MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE INDIAN SOCIETY FOR
PAEDIATRIC NEUROSURGERY HELD ON 7 NOVEMBER 2008
AT HOTEL THE RESIDENCY, COIMBATORE TAMIL NADU

The meeting was chaired by Dr CE Deopujari, President of the Society.

The following were present,

Dr Deopujari  President
Dr Chidambaram Secretary
Dr Venkataramana Treasurer
Dr S Shankala Editor
Dr Bhagwati Past President
Dr Kalyanaraman Past President
The meeting was called to order by the President.
The President welcomed the members present.
The President invited the Secretary to present his report.
The minutes of the last meeting were presented and were accepted (Proposed by Dr SChaterjee Seconded by
( Dr Venkataramana)

SECRETARY’S REPORT:

The Secretary started by discussing about the papers submitted for the meeting. The number of papers submitted has been increasing and the standard of submissions has also been improving he remarked. However, he observed, the way the papers are being submitted are not upto the mark. The authors are conforming to the rules stipulated by the Scientific Committee and it is being submitted in a haphazard way and also well after the dead line for the submission is over. But in keeping with the principle ( and the “unwritten rule” ) that all particularly- those in training and the junior colleagues- should be encouraged to present  no paper was rejected.. The Scientific Committee chairperson and Organising Secretary with difficulty somehow found the slot for the presentation. The members debated this point and it felt that this may not be possible in the future and the stipulated rules have to be strictly adhered to. Those submissions not conforming to the rules and the late submissions should not be accepted.
The organisation of the scientific programme was discussed. It was observed that the scientific programme was the responsibility of the Secretary of the Society and he/she shall be helped by the Organising Secretary of the meeting.

The problem in updating the members data base was put forth and the Secretary remarked in spite of keeping the address book in the registration counter the members seldom updated the data base. The Secretary promised to continue to remind the members and update the data base.
The amended and the proposed constitution was discussed. Only one written reply was received by the Secretary – from Dr Ajit Banerjee. The latter had recommended the membership categories be changed to Full Life, Associate Life and Honorary. After due deliberations it was felt that this would not be feasible and we can leave the categories as put forth in the amended constitution pending approval by the General Body. The tenure of the office of the President and Vice President were discussed at length. Dr Bhagwati observed the term be reduced to one or two years and leave it at three years as suggested. The members felt a final decision can be taken only at the General Body meeting after due deliberations. The election procedures were discussed and it was felt unanimously that the procedure proposed shall be in force and the Vice President will be the returning officer and will conduct the elections.

The venue for the future meetings were discussed. The meeting next year will be held in Kolkatta(Organising Secretary Dr Sandip Chaterjee), this meeting will be held with the Korean paediatric neurosurgery society members and it will a joint meeting. For the year 2010 a firm request  has been received only from Dr Purohit in Hyderabad. Dr Gupta from Udaipur had expressed a desire but had not submitted the bid in writing or made a firm commitment. Hence the meeting was awarded the Hyderabad team. Dr Choi was chosen as the Dr Bhagwati orator for the next year wince he will be coming to Kokatta.

The meeting for the year 2011 was discussed. Various options for conducting the annula meeting were explored since we will be hosting the International Society for Paediatric Neurosurgery meeting in Goa. The EC members felt we should have a meeting even if it means having only one session and the general body meeting / EC meeting.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Financial  Statement for the year 2007-2008

• The accounts had an opening Balance of  Rs. 2,94,060.42/-
• The income from the membership fee is Rs. 20,150/-
• We had received an interest from Bank is Rs. 9003/-


• There are two fixed deposits :
  1. A/c No. 1345 is Rs. 6,65,000/-
  2. A/c  No. 1052 is Rs. 5 lakhs


• Received an Bank interest for theses fixed deposits is Rs 33,637.50/-
• There is a cash balance of Rs. 2,59,066.02/-
• The total receipts for the year Rs 356,851.02/-
• We have paid Rs. 50,000/- towards the journal.
• The other expenses is Rs. 47,704/-

EDITOR’S REPORT

Articles (2006-2008):

Journal's visibility (2008)

1. No. of visitors from Jul'07 to Jun'08 : 31236
2. No. of page downloads during this period : 52572
3. No. of cities from where visitors came : 1114
4. City from which maximum visitors : London

Journal's Impact Factor (2008) 

Impact Factor for 2008 – not indexed with Science Citation Index to have IF, at present not being cited frequently

Progress (2008) 

At present indexed with Excerpta Medica / EMBASE, Google Scholar, Index Copernicus, Scimago Journal Ranking, SCOPUS, SIIC databases.
Special issue in future : On "Hydrocephalus" in 2009

OTHER MATTERS

The following items were discussed:

The Brain Tumour and Spina Bifida registries have not elicited the response which was expected. The possible reasons were gone into one of the prime being lack of sponsors. Dr Venkataramana and Dr Deopujari have agreed to look into these. Dr Venkataramana has agreed to assess the feasibility of starting a database on Hydrocephalus.

The shifting of the registered office of the society to Bengaluru was deliberatd upon. It was agreed it would be beneficial in the long term. Dr Venkataramana said the hospital he is attached to has agreed to give the required office space. The members agreed to shifting of the office after the hospital management gives an undertaking in writing to that effect and the office space should be available for a minimum period of five years.
Efforts are underway to start a PostDoctoral Fellowship course in Paediatric Neurosurgery under the aegis of our society. The following authorities will be approached for discussions: National Board of Education and local universities in the various cities. The course will be conducted by the society. The authorities will be approached by the members of the society.

The question of whether live surgery workshops are to be allowed was debated. After much thought it was unanimously decided that the society will not permit live surgery work shops as a part of its activities.

The local organising committee, in particular Dr Murali, were profusely thanked for conducting an excellent meeting and also the superb hospitality. The appreciation and thanks were placed on record.

As there was no other matter to be gone into the meeting concluded with a thaks to the Chair ant members present.

The minutes of the General Body meeting held at 20th Annual Conference of Indian Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery on 7th November 2009 , Kolkata.

Dr. C E Deopujari – President was in the chair.
Dr.B Chidambaram – Secretary conducted the proceedings.

1. The executive committee was adjourned due to lack of quorum and was re - scheduled after 20minutes.
2. Secretary read the minutes of the previous General Body and it was put for approval and the minutes were approved. It was proposed by Dr.Milind Sankhe and seconded by Dr.Suresh Sankhla.
3. An appreciation was placed on record for Dr. R Murali for organizing an excellent conference at Coimbatore and also for the contribution towards the society
4. Treasurers report was presented by Dr.NK Venkataramana. He also presented the audited accounts of the society. It was proposed by Prof Kak and seconded by Prof Banerji.
   a. It was decided to apply for the renewal of 80G certificate
   b. It was deiced to update and maintain the website of the society.
5. The minutes of the Executive Committee held at Hotel Taj on 6th November 2009 were approved by the Secretary.
   a. It is proposed that the feed back forms should be made compulsory for all the CMEs
   b. The CME will continue next year also and Dr Chidambaram will coordinate the scientific meetings
   c. Symposium for the next year meeting will be “ Meduloblastoma” Dr.Bhagwati and Dr.Chidambaram will coordinate the symposium.
   d. The orator for Dr.Bhagwati Oration for the year 2010 will be decided by the President, Immediate Past President and the Secretary with three months.
6. The 2010 IndSPN meeting has been awarded to Dr.Anirudh Purohit at Hyderabad. He will be the Organizing the CME and if possible a Workshop also. The dates will be announced very soon.
7. Secretary has been authorized to issue to letter to Dr.Anirudh Purohit awarding the 21st Annual Conference and also letter to open an account at Hyderabad for the Conference purpose.
8. Elections :
   a. Since majority of the election notices were returned by the postal department, it was decided to update the addresses of all the members of the society
   b. The website will be shifted to Bangalore and will be maintained by the secretary
   c. Since there were only four nominations Dr B Chidambaram is nominated as Vice President, Dr NK Venkataramana as Secretary, Dr Suresh Sankhla as Treasurer , Dr.Koushik Sil as Executive Member, were unanimously elected.
   d. Sincere there were no nominations for further executive members, it was put to the General Body to decide and elect the executive member from the open house. Accordingly Dr.R Murali, Dr.Milind Sankhe, Dr.Anirudh Purohit were proposed by Dr NK Venkataramana and seconded by Prof. Kak, after confirmation from the candidates on the floor. And they were elected as Executive Members of the society.
9. The appointment of Editor was again discussed as there is no clarity in the constitution. Following deliberations it is decided to appoint Dr VP Singh as Editor. However Dr Suresh Sankhla will take the responsibility of Executive Editor and help Dr VP Singh till becomes familiar with the process of Journal. He will be a Ex-officio member of the Executive Committee.
10. Dr Suresh Sankhla presented the editors report and it was decided to merge the financial statements of the journal and submit the audited report along with the treasurers report. Dr.Shankla has been given the responsibility of submitting the audited reports and amalgamating the financial reports for the future.
11. The applications for five new life members was approved. they are Dr.Sanjay Gupta, DrPradipta Tripatty, Dr CB Sinha, Dr.R N Mahapatra, Dr Ravi Bhushan Sharma.
12. The minutes of the executive committee were put for approval and it was proposed by Dr Milind Sankhe and seconded by Dr.R Murali and it was approved.
13. In the year 2011, in the light of IndSPN meeting at Goa, there will be only Bhagwati Oration followed by Executive Committee meeting of IndSPN. No separate scientific session for IndSPN will be held.
14. For the year 2012 meeting there were two bids for the conference. One from Dr A K Mahapatra, New Delhi and another from Dr Dwarakanath, Bangalore. The executive committee has decided to award the meeting to New Delhi and it was approved in the General Body meeting .
15. The members congratulated Dr Sundeep Chaterjee and Koushik Sil for the excellent arrangements and the hospitality.

Interim Executive Committee Meeting
held on 11th January 2010 at AAACPN Course Venue , Bangalore

Members Present:

Dr. C E Deopujari – President
Dr.B Chidambaram – Vice President
Dr A K Mahapatra – President
Dr N K Venkataramana – Secretary
Dr Koushik Sil – Executive Member
Dr Suresh Sankhla – Treasurer

• It was decided that after confirming with Dr Kak , constitution shall be printed as early as possible
• Need for Re-Registration in view of minor changes was not felt by the Executive Committee but to be verified with the lawyer.
• Dr V P Singh as editor should be taken over from Dr Sankhla
• Election for Editor should be prepared as an amendment in the next General Body Meeting
• ISPN Course
  - Dr Menezes will deliver Bhagwati oration
  - Topics were finalized
  - Goodrich, Kyu Cheng Wang , Neil Thanpsar, Tonita will be the tentative faculties