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JAINA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEET IN MILPITAS, CA.
JAINA Board of Directors held the meeting on August 5, 2000, at the newly inaugurated Jain Bhawan, during the Pratishtha Mahotsav in Milpitas, CA. The meeting started with recitation of Navakar Mantra. At first JAINA Secretary Vinay Vakani read the minutes of the meeting held in Chicago on March 18, 2000 and the notes were adopted by the attendees. JAINA President Mahendra Pandya then presented his report covering his visit to India and meetings with the Mahavir Memorial Committee, presentation of Bodha Kathai (stories related to Jainism) on Door Darshan television, and preparation of calendar for next year. He also touched on planning of the next JAINA Convention. A proposal was put forth to expand the existing Education Committee to cover activities such as conducting seminars of continuing education for adults (as well as Jain youth), publication of books under JAINA sponsorships, maintaining JAINA Library, and updating and maintaining the JAINA Website. After some discussion, it was proposed that the four committees should be set up replacing the existing JAINA Education Committee. These are JAINA Continuing Education Committee, JAINA Publication Commit tee, JAINA Library Committee, and JAINA Website Committee. Further discussion changed the name of JAINA Continuing Education Committee to JAINA Education Committee. The attendees unanimously approved the creation of these four new Committees. JAINA Merit Scholarship: A discussion on instituting JAINA Merit Scholarship ensued with input from the attendees. JAINA Secretary Vinay Vakani summarized the previous discussion on this subject-Approximately 10 scholarships of $1000 each will be awarded to Jain youngsters graduating from high school and planning to attend colleges in United states and Canada. The scholarships are to be awarded based on scholastic achievements. The attendees commented whether this should be need based, who will decide, scholastic achievement as well as some Jain education requirements may be necessary, how will this be financed, when it will be awarded, etc. The representatives of YJA who were present participated in the discussion and were of the opinion that the scholarship should be solely based on scholastic achievement rather than any financial need criteria. There are other organizations, such Alumni Association of Mahavir Jain Vidyalaya, also involved in awarding loan-grants and scholarships and, it was recommended that JAINA coordinate this activity with them as much as possible. JAINA Secretary Vinay Vakani was entrusted to develop the concept with the help of JAINA Treasurer Anop Vora and Jain Digest Membership Committee Chairman Keerti Shah.
JAINA Treasurer Anop Vora then presented his report. He touched on the impressive success of the Calendar program and partial success of JAINA Patron program. He expressed concern about the current financial situation since there is only a trickle of
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direct contribution coming into JAINA. The financial report presented by the Treasurer was accepted by the attendees.
JAINA Convention Board Chairman Bipin Parikh presented details of the planning that are underway for the 2001 JAINA Convention in Chicago. He anticipates about 10,000 attendees to the 2001 Convention; rooms will be available for $99 a day at Hyatt Regency and other nearby hotels; registration for the Convention will begin in October 2000; construction of replica of Pavapuri Jalmandir is being considered; cruise for youngsters planned; etc. He assured the attendees that registration fees will be made reasonable and affordable, and the convention will be the most enjoyable and memorable in JAINA's history.
Media Watch Committee Chairman Sushil Jain briefed the attendees in detail about the legal matter related to the trademarking of the word JAIN and proposed a line of action. After some discussion, it was agreed to authorize the Committee Chairman to proceed with the action proposed by him.
Various JAINA Committee Chairmen also presented their reports. Ahimsa Day Committee: October 1" will be proclaimed as the Ahimsa Day. Patron Program: Additional membership is required, and JAINA Directors and Regional Vice Presidents can help in enlisting more Patrons. YJA Committee: YJA is planning to initiate more local chapters to increase direct participation and develop Website in coordination with JAINA's Website. Senior Citizen Committee: Senior Citizen Group has been organized in Los Angeles area. It is planned to encourage establishment of such groups at other Jain Centers and coordinate the activities of these
groups, seeking the benefits provided by federal and state governments. Media Watch Committee: It was suggested that certain
protocol need to be followed in contacting VIPs to be invited for participation in 2001 Convention. Also the media contact should be done discreetly to achieve the desired goals. Virchand Gandhi Scholarship Committee: Arrangements are made with Jitendra Shah of Institute of Indology in Ahmedabad, India, to advertise inviting application for and submit recommendations for awarding the scholarships to the deserving candidates for advanced study in Jainism.
A group from Los Angeles led by Sangeeta Kumar made a presentation explaining the activities they have been doing promoting vegetarianism in Southern California. JAINA President Committees for possible participation in such activity. The meetMahendra Pandya encouraged the group to contact various JAINA ing was adjourned after reciting the benediction prayer of
Khamemi Savva Jeeve...
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