Minutes of the Annual General Meetings of SBAOI

Minutes of the Annual General Body Meeting (AGBM) of the Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs, India (SBAOI) held during 30th National Conference (2020), 8th December 2020 using the online platform (Zoom) on Biomaterials Innovation – ICBMI2020 organized by Bharathiar University, Coimbatore

Date and Time: December 8, 2020: 17:00 to 18:00 Hrs

The AGBM was chaired by Prof. Veena Koul (President, SBAOI). On behalf of SBAOI, Prof. Koul welcomed all the members to the GBM and thanked Dr. Sharma for his continued support and congratulated Dr. Ballamurugan and colleagues for organizing the ICBMI 2020 virtually. The President presented an overview of the last year’s activities of the society. The following suggestions were made and in general consensus was achieved. In most cases, many of those were approved.

A. Future SBAOI Conference:

1. Regarding National meeting in 2021, GBM was informed by Prof. Bharath Raja Guru to organize next meeting at Manipal University, Manipal as the venue and the same was approved by the GB.
2. Dr. Kanagaraj/Dr. Biman Mandal from IIT Guwahati have proposed to organize the 2022 conference. This needs confirmation from them. Final venue will be decided by next GB.
3. Dr. Sharma proposed that in future the bidders for organizing the annual SBAOI meetings would make a presentation of their proposal.
4. Dr. Ballamurugan presented the conference status of ICBMI 2020 which 156 papers were being presented in the technical sessions. Over 500 delegates including renowned speakers from Belgium, Canada, Japan, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Malta, Malaysia, Morocco, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, USA, UK and from various states of India

B. Election of Office Bearers – Announcement of Results:

The AGM recorded its thanks to the returning officer Dr. Suresh Babu, SCTIMST for successfully conducting the SBAOI elections online for the term 2021 to 2024.

The following members were announced as the office bearers
President: Prof. Bikramjit Basu, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Vice President: Prof. Ashok Kumar, IIT Kanpur
Vice President: Dr. T.M. Sridhar, University of Madras
Secretary: Shri. Willi Paul, SCTIMST Thiruvananthapuram
Jt. Secretary: Dr. A. Balamurugan, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore
Treasurer: Dr. R.S. Jayasree, SCTIMST Thiruvananthapuram
EC members
Dr. T.S. Sampath Kumar, IIT Madras, Chennai
Dr. Neetu Singh, IIT Delhi
Dr. S. Kanagaraj, IIT Guwahati
Dr. H.K. Varma, SCTIMST, Trivandrum
Dr.R. Jayakumar, AMRITA, Kochi
Dr. A. Siddharthan, Anna University, Chennai
Dr. K. Kaladhar, AMRITA, Kochi
Dr. T.V. Anilkumar, SCTIMST, Trivandrum
Dr. V.P. Shrivastava, CBEAS, Nepal
Dr. Laxmi S. Nair, University of Connecticut, USA

They will take charge with effect from 1st April 2021.

Dr. Bikramjit Basu accepted his election as the new president of the Society and wowed to take the Society to new heights and strengthen its position in the global arena. He also highlighted his vision and plans of the coming years. SBAOI would make a robust bid for hosting WBC 2028 in India. He also proposed his plans for introducing a new award to recognize eminent persons with Distinguished Biomaterials Award. Criteria will be decided by the Executive committee in coming meetings. Young researchers may be activated for new ideas and plan for proposed 2028 WBC in Chennai. This may be coordinated by Dr. Biman Mandal.

C. Membership:

Prof. Veena Kaul stressed the need to induct new active young researchers who are working in the area of biomaterials from IIT Roorkee, Hyderabad etc and other institutions. Dr. Balamurugan will also look into the making of SBAOI identity card to be distributed to requesting members.

D. WBC2028:

A bid for the 2028 World Biomaterials Congress (WBC2028) will be presented during the WBC2020 virtual conference in December. A presentation was prepared by Dr. Sridhar, Prof. Bikramjit Basu, Prof. Ashok Kumar, Dr. Neetu Singh for the same.

E. TIBAO Journal:

Dr. Sharma informed that the issues regarding the journal would be discussed separately with the editorial board members. A suitable date will be fixed for an online discussion for future activities.

F. Financial Aspects:

The latest account position was provided by Mr. Willi Paul, in the absence of the Treasurer. As per the audited accounts of the year 2018-19 Society has a total asset of INR 19,30,694/- with a cash balance of INR 12,56,836/- and a fixed deposit of INR 8,51,747/- GB informed that after keeping about INR 1-2 lakhs rest of the cash may be converted into fixed deposits. As suggested by previous meetings GB also approved opening a new Bank Account at a Nationalized Bank i.e. Union Bank of India or State Bank of India for the ease of transaction. Approved transactions will be carried out by any two of the President, Secretary or Treasurer, as per our Bye Law.

Meeting ended with thanks to the chair.

Prof Veena Koul
President

Report and Minutes of the Annual General Body Meeting (AGBM) of the Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs, India (SBAOI) held during 29th National Conference (2019), held at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

Date and Time: November 29, 2019: 17:00 to 18:00 Hrs

Venue: LH18, Lecture Hall Complex, IIT Kanpur (Venue of XXIX NC of the Society during November 28 – December 1, 2019 organized by Prof. Ashok Kumar and Prof. Dhirendra Katti at IIT Kanpur)

The AGBM was chaired by Prof. Veena Koul (President, SBAOI). On behalf of SBAOI, Prof. Koul welcomed all the members to the GBM and congratulated Prof. Ashok Kumar and colleagues for organizing the International Conference, BioTERM at IIT Kanpur. The President presented an overview of the last year’s activities of the society. The following suggestions were made and in general consensus was achieved. In most cases, many of those were approved.

A. Membership Drive:

1. Membership increase was proposed by Prof. Ashok Kumar and was supported by all. A proposal for initiating a corporate membership with fee of Rs. 50,000 was made and GB approved for initiating the same.
2. Prof. Katti indicated the need to increase the membership fee of the Society. He also indicated that present day students are getting increased contingency grant which can be utilized for memberships. He also was of an opinion that the membership fee need to be increased once in 3-4 years. After discussion among members, GBM decided to increase the registration fee to INR 6000/- with effect from April 1, 2020.
3. There was a general view among all, that the membership of the Society needs to be increased. It was decided that every faculty must encourage the students to join the society.
4. Dr. Lakshmi Nair will canvas Indian Scientists working in USA to become SBAOI members during the forthcoming WBC. Prof. Katti indicated that lots of Indians are working in USA and fresh hands should join the society.

B. Future SBAOI conferences:

1. *Regarding National Meeting in 2020, GBM was informed by Prof. Ashok Kumar the keenness of Prof. Shiv Kumar Sarin, Director, ILBS, to organize the next meeting. ILBS, New Delhi, as the venue for the 2020 national conference was tentatively approved by the GB in partnership with IIT Delhi probably in October 2020. Prof. Veena Koul and Dr. Neetu Singh will involve in coorganizing the activity. This has to be confirmed from ILBS, New Delhi.
2. Dr. Balamurugan has shown interest to organize the 2021 National Conference (NC) at Bharathiar University. He will present the status and confirmation by next GBM* at ILBS, New Delhi. The request from IIT Guwahati by Dr. Kanagaraj/Dr. Biman Mandal is pending. This needs confirmation from them. Final venue will be decided by next GBM. Further, the GBM also approved organizing the 2022 National Conference at Nepal by Dr. Srivastava, College of Biomedical Engineering & Applied Sciences, Kathmandu. Secretary/President is requested to follow up with the organizers of NC 2020, 2021 and 2022.
3. There were some requests for Endorsing National Workshops and Conferences in India by some institutions. This was discussed by the GBM and approved that Conferences can be endorsed without any financial commitment to SBAOI. However, Society will not financially sponsor any conferences or Workshops. It was proposed by Prof. Basu that any conferences or workshop should not be endorsed within 3 months of SBAOI annual conferences. This point was approved by GBM.
4. There was a request from Chennai region that the President and Secretary may be waived the payment of registration fee for attending the conferences organized by SBAOI. However majority of the members were of the opinion that this need to be decided by the organizing secretary of respective conferences. Society need not make a rule for registration waiver. All the SBAOI members will have to pay the registration fee for all future SBAOI conferences. GB approved the majority decision.

C. Website and Outreach:
1. Prof. Bikramjit Basu indicated the importance of frequent updation of the website for the visibility of SBAOI. Dr. Balamurugan showed his willingness to collect the data required for the same. He will also advertise the journal among fellow members, their colleagues and other different institutes for increasing the number of submissions to the journal.
2. Dr. Balamurugan will also look into the making of SBAOI identity card to be distributed to requesting members. GB entrusted these jobs to Dr. Balamurugan. Dr. Sharma proposed inclusion of Dr. Balamurugan in the editorial board of the journal and GB approved the same.
3. A proposal to start a chapter at NIT Rourkela was proposed by Dr. Arunachalam. It was informed that they can initiate a chapter if the region have more than 25 members. When they are ready with the initial requirement they can contact Society President for rest of the proceedings.
4. A request from Dr. Geetha Manivasagam came up for formation of a chapter at VIT, Vellore. However, the majority decision was to reactivate the Chennai Chapter and they can be part of the Chennai Chapter. This was approved by the GB.
5. A request from Prof. Ashok Kumar for awarding the MAHE, Bajpai Saha and Poster awardees with Life membership of the Society instead of cash awards was discussed by the GB. It was decided to provide Society membership (as Awardee Members) and also maintain the cash awards.
6. It was proposed by Prof. Veena Koul that Society conferences should have a consistent name every year. Different options were discussed including BiTERM, BioTERM etc. Finally it was decided to keep a common name as SBAOI 2020 (for next year) and similarly every year. However, the organizers can continue the short name as per the theme of the conference also. This was approved by GB.
7. Prof. Basu proposed that structure of national conferences be based on expertise. Members can organize separate sessions. Organizers can invite symposiums from members, similar to WBC. This will increase the involvement of many active members in future SBAOI conferences. Prof Katti informed that significant number of members work aboard. One each can be invited from each country for the national conferences. Prof. Basu indicated that 50% Associate Professors and above and 50% Scientist from abroad may be provided opportunity for Keynote and plenary lectures.
8. Dr. Vivekanand informed that some clinicians working on medical materials wanted to become member of the Society. GB informed that the membership is open to all interested candidates. It was decided to send the information about the Society to various Dental and Medical Colleges so that interested person can join. This also increase the visibility of the Society.

D. SBAOI leadership:
1. It was proposed by Prof. Katti that the executive committee duration need to be reduced to 2 years from present 3 years. This will help in infusing fresh energy to the leadership. Dr. Sharma however had the option of 4 years. This was debated and decided to invite an opinion of all the members by mail whether to have 2,3 or 4 years, and have a decision by next GBM.
2. GBM decided to make Prof. Ashok Kumar as the SBAOI representative in Asian Biomaterials Federation (ABF) in place of Dr. H.K. Varma, whose term is over. It was also decided to have Prof. Bikramjit Basu as Council Member in APSAO. Necessary action need to be taken for the same from Secretary/ the President, SBAOI.
3. Dr. Neetu proposed to have an Indian origin fellowship position. Prof. Koul indicated the limitations of SBAOI in shortlisting and other difficulties. Prof. Basu indicated that these candidates can be mentored and can help in advertising suitable positions. Dr. Mondal proposed a get-together of Indian origin young scientists which helps them to know exact opportunities in different institutes in India. Prof. Katti indicated that SBAOI can work as an information system for the same.

E. Financial Aspects:
1. The latest account position was provided by Mr. Willi Paul, in the absence of the Treasurer. As per the audited accounts of the year 2018-19 Society has a total asset of INR 19,30,694/- with a cash balance of INR 10,64,019/- and a fixed deposit of INR 8,51,747/- GB informed that after keeping about INR 1-2 lakhs rest of the cash may be converted into fixed deposits.
Meeting ended with thanks to the chair.

Prof Veena Koul
President

*Note: Further update on the next National conference and next GBM of SBAOI: Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, an Institute of Eminence, Coimbatore Campus, Tamil Nadu has consented to organize the conference during December 2020. The dates and details would be updated on the SBAOI website shortly.

Report and Minutes of the Annual General Body Meeting of the Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs, India (SBAOI) during 28th National Conference (2018), held at VIT University, Vellore

Date and Time: 27 July 2018; 14:30 to 16:00 Hrs

Venue: Technology Tower, VIT University, Vellore (Venue of the XXVIII National Conference of the Society during July 26-28, 2018 organized by Dr. Geetha Manivasagam at VIT University, Vellore along with the international conference on Biomaterials, Bioengineering and Biotheranostics)

The meeting was chaired by Dr. Veena Koul (IIT Delhi), President SBAOI in the presence of Dr. T.M. Sridhar (University of Madras, Chennai), Secretary SBAOI; Prof. Bhuvanesh Gupta (IIT Delhi), President STERMI; Dr. Bikramjit Basu (IISc, Bangalore), and Dr. Chandra P. Sharma, Founder SBAOI.

With a welcome note by Dr. Veena Koul who presided, the meeting was called into order. Dr. Veena Koul briefed about the last year’s activity of the Society including the organization of ABMC6. Total membership of the Society grew to 831 with 737 life members. The minutes of last year was taken for discussion by Dr. Sridhar, Secretary SBAOI. It was approved by the GB unanimously.

Dr. Sharma informed that the next national conference of the Society will be organized by Prof. Ashok Kumar at IIT, Kanpur from 30 November to 2 December 2019.

Dr. Lakshmi S. Nair informed the GB that IUS-BSE meeting will be held on Sept. 9, 2018. GB asked Dr. Lakshmi to propose that the next 2019 IUSBSE meeting be held in IIT Kanpur along with the 29th National Conference of SBAOI. It was decided that Society can provide accommodation and local hospitality for foreign delegates who are attending the meeting which is part of the proposal.

Dr. Bikramjit Basu informed that Dr. Biman Mandal or Dr. Kanagaraj will take a lead for the 2020 National Conference at IIT Guwahati. The venue was approved by the GB in principle. Confirmation from the organizers will be informed by Dr. BB. Dr. Sharma informed that if there is any reservation about the venue, CBEAS Nepal as a venue can be considered.

Dr. Balamurugan’s interest in hosting 2020 or 2021 national conference was discussed. However, in his absence a decision was not taken. The venue for 2021 National Conference is still open with the following interested organizers. AMRITA – as informed by Dr. Jayakumar. Nepal and Dr. Balamurugan’s proposal is pending.

There was a general request for maintaining a hard copy of GB minutes which can be referred during all future GBs. Present GB approved this and informed that at least the minutes of last five GBs can be brought for the next GB onwards.

Dr. BB suggested that Society should endorse some relevant conferences/workshopd with no financial commitment for the benefit to the members. This system is followed by several international Societies. Dr. CPS indicated that there should be some advantage to the Society. Members should be able to attend the endorsed conference in discounted registration fee. The reduced registration fee should be applicable for all members who apply for the same in specific forms and decided by the committee. This is approved by the GB in principle.

There was a general request that the role and responsibilities of committee members need to be defined. Prof. Bhuvanesh Gupta indicated that there is no clear cut definition for the same; however, it is a group activity. Dr. Bikramjit Basu emphasized need of someone taking the lead as responsibility is self created and this only make the Society grow. Dr. CPS indicated that the responsibilities can be rewritten as an annexure* in the minutes of the GB meeting.

Dr. Veena Koul informed the importance of displaying slide presentation with details of the conference for better visibility of the Society among the delegates. Dr. Veena Koul and Dr. Neethu Singh took the responsibility of preparing the slides for the next conference.

Dr. Jayakumar suggested that a good poster about SBAOI to be displayed on all World Congresses. He willingly agreed to prepare a poster to be displayed for the next World Congress.

Dr. Bikramjit Basu suggested activating the Google group to share the news of the Society to the members. The news items will be screened by the President before uploading. This will be highlighted on the website also.

Dr. Lakshmi Nair enquired about the benefits offered to the members. It was indicated that all members will be offered concessional registration fee for all WBC and all Indian national conferences. All Indian students enrolled abroad can attend Indian conferences as an Indian Student and can contest for Bajpai-Saha Student award. Young scientist and post doctoral fellows can compete for MAHE-Young scientist award. GB instructed that this need to be listed in the website separately for the benefit of the members.

The decisions taken at the first fellows meeting was announced by Dr. BB to the GB. Dr. Jayakumar commented that the age limit should be flexible for selection of fellows. Dr. Veena Koul emphasized that when nominating Fellows, one of the criteria should be that their research work should have been done in India.

It was formally decided that for selecting the Chandra P Sharma Awardee, any member can nominate a personal from national/international community, who should be of a status equivalent to a Clemson Awardee or of similar stature. The president can decide a 5 member committee and can chair the meeting. The present members are Dr. Allan Hoffman, Dr. Brash, Dr. Gilson Khang, Dr. R. Baier and Chandra P. Sharma. Every three years 2 members can be changed. Dr. BB indicated that it will be desirable to have a person who does not have direct connection to the nominating member. Also persons who are already recognized by Indian Peer Body or having a similar status can also be considered. GB approved the decision.

Dr. Sridhar indicated the need of having a Membership ID card as many members showed interest in having a membership card. Dr. Sridhar will develop a template and get the approval of the president.

The proposal of taking over of the journal (TIBAO) by the publisher Springer was discussed. However, Dr. Jayakumar informed that Springer is no longer interested because it is not economical for them to acquire the same. Dr. Manoj Komath informed the GB that the journal was renovated with new website and in a better format and with new set of editorial board members with Dr. Chandra P. Sharma and Dr. H.K. Varma as Editors-in chief. The new printed journal was distributed to the members. Dr. Sharma mentioned that from now on Dr. H.K. Varma will be the Editor-in-chief and he will continue as Honorary Editor. The renovated journal was appreciated by all the members and approved by the GB to continue publication by the Society.

Dr. Manoj Komath proposed to have a separate bank account for the journal managed by the Editor-in chief and Managing Editor and to have an advance of Rs. 1 lakh which can be paid back when sufficient fund is available through the subscription charges and the proposed page charges. A page charge of Rs. 1000/- per article for printing was also proposed. However, it will be free for the members. This was discussed by the GB and finally approved.

Dr. Neethu Singh shared the idea of re-publication of articles published by eminent scientists. Also, initiating a leading scientist section in each issue of the journal. This was approved to be followed from next issue.

Dr. BB announced the National Workshop on ICME Approaches to Innovation in Biomedical Implants during August 11-12, 2018 and requested for the endorsement of the same by the Society. Dr. Sharma seconded it and was approved by the GB.

Dr. Kaladhar initiated discussion on Research Industry Network; whether it should be continued or not. Dr. BB indicated that people should present a proposal. Kalam Institute may sponsor such initiative. The sponsors should be assessed/sent a request and access the situation.

There was a general suggestion for a good logo for the Society. However, majority suggestion was to redraw the same logo for a better clarity.

The Treasurers report was presented by Willi Paul as the Treasurer could not attend the meeting. First the ABMC6 account (Audited Receipt and Expenditure) was presented. The total income of the Conference was Rs. 26,74,839/- with a receipt of Rs. 14,75,020/- as Registration fee, Rs. 10,83,250/- as Sponsorship fee, Rs. 75,000/- as Exhibition fee and Rs. 41,569/- as other income. Total expenditure was Rs. 26,22,900/-. Thus presently there is an excess of Rs. 51,939/- as income. An amount of sponsorship fee of Rs. 1,50,000/- need to be received from KSCSTE (Amount of payment is already sanctioned, but there is a delay in transfer of this amount via State Treasury). Thus the total income in excess of expenditure will come to Rs. 2,01,939/- which will directly go to the Society account.

The audited accounts of SBAOI for the year ending March 31, 2018 projected a total asset of Rs. 16,36,197/-. The total of bank balance and cash balance as of 27 July 2018 is Rs. 8,59670/-. The fixed deposits of SBAOI comes to Rs. 7,76,527/-. An amount of Rs. 1,50,000/- is yet to be received from Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment as funding support for ABMC6. The accounts were approved by the GB.

Meeting ended with thanks to chair at 16:00 Hrs.

Dr. Veena Koul
(President)

*Annexure:

Office Bearers: The office bearers of the Society shall be the President, two Vice presidents, the General Secretary and Treasurer from the executive committee elected at the Annual General Meeting from amongst the eligible members of the Society. The office bearers shall hold office for three years and shall be eligible for re-election provided, however, that the president shall not hold office for more than two consecutive terms.

The responsibilities of the office bearers shall include the following in addition to those which may be prescribed in the byelaws from time to time.

President

The president shall preside over all meetings of the Society and act as Chairman of the Executive committee. He shall be an ex-officio member of all sub-committees of the Society and shall have the power to take any action not contrary to those present to meet an emergency, subject to report to the committee at the earliest feasible date. The President of the society would present the society in all IUSBSE meetings or similar international conferences worldwide. This would strengthen SBAOI’s global image.

Vice President

In the absence of the President one of the Vice presidents shall assume duties and powers as are delegated to him by the President.

General Secretary

The General Secretary shall be in charge of the correspondence and records of the Society; convene all general meetings of the Society and of the committee with the previous concurrence of the President; carry out such other work as may be entrusted to him by the committee and sue and be sued upon all matters relating to or affecting the Society. Prior to every General Body meeting, the secretary would prepare the agenda in due consultation with the President and would send the agenda of the GB at least two weeks in advance of the meeting date.

Joint Secretary

In the absence of the General Secretary, the Joint Secretary shall assume the duties of the General Secretary. In other times he shall share the responsibilities of the General Secretary.

Treasurer

The Treasurer shall be in charge of all accounts of the Society; accept money and issue receipts on behalf of the Society and prepare quarterly and annual financial statements and budget for submission to the committee.

Report and Minutes of the Annual General Body Meeting of the Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs, India (SBAOI) 27th National Conference (2017), SCTIMST, Trivandrum

Date & Time: October 25, 2017, 18:30 Hrs

Venue: IRIS, Hotel Apollo Dimora, Thiruvananthapuram (Venue of the XXVII National Conference of the Society during October 25-27, 2017, organized by SCTIMST, Trivandrum along with 6th Asian Biomaterials Congress)

The meeting was chaired by Dr. H.K. Varma (SCTIMST) President, SBAOI in the presence of Dr. Bikramjit Basu (IISc Bangalore), Secretary SBAOI, Dr. R. Jayakumar (AMRITA, Kochi), Vice President, SBAOI and Dr. C.P. Sharma, Founder, SBAOI.

With the welcome note by Dr. H.K. Varma, the meeting was called into order. While welcoming the members, Dr. Varma briefed about the last years activity of the society. The life membership of the Society increased from 700 to 730 members with a total membership of 828.

Prof. Geetha Manivasagam made a presentation on the conduct of BioMET2018 to be held in VIT University, Vellore during July 24-28, 2018 and welcomed all members for the conference which will be held along with the next National Conference of SBAOI.

Minutes of the last General Body was confirmed and approved by the GB.

GB appreciated the efforts of Dr. Harikrishna Varma, Dr. Manoj Komath and Shri. Willi Paul and their team in organizing the excellent conference, 6th Asian Biomaterials Congress (ABMC6) in Thiruvananthapuram and the annual meeting of SBAOI.

During the intense discussion on the several points suggested by members, the following key points are noted for the attention of the SBAOI members.

Prof. Ashok Kumar expressed his interest in holding the 2019 National Conference at IIT Kanpur and this was approved by the GB. Dr. Bikramjit Basu suggested the venue for 2020 meeting as IIT Guwahati which was also approved in principle. A rapid fire session similar to one arranged for ABMC6 was suggested for future conferences.

As agreed by the last GB, 10% share of the registration fee collected need to be shared with the Society Head Office. As a start, Prof. Veena Kaul and Dr. Neetu Singh declared and handed over a cheque for Rs. 1 lakh to SBAOI as their share from the BITERM 2016 held at IIT Delhi. This gesture was well appreciated by the GB and suggested to continue the same in future.

Handing over of the journal trends to an external publisher/agency for smooth running of the same was suggested by Dr. Sharma and was discussed. Dr. Pandurangan wanted to distribute free the journal to the society members. Another suggestion was to make the journal a paid open journal but was not supported by majority of the members. A general suggestion of all the members was to keep the identity of the journal as a Society journal which should be independent of publishers. GB agreed to discuss these suggestions with Springer who have shown interest in taking over of the journal and to have an agreement accordingly.

The revised criteria to be followed for the award of FBAO were prepared by Dr. Bikramjit Basu. This was read during the GB. The draft of the same was suggested to be uploaded on the site for suggestions of all members. He also suggested increasing the membership of clinicians in the society.

The tabulated list of nominated members for the executive committee for the next term was presented by the Returning officer, Dr. Suresh Babu. Based on this list, office bearers were elected by the GB. Prof. Veena Kaul (IIT Delhi) was nominated as the next president of SBAOI by Dr. Sharma and was supported by members unanimously. Dr. Bikramjit Basu (IISc Bangalore) and Dr. Jayakumar R. (AMRITA Kochi) were elected as the Vice Presidents and Dr. Sridhar T.M. (University of Madras) as the Secretary. Shri. Willi Paul (SCTIMST) was elected as the Jt. Secretary and Dr. Anilkumar PR (SCTIMST) as the treasurer. Other executive committee members are as follows. Dr. Bhuvanesh Gupta (IIT delhi, opted by GB), Dr. HK. Varma (SCTIMST), Dr. Hari Pandurangan (Chennai), Dr. N. Rajendran (Anna University), Dr. Balamurugan A (Bharathiar University), Dr. Venkatachalapathy B. (Rajalakshmi Engineering College), Dr. Ramesh Babu (NIT Trichy), Dr. Biman Mandal (IIT Guwahati), Dr. Siddharthan A.(IIT Madras) and Shri. Nagesh D.S. (SCTIMST).

The new committee members were supposed to take charge on April 1, 2017. However since the election process was delayed new committee was not formed. GB regretted the same and under the unusual circumstances GB has approved to extend the term of the present committee till December 31, 2017. The new committee will take up the charge from January 1, 2018.

Meeting ended with thanks to chair at 19:30 Hrs.

Dr. H.K. Varma
(President)

Report and Minutes of the Annual General Body Meeting of the Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs, India (SBAOI) 26th National Conference (2016), IIT Delhi
Date & Time: April 16, 2016 at 18:00 Hrs

Venue: Lecture Hall Complex, IIT Delhi (Venue of the XXVI National Conference of the Society during April 2016, organized by Department of Biomedical Engineering, IIT Delhi.)

The meeting was chaired by Dr. H.K. Varma (SCTIMST) President, SBAOI in the presence of Dr. Bikramjit Basu (IISc Bangalore), Secretary SBAOI, Dr. R. Jayakumar (AMRITA, Kochi), Vice President, SBAOI and Dr. C.P. Sharma, Founder, SBAOI.

With the welcome note by Dr. H.K. Varma, the meeting was called into order. While welcoming the members, Dr. Varma briefed about the last years activity of the society. The life membership of the Society increased from 664 to 700 members with a total membership of 795. 15 new members joined from Delhi area.

Minutes of the last General Body was confirmed and approved by the GB.

GB appreciated the efforts of Prof. Veena Koul, Prof. Bhuvanesh Gupta, Dr. Neetu Singh and their team in organizing an excellent annual meeting of SBAOI along with the International Conference on “Biomaterials, Biodiagnostics, Tissue Engineering, Drug Delivery and Regenerative Medicine” (BiTERM2016) in Delhi.

During the intense discussion on the several points suggested by members, the following key points are noted for the attention of the SBAOI members:-

Dr. Varma briefed about the 6th Asian Biomaterials Congress (6ABMC) to be held at Thiruvananthapuram on behalf of SBAOI. The dates of the conference and venue has been tentatively fixed as October 27-29, 2017 and Mascot Hotel, Thiruvananthapuram respectively. Members suggested evaluating also the Convention centre at Mar Ivanios College (Nalanchira) for its suitability as a possible venue. Dr. Sharma informed that a meeting will also be held by the Asia Pacific Society for Artificial Organs along with 6ABMC and there is a possibility of obtaining an amount of Japanese Yen of 500000 for the same. The GB approved the conduct of 6ABMC at Thiruvananthapuram and authorized Dr. H.K. Varma to initiate the organizing of the conference in the capacity of Organizing Secretary/Organizing Chair.

Discussions were held about the payment of 10% share of registration fee collected during the National Conferences by the organizers to the Society Head office. This has been practiced by various other professional national societies. Prof. Veena Koul (IIT Delhi) suggested that a letter in this regards may be sent to the organizer by the president of the society.

Kochi chapter has been formally incorporated, however the details about the executive committee is not yet communicated to the head office. Dr. Jayakumar agreed to convey the details at the earliest.

Dr. Sharma suggested instituting a product development award for successful translational research to be given during national conferences. Dr. Rajendran (Anna University) informed that since it may be difficult for academic faculty to always have product development, a separate award for academic activities may be initiated along with product development award. He also suggested initiating a travel award for members to attend national and international conferences. Dr. Naveen Sharma (IVRI) enquired about the possibility of travel funding to attend WBC conferences. GB approved to study and formulate a system and guidelines for initiating such awards. GB approved to initiate five Travel awards for students for an amount of Rs. 3000/- or actual (equivalent to IInd AC train fare) from 6ABMC onwards. However, this award will be restricted to Society conferences only, based on merit and equal opportunity need to be provided to all region of the country as suggested by Dr. Maya Nandkumar (SCTIMST).

Dr. Neetu Singh (IIT Delhi) suggested organizing one day workshops as a SBAOI activity at different schools at national level to create awareness about the biomaterials and medical devices field and the SBAOI activities among the students at the high school levels. The topics suggested were “Need of medical devices and other medical products”, “Challenges in medical product developments”, “current clinical needs of our country” etc. Clinicians may be invited to interact with the students.

Dr. Direndra Katti suggested collecting yearly fees from members to generate funds for various activities of the society.

Dr. Bhuvanesh Gupta suggested starting a Fellows Meeting before the GB meeting and the Fellows recommendations may be later discussed in the GB. This was approved by the GB.

The review the criteria to be followed for the award of FBAO as approved by the last GB were pending. GB assigned the revision of criteria to Dr. Bikramjit Basu with the help of Dr. Jayakumar (AMRITA), Dr. Dhirendra Katti (IIT Kanpur, Prof. Veena Kaul (IIT Delhi).

A revision of the editorial board of the journal and creation of a Reviewer Board was suggested and GB approved inclusion of Dr. Jayakumar (AMRITA) in the editorial board.

GB approved for amending the byelaw of the Society by adding the following sentence. “The Society supports and acknowledges the biomaterials science in India by presenting awards to members, dissemination of knowledge to members and students by publishing journal free to all members.” This may help in completing the formalities in accepting tax free donations.

Meeting ended with thanks to chair at 19:30 Hrs.

Dr. H.K. Varma
(President)

Report and Minutes of the Annual General Body Meeting of the Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs, India (SBAOI) 25th National Conference (2015), Anna University

Date & Time: February 6, 2015 at 18:00 Hrs

Venue: TAG Auditorium, Anna University, Chennai (Venue of the XXV National Conference of the Society during February 2015, organized by Department of Chemistry, Anna University, Chennai.)

The meeting was chaired by Dr. H. K. Varma President, SBAOI in the presence of Dr. Bikramjit Basu, Secretary SBAOI, Dr. Prabha D. Nair, President, STERMI and Dr. C.P. Sharma, Founder, SBAOI. Minutes of the last General Body was confirmed and approved. After a welcome note by Dr. H.K. Varma, Dr. Bikramjit Basu called the meeting into order. While welcoming the members, Dr. Varma briefed about the last years activity of the society. The life membership of the Society increased from 639 to 664 members with a total membership of 748.

GB appreciated the efforts of Dr. Rajendran and his team in organizing an excellent annual meeting of SBAOI along with the Indo-Australian Conference on Biomaterials, Tissue Engineering, Drug Delivery System & Regenerative Medicine (BiTERM2015) in Chennai.

During the intense discussion on the points suggested by Dr. Sharma and other members, the following key points are noted for the attention of the SBAOI members. Participation in World Biomaterials Congresses needs to be encouraged among members since this participation is required for the continued Membership of SBAOI in the IUS-BSE. WBC attendance at present may be made a requirement for the award of FBSE. During discussion, it has been decided that members need to attend at least two WBC and one Asian Biomaterials Congress for FBSE nomination beside other requirements; this will also help in the stability of SBAOI internationally. Presently there is a call for Symposia Submission for the next World Biomaterials Congress to be held in Canada (10th WBC). March 1, 2015 is the last date for the symposia submission. Increased participation in International conferences is generally suggested in the GB.

Dr. Bhuvanesh Gupta suggested sending regular e-mails/newsletters informing about the conferences etc. by the Society. This was seconded by Dr. Prabha D Nair and suggested sending news and information to the Secretary for maintaining regular communications from SBAOI. The information dissemination can be done centrally using a common e-mail pool, like Google Groups.

Dr. Sharma informed his unhappiness on the slow growth rate of the membership in the Society and suggested that Executive committee should be proactive. Dr. Sharma congratulated Dr. Sampathkumar and his colleagues for doing a good job in Chennai Chapter. He further suggested constituting a College of Fellows in line with the International College of Fellows (ICF) IUS-BSE, with a role of networking among young scholars. Arranging a Fellows Session during conferences, in any subject has been suggested from next meeting onwards and has been approved by the GB. GB approved for the revision of guidelines for the award of FBAO and assigned the President to constitute a committee for the same. The guidelines need to be reviewed every five years. Once the committee is constituted, the committee would particularly look into the revision of the criterion in reference to H-index, total citations and other criterion, as deemed suitable. The number of articles in the journal Trends need to be increased and members are encouraged for manuscript submissions. Speedy dispatch of reviewer reports for the journal assigned articles are appreciated.. Government has given tax benefits on donations. The amount donated towards charity attracts deduction under section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Society also can attract donations for fund mobilization. However, at present these donations do not carry tax relief. Treasurer need to enquire about the formality for the same from the income tax office and initiate the needful.

At present, Conference Organizers of the Annual Meeting at different places are not remitting any part of the funds raised to the Society. As practiced by different professional societies, a 10% of the registration fees collected during the conferences need to be transferred to the Head Office account of the Society for the continued business of the Society affairs.

The proposals received from Dr. Veena Koul, IIT Delhi; Dr. Kanagaraj, IIT Guwahati; Dr. Sheikh Ghulam Mohammad, NIT Srinagar and Dr. Bhuvanesh Gupta, IIT Delhi for next conference were discussed. The GB approved the proposal of Dr. Bhuvanesh Gupta to hold the next conference at IIT Delhi and reiterated that proposal for holding conferences should be presented in person and no ‘in absentia’ proposal need to be further discussed.

Initiating a new chapter in Delhi was proposed by Dr. Bhuvanesh Gupta. As per the rule of the Society a minimum membership of 20 in a particular locality qualifies for initiating a new chapter. This was discussed in detail and Delhi Chapter by Dr. Bhuvanesh Gupta was approved by the GB based on his assurance that there would definitely be more than the minimum 20 members from Delhi itself within the month of Feb 2015.

Dr. Kaladhar suggested initiation of a Research-Industry Network by the SBAOI to have an interface between the Medical Device industry and the research institutes similar to the set-up found in Pharmaceutical Research/Industry. Dr. Prabha Nair indicated that Society is already having many Industrial / Organisational Members and it is a good idea to actively involve these industries in the activities of the Society.

Dr. Varma briefed about the organizing of the 6th Asian Biomaterials Congress (ABMC6) on behalf of SBAOI in Trivandrum in year 2017. This will be presented during the 5th ABMC at Taipei, Taiwan during May 2015 for the final approval of the venue. It has been suggested by Dr. Bikramjit Basu that a presentation need to be prepared for presenting the proposal for final approval at Taiwan. Slides should reflect the Biomaterials research in India, Translational Research and Commercialization. Dr. PV Mohanan suggested that the presentation should include the facilities available like water, food, transportation, registration fee, conference venue etc.

Dr. Bikramjit Basu suggested a massive restructuring of the website to make it more informative but more simple to navigate. He also suggested in recognizing under-graduates and post-graduates students similar to what Indian Institute of Metals organizes; and to have some basic project awards for Masters and PhD students coordinated by the Society. However, the award committee has to frame guidelines. GB appreciated that such efforts would encourage more young researchers to become members.

Meeting ended with thanks to chair at 19:00 Hrs.

Dr. H.K. Varma
(President)

Report and Minutes of the Annual General Body Meeting of the Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs, India (SBAOI) 24th National Conference (2014), CBEAS, Kathmandu, Nepal

Date & Time: January 12, 2014 at 17:00 Hrs (Nepal Time)

Venue: Hotel Raddisson, Kathmandu, Nepal (Venue of the XXIV National Conference of the Society during January 11-13, 2014, organized by College of Biomedical Engineering and Applied Sciences, Kathmandu)

The meeting was chaired by Shri DS Nagesh, President, SBAOI. Minutes of the last General Body was confirmed.

The current status of the audited accounts for the years 2010-11 and 2011-12; and unaudited accounts for the year 2012-13 were presented by Shri. Willi Paul, on behalf of the Treasurer of the society. As per the audited statement of accounts the total Assets of the Society as on March 31, 2012 is Rs. 10,07,069.52. The audited accounts of the Chennai chapter are still pending and instructed Dr. Sampath Kumar to complete it at the earliest. As of March 31, 2011 the total assets (unaudited) comes to 870,035.57. As of March 31, 2013 the total assets (unaudited) comes to Rs. 11,73,467.50. GB approved for initiating new fixed deposit at the Union Bank of India, after keeping Rs. 1 lakh for day to day functioning of the Society in Savings Bank account. Life membership increased from 609 to 639 members with a total membership of 731.

GB appreciated the efforts of Dr. Shrivastava in organizing an excellent conference in Nepal.

Formation of Asia Pacific Society for Artificial Organs with SBAOI as a member was decided during the recently concluded meeting of JSAO-IFAO at Yokohama, Japan on September 28, 2013, that was attended by Dr. C.P. Sharma. This was announced by Dr. Sharma.

GB approved inviting nominations for the award of next set of FBAO fellows directly or from the existing fellows.

The result of the election 2014 was declared at the GB and the following office bearers were elected.

President: Dr. HK Varma
Vice President: Dr. R. Jayakumar
Secretary: Dr. Bikramjit Basu
Joint Secretary: Dr. Dhirendra Katti
Treasurer: Mr. Willi Paul
Members
Dr. Annie John
Prof. Erhan Psikin
Shri DS Nagesh
Dr. Rinti Banerjee
Dr. Roy Joseph
Dr. TS Sampathkumar
Dr. Seeram Ramakrishna
Dr. TM Sridhar
Dr. Thomas Chandy
Dr. Viashwa P. Srivastava was co opted by the GB to the executive committee as Vice President.

The proposal of Dr. Jayakumar (in absentia) to hold the next meeting and national conference (XXV) at AMRITA Kochi during 2015 was accepted unanimously. A suggestion to hold future national conference at IIT Guwahati by Dr. Mandal during Dec 2015 or Jan 2016 is open.

Increased participation in International conferences is suggested in the GB.

Meeting ended with thanks to chair at 17:30 Hrs.

Shri. D.S. Nagesh
(President)

Report and Minutes of the Annual General Body Meeting of the Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs, India (SBAOI) 23rd National Conference (Dec 2012)

Date& Time: December 9, 2012 at 7.40 pm

Venue: Indian Institute of Science (Venue of the XXIII National Conference of the Society during December 9-11, 2012)

The meeting was chaired by Shri DS Nagesh, President, SBAOI . Minutes of the last General Body was confirmed.

The current status of the accounts (unaudited) for the year 2011-12 was presented by Shri. Willi Paul, on behalf of the Treasurer of the society. As per the audited statement of accounts the total Assets of the Society as on March 31, 2010 is Rs. 788,874.17. The accounts for the years 2010-11 and 2011-12 were not audited as the Chennai chapter audited accounts are pending. As of March 31, 2011 the total assets (unaudited) comes to 870,035.57. As of March 31, 2012 the total assets (unaudited) comes to Rs. 10,07,069.52. Audited account report form Chennai chapter is awaited for auditing the accounts. Life membership increased from 557 to 609 members with a total membership of 695.

Dr. C.P. Sharma participated in the 50th annual meeting of Japanese Society for artificial Organs, Nov’22-24,2012 at Fukuoka Japan, where the plan of formation of Asian Society for Artificial Organs was discussed in line of European Society for artificial Organs. SBAOI will also be the member of the Asian Society for Artificial Organs Subsequently this will lead our Society to become member of International Society of Artificial Organs with time. Holding independent annual meetings of STERMI was suggested, which need to be decided by the next general body. Dr. Sharma also suggested to form a Federation of Biomedical Sciences & Engineering Societies in India and have a common meeting of all the member societies together once in four years. There was a discussion on constituting the award on the memory of Dr. D. Basu and it was decided that such proposal has to be carefully scrutinized considering the distinguished contributions to the Society which should be obvious to all the members as well as international level of scientific contribution. Therefore it was not considered. Life Membership fee of the Society shall be increased to Rs.4000/- from January 2014 form the current rate of Rs.2000/-. The Organisational membership fee shall be Rs. 10,000/-. The possibility of getting income tax rebates for donations to the society need to be explored.

Dr. Jayakumar presented the activities of the Cochin chapter of the Society. He handed over the report and minutes of the first general body meeting of the chapter held at AMRITA Kochi on November 2, 2012.

Dr. Sampathkumar announced that the election to the Chennai chapter was conducted and the details will be handed over. He assured that the audited account of Chennai chapter will be sent by March 2013.

Prof. Vishwa P. Shrivastava proposed to organize the next meeting and national conference at Kathmandu, Nepal during January 2014 and was accepted. A suggestion to hold future national conference at Anna University is open.

G.B approved spending Rs.15,000/- for maintaining the web site for next 10 years.

Meeting ended with thanks to chair at 8:30 pm.

Shri. D.S. Nagesh
(President)

Report and Minutes of the Annual General Body Meeting of The Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs, India (SBAOI), 22nd National Conference (Jan 2012). Date & Time: January 7, 2012 at 6.00 pm, Venue: Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai (Venue of the XXII National Conference of the Society during January 6-8, 2012)

The meeting was chaired by Shri DS Nagesh, President, SBAOI.

Minutes of the last General Body was confirmed.

Dr. TM Sridhar, Secretary of SBAOI, presented the conference report.

The current status of the accounts (unaudited) for the year 2010-11 was presented by Shri. Willi Paul, on behalf of the Treasurer of the society. As per the audited statement of accounts the total Assets of the Society as on March 31, 2010 is Rs. 788,874.17. As of March 31, 2011 the total assets (unaudited) comes to 870,035.57. As of December 31, 2011 the total assets (unaudited) comes to 888,518.52. Some FD’s will mature in February 2012, which makes the total assets of the society to over 10 lakhs. Audited account report from Chennai chapter is awaited for auditing the accounts. Life membership increased from 544 to 557 members with a total membership of 644.

Three proposals were presented for the Venue of Society’s next meeting and XXIII National Conference next year – 1. Annamalai University by Dr. Malathi and Dr. Krishnan. 2. Dr. B. Basu, IISc Bangalore and 3. NIT Rourkela – Dr. Kunal Pal. The suggestion by Dr. Bikramjit Basu was seconded by Prof. Jayakumar, AMRITA. Majority decision was accepted in favor of IISc Bangalore.

Prof. Jayakumar informed his willingness and handed over a draft of Rs. 50,000/- to Shri DS Nagesh and a list of 25 new members’ from Kochi region for initiation of a new chapter of the Society at Kochi. It was suggested that Dr. Jayakumar will be the chairman of this chapter and Dr. Krishna Prasad as convener.

Dr. Kunal Pal informed his interest in initiating the Associate Membership Exam of the Society.

Dr. T.S. Sampath Kumar announced the office bearers for the Chennai chapter of SBAOI.

Dr. Manukrishnan, Indian Army wanted the Society and its activity to be promoted with the Army hospital and its research centers.

Meeting ended with thanks to the Chair at 6:30 pm.
Shri. DS Nagesh (President)

Report and Minutes of the Annual General Body Meeting of Society for the Biomaterials and Artificial Organs, India, (SBAOI) held at Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Ahmadabad on February 11, 2011 at 5.30 pm in connection with the 25th Anniversary meeting (21st National Conference (2011)) of the Society during February 10-12, 2011.

The meeting was chaired by Prof. T.S. Sampathkumar, Vice President, SBAOI and Dr. H.K.Varma, Secretary of SBAOI presented the last years report and membership details. The current status of the accounts and the audited account statements for the years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 were presented by Mr. Willi Paul, Treasurer of the society.

As per the audited statement of accounts the total Assets of the Society as on March 31, 2010 is Rs. 788,874.17. As of December 31, 2010 the total assets (un audited) comes to 847,015.57. The 2010-2011 accounts will be audited after March 31, 2011. Life membership increased from 530 to 544 members with a total membership of 627.

“Trends in Biomaterials & Artificial Organs” is publishing 4 issues per volume per year from 2011. The printing is limited and is dispatched to the subscribers and Organizational members only at present. All life members can use the online facility for viewing journal site. The journal now accept manuscripts online at its own online submission system at http://www.sbaoi.org

The following decisions were approved by the General Body meeting of SBAOI

1. The election results were declared during the GB and the following members were declared elected to Executive Committee for 2011-2014. The report of the returning officer Mr. R. Sreekumar is attached.

Shri. D.S. Nagesh – President
Dr. T.S. Sampathkumar – Vice President
Dr. H.K. Varma – Vice President
Dr. T.M. Sridhar – Secretary
Prof. CV Subba Rao – Joint Secretary
Dr. Niranjan D Khambette – Treasurer
Dr. Ajith K. Banthia – Member
Dr. Alok R. Ray – Member
Dr. G.S. Bhuvaneshwar – Member
Dr. M. Jayabalan – Member
Dr. V. Kalliyanakrishnan – Member
Dr. P.V. Mohanan – Member
Shri. C.V. Muraleedharan – Member
Dr. Rinti Banerjee – Member

2. All past Presidents of the Society should not be part of the nominations for election because it is difficult for fresh members to get elected. However, if they wish to be part of election process they can indicate so prior to the election to the returning officer.

3. For considering for the fellowship (FBAO) the citations should be over 750 for foreign members.

4. From next election onwards complete security need to be introduced for online election process.

5. As a suggestion request has come from Dr. A.M. Kuthe, NIT Nagpur for organizing the next National Conference during Dec 2011/Jan 2012 – Need to be confirmed. As a second option Dr. R. Jayakumar (AMRITA) suggested Dr. Sathyamangalam may be interested for organizing the next conference – need to be confirmed.

6. Dr. Ajit Kumar needs to be nominated an Executive member since he is the President of the US chapter. One member Mr. Durgadas CV is nominated as Student Representative.

7. Dr. Jayakumar and Dr. Krishna Prasad have agreed to start a Cochin chapter of SBAOI. Once the chapter is formulated the Chairman/President of the chapter will be nominated to be one of the executive committee members.

Meeting ended with thanks to the Chair at 6:00 pm

Dr. HK Varma (Secretary)

Report and Minutes of the Annual General Body Meeting of Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs, India, (SBAOI) 20th National Conference (2010) held at SCMS, Kochi on February 28, 2010 at 6.30 pm in connection with the International Conference on Biomaterials, Artificial Organs and Tissue Engineering (ICBAT) during February 28-March 1, 2010.

The meeting was chaired by Prof. Alok Ray, President of SBAOI. Dr.H.K.Varma, Secretary, SBAOI presented the current status of the Accounts and Membership details of the society.

As per the audited statement of accounts (passed in the last AGM) the total Assets of the Society as on March 31, 2007 is Rs. 6,43,328.59. As of March 31, 2009 the total assets (un audited) comes to 7,98,845.70. The 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 accounts are with the auditor for auditing purpose. Life membership increased from 512 to 530 members with a total membership of 610. As approved by last GB at Nepal a new account was started at Union Bank of India , Poojappura Branch. It is suggested that the fixed deposits worth Rs. 280,005/- due in June 2010 may be deposited at Union Bank as a long term Fixed Deposit with GB approval.

There are 14 subscribers for the journal Trends in Biomaterials & Artificial Organs at present. Since the volume is starting from May issue every year, subscribers are asking for the Jan issues also although they are not subscribing for that volume which is an additional burden for the Society. It is suggested to change the first issue to Jan for every volume, like all other journals, starting from Jan 2011, the 25th volume of the journal. This also helps in the indexing of the journal. The printing cost of three issues (one volume, 400 copies) of the journal comes to Rs. 36000-40000 (depending on page numbers), and the dispatch charges is Rs. 7000 totaling to Rs. 43000-47000 but the income from subscriptions is only Rs. 42000. It is suggested that printed copies may be sent to only subscribers and organizational members so that it can be printed in small volume with much lesser cost. All members can be provided online access to full text of the journal. Small volume printing can be done at Rs. 100 per copy. If we print 50copies each, total printing cost will come to Rs. 15000 plus dispatch charges of Rs. 3000 totaling to 18000 per year.

The following decisions were approved by the General Body meeting of SBAOI.

1. The fixed deposits worth Rs. 2,80,005/- due in June 2010 may be deposited at Union Bank as a long term Fixed Deposit again.

2. From January 2011 onwards, the journal “Trends in Biomaterials & Artificial Organs” will have the volume number 25.

3. May issue of the Journal “Trends in Biomaterials & Artificial Organs” will be the last printed issue to be sent to the members by post. After that, all members will be provided online access to full text of the journal. Members should provide their email id for future communications.

4. It is approved that printed copies will be sent to only subscribers and organizational members.

5. GB has approved to start a Fellowship programme (FBAO).

sd
(President)