We have the BITSAA Community, Mumbai chapter to congratulate for pulling off such a successful meet. This chapter of the Alumni Association was started in 2004 by five people who had the same idea – to keep the Pilani connection alive. Mr Dilip D Souza, Mr Pradeep Mirchandani, Mr Aru Arumugam, Mr Ashish Bhinde and Mr Dinesh Mirchandani came together to found the Chapter and conducted two very well-attended events in 2004 and 2005. In the following years, the Chapter fell dormant as all the founder members moved away from Mumbai. The Chapter however, resurfaced with new enthusiasm this year, primary due to the passionate efforts of some recent Pilani and Goa graduates. They have clearly achieved what they set out to do, with the TOYL ’10. One alumnus we spoke to about the get-together said, “I think coming after a hiatus of almost 6 years, the event was well attended with BITSians across batches taking part in the proceedings and rekindling the good old memories of Pilani.” The idea is to keep the Chapter alive, be organizing regular activities - both formal and informal, so we can definitely look forward to more such events in the future!

“If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.”

BITS2Marathon is an initiative by fellow BITSians with an incredible passion for running and the group aims to help budding runners achieve their dream of running a Marathon. BITS2Marathon and BITSAA organize a yearly world-wide running event for BITSians: "BITS World 5k Run". The idea is that BITSians all over the world participate and compete virtually, running their own race. The Run took place on the 26th of September this year in the major cities of India – Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai and of course Pilani. The response to the 5k run was outstanding with almost 200 participants overall. Bangalore and Chennai had the most participation among all cities with 35 BITSians that included alumni across all generations. Hyderabad also saw a good turnout with around 25 participants. Although the number of people who took part in the run in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi was slightly lower than the other cities, the interest generated is worth noting. Pilani, the homeground of BITSians saw a whopping 80+ participants including students and faculty.

The BITSAA Global Meet (BGM) team has collaborated with the BITS2Marathon group this year supporting the 5k Run by sending BGM representatives who volunteered to help organize it. The event helped as a wonderful run-up to the Global Meet as the BGM team had the perfect opportunity to generate excitement about the Meet among fellow BITSians. The enthusiasm shown by the alumni was almost palpable.

Some of the prominent BITS alumni also participated in the run joining in the spirit of the day. Mr. CS Goel, Mr. Vinod Puri, Mr. Aman Jain, Mr. Sudeep Jain, Mr. Sanjay Khendri and many others showcased their support by helping promote the BITSAA Global Meet.

With over 200 participants in India itself, the second edition of the BITS 5k Run has definitely made its mark!

"This morning Congress High Command and AK Antony gave me the responsibility of being the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. I will try to take everyone's advice and work for the betterment of Maharahstra. I accept the post with humility," Chavan said, addressing the media after being named as the next Chief Minister of the state. Mr. Chavan currently holds five portfolios as a MoSD, the highest by any minister in the UPA government, including Science and Technology, Earth sciences, Parliamentary affairs, Public grievances and Pension and Ministry of personnel, which includes the CBI.

Mr. Chavan has been a role model for BITSian's wishing to enter public life. Despite his busy schedule, he has always found time for his alma mater - a distinguished guest at BITSAA Delhi Golden Jubilee Reunions, distinguished speaker at the upcoming first-ever BITSAA Global Meet 2011. The organisers of BGM 2011 remain hopeful that his fondness for BITS Pilani will lure him to the meet at New Delhi coming January, despite his newfound responsibility. BITSAA Chairman Prof. SP Kothari recalls - "When Pritviraj Chavan visited Boston, we hosted him at Mukesh Chattar's home.  I recall picking him up from his hotel at Harvard Square and taking him to Mukesh's place, as well as spending a little time in Concord visiting historic sites.  Prithviraj Chavan was also very gracious in having lunch with me in New Delhi at his Club, and the following year he hosted MIT Sloan MBA students. I find him very steady, organized, and technology minded.  I expect he will do well in Mumbai."  BITSians Manoj Mittal ('85) and Sandeep Agarwal speak fondly of his participation in BITSAA Delhi Silver and Golden Jubilee Meets - "His active participation and support to BITSAA Delhi Chapter Celebrations has been well appreciated. The best part was the accessibility offered by him. Wish him all the best and hope he brings laurels to BITS brand through sheer hard-work, integrity and sincerity".    

Prior commitments of Mr. Prithviraj Chavan:

He is a technocrat who worked in the field of aircraft instrumentation and designing of audio recorders for anti-submarine warfare in the US before returning to India and becoming an entrepreneur in 1974.

It was in early 90’s when Prithviraj Chavan bumped into Rajiv Gandhi.  "We have many technocrats in the country”, said Rajiv Gandhi, "but we don’t have many who can get elected and join politics.  You have that potential!” That is when Mr. Chavan decided to join politics and was elected to the India parliament in 1991.

In 1991, elected to Lok Sabha (Tenth); 1991-96 Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Science and Technology, Electronics, Atomic Energy; 1992-93 Member, Standing Committee on Science and Technology; 1994-96 Member, Standing Committee on Finance and Planning Member, Standing Committee on Rural and Urban Development; 1995-96 Member, Committee on Public Undertakings; 1995-96 Member, Committee on Subordinate Legislation; 1996 Re-elected to Lok Sabha (Eleventh) Secretary, Congress Party in Parliament; 1996-97 Member, Public Accounts Committee Member, Standing Committee on Energy Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Finance; June 1997 onwards Special Invitee, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Planning and Program Implementation and Science and Technology Literary, Artistic and Scientific Accomplishments, Twelfth Lok Sabha Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs, Member, Committee on Government Assurances (resigned on 20 November 1998)1998-99 and April 2002-Feb.2004 Member, Committee on Finance; 2000-01 Spokesperson, All India Congress Committee (A.I.C.C.); April 2002 Elected to Rajya Sabha; Aug. 2002-Feb. 2004 Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Defence; May 2004 onwards Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office.

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A string of automatic ambient air monitoring stations are being set up in Delhi, thanks to the design and installation services provided by Mr Adarsh Kapur's ('77) group of companies. Indira Gandhi International Airport and Kendriya vidhyala in R.K Puram were some of the first areas to be equipped with such systems. "Four more stations will be inaugurated at Vikas Bhawan-II, a major office complex of the Delhi Government in Civil Line Area in Northern Ridge; Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya Punjabi Bagh; NP Senior Secondary School Mandir Marg; and Anand Vihar Bus Terminal," says the Delhi chief Secretary Mr. Rakesh Mehta.

The monitoring station at the Delhi airport is the first such station at any airport in South-East Asia apparently! "Its unique in the sense that it is the first real time ambient air monitoring station and only one operational for collection of 12 parameters anywhere in the world. All the latest parameter including PM10, PM2.5, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, ammonia, benzene, toluene, P-xylene can be monitored at this station. Further samples could be collected for more analysis for arsenic, nickel and lead," added Mr. Mehta.

The station is set to relay all of this data directly to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) at regular intervals of every 15mins round the clock. DPCC will then use this data to make important policy suggestions to the Delhi government in making its city much greener and carbon neutral!

AGAM, the all BITSian music band, has been sending ripples down the music world these past few months. They were back in the news again this past october and this time around for a noble cause, pairing up with one of India's leading faces in the music world- Shreya Ghosal.

AGAM's music features a wonderful blend of classical carnatic music with modern western hues to produce a synergy of elegant melodies that provoke profound emotions in the hearts of the listeners. They have been getting raving reviews from fellow artists and critics alike in the music industry ever since they started out. Probably the crowning complement of them all was from a man who arguably is one of the greatest musicians India has ever produced- Oscar Winning A.R. Rahman. “When I first heard them, I thought the lead vocalist was really fantastic! The way they rendered their composition was great”, was what Mr. Rahman had to say about them.

Having gained such meteoric popularity, Agam had now come together with Shreya Ghosal past october for raising awareness for Breast cancer. October is observed as the breast cancer month world wide to pay homage to all those millions of women that fall victim to this dreadful malady every year. Agam, partnering with the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA), had done its part in raising funds and extending a little hope, faith and belief to the lives of all those countless cancer patients. And by doing so with such a widely recognized artist as Shreya Ghosal, who had generously extended her voice to Agam's compositions, they had driven this cause a long way towards fruition.

As if creating an all 'techie' music band and garnering applause from some of nation's best known musicians was not impressive enough, AGAM is now using that new found fame to give something back to the society; which makes this amazingly talented group extra special and makes the BITSian community world wide extremely proud.

All BITSians reading this, please check out some of their renditions on the their website: www.agamtheband.in. Some of them will really blow you away! For listening to the composition rendered by shreya ghosal visit: www.liveagain.in

Mr. Bazmi Husain climbs a few more steps of the success ladder! He is now the Managing director of ABB, the company he is associated with since 1981.

Mr. Bazmi Husain climbs a few more steps of the success ladder! He is the now the Managing Director of ABB and will be succeeding Mr. Biplab Majumder. Mr. Husain will take over with effect from 01 January 2011. Mr. Husain is no stranger to the company and has been serving ABB since 1981.

He currently heads the Smart Grid Initiative for ABB Group and is based out of Zurich, Switzerland. He has served ABB in different capacities, most recently as Head of Automation Research for ABB Group and also the Director of R&D for ABB in Sweden for both Automation and Power. Earlier in his career, Bazmi held various leadership positions in ABB including establishing R&D center in India, running Automation- Industrial and Power - business in India and developing the Regional center for Automation systems in Singapore to serve the North and Southeast Asian markets.

About ABB:

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 117,000 people.

BITSAA Congratulations Mr. Bazmi Husain and extends best wishes coupled with great luck!