AKVNA Annual Meeting 2021
Minutes of the AKVNA Annual (Virtual) Meeting, June 5, 2021
The meeting started at 7 PM EST with a virtual meet and greet. 46 veterinarians and families attended the meeting. Honorable Vice-Chancellor of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University Dr. M. R. Saseendranath was the chief guest of the meeting. Dr. N. Mohanan, Vice President, Indian Veterinary Association (Kerala) also attended the meeting as a special guest.
Dr. Deepa Kuttappan compered the program. The function started with a prayer by Ms. Gauthami followed by the welcome address by AKVNA vice president Dr. Madhurajan Mathews.
Dr. Justin Fernandez gave the presidential address. Secretary, Dr. Naveen Surendran reported the activities of AKVNA for the years 2019-21. Dr. Nishanth Sunny presented the annual finance report.
Dr. Naveen Surendran introduced the resolution to approve the updated AKVNA constitution and by-laws. A virtual poll was conducted and the general body unanimously approved the updated AKVAN constitution and by-laws. Dr. Deepa welcomed our chief guest Dr. M. R. Saseendranath and he addressed AKVNA informing us of the great strides made by Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University. Followed by his speech; Dr. Sambhu M. Pillai, AKVNA eMagazine Editor presented the 3rd Edition of Global Vet Times to Dr. Saseendranath for official release. Dr. Sambhu M. Pillai spoke a few words about the eMagazine effort and requested the group to contribute more articles for upcoming editions and use the eMagazine as a platform to showcase our achievements.
Dr. N. Mohanan, Vice-President, IVA delivered a special message to the group detailing the collaborative efforts between AKVNA and IVA especially during COVID times.
This was followed by felicitations from Dr. Mathew Varughese, founding member of AKVNA who congratulated the team and noted that he took great pride in receiving continuing education (CE) credits from AKVNA for attending AKVNA-IVA webinar - COVID and its aftermath. This was followed by Dr. George Verghese’s felicitation who pointed out the need for more engagement from new members. During Dr. Roy Jacob’s felicitation, he directed the gathering towards AKVNA website to show a number of career guidance resources available at the website for new members/aspiring vets. Dr. Poonam Vinayamohan told the gathering of the camaraderie and networking opportunities that exist in AKVNA and how that is helpful to all.
The public function was followed by cultural programs starting with a song by Dr. Daniel George followed by songs, dance programs, TikTok and light humor videos mainly by children of AKVNA vets.
Following the cultural programs, general body moved on to Election of new Office Bearers for the next term of 2021-22. Secretary listed the nominations received through online nomination form sent out early in May 2021.
President- Dr. Sunil Mangalassery
Proposed by - Dr. Justin Fernandez
Seconded by- Dr. Madhurajan Mathews
Vice-President – Dr. Deepa Kuttappan
Proposed by – Dr. Rajani Tyagi
Seconded by – Dr. Justin Fernandez
Secretary- Dr. Bisi Velayudhan
Proposed by- Dr. Naveen Surendran
Seconded by- Dr. Roy Jacob
Joint Secretary – Dr. Elza Neelima Mathew
Proposed by – Dr. Sambhu M. Pillai
Seconded by – Dr. Nishanth Sunny
Treasurer- Dr. Nishanth Sunny
Proposed by - Dr. George Verghese
Seconded by- Dr. Daniel George
E-Magazine Editor- Dr. Sambhu M. Pillai
Proposed by- Dr. Roy Jacob
Seconded by- Dr. Padmakumar Pillai
AKVNA Webmaster – Dr. Roy Jacob
Proposed by – Dr. Mathew Abraham
Seconded by – Dr. George Verghese
Advisory Committee Members: -
Dr. Vidya Sunil – (Member, Canada)
Dr. Daniel George
Dr. Padmakumar Pillai
Dr. Mathew Abraham
Dr. Akhil Anilkumar (Student Representative - Iowa)
Dr. Justin Fernandez (Ex-officio: President)
Dr. Naveen Surendran (Ex-officio: Secretary)
Dr. Mathew Abraham gave the Vote of Thanks and the general body meeting adjourned until the next meeting. There was a general agreement that the 2022 annual meeting should be in-person and general body entrusted the new executive committee to make the decision on venue and time.