REPORT ON 2006-07 ACTIVITIES

Introduction

TAGA (TKMCE Alumni Global Association) is an association which culminated from the internet based discussions among the TKMCE Alumni members spread across the Globe. Though it was rooted on August 31st 2002, we were officially registered under the Travancore Cochin Literary Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act-XII of 1955 with registration number ER 646/04 on 8th September 2004 with the Registered Office at Geethika, HMT Colony.P.O, Kalamassery, Ernakulam-683503, Kochi. Through the inaugural function held on 19th March 2005 at the TKMCE Auditorium, TAGA became an integral part of the TKMCE Alumni Association originally formed in 1963.

Steering Committee

 From the Steering Committee the Office Bearers elected for the year 2006-07 were Chair Person:- Manilal (68C), General Secretary:- E.S.Suresh (82M), Treasurer:- Dr.Abdul Jaleel (94E), Moderator 1:- Syam Sasidharan(93C), Moderator 2:- Firoz M.Musthafa (97EE) and they assumed office during the Online Annual General Body Meeting-06. The nominated steering committee members for faculty and student were vacant during the year. The committee functioned through the yahoo based e-group and the domain www.tkmcealumni.org based mailman mailing list. The electronic ballots were operated through the poll facility available in the yahoo e-group.

For the year 2007-08 Mr.Subhash B.P.(1969 Electrical),Mr.Dominic D.(1974 Mechanical), Mr.E.K.Salim (1977 Electrical), Mr.Mathew Daniel (1982 Mechanical), Mr.Satish Rao B.(1983 Electrical), Mr.Johns J.Pali(1988 Production), Mr.Firoze M Musthafa(1997 Electrical & Electronics) and Mr.Asif Mahamood (2003 Production) are elected towards the Steering Committee. Including the current 3 office bearers who are ex-officio members of the next committee, the 11 member team reached consensus in electing the new office bearers as Chair Person:- Mr.Mathew Daniel, General Secretary:-Mr.E.S.Suresh, Treasurer:-Mr.Manilal, Moderator-1:-Mr.Firoze M Musthafa & Moderator-2:-Mr. E.S.Suresh.

Membership Fee

As approved through the Annual General Body-05, even the non-alumni faculty members are permitted for Life Membership, but they will not come under the purview of voting membership, being non-alumni. The special fee for an alumni couple is 1.5 times of the life membership fee (both of them can secure their Life Memberships). Also, as approved in the general body last year, life membership fee can be paid, over 2 years, provided the first payment is Rs 500/-

Approval from Income Tax Department

We got income tax registration under section 12AA of Indian Income Tax Act 1961 through which TAGA is recognised as a charitable organisation, through which we could enjoy the income tax exemptions. Now, we have to apply for section 80G exemption, through which the donations to certain funds, charitable institutions, etc. could be deducted from the total income assessed. We have directed our auditor to take necessary steps in this regard.

Bank Accounts

We have the internet based operable accounts in ICICI and SBT. The campus counter of SBT is helpful for our campus based activities.

As directed from the Income Tax Department to obey with section 11(5) of Indian Income Tax Act-1961, the funds of the Association not required for current expenditures are to be invested in the nationalised banks. Hence an amount of INR 2,00,000 from ICICI bank account is deposited in the SBT account as Fixed Deposit in slots of INR 50,000.

It is decided to change the authorized signatories for the operation of the bank accounts, being the new office bearers elected.

Scholarships & Sponsorship

This year, we continued the distribution of ten scholarships and continued to sponsor another student under the Abraham Tharakan Memorial Sponsorship from the previous year. The scholarship recipients were selected as per guidance from the TKMCE Principal. Eight students from this list of scholarship recipients have graduated this year.

The TAGA Scholarships and sponsorships are  arranged to be disbursed through the TAGA treasurer. It is instructed the mode of payment as strictly through cheques, for which our campus bank account could be helpful. We keep a receipt book in the campus with the Treasurer to record the disbursements. The amounts of TAGA Scholarships and sponsorships are INR. 1000/- per month and INR. 2000/- per month, respectively. Details of shcolarship accounts are presented in the Treasurer's Report on AGB.

Regional Representatives    

To establish a link between TAGA and the local alumni chapters, on 19th January 2005 we decided to nominate region-wise TAGA representatives. The current representatives are Mr.E.S.Suresh(82M) from UAE, Mr.E.K.Salim (77E) from Saudi Arabia & Mr.Johns J. Paly (88 Prodn.) from Qatar of the respective chapters.

Development and Improvement of Quality of Education at TKMCE

In the inaugural year itself we were able to conduct seminars aiming the development and improvement of quality of education. Also we had colleted a basic idea about the Wide Band Networking in the campus. We had made several plans for the year 2006-07, which were presented in the Open Letter Sent to Chairman (Click here for the link). For further details on this, please visit the link http://tkmcealumni.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=275 . While we were unable to organise any such events we had planned, it was gratifying to note, by the end of 2007 that the TKM Trust, College Authorities and TEAA officials have acknowledged and appreciated TAGA's committment to the institution and its alumni fraternity and extended their support and co-operation in future. I woule like to congratulate the incoming Chairperson, Mr.Mathew Daniel specifically for paving way for this wind of change. Our plans for the forthcoming year are envisioned in the Incoming Chairperson's Message presented to the Annual General Meeting.

Following is the status of projects undertaken in the earlier years by TAGA:

i. Wide Band Networking 

Ther efforts from TAGA to establish a Wide Band Network at the college (please refer to the AGB Report of previous year for details) still remain incomplete due to lack of progress from the college authorities. TAGA would like to reaffirm its committment to support this project

ii. Training Programs

No training programs could be conducted at the College for the benefit of the students and faculty, due to reasons beyond our control. However, in the coming year, we propose to conduct a series of workshops for the students, through eminent alumni members in their respective field of expertise. The TKM Trust officials, Principal and TEAA office bearers have assured of their co-operation and support in conducting them in the coming months.

Career Development and Placement for Students and Alumni

TAGA is having a globally based membership. We maintain good contacts with Alumni Chapters around the world. With this network, TAGA has already launched career placement assistance to our alumni. Vacancies notified through the Alumni Chapter networks are further circulated through TAGA, thus helping the alumni around the world in finding suitable placement and establishing useful contacts. Though TAGA intended to extend this further by providing career guidance counselling, promoting campus interviews, guidance on placement search etc. for the students, we couldn't achieve the target due to the poor feedback from the campus, in membership also.

We are pleased to report that once again, the initiative of the incoming Chairperson, Mr.Mathew Daniel was the sole reason behind the Campus Interview and recuritment held by Satyam Computers during the year 2007,which helped 48 students in their placement. Considering the acute shortage of qualified engineers in the market, TAGA is confident that through its member network, suitable placement for the recently passed out and final year students could be achieved in co-ordination with the Career Placement Cell of TKMCE.

Accounts

Shri.Sunil Chandy Eapen FCA, Tharian & Iype Chartered Accountants, Kochi was reappointed as our auditor for the year 06-07, has conducted timely auditing of our accounts. Due to his continued follow ups with the Department of Income Tax, we got the 12AA certification under I.T.Act 1961, by which we could avail tax exemptions As the next step, we will be applying for 80G exemption.

TAGA Online News Letter

The first edition of VOTE (Voice Of TKMCE Engineers), the official newsletter of TAGA became a record and reality on 12th of June 2006. We released its first edition for the quarter from April-06. No further release of this magazine was done this year. We propose to release the next issue in July for the second quarter of 2008

Constitution Amendments

Currently, there are no proposed amendments to TAGA Constitution .

Membership

As per the latest status 765 members have enrolled with TAGA from 61 regional locations of India and abroad, and from 41 batches of TKMCE. Out of them 215 members are with confirmed Life Memberships through remittance of membership fee and thus qualifying for voting in the administrative polls in accordance with TAGA Constitution. It is important to note that 7 Alumni Couples are in this confirmation list. Though 13 members from faculty are enrolled, only two are confirmed their memberships. 10 Student memberships are also registered.

For this year, there was an increase in membership strength from 694 to 765. The Internet media based operation of TAGA is the only catalyst behind collecting them from all over the Globe, though we have a less-than-desired response from the campus. Our focus this year will be to increase the alumni and student membership base.

TKMCE Golden Jubilee Celebrations

2007 was the year in which our prestigious institution completed 50 glorious years of its achievements. TAGA and its members were actively involved in the support of this event. Our Office Bearers- Mr.Manilal, Dr.Jaleel and Mr.E.S.Suresh were co-opted as the members of various organising committees. We are also proud of the fact that the official logo of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations was designed by TAGA Steering Committee member, Mr.Saji Mathews (87 M).

The year-round celebrations kicked off on 19th June 2007, which was inaguarated by the then President of India, Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam through video conferencing. Mr.Mailal presented the Vote of Thanks of the Valedictory Function of the International Conference on Global Trends in Engineering Education, held on 7th July 2007 at the College. The newly elected Chairperson of TAGA, Mr.Mathew Daniel presented a paper "International Trends in Human Resource Management in IT Industry", while Dr.P.A.M.Basheer, the architect of TAGA Constitution and a well-wisher of our activities, presented his paper "A Perspective of Engineering Education in UK". We are also pleased to note it was through TAGA network that Padmasree Dr.T.K.Alex, our alumnus and an eminent scientist at ISRO could be contacted and invited for the function and eventually, preside it as the Chief Guest .

Global Alumni Meet

Global Alumni Meet was not conducted this year, since a similar event was conducted by the Golden Jubilee Committee of TKMCE on 6th July 2007

Online Annual General Body Meeting-07

As supported by clause 21 of TAGA Constitution, the Annual General Body Meeting was successfully completed using the Internet facility, presided by TAGA Chair Person Mr.Manilal. The duration of the meeting was from 1st January 2008 to 31 January 2008, which was further extended to 07 February 2008. From the batches of 1962 to 2005, totally 20 members attended the meeting. The General Body virtual platforms in yahoo and tkmcealumni.org mailman list are the major forums where the Annual General Body taken place. The PhpBB discussion forum associated with our website www.tkmcealumni.org was accommodated with the electronic ballots, where the entry of the confirmed members with their member details only were permitted. The suggestions from members over different forums were compiled and recorded as the minutes of the annual general body meeting, which shall be published by 15 March 2008 for the information of all our members.

WIth the successful conclusion of the Annual General Body, I am pleased to announce that the new Office Bearers have assumed charge as of today. We hope to have the continued support of our members and well-wishers in the implmentation of our plans for the future and welcome your comments, criticism and guidance.

E.S.Suresh

General Secretary