Coimbatore Mission Vidyalaya held a conference on “Preparing world class teachers through online education” on 20 & 21 April, which was attended by 352 delegates from 9 states.

We are sorry to announce the passing away of three of our brother-monks.

Swami Jagannathanandaji (Pranavananda Maharaj) passed away on 3 April at 7.05 pm at Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata.  He was 65 and had been suffering from Parkinsonism, Hypothyroidism and dementia for some years.  Initiated by Swami Bhuteshanandaji, he joined the Order in 1977 at Belur Math and had Sannyasa from Swami Gambhiranandaji in 1986.  Besides his joining centre, he served at Varanasi Advaita Ashrama, Vrindaban and Kamarpukur centres.  He also served as an Acharya at the Veda Vidyalaya and Probationers’ Training Centre in Belur Math.  He had been living a retired life at Belur Math for the last few years.  The Swami was simple, affectionate and jovial by nature.

Swami Jnanarupanandaji (Prabhakar Maharaj) breathed his last on 13 April at 10.50 am at our Varanasi hospital.  He was 91 and had been suffering from various old‑age ailments for some years. Initiated by Swami Shankaranandaji, he joined the Order in 1954 at Nagpur Math and had Sannyasa from Swami Madhavanandaji in 1963.  Besides his joining centre, he served at Kanpur, Varanasi Advaita Ashrama, Khetri, Allahabad, Kamarpukur, Vrindaban and Pune centres.  He also participated in cyclone relief operations at Bhubaneswar in 1982.  He had been living a retired life at Varanasi Advaita Ashrama for about ten years.  The Swami was known for his love of scriptures and austere habits.

Swami Shuddhavratanandaji (Ananda Maharaj) expired on 25 April at 00.30 hrs at Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata, owing to haemorrhagic CVA (stroke).  He was 81 and had been suffering from hypertension for some years.  Initiated by Swami Vishuddhanandaji, he joined the Order in 1961 at Shillong centre and had Sannyasa from Swami Vireshwaranandaji in 1970.  Besides his joining centre, he served at the Institute of Culture (Kolkata) as an assistant, and Ranchi Morabadi centre, Seva Pratishthan (Kolkata) and Varanasi Sevashrama as head.  He had been living a retired life at Varanasi Sevashrama and Belur Math for the last five years.  Amiable and affectionate by nature, the Swami had deep concern for the weaker and underprivileged sections of the society and took keen interest in tribal welfare activities.

Sri Shekhar Dutt, Governor of Chhattisgarh, visited Chandigarh Ashrama on 1 April and participated in its annual celebration.

Sri Pranab Mukherjee, Union Finance Minister, visited Belgaum centre on 8 April.

Quilandy Math conducted a summer camp from 8 to 12 April for children in the age group 10-13, in which 55 children took part.  The programme included yoga exercises, narration of the lives and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda and other saints, bhajans, Vedic chanting, etc.

Lucknow hospital has set up a new Cardiac OT Unit, comprising a five-bed cardiac surgery ITU and an operation theatre.  It was inaugurated on 19 April by Sri Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Union Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare.

Dr Raman Singh, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, visited Narainpur centre’s Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre at Orchha on 19 April.

Swami Suhitanandaji, Assistant Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, laid the foundation stone for the proposed vocational training centre building at Vivekananda Cultural Centre premises of Shillong centre on 27 April.

Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated the newly set-up exhibition ‘Sri Ramakrishna Divya Lila Pradarshani’ at Balaram Mandir on 29 April.

The following centres organized various programmes to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.  (Main programmes conducted by them are mentioned against their names.)

Chandigarh: Drama on the life of Swami Vivekananda on 2 April at the Ashrama; Lectures on the life and teachings of Swamiji and guided meditation at Vidya Bharati Shodh Sansthan, Kurukshetra, on 21 April (about 150 people attended), and at a Government school in Panchkula district, Haryana, on 24 April (approx. 250 persons attended);

Chengalpattu: Procession, discourses, cultural programmes and a film show on Swami Vivekananda at Neelamangalam village on 8 April;

Jalpaiguri: Cultural competitions on 25 March, in which about 600 students took part;

Kadapa: Four-day free residential training camp in agriculture and allied subjects for farmers from 3 to 6 April, which was attended by 33 persons from 4 districts of Rayalaseema.

Limbdi: Talks on the life and message of Swami Vivekananda in four educational institutions from 27 March to 3 April, which were attended by about 3200 students in all; A nine-day ‘Baal Bharati’ camp from 20 to 28 April, in which 80 students participated each day;

Mysore: Bharatiya Adhyatmika Sammilana (spiritual congregation) from 20 to 23 April in which about 230 monks and spiritual leaders of various Hindu denominations and groups, mostly from Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, took part; About 2500 devotees attended the programme;

Release of a commemorative volume ‘Viveka Jagruthi’ on 20 April;

Processions of monks, delegates and devotees on 21 and 22 April;

On 22 April, Sri D V Sadananda Gowda, Chief Minister of Karnataka, inaugurated ‘Viveka Smaraka’ on the renovated erstwhile premises of Niranjan Math where Swami Vivekananda had stayed during his visit to Mysore;

Public function on Mysore Palace grounds on 22 April, which was presided over by Swami Prabhanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission; The Chief Minister of Karnataka and several other dignitaries addressed the huge gathering of fifteen to twenty thousand people;

Felicitation of monks on 23 April;

Meetings on all the four days;

Narainpur: Three-day Regional Tribal Convention from 29 to 31 March, which was attended by about 2500 persons, including 949 delegates from six states; Sri Shekhar Dutt, Governor of Chhattisgarh, attended the programme on 30 March;

Patna: Teachers’ workshop on 8 April, which was attended by nearly 200 teachers from different schools and colleges and also some professors and doctors from Patna University;

Ranchi Morabadi: A three-day spiritual retreat, public meetings, discourses, devotional singing and cultural programmes in the month of April;

Shillong: Public meetings addressed by the Governor of Meghalaya Sri R S Mooshahary, Deputy Chief Minister of Meghalaya Sri Bindoo M Lanong and several other dignitaries on 27 April;

Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House: On the centre’s initiative, two institutions, one in Salt Lake and the other in North Kolkata, organized seminars on 17 and 27 April on the relevance of the message of Swami Vivekananda in today’s context;

Vijayawada: Cultural competitions in which about 36,000 students from various schools in Andhra Pradesh took part;

Vishakhapatnam: Talks at 32 educational institutions in 3 districts of Andhra Pradesh from January to March.

BSc (Honours) students of our colleges in West Bengal secured the following all-India ranks (within the first ten) at the Joint Admission test for MSc (acronym: JAM) courses in the various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs):

The following centres conducted Child Eye Care Programmes, details of which are given below:

The following centres conducted free eye camps:

* through Chengalpattu centre

Postal Address: The Postal Index Number (PIN) of Quilandy centre has been changed to 673306.

Telephone & Fax Numbers:  Narottam Nagar centre has discontinued its telephone and fax lines 255236 and 255262.  Now the centre’s telephone numbers are 255230 and 255237, and phone‑cum-fax no. 200160.

Email IDs:  The following centres have got email facility:

The following centres have discontinued the email IDs shown against their names:

The email ID of Dinajpur (Bangladesh) centre has been changed from <rkmdinma@yahoo.co.in> to <rkmdin@gmail.com>.

Websites:  The following centres / institutions have launched websites:

The following centres celebrated the 175th birth anniversary of Sri Ramakrishna.  (Main programmes conducted by them are given against their names.)

Jalpaiguri: Discourses and bhajans at the Ashrama on 23 and 24 March;

Malda: Discourses and bhajans at Koklamari village, about 30 km from the Ashrama, on 30 April;

Nagpur: A one-week programme comprising spiritual retreat, devotional singing, etc from 23 to 29 February;

Porbandar: A six-day programme comprising discourses on Sri Ramakrishna, public meeting, spiritual retreat and cultural programmes from 10 to 15 April;

Ramharipur: Monks of the Ashrama visited 175 villages in Bankura district at different times from November 2011 to April 2012.  In all these places, they conducted religious discourses and discussed with the villagers the ways and means for achieving all-round development of the villages.

Ramakrishna Ashrama, Kathmandu, Nepal, has been made a branch centre of the Ramakrishna Mission.  Its contact details are as follows:

Postal Address: Ramakrishna Ashrama, Ward No 2, Saraswoti Marg, Gairidhara, Kathmandu, Nepal

Phone numbers: (977) 1 4004053 and (977) 9851144315

Email ID: <ramakrishnaashramnepal@gmail.com>.

Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, underwent treatment for ARMD (age-related macular degeneration), a retinal disorder, at Seva Pratishthan hospital in Kolkata from 22 to 24 April.  He is keeping well at Belur Math.

Swami Gitanandaji, Vice-President, continues to be under medical care at Kankurgachhi Math.

Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, is scheduled to return to Belur Math on 3 May after his trip to Rahara and the Institute of Culture, Kolkata.  He will be visiting Chennai Math from 12 to 26 May.  He is keeping well.