Introduction
South Asian Astro Federation is a non-political, non-profit, non-governmental organization of academicians. South Asian Regional Conference of astro-scientists (Jyotishis) held at Kathmandu in 1996 recognized the necessity of establishing a social organization for the purpose of preservation and development of the disciplines of astronomy and astrology by investigating, discovering, reforming and making the disciplines reliable and dedicated to the development of humanity and bringing various organizations of this region concerned with both astronomy and astrology together under the umbrella of an organization, South Asian Astro Federation has been founded.

Background

In the nine-point declaration of the first South Asian Regional Conference of astro-scientists, organized by the National Jyotish Vigyan Seva Committee, Nepal formed an ad hoc committee of the South Asian Astro Federation chaired by Jyotishi Pandit Dharma Raj Regmi including the representatives from Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The ad hoc committee prepared the constitution of the federation and registered it in the District Administration Office, Kathmandu in April 2003. The second Regional Conference of astro-scientists, organized by the National Jyotish Vigyan Seva Committee, Nepal held in Kathmandu from April 2003 releasing seven-point declaration accepted the Federation as an umbrella organization. The thirty one member central executive committee of the Federation was formed under the chairmanship of Jyotish Pandit Dharma Raj Regmi. The executive committee established its central office in Gaushala (near Pashupatinath Temple) in Kathmandu. The third Regional Conference of astro-scientists was held in August, 2006 and it accepted to provide other organizations of astro-scientists of the region with affiliation to the Federation by releasing seven-point declaration. The committee completed its three-years term and the new thirty one member executive committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Madhav Prasad Pandey, Lecturer of Astrology, was formed in October 2006. The General Assembly of the Federation held in June 2008 ammended its constitution and decided its policies and programmes. The office of the Federation has been shifted to Bagbazaar, Kathmandu and materially strengthened.

The Federation has been working in the field of astrology, astronomy, dharmashastra, rituals, culture and tradition at national and international level. It has been playing a significant role to find out practical solution based on scriptures of the issues concerned with jyotish and dharmashastra.

Objectives

The objectives of the Federation are to:

conduct research work applying modern methodology, involve in creative work organizing national and international training, seminar, workshop and  interaction programmes and establish a university of Jyotish-shastra with a well facilitated library, laboratory and planetarium for the development of the discipline,
play a significant role to provide astro-scientists with active leadership for the promotion of their rights in making Jyotish-shastra a reliable subject and award national and international astro-scientists who have made special contributions in the field of Jyotish-shastra,
develop the Federation as an authentic organization of academicians and researchers for the study of Jyotish-shastra,
become a centre of astro-scientists and their organizations for the development of the discipline of Jyotish-shastra and conduct the study of historical and archaeological problems and
Maintain mutual cooperation among national and international organizations with similar objectives for the all-round development of the discipline of Jyotish-shastra.
a) The Federation will establish its national and international branch offices and work as an umbrella organization of the organizations with similar objectives.

Membership

There are basically two types of members in the Federation namely 1. Individual, 2. Organizational.

Individual membership has been divided as follows:

Nepalese citizen : ordinary member and life member
Citizens of SAARC countries (Excluding Nepal): friendly membership
Foreign nationals (Excluding SAARC): guest member
There is also a provision of guardian membership, founder membership and honorary membership of the Federation.

Provision of Membership fees:

a)    Ordinary membership fee : NRs. 500/- (first time with entry fee)

   Annual fee : NRs. 300/-

b)   Life membership fee : NRs. 2500/-

c)    Friendly membership fee : NRs. 2600/- (first time) Annual fee : NRs.1500/-

d)    Guest membership fee: NRs. 1600/- (first time) Annual fee: NRs. 1100/-

e)    Guardian membership fee : NRs. 25000/-

f)     Honorary membership fee : NRs. 51000/-

Programmes

The programmes of the Federation are to :

expand and strengthen the Federation by disseminating information related to Jyotish-shastra through newspapers, radios and other means of communication to make it more social service oriented and popular,
celebrate annual day function of the Federation, publish magazines and annual calendar and organize other required programmes,
increase individual membership and extend affiliation to other organizations for fund raising.
Long Term Planning

The long term planning of the Federation are to :

make efforts to build office building of the Federation,
make efforts to build and operate the university of Jyotish-shastra, hostel, planetarium, seminar building etc,
organize national and international conferences and seminars of astroscientists,
prepare profiles of individuals and organizations responsible for the collection of published and unpublished articles and other archaeological materials of renowned scholars,
maintain two treasuries namely Jyotish Welfare Fund and Jyotish Fixed Deposit Fund in addition to the regular fund of the Federation,
award and honour renowned scholars and organizations on the basis of their contributions in the field of astroscience by providing the Federation with intellectual, financial and material supports.
Committees and Departments

There are 1. intellectual committee, 2. financial committee, 3. material development and construction committee, 4. secretariat committee, and other sub-committees and departments. The intellectual committee consists of the research department, calendar department, counselor department, and so on.
 
Conclusion

The South Asian Astro Federation has been founded with the support of astroscientists and their organizations from Nepal and the other SAARC countries. The support from experts, well-wishers and colleagues are always welcome to translate the objectives of the Federation in real practice. Finally, organizations are invited to be affiliated to the Federation and benefited.