Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on August 11, 2008 at committee room 230, second floor, Queen’s Park, Toronto On.

                                                                            By Neel Nanda, Secretary General

Present:

Thomas S. Saras

Dr.Bikram Lamba

Ahmed Hotaki

Nassim Daneshvar

Iraj Emad

Syleyman Guven

Neel Nanda

Mohamed Tajdolati

Niaz Salimi

Bahram Bahrami

Ranjit Wics

Srimal Abeyawardene

Emmanuel Ayiku

David Ferdinands

Maryam Aghvami

Tanas Jovanovski

Alamgir Hussain

Ahmed Shah Hotaki

Ranokivi Janus

Nagamany Logending

Emmanuel Ayiku

Teshome Woldeamnuel

Garcia Hermie

Mila Garcia

K. David Lim

Kevin Wang

John Saraidaris

Hossein Pourhaider

Luba Cherny

Dumitru Popescu

Masood Mashadi

Taha Hassaniani

Logan Logendralingan

Babikian Aris

Regrets:

Clyde McLein

Raina Sen

R. Chohan

Shabnam Janani

Agenda

1.            Welcome Remarks by the chair.

2.            President’s Report

3.         New Business (Motions)

4.            Adjournment

Welcome Remarks by the Chair:

Dr. Lamba chaired the meeting in the absence of regular moderator Clyde McNeil. He welcomed the members to the meeting and conducted the proceedings.

Minutes of the previous meeting:

Ahmed Shah Hotaki  moved a motion to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting held on July 14, 2008. Iraj Emad seconded it. The motion was carried.

President’s Report

·            Members of NEPMCC were encouraged to consult the President before sending a proposal of direct funding from Heritage Canada under the PAP.

·           The First National Ethnic Press Exhibition at the Toronto City Hall was a grand success.

·            NEPMCC is considering carrying out similar exhibitions in other cities of Canada as well as other municipalities of the GTA.

·           The Word on the Street Festival will take place on September 28 and Ahmad Shah Hotaki is in charge of this event.

·           The Annual award ceremony would most probably take place on the last Monday or Thursday of October at the Lt. Governor’s suite.

·           Annual Dinner would most likely take place on December 12 depending on the confirmation and availability of the Banquet Hall Facility.

·            NEPMCC would host 2 shows at the CNE on August 30th and 31st. Members were given CNE passes to attend the shows hosted by NEPMCC.

·           The President, Thomas Saras is working to arrange roundtable discussions with the leaders of all three major political parties in Canada.

Chair of the Awards committee, Dr Bikram Lamba informed the council of the following:

·           24 distinguished individuals would receive awards for distinction in their respective field from the NEPMCC.

·           14 awards are allocated for excellence in newspapers and magazines.

·           10 awards are allocated for demonstrating outstanding community leadership.

·           6 nominations have been received by the council so far.

·           The deadline for award nomination was extended till August 13. No nominations would be entertained after that deadline.

Members of the NEPMCC congratulated the President, Thomas Saras for his tireless efforts in increasing Government advertising to the ethnic media

New Business:

Elections of the NEPMCC would be held on March 2009.  A constitutional committee would recommend the constitutional changes that are necessary before the next elections are being held.

Srimal Abeyawardene nominated Dr. Lamba as the chair of the constitution committee. Maryam Aghvami seconded the nomination.

NEPMCC nominated the following members to the constitution committee.

Dr. Lamba (Chair)

Masood Mashadi

Nasim Daneshwar

Mila Garcia.

Stepahnie Williams.

Neel Nanda

Adjournment: Srimal Abeyawardene  moved a motion to adjourn the meeting Masood Mashadi seconded it.. The motion was carried. The chair adjourned the meeting at 9 pm. The next meeting would take place on September 15, 2008 at Queen’s Park