THE BRITAIN-NEPAL SOCIETY
Minutes of the 46th Annual General Meeting of the Britain-Nepal Society held
on Wednesday, 29th November 2006 at 6.00pm.
1. The Chairman’s Introduction and Notices
The Chairman welcomed members to the 46th Annual General Meeting of the Society and opened the proceedings by thanking members for attending. He went on to welcome to the meeting, Mr Prabhakar Rana, a member of the Nepal- Britain Society who was currently visiting London. The Chairman informed members that he had invited Lord Sandwich, a member of the Inter-Parliamentary group, to speak about their visit to Nepal last March. The Chairman thanked Mr Dipendra Pratap Bista, Charge d'Affaires, for allowing the Society to hold their meeting once again in the Embassy.
The Chairman informed members of the sad deaths during the year of:
Lt Col C N Fraser Capt J M Marley
Mrs Beryl Hodgkinson Mr NE Points
Subsequent to distribution of the AGM papers, the following deaths had also been announced:
Major M J Fuller
Major Dudley Spain
The Chairman described each person’s connection with Nepal and their contributions to the Society. He noted that some members had attended the memorial service for the late Lt Col Clive Fraser in Aldershot on this day.
Obituaries as appropriate would appear in future editions of the journal.
The Chairman read out to the meeting a letter he had received from our Patron, HRH Princess Jotshana, on hearing of the death of Dudley Spain on the 18th November 2006. Dudley was very widely known and respected in Nepal.
She also wished the Society a successful meeting and sent the seasons greetings to all members
2. Apologies for Absence
HRH The Duke of Gloucester Mr D Anstey
Mr Steve Askham Lady Una Bishop
Brig J Brewer Mr M Broad
Mr John Brown Lt. Col H Burrows
Sir John Chapple Major D Day
Sir Peter Duffell Lt.Col J Fleming
Mr & Mrs T George Dr & Mrs J Gould
Col H Hannah Mrs C Harrop
Dr & Mrs S Headley Mrs Helen Hickey
Mrs J Jenkins Mr Owen Jones
Mr Navin Joshi Brig S Lee
Mr Simon Lord Lt Col J Lys
Mr R Marston Miss Alison Marston
Mrs Linda Matthews Dr Nick McIver
Lt Col R Milne Mrs B Mumford
Mr D Newbigging Mr L Pottinger
Mrs J Rasmussen Brig G Ratcliffe
Miss Susan Roberts Dr D Roche
Mr Stuart Sessions Mrs Fancis Spackman
Mr & Mrs J Strachan Lt Col H R A Streather
Rt Hon Sir John Stanley Col John Swanston
Brig AB Taggart Mr David Thomas
Mr R J Turk Mr N B Turk
Mrs J Vaughan Major J Vickers
Mr P Wakeman Rt Hon Lord Weatherill
Mr Neil Weir Mr T Wilkinson
Susie de Wilton Lt Col CG Wylie
3. Adoption of the Minutes of the 45th Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday, 7th December 2005.
The minutes were taken as read and approved for signature by the Chairman
Proposer: Mr Ron Rosner Seconder: Mr Peter Leggatt
4. Honorary Secretary’s Report
As Dr Neil Weir was not able to be present until later in the meeting, the Chairman took the members through the Honorary Secretary's report. Firstly he said that he was sorry that Mrs Nilia Ranamagar, who recently left the position of the Nepalese Ambassador's Secretary to start her own business, was not able to be present, as the Society has decided that, in recognition of her unfailing support throughout her long tenure, to confer on her Honorary Life Membership of the Society.
He went on to say that the lectures during 2006 had been of particular interest, and that future lectures are due to be held on:
Tuesday, 30th January Professor Michael Hutt SOAS on
Monarchy, Maoists & Political parties.
Wednesday, 28th March Colonel William Shuttlewood, Director of the Gurkha Welfare Trust – An update on the Trust’s work.
Tuesday, 22nd May (Revised date)
Britain Nepal Otology Service on their work in Nepal
Tuesday, 16th October Slide show on the 1949 US Zoological Expedition.
All the lectures for 2007 will be held at the Medical Society of London, and details will appear in future mailings of these and other events. The committee would look again at the meeting charges.
The summer outing was scheduled for Sunday 24th June – possibly a river trip.
The annual Nepali Supper would be held on Thursday 22nd February.
The Chairman went on to say that the Secretary has been working on the website (www.britain-nepal-society.org.uk) with Mr Derek Marsh of Crystal Consultants (UK) Ltd. Dr Weir's aim is for the BNS website to link organizations under the same umbrella to enable them to interact with each other and join their mutual interests.
He reminded members that David Jefford is selling Society ties and scarves, and that Jane Loveless is now selling lapel badges at £3.00each.
5. Presentation of Accounts and Financial Report
The Treasurer informed members that it had been a good year, and that he was pleased that a small surplus had been made which has reduced the deficit from the previous year. He highlighted the fact that the interest on the deposit account has almost doubled this year, which had also helped towards the surplus. The Society’s balance now stood at £29,574.00.
Proposer: Mr Alan Durston Seconder: Sir Neil Thorne
6. Election of Honorary Auditors
The Chairman thanked the Auditors, Messrs Moore Stephens for all their help and the motion was put to re-elect them as Auditors for the coming year.
Proposer: Mrs Celia Brown Seconder: Mr Peter Roberts
7. Election of Officers and Committee Members
In accordance with Rule 11, the Committee proposed the names of the following Officers and Committee Members for the coming year:
Chairman: Lt. Col. Gerry Birch
Vice-Chairman: Mr John L Ackroyd
Hon.Secretary: Mr Neil Weir
Hon.Treasurer: Dr P A Trott
Hon. Membership Secretary Mrs Pat Mellor (Co-opted)
Other Members of the Committee:
Mrs Liza Clifton
Miss Louisa Hutchinson
Mr Dick Jenkin
Mr Harish Karki (representing the Yeti Association)
Mrs Sneha Rana
Mrs Frances Spackman
Col John Swanston
Ex-Officio:
Mr Dipendra Pratap Bista – representing the Nepalese Embassy
LtCol Gerry Birch - Editor of the Journal
Mr Simon Lord – representing the Gurkha Brigade
Mr Steve Askham – representing the FCO
Mrs Celia Brown, Archivist
The Chair was taken by the Vice-chairman for the unanimous election of the Chairman who is entering his fourth year (of five years).
Finally The Chairman asked for a proposer and a seconder for the composite resolutions covering the honorary officers and the committee for the coming year.
Proposer: Sir Neil Thorne Seconder: Major Murray Jones
8. Address by Lord Sandwich
The Chairman introduced Lord Sandwich, and asked him to inform the members of the Society about his recent visit to Nepal.
Lord Sandwich told members that he had visited Nepal in March with the Inter-Parliamentary Group, where he and his party were made welcome.
He outlined his interest in Nepal as having started many years ago when he met the Royal family. Clearly much had been achieved since the Group’s visit and the situation was looking more optimistic with the great reduction in the violence over the previous ten years. Mr Koirala is now working tremendously hard and has achieved the historic signing of an agreement the Maoists and the Seven Party Alliance. Lord Sandwich pointed out that he does not under estimate the difficulties that lie ahead and he gave credit to the many people helping and undertaking outstanding work to achieve a lasting agreement.
Finally he informed members that he and his party had been wonderfully entertained by the Britain-Nepal Society's Patron, HRH Princess Jotshana and her husband, Dr Basnyat.
After various questions and discussion, the Chairman thanked Lord Sandwich for giving members such a clear picture of the present situation in Nepal.
9. The activities of the Yeti Association
In the absence of Mr Nima Lama, Dr Dhital spoke to members about the Yeti House Foundation that he and Mrs Dhital are spearheading. He was pleased to inform members that the account now stands at £97,000 and that plans are moving ahead to purchase a property in west London
10. Address by Mr Dipendra Pratap Bista, Charge d'Affaires, Nepalese Embassy
Mr Bista thanked the Britain-Nepal Society for all their support of Nepal and also the Embassy. He went on to outline the present situation, and pointed out that the Maoists having now signed the historical agreement, it is hoped this will lead to peace and civil liberties, the rule of law and the reconstruction of Nepal. He went on to say that his country values the relationship between our two countries, which is fostered by the Britain-Nepal Society.
11. Date of the next AGM: Wednesday 28th November 2007.
As there was no further business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed.