Report of Meeting

REPORT OF MEETING

The two important documents connected with meetings are the agenda and the minutes. A few days before the meeting, the secretary circulates among the members a list of the items to be discussed at the meeting. This is called the agenda for the meeting. After the meeting, the secretary prepares a report on the decisions taken at the meeting. This report is called the minutes of the meeting. The minutes of the meeting have to be prepared with care as it is the authentic record of what happened at the meeting. It is essential that the minutes are brief and accurate.

Look at the following agenda and minutes of a meeting of the United Printers' Association of South India.

A) Agenda for the 14^th meeting of United Printers Association of South India at Printers' House, Chennai on Monday, 06 January, 2014.

        Confirmation of the minutes of 13^th meeting.

        Action taken on the minutes of the 13^th meeting.

        Proposal to start a journal. (the report of the sub-committee appointed to study this proposal is enclosed)

        Need for import of printing machinery.

5. Proposal to send a representative to the World Conference of Printers.) Minutes of the  14th meeting of the United Printers Association of South India at Printers'

House, Chennai on Monday, 06 January, 2014.

Members present

1. Mr. A.B. Prabhu (in the chair) 2. Mr. P. Narayana Pillai

3. Mr. M.C. Jacob 4. Mr. K.N. Subramanian

5. Mr. K.C. Patil 6. Mrs. Revathy Reddy

Mr. N. Srinivasan could not be present. His telegram, expressing inability to attend the meeting, was read out.

        The minutes of the 13^th meeting were confirmed and signed.

        The members noted the action taken on the minutes of the previous meeting. It was felt that the work on the construction of two more rooms at the Printers' House should be expedited.

        The association, after a brief discussion, agreed to the recommendation made by the sub-committee. The meeting decided to start the journal from March, 2014. An expenditure of Rs. 1 lakh was sanctioned for this purpose.

        The meeting decided to make representations to the government of India to allow import of printing machinery under open general license. A three-member delegation consisting of Mr. A.B. Prabhu, Mr. K.N. Subramanian and Mrs. Revathy Reddy was constituted to go to Delhi and make representations to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce.

        The meeting decided to send Mr. P. Narayana Pillai as its representative to the World Conference of Printers to be held at Berlin in June 2014.

        Mr. K.C. Patil suggested that the Association should open its membership to smaller printers with an investment of Rs.25,000/- and above. After a brief discussion the meeting decided to postpone this item till the next meeting.

         It was decided that the next meeting of the Association should be held in December 2014.

           The meeting ended at 1.10 pm with a vote of thanks to the chair.

Notice the following features of the minutes

        The Heading: The name of the organization, the number of the meeting, the time and place of the meeting are given in the headline.

        Names of the Chairman and the members present.

        Members absent, if any. Any communication received from them.

Decisions of the meeting: Each item is mentioned in a separate paragraph. Decisions are recorded with precision. They are recorded in the order in which the items are mentioned in the agenda.

        Decision about the next meeting.

        Vote of thanks to the chair.

(P)Write a report on a fire accident due to leakage of electric current in a ladies hostel where two electrical engineering students died. Also give a set of recommendations for preventing such accidents in future.

21.01.14

The Warden

Tamarai Ladies hostel

CP College of Engineering

Chennai

The Principal

CP College of Engineering

Chennai

Dear sir,

Sub: Report on the fire accident in the Ladies Hostel - reg. With reference to the intimation No.561/14 dated 19.1.2014, the Committee members constituted by you and I investigated the cause for the accident and have prepared a report with recommendations to avoid such incidences in future. The report is enclosed for your perusal. Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

Mrs. Hemalatha Kumar

Executive summary:

This is the report prepared on the request by the Principal. A committee was formed with the Warden of the Hostel as the convener to find about the exact cause of the fire accident which killed two final year students of the college on 26^th January in the Ladies Hostel premises. The committee comprised the following members:

         Mrs. Jancy Nelson / Professor, Information Technology

         Mrs. Vijaya Krishnan / Associate Professor, EEE

         Mrs. Uma Balaji / Member, Parents' Association

        Mrs. Hemalatha Kumar / The Warden, Ladies Hostel (Convener)

        Description of the Incident:

On 19.01.2014, when the inmates of the ladies hostel had finished their dinner and were in the study time, there occurred a sudden explosion. The girls and the Resident Counselor rushed out of their rooms. Fire and smoke was seen in room no.15 - the last room in the corridor. Screams were heard. Everybody rushed to the room and brought pales of water and poured on the fire. Fire extinguisher with the sand available was sprayed. The RC immediately dialed the fire service department and alerted the Security also. One girl, with presence of mind, switched off the main electrical supply for that wing of rooms. When the fire engine arrived, the fire had been almost brought under control. But, unfortunately, the two roommates who were in the room had been suffocated and they were brought out dead. The girls started crying on seeing the bodies. The bodies were shifted to the Government Hospital for post mortem and the necessary formalities. The parents of the girls were informed about the accident. Investigation details:

The Management formed a Committee the very next morning and the Committee visited the site of the accident. The girls in the adjacent rooms were enquired. Their classmates confessed that the two girls were very studious and as they both were doing Electrical Engineering, they would be always doing something with circuits and wires. Probably, one of such experiments would have caused a short circuit and they might have overlooked that.

During the explosion, heavy black smoke emanated from the room. The girls might have collapsed due to the sudden shock and suffocation.

It was the presence of mind of Ms. Jancy, that the fire was prevented from spreading to the neighborhood rooms. All the girls did their best. The combined effort of the RC, the girl students and the Security helped to bring down the situation under control. Management

Responses:

The Management immediately took all measure to inform the parents and the authorities concerned. They have done their best to give solace to the other inmates and the parents.

Recommendations:

More than 60% fires are of electric origin on account of electric short circuit, overheating, overloading, use of nonstandard appliances, illegal tapping of electric wires, improper electrical wiring, carelessness and ignorance, etc. Proper care should be taken and instructions should be scrupulously followed. If not done, it can lead to serious fire and fatal accidents. Also, electrical fires spread rapidly especially in buildings and cause loss of lives and property.

        The students should be prevented from doing electrical experimental work in the hostel premises. In case, they want to do, they should do it in the laboratories under the supervision of a tutor.

        All hostels should be installed with devices that would spray Carbon dioxide or dry powder in case of a fire accident.

        Students should be given training on using electrical goods properly.

        Training can be given on the ways to handle emergency situations.

        Care should be taken to use good quality fuses of correct rating, miniature circuit breakers

and earth leakage circuit breakers.

Conclusion:

The fatal death of two girls has acted as an eye-opener to many living in hostels. Precaution should be taken by the authorities to prevent students misusing the facilities provided to them. It is also a revelation to students to be careful with electrical equipments.