IAAMJV NEWSLETTER
Nov. 1, 1996
Jai Jinendra. I hope this letter greets you and your family with the best of health and spirits. Here are the highlights of the news items and progress we made since we published the last progress report in April of this year.
Great News from Vidyalaya:
We would like to make you aware of
several positive changes that have taken place at MJV recently:
Grand total donation to-date:
We continue to receive funds from
our members-some new, some pledged before. Here are the latest
figures:
$306,320
(Cash received $263,893 Balance due $42,427) including
Donation from Non-MJV donors:
$44,960 (Cash received $40,626, Balance due $4,200)
Donation for Kanya Chhatralaya:
$71,650 (Cash received $70,148, Balance due $1,502)
Our goal has always been to donate
$80,000 towards the Kanya Chhatralaya project. We are still short
of $8,350. Please call us to get the details of this very important
project.
Donation to Vidyalaya to-date:
Here are the details of the funds sent to MJV so far:
$31,276 37 Patrons
32,454 27 Scholarship Trust Funds (plus one more set up with donation in rupees) 50,000 Kanya Chhatralaya Project
19,342 Six Trust Scholar Seats
6,000 Copier ($5,000) and Fax ($1,000)
1,500 Funds to upgrade phone system
8,800 16 Water Coolers ( 2 in each branch including Kanya Chhatralaya)
$149,372 Total as of Oct 1, 1996
In addition, we plan to send another $20,000 for the Kanya Chhatralaya
project when the Kanya Chhatralya Donor Recognition Scheme is
implemented. We had requested the K.C.Founder donors (donation
above $3,000) to send us their photos. We have forwarded the
photographs of those who have responded in time. We would like
to request the rest to send their pictures directly to MJV. MJV
is planning to create oil paintings from these pictures and display
them in Kanya Chhatralya.
Patrons
Since we published the last newsletter, Mrs.
Alka Rambhia, Pa. has applied to become a patron of Vidyalaya.
This brings the total number of patrons through IAAMJV to 37,
assuming approval by MJV. If you become a patron of Vidyalaya,
you will automatically become a life member, you will have a voting
privilege, and an 12"x16" photograph of your relative
will be displayed in the Vidyalaya hall. The fee to become a patron
is $875 currently.
We would like to appeal to you all to become a patron of MJV and make IAAMJV a powerful force in shaping the destiny of MJV.
Scholarship Trust Funds
Since our last newsletter, one additional trust fund
has been set up at MJV, bringing the total to 21 trusts. The
donor is
| Dr.and Drs. Mahendra Shah, 52 Cricket Club Dr., Roslyn,NY.($1,000) | |||||
| (Shri Chandulal Maneklal Shah Scholarship Trust Fund) | |||||
It requires a donation of only $1,000 to create this trust in the name of your relative. The principal stays intact and only the interest (around 10%) is used to offer scholarships to bright and needy Swetamber Murtipujak Jain boys and girls every year. This is an excellent opportunity to preserve the names of your loved ones for generations to come.
Loan Scholarships in India
As you know, we are offering these scholarships to
bright and needy Jain (any sect) boys and girls in India.
They may be coming from the places where either
there are no MJV facilities or the MJV facilities are available
only to the Murtipujak boys. This year we received 60 applications
not only from Gujarat and Maharashtra but also from the Rajasthan
area and have approved 18 so far. This figure includes past
recipients and as well as new applicants. The program is being
managed by Arunbhai Bhavsar (MJV alumnus) and Mr.D.M.Shah. We
would like to thank them for their hard work and commitment.
Here is a list of 7 students who were awarded
scholarships last year and again this year.
| Name | ||
| Bhandari, Rakesh (Rajasthan) | ||
| Gandhi, Jay R. (Rajkot) | ||
| Mehta, Purna Chunilal (Miss) (Morbi) | ||
| Modi, Abhijit (Rajkot) | ||
| Parwar, Vaishali (Miss)(Baroda) | ||
| Shah, Kinnari (Baroda) | ||
| Shah, Pannesh | ||
Here is a list of 11 new students
who were awarded scholarships this year:
| Name | |
| Ajmera, Jitendra S. (Rajasthan) | |
| Jain, Ashish V. (Indore) | |
| Jain, Manoj B. (Rajasthan) | |
| Jain, Pradip D. (Rajasthan) | |
| Jain, Prakashchand (Rajasthan) | |
| Jasani, Kalpesh S. (Gondal) | |
| Kothari, Vaishal R. | |
| Mehta, Rupesh A. (Kutchh) | |
| Morabia, Vimal V. (Gandhidham) | |
| Shah, Chaitali A. (Ahmedabad) | |
| Shah, Rima A. (Ahmedabad) | |
| Subtotal | |
| Grand total |
In addition to the above students, we intend to process
a few more applications for those students who are in the process
of submitting additional documentation. It appears we will wind
up the year with a total of about 20 loan scholarships amounting
to about Rs.85,000 or about $2,400. The low cost of education
in India and the favorable exchange rate do stretch our dollars
quite a bit.
We intend to support all of the selected candidates throughout the college years-just as MJV does. This will of course be based upon their academic success and demonstrated need each year.
Computers for MJV Branches
We have located a source of good quality, used computers
at a very low price and offered to equip all MJV branches where
there are no computers available. MJV has indicated to us that
they would like to start with the Poona branch first. As we soon
as we get the details about their requirements, we intend to purchase
these computers and send them to MJV. We would like to thank
Dilip Shah and Rohit Doshi of Philadelphia for their support in
this project.
More Good News from MJV:
There are a lot of steps MJV has started taking that
you may be not aware of. Here is a report from Shri Prakashbhai
Jhaveri, MJV Secretary:
We would like to congratulate MJV management for
driving the mother institute to a higher level through the above
steps.
Loan Scholarships to Graduate Students coming from India
This activity is being managed by a committee in
Chicago. The following members are helping us currently:
Rajni T.Shah Kishor Shah Samprati Shah Ashok Doshi
Rasik Shah
Based upon their recommendation, we have awarded
5 loan scholarships ($2,000 each) this year to the following very
bright and needy Jain students:
| Names of 1996 scholarship recipients | Expected study |
| Keyur Gandhi | M.S. in Chem. Eng. (Akron, OH) |
| Devang A.Shah | M.S.in Telecomm. (Syracuse,NY) |
| Niraj V.Shah | M.S. in Comp.Science (Arizona) |
| Nemish M.Shah | M.S.in Architecture, IIT, Chicago |
| Ritesh Ramesh Shah | M.B.A.(Rochester, NY) |
We awarded the scholarships to the following students
previously and they are doing very well:
| Names of 1995 scholarship recipients | Expected study |
| Hitesh Shah | M.B. A. (NY) |
| Snehal Shah | M.S. in Comp. Science (Calif) |
| Dr. and Drs.Dinesh Jain | F.R.C.S.(UK) |
| Names of 1994 scholarship recipients | Expected study |
| Apurva Dalia | M.S. in Computer Eng. (Syracuse, NY) |
| Keyur Gandhi | M.S. in Chem. Eng. (Akron, OH) |
| Bimal Mehta | M.E. in Elec.Eng.(Clarkson, NY) |
| Kalpa Shah | B.S (Portland, Oregon) |
| Kunal Shah | M.S. in Mech. Eng.(Houston, Tex.) |
| Names of 1993 scholarship recipients |
|
| Ashish Pandit | M.S. in Bio-Medical Eng.(US) |
| Chirantan Parikh | M.S. in Ind. Eng.(US) |
| Dr.A.M.Chopada | F.R.C.S. (UK) |
Total number of IAAMJV Scholars: 16 Total Loan amount:
$32,000
We would like to thank the committee members for
helping us in this important activity.
As more undergraduate students in India come to know
about our association, we are getting more inquiries and applications.
We have been very supportive of the applicants so far. To many
of us, $2,000 may not be a big sum of money;
but to a needy student who has to scrape every penny to go abroad,
this amount translated into rupees (about Rs.70,000) is a sizable
amount of money. Therefore let us do our best to help these bright
and young entrepreneurs from India. If you wish to support this
program, earmark your donation to our general funds.
We are hoping that the recipients of these scholarships
will finish up their graduate programs fast, pay back their loans
and allow us to recycle the funds for other students.
We believe that the most valuable asset of IAAMJV
are the above bright, young and promising leaders of to-morrow.
We think that after they finish up their studies and start working,
they will help our association with their time, talent, and money
whenever possible. The reason for this optimism stems from the
help we have already started receiving from Chirantan Parikh,
one of the IAAMJV scholars listed above. He recently prepared
an excellent flyer entitled "Tips for Graduate Studies in
USA" for the benefit of the MJV students in India. He is
the one who has reformatted this newsletter this time. It was
indeed very nice of him to take the time and extend a helping
hand to our association so early in his career. We would like
thank him for setting up an outstanding example for others to
follow.
Refund of Loan Scholarships from IAAMJV Scholars
We are pleased to inform you that Bimal Mehta and
Apurva Dalia both have returned the loan scholarship of $2,000
each to our association.
We have also started receiving the refunds of the
loan scholarships awarded to undergraduate students in India in
rupees, from many students including Nirav Choksi, Nilesh Oswal,
Ushaben Karbhari, Dixit H. Shah, Chetan V. Parikh, Bijal R.Shah
, Hiren Deliwal, Pitesh Parikh and Komal Shah. Total loan refunds:
about Rs.18,000.
We are thrilled with the refunds from the above IAAMJV
scholars. It appears that most students have an inner desire to
pay back their debt as soon as they can, without being asked to
do so. This is a very healthy sign and bodes well for our community.
We intend to recycle the loan scholarship refunds and help ever
increasing number of promising Jain students of to-morrow.
Donation to Other Charitable Institutes:
Recently we helped Dr.J.L.Rambhia donate $1,000 each
to three non-MJV institutes: (1) Shri Bhanbai Nenshi Mahila Vidyalaya,
Bombay (2) Shri Mahavir Jain Chritraya Kalyan Ratnasharam, Songadh
(3) Hiraji Bhojraj & Sons c.v.o. Jain Chhatralaya. The first
one is a High School Girls' Hostel and the second one is Boys'
Hostel for Middle and High School located in Songadh, and third
one is also Boys' Hostel for Middle and High School located in
Bombay.
In the past, we have complied with specific
requests from other members and sent funds to United Students'
Home and Kadi Kanya Chhatralaya. We are very pleased to be instrumental
in sending the funds to educational charities specifically requested
by our members. We believe that it is in line with our prime
objective of supporting the cause of education in the Jain community.
If you wish to make a donation to a similar charity,
please contact us. Please remember the charity must be registered
with the Indian Government and you must supply us with the I.T.
Exemption Certificate number and a short description. Because
of the ultra low expenses with which we are running our association
and since the interest earned exceeds the expenses, we have been
able to transmit your donation in full -be it for MJV or for any
other institute. We do not anticipate any change in this policy
in the foreseeable future.
Smart Gifting Ideas:
We are repeating this section because we believe
that our membership is aging, getting wealthier, and is need of
these tax efficient ideas. Please keep in mind that the estate
taxes in this country are treacherous and going to hit many of
our members very hard. The choice between letting IRS take
away over 50% of your estate and helping a charity such as IAAMJV
should be obvious. We would like to share some creative donation
ideas for your consideration :
Be generous by saving on capital gains Tax
If you have a stock or a mutual fund that has appreciated,
donate it to IAAMJV instead of donating the same dollar value
in cash. You will qualify for an income tax deduction based on
its current market value. You won't be taxed on the capital gain,
and neither will IAAMJV. The procedure is very simple. Please
contact us.
Special Appeal to Wealthy MJV Alumni
Perhaps some of you have become very successful financially
because of your entrepreneurial spirit, right investments, hard
work and luck (good karmas!). Let us assume that you have made
careful plans to transfer your wealth to your spouse and kids
and other relatives, if something happens to you. Inspite of
all the planning, you might still discover that your potential
estate taxes are substantial. If this is the case, here are some
ideas for you to explore:
1. Make IAAMJV the beneficiary of the insurance policy
on your life. Please call us for a copy of an article written
by a famous columnist, Jane Bryant Quinn, on this subject. She
calls this idea "a low-rent way of giving a lot of money
to a charity."
2. Set up a Charitable Reminder Trust. The idea is
to donate appreciated stocks or mutual funds to IAAMJV, take an
immediate tax deduction based on an age-related IRS formula,
and get income from IAAMJV for life. On your death, the asset
will become the property of IAAMJV. Here is a sample example:
Set up this trust for $100,000 for example. Make IAAMJV as your
beneficiary. Here are your benefits:
The ideas discussed above are very popular with
the university endowment funds and big charities in this country.
Please discuss them with your attorney and financial adviser.
The potential tax savings are huge and well worth your time and
effort. These ideas represent smart ways of giving away part
of your wealth to a charity rather than IRS.
Directory of all MJV alumni
Bipin R. Shah, Vice President, MJV Alumni Federation,
Baroda is in the process of preparing a master directory of close
to 8000 Vidyalaya alumni. We have given our directory to him
so that he can include the IAAMJV members in the main directory.
He would like to have color photograph of each of you. Please
send us your picture to Rasik Shah, our General Secretary, Chicago
before 12/15/96. He will send all the photographs to Bipinbhai.
Any one who would like to have a copy of this master directory
should send us a check for $10 (payable to IAAMJV, Inc.) too.
We would like to commend the Alumni Federation for
having undertaken such an important project. The master directory
should improve the communication among Vidyalaya alumni and bring
them closer.
IAAMJV on Internet
Thanks to Chirantan Parikh through whose effort we
will soon be on internet web page. We plan to put our directory
and newsletter on internet. In addition, we will also give you
the latest news through this media. The internet address iswww.rajkot.com/mjv
and will be effective 12/01/96
H-1B Visa help
Chirantan Parikh has offered to help the IAAMJV scholars
and other Jain students in preparing the application for H1-B
visa. He has just gone this process himself and therefore can
help the new students in a big way. Please remember an attorney
will charge anywhere from $1,000 to $1,500 for this service but
Chirantan's services are totally free. Please make sure to contact
him if you need help.
Sum Up:
As the year 1996 is coming to an end pretty soon,
we would like to request the members who have pledged their donations
in the past but have not had a chance to pay off as yet. Sending
out reminders and making phone calls take time and energy. We
would rather spend this time in doing something more constructive.
To be honest, we find it a bit embarrassing to remind someone
who is well to do and yet does not wish to pay off the pledge,
even though it may represent only a tiny fraction of his wealth.
This attitude does not seem morally right from our perspective.
We would also like to appeal to every one to make
it a habit to donate every year. Most university endowment funds
run this way in this country. With the size of membership we
have, this tradition could produce tremendous benefits to our
community.
Please remember that a lot of positive changes are
happening at MJV. Let us all support these changes and become
involved actively in moving the institute even faster. If we
all pull together with all the resources we have in our possession,
we feel confident that MJV can become one of the best institutes
in the Jain community.
Have nice holidays.
With Warmest Personal Regards,
Anop R.Vora
President
" The road to success is always under
construction."
" Some people make things happen, some
watch things happen, while others wonder what happened."
" In the confrontation between the stream
and the rock, the stream always wins..not through strength but
through persistence"
Yes, I want to help keep a good thing going. Here is my
total pledge for $ ________. I would like to pay $_________
now and pay $________per year for the next ____years. This is
in addition to what I pledged or gave previously. Please use
my donation in the follwing manner, to support the noble cause
of education for the Jain community worldwide:
$ ____________ MJV Patron ($875/person)
$ ____________ MJV Scholarship Trust Fund (Min. $1,000)
$ ____________ Kanya Chhatralaya ($500-$3,100)
$ ____________ Endowment Fund ($5,000 min.)
$ ____________ India Loan Scholarships/US Loan Scholarships
$ ____________ General Funds
Name _____________________________________________
Address _____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Phone # _____________________________________________
Date _____________
Please make your check payable to I.A.A.M.J.V., Inc. and
mail it to
| Mr.Ramesh Fofaria, Treasurer, IAAMJV, Inc. | ||
| 1119 Flanders St. | ||
| Garner,NC 27529
Phone 919-772-8473 | ||
International Alumni Association of Shri
Mahavira Jain Vidyalaya Newsletter
International Alumni Association of
Shri Mahavira Jain Vidyalaya
C/0 Mr. & Mrs. Bhupendra Mehta
11703 Hunters Run Drive
Hunt Valley, MD 21030
FIRST CLASS MAIL