. ·        This is the 15 th operational center of Bright Future I Pune with p...