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DestinationKerala 

VOL. 18 ISSUE 5 | SEPTEMBER 2015 | PRICE RS.100 $8 

Entrepreneurship. Economy. Excellence. 

30 / ISSUE THEME 

PROMOTING KERALA 

AS A MAJOR HEALTHCARE 

DESTINATION 

36 / TRAVEL 

THENMALA 

BECKONS 

24 / COVER STORY 

A DOCTOR 

ON MISSION 

MODE

ABOUT US 

www.destination-kerala.com 

Destination Kerala 

Entrepreneurship. Economy. Excellence. 

Vol. 18 Issue 5, September 2015 

IN-HOUSE NEWS 

Founder & Editorial Chairman 

Mathukutty J Kunnappally 

Executive Director & Publisher 

George Kunnappally 

MD & Chief Editor 

Jose Kunnappally 

Executive Editor 

Athul Lal A G* 

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(ABOVE) CHIEF MINISTER 

OOMMEN CHANDY 

LAUNCHING THE WEBSITE 

OF DESTINATION KERALA. 

(RIGHT) CULTURAL 

AFFAIRS MINISTER K C 

JOSEPH RELEASING THE 

REVAMPED MAGAZINE BY 

PRESENTING A COPY TO 

ROSHY AUGUSTINE MLA 

DESTINATION KERALA MAGAZINE GETS A FACELIFT 

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy formally launched the new 

website of Destination Kerala magazine, www.destination-kerala.com, at 

a function on August 3. Cultural Affairs Minister K C Joseph released the revamped 

magazine by presenting a copy to Roshy Augustine MLA. “Ever since 

its inception, Destination Kerala has witnessed and diligently documented the 

development and progress of the State, especially in the fields of tourism, information 

technology and infrastructure. The magazine’s contribution in building 

awareness about ‘brand Kerala’ and celebrating our success stories globally has 

been immense. Now with the new website and redesigned print edition, I am 

sure that Destination Kerala can tell our growth story in a more compelling 

manner to a wider audience worldwide,” said the Chief Minister. 

*Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act 

Please mail us your feedback and queries to: 

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RNI No. KERENG/2001/5154 

Postal Reg No. KL/TV(N)/418/2015-2017 

Licence No. KL/TV(N)/WPP/6/2015-2017 

Date of Publishing: 1st of every month 

Date of Posting: 5th and 6th of every month 

4 / Destination Kerala • September 2015

CONTE 

COVER 

STORY 

Pg.24 

PG.13 / EDUCATION: IGJ 

In a first-of-its-kind initiative IGJ equipping 

candidates for a career in gems and 

jewellery industry 

-------- 

PG.17 / INFRA: 

KANNUR AIRPORT 

First aircraft to land in the northern most 

airport of Kerala next year fulfilling a 

long-term dream of local populace 

-------- 

PG.18 / TOURISM: PTM 2015 

As Bengaluru gets set to host PATA 

Travel Mart 2015, PATA CEO Mario 

Hardy evaluates the country’s tourism 

strategy 

PG.19 / ENTERTAINMENT: 

ARIESPLEX SL 

Film buffs enjoy an unbelievable experience 

at AriesPlex SL, the only such facility 

in South India 

-------- 

PG.21 / INFRA: 

VIZHINJAM SEAPORT 

Vizhinjam Port will become operational in 

less than 1000 days, says Gautam Adani 

-------- 

PG.30 / ISSUE THEME: 

MEDICAL VALUE TRAVEL 

From a preferred tourist destination to a 

healthcare paradise, Kerala explores a new 

opportunity 

PG.36 / TRAVEL: 

THENMALA 

Get a first-hand experience of ecotourism 

at Thenmala, which also offers many challenges 

for the adventure in you 

-------- 

PG.40 / MAKING A 

DIFFERENCE: NISH 

This institution for special needs children 

is a testimony to the social commitment of 

a visionary technocrat 

-------- 

PG.42 / STARTUP: 

WOWMAKERS 

These bunch of digital story tellers take 

animation to a different level and create 

interesting brand stories 


NTS 

Pg.19 

Pg.30 

Pg.36 

Pg.40 

Pg.44 

PG.44 / AUTO: BMW X6 

The new BMW X6 combines many features 

which makes it a unique SAC 

-------- 

PG.46 / FOOD: RECIPE 

Some mouthwatering preparations for the 

meat eating kind 

-------- 

PG.48 / WELL BEING: 

FENG SHUI 

Your lucky feng shui directions help you 

attract the right feng shui energy 

-------- 

PG.50 / THE LAST WORD 

The man who innovated the idea of 

Ayurvedic tourism and made it a unique 

offering from Kerala 

COVER PHOTOGRAPH: DR. HARISH PILLAI 

PHOTOGRAPH BY: SIRIL THOMAS 

Pg.46 

September 2015 • Destination Kerala / 7

IN THE NEWS 

THOUSANDS, INCLUDING TOURISTS, 

WITNESS NEHRU TROPHY BOAT RACE 

A 

n important event of the festival calendar of Kerala, Nehru 

Trophy Boat Race, was held on August 8, at Punnamada 

Lake in Alappuzha district with thousands of excited spectators, 

including foreign tourists, cheering the rowers from speciallyerected 

galleries on the banks of the lake. The snake boat owned by 

Vembanad Boat Club of Kumarakom, Jawahar Thayankari, came 

first and lifted the coveted trophy bearing the signature of Jawaharlal 

Nehru. While Mahadevikad Kattil Thekkathil Chundan of the 

Mahadevikad Boat Club, Karthikapally, came second, St. Pious Xth 

of the St.Pious Xth Boat Club, Mankombu, finished third. Sixtythree 

boats took part in the race held under various categories such 

as Iruttukuthi, Veppu, Thekkanodi and Churulan. Inaugurating the 

event, Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said that 

the Centre was ready to sanction a waterway connecting the backwaters 

of Alappuzha. Chinese Ambassador to India Le Yucheng, 

Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob, Kodikkunnil Suresh MP and 

District Collector N Padmakumar IAS took part in the event. 

‘EASTERN SPICE ROUTE’ 

COMPETITION 

T 

he Kochi-based Eastern Group has 

announced a novel competition to 

discover the origins and the lost traditions 

of various spices in Kerala. ‘Eastern Spice 

Route’ contest aims at tracing the traditional 

qualities of spices and recording them for 

future generations by maximising the use of 

social media, said Navas Meeran, Chairman 

of Eastern Condiments. 

The objective of the initiative is also to 

discover and compile 

all available details 

about Kerala spices, 

including their entry 

into and exit from 

Kerala cuisines and 

medicines among 

others, and compile them into a book. “The 

competition will explore the spices that have 

gone out of the State and those that have 

come in to occupy an important place in 

our recipes,” he said. Every month, Eastern 

Group will select a spice and participants 

are required to provide all details of that 

particular spice, their use, different names 

in different countries/cities through the 

competition. Those providing the full details 

will be chosen for prizes. 

DIGITAL ACCOUNT 

OPENING FACILITY AT 

STARTUP VILLAGE 

Startup Village and HDFC Bank 

have jointly launched a digital 

account opening system and credit 

card for companies in Startup Village, 

India’s first PPP-model technology 

business incubator. 

The initiative was launched by 

HDFC Bank Country Head - Branch 

Banking Navin Puri; HDFC Bank 

Head - Digital Banking Nitin Chugh; 

Startup Village Chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar 

and Startup Village CEO 

Pranav Kumar Suresh in the presence 

of senior officials at Startup Village, 

Kochi. The process of opening a 

current account can now be initiated 

by companies in the Startup Village 

by filling up an online form, and be 

completed without having to visit the 

branch. The exclusive credit card offered 

by HDFC Bank is customised, 

bearing the Startup Village branding 

on it. 


IN THE NEWS 

CHIEF MINISTER CALLS FOR EFFECTIVE 

DISASTER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY 

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen 

Chandy inaugurated a conference 

on ‘Chemical (Industrial) 

Disaster Management (CIDM)’ in 

Thiruvananthapuram. “Effective 

disaster management strategy to 

reduce the impact of disasters is the 

need of the hour,” the Chief Minister 

said, opening the meet. 

It was jointly organised by the 

State Government, National Disaster 

Management Authority (NDMA), 

Ministry of Environment & Forests, 

Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory 

Board (PNGRB) and Federation 

of Indian Chambers of Commerce 

and Industry (FICCI). 

Delivering the keynote address, 

Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash 

said Chemical (Industrial) Disaster 

Management is a subject of great 

urgency and every effort must be 

made to prevent chemical disasters. 

He also lauded the organisers of 

the conference for holding such an 

initiative in Kerala. 

Petroleum and Natural Gas 

Regulatory Board Chairman S 

Krishnan IAS, CIDM Chairman 

Lt. Gen J R Bhardwaj and National 

Disaster Management Authority 

former member and FICCI Disaster 

Management Division Joint Director 

Rubaab Sood and FICCI Kerala 

State Council head Savio Mathew 

also spoke. More than 200 delegates, 

mainly from Kerala, Tamil Nadu 

and Karnataka, and also from major 

public/private sector companies 

participated in the Disaster Management 

conference. 

FEDERAL BANK LAUNCHES CHAT 

FACILITY FOR CUSTOMERS 

F 

or the first time in Indian banking, Federal 

Bank has introduced automated chat facility 

for its customers. If a customer has a query on Federal 

Bank’s products and services, he or she can now 

get it clarified by visiting the bank’s website (www. 

federalbank.co.in), and chatting with Anita, the 

bank’s virtual relationship officer/virtual agent. This 

service is fast, efficient and available 24X7 across all 

regions. To enable the facility, Federal Bank has tied 

up with CogniCor, the award-winning provider of 

automated customer services, whose Virtual Agent 

solution works on artificial intelligence-based technology. 

Unlike regular chat solutions, the CogniCor 

Virtual Agent dynamically generates personalised 

responses to customer queries, thus enhancing the 

effectiveness of online chat facility. 


IN THE NEWS 

MUZIRIS HERITAGE 

PROJECT BAGS PATA 

GOLD AWARD 

KOCHI BECOMES WTCF COUNCIL MEMBER 

Kerala Tourism has bagged this 

year’s prestigious Pacific Asia 

Travel Association (PATA) Award 

for its Muziris Heritage Project in 

the ‘Heritage & Culture’ category. 

The award, sponsored by the 

Macau Government Tourism Office 

(MGTO), was bestowed on the 

Muziris Heritage Project for its conservational 

aspect, uniqueness and 

impact on local 

community. “It 

is a recognition 

for the Muziris 

project, aimed 

at restoring the 

historical and 

cultural significance of the ancient 

town that stretches from North 

Paravur in Ernakulam to Kodungalloor 

in Thrissur,” said Tourism Minister 

A P Anil Kumar. Sponsored by 

MGTO for the last 20 years, PATA 

Grand and Gold Awards recognise 

the achievements of 25 separate 

organisations and individuals. 

Kochi has become the first city 

in India to be a member of 

the Beijing-headquartered World 

Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) 

Council with the Kerala Tourism 

Department accepting the Council’s 

invitation to join its league of leading 

tourism cities across the world. 

Kochi Mayor Tony Chammany 

handed over the membership acceptance 

document to Chinese 

Ambassador to India Le Yucheng 

at a function held here recently in 

the presence of State Chief Minister 

Oommen Chandy, Chief Secretary 

Jiji Thomson IAS, Kerala Tourism 

Secretary G Kamala Vardhana Rao 

IAS and Tourism Director P I Sheik 

Pareeth IAS. State Principal Secretary 

for IT and Industries P H Kurien IAS 

and former Additional Chief Secretary 

and INKEL MD T Balakrishnan 

IAS also attended. Speaking on the 

occasion, Ambassador Yucheng said 

that the two regions need to explore 

the possibilities for partnerships 

in culture, sports and tourism as 

there are many striking similarities 

between the cultures of China and 

Kerala like the cuisine, martial arts 

and snake and dragon boat races. He 

also expressed interest in bringing 

investments from China to Kerala’s 

tourism sector. 

GLOBAL COMPANIES 

TO RECRUIT FROM 

INKEL CAMPUS 

T 

op global companies like 

IBM, Tata Steel and Siemens 

will conduct a campus recruitment 

drive at Infrastructure Kerala 

Limited (INKEL) Green campus 

in Malappuram where INKEL has 

joined hands with Nettur Technical 

Training Foundation (NTTF) 

to set up an institute to offer hundred 

per cent job-oriented courses 

for students, majority of them 

from weaker sections of society. 

INKEL MD T Balakrishnan IAS 

said 95 per cent of the students are 

expected to get placement through 

the drive which will commence 

in December. The other major 

participants in the recruitment 

drive are Anand Group, Apollo 

Tyres, Ashok Leyland, Auto Craft 

Engineering, Axcel India, Mahindra 

and Mahindra, TVS Motors, 

Tyco, Fanuc and Motherson. 

HYUNDAI ‘CRETA’ LAUNCHED 

Creta, launched as Hyundai’s contender in the 

competitive compact-SUV/crossover segment, 

boasts of spacious and comfortable interiors and valuefor-money 

in a new package. The company is ramping 

up production as it has received close to 30,000 bookings 

since it started accepting them in July. The exshowroom 

price of petrol and diesel versions in Kochi 

begins at Rs. 8,69,888 and Rs. 9,58,892 respectively. 


IN THE NEWS 

‘WE SUMMIT’ TO 

THROW LIGHT ON 

KERALA’S WOMEN 

ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

To showcase the remarkable 

achievements of Kerala in promoting 

women entrepreneurship, 

the State Government, through the 

Kerala State Industrial Development 

Corporation (KSIDC), is holding a 

Women Entrepreneurs Summit (WE 

Summit 2015) on November 19, the 

United Nations’ ‘Women’s Entrepreneurship 

Day’. The announcement 

was made by State Industries and 

IT Minister P K Kunhalikutty at an 

interface programme of the KSIDC 

in Thiruvananthapuram in which 

over 600 women entrepreneurs from 

the district participated. 

The WE Summit, to be held in 

Kochi, will showcase Kerala’s progress 

in women entrepreneurship 

for the global community, besides 

further strengthening the cause of 

women entrepreneurs by offering a 

platform for future collaborations 

and networking. The event is being 

held as part of KSIDC’s ‘WE Mission 

- Kerala’ initiative, Kunhalikutty 

said. The website of the WE Mission 

initiative (www.wemissionkerala. 

org) was launched by Industries and 

IT Principal Secretary P H Kurien 

IAS. KSIDC MD Dr. M Beena IAS, 

Kudumbashree Executive Director 

K B Valsalakumari IAS and KSIDC 

Executive Director B Jyothi Kumar 

were also present. The event will 

see the participation of over 2000 

women entrepreneurs from the 

State, over 200 exhibitors and several 

national and international agencies. 

GOVT. TO DISTRIBUTE 10 LAKH DWARF VARIETY 

COCONUT PALMS EVERY YEAR: OOMMEN CHANDY 

APOLLO TYRES’ 

REVENUE UP 

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy 

inaugurated the third Neera 

production plant in the State at 

Maruthonkara near Kuttiyadi in 

Kozhikode district. Set up by Kuttiyadi 

Coconut Farmers’ Producer 

Company Limited, it is one of the 

largest units registered under the 

Coconut Development Board (CDB) 

with a production capacity of 8,000 

litres per day. The Chief Minister said 

that the government would distribute 

10 lakh dwarf variety coconut palms 

per year for the next five years. He 

also urged CDB to popularise hybrid 

dwarf varieties of coconut trees to 

overcome the shortage of Neera 

technicians. Chandy said that the 

government would sanction adequate 

funds to impart training to Neera 

technicians. 

Though it has a capacity to produce 

around 8,000 litres of Neera 

per day, Kuttiyadi plant would 

produce only around 1000 litres initially 

due to the shortage of trained 

hands and other technical reasons. 

Vadakara MP Mullappally Ramachandran 

laid the foundation stone for 

a coconut oil plant planned as part 

of the project and offered Rs. 25 lakh 

for the company. 

A 

pollo Tyres’ has registered 

a 27 per cent growth in 

net profit at Rs. 291 crore in 

the first quarter of 2015-16. 

According to the company, the 

operating profit stood at Rs. 

529 crore, an increase of 15 per 

cent, from Rs. 458 crore yearon-year. 

At the 42nd annual 

general meeting held earlier in 

August, shareholders approved 

the annual dividend payout of 

200 per cent per share (Rs. 2 

per equity share), for the year 

ended March 31, 2015. 

However, the company’s net 

sales witnessed a drop of 12 per 

cent to Rs. 2,832 crore from Rs. 

3,223 crore during the period 

due to the increase in import of 

commercial vehicle tyres into 

the country. 


NEWSMAKERS 

ANAND KRISHNAMURTHY 

MADE MD & CEO OF CSB 

Anand Krishnamurthy has been appointed as 

Managing Director & CEO of the Catholic 

Syrian Bank Limited. Krishnamurthy holds a 

bachelor’s degree in technology (mechanical engineering) 

from the Indian Institute of Technology, 

Madras and a postgraduate diploma in management 

from the Indian 

Institute of Management, 

Kolkata. 

He has about 22 years 

of experience in the 

field of banking having 

previously worked with 

HSBC for that period. He 

has been associated with 

the bank since April 7, 

2014 and responsible for 

corporate banking, SME 

business and the integrated treasury operations 

of the bank as its Head of Wholesale Banking and 

Treasury. CSB is one of the oldest private sector 

banks in India with a history of over 94 years, 

and a strong base in Kerala along with significant 

presence in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra. 

TMA MANAGEMENT AWARD 

PRESENTED TO CHANDRADATHAN 

Padma Shri M Chandradathan, distinguished scientist 

and former director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre 

(VSSC), received Trivandrum Management Association’s 

(TMA) Management Leadership Award – 2014 

from Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in Thiruvananthapuram 

recently. The award comprised a gold medal 

and a citation. Having started his career in 1972, Chandradathan 

took over as the Director of Satish Dhawan 

Space Centre in 2008. In 2013, he was appointed as the 

director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC). 

Later, in July 2014, he assumed the post of director of 

VSSC and the nation honoured him with the Padma Shri 

in the same year for his outstanding contribution in the 

area of space research. TMA instituted the Management 

Leadership Award way back in 1986 to recognise outstanding 

management professionals for their leadership 

competencies and social commitment. 

BHIMA GOVINDAN GETS BSICC AWARD 

Bhima Group Chairman Dr. B Govindan was chosen for the 

British South India Council of Commerce (BSICC)’s Lifetime 

Achievement Award 2015, for his outstanding contribution to the 

Indian gems and jewellery industry. He received the award from 

Lord Swraj Paul, a veteran of British politics and a global industrialist, 

in UK Parliament house recently. Son of late Bhima Bhattar, the 

founder of Bhima Jewellery, and Vanaja Bhima Bhattar, Govindan 

began his career as a sales and marketing executive for Bhima & 

Bros., Alappuzha. Under his leadership, Bhima rose to become Rs. 

8000-crore company and it is recognised in Kerala as the first ISO- 

9001 certified jewellery and the first BIS certified jewellery showroom. 

He also holds several positions, including being the Director 

Board Member of All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation. 

P H KURIEN BAGS AWARD 

IT and Industries Principal Secretary 

P H Kurien IAS has bagged the Kerala 

Management Association-NASSCOM IT 

Leadership Award 

2014-15. Chief Minister 

Oommen Chandy 

presented the award 

to Kurien at a function 

held in Kochi 

recently. As head of 

the State’s IT Department, 

he has spearheaded 

IT initiatives 

of the State with the vision of transforming 

Kerala as the numero uno destination in 

India for startups, the award panel noted. 

The pivotal role he has played in various 

projects like the KINFRA hi-tech Park, 

Kalamassery, National Optical Fiber 

Network Project, e-District project, and 

the ambitious project of developing 3000 

startups by the year 2020 was also lauded. 


EDUCATION / Institute of Gems and Jewellery 

IGJ OFFERING COURSES FOR 

A ‘SPARKLING’ CAREER 

The self-financing institute managed by KTB Educational & Charitable 

Foundation is located at INKEL Educity in Malappuram 

Kerala is fast emerging as a 

‘Gold’s Own Country’ with 

the yellow metal worth 

Rs. 85,000 crore to Rs. 1 lakh crore 

being sold in the State every year. 

The sector provides employment 

to around 25 lakh people and is expected 

to create additional employment 

for around 15 lakh people with 

a potential to add 3 lakh jobs every 

year. In spite of massive job opportunities, 

the industry is facing acute 

shortage of artisans and qualified 

professional goldsmiths. 

In a bid to bridge the gap, Safa 

Jewellery, the 25-year-old player in 

jewellery designing, manufacturing, 

wholesaling and retailing in Saudi 

Arabia, Dubai and Sharjah, besides 

India, has launched Institute of 

Gems and Jewellery (IGJ), a first-ofits-kind 

initiative, at INKEL Educity 

in Malappuram. It is a self-financing 

institute managed by KTB Educational 

& Charitable Foundation, a 

CSR project of the Safa Group. 

“The mission is to professionalise 

the gems and jewellery industry 

by grooming a pool of qualified 

professionals who are exposed to 

the latest trends in the industry, new 

manufacturing practices and latest 

technology. The courses are aimed 

at creating skilled labourers who 

can produce innovative designs in 

gold and gems sector using new age 

technologies ensuring quality and 

productivity,’’ said Anoop George, 

Academic Head of IGJ. 

The institute will also act as a 

consultant for manufacturers and 

retailers in India and the Gulf 

countries. Affiliated to the Calicut 

University and the National Skill 

Development Corporation (NSDC), 

the IGJ offers long -term and shortterm 

courses in jewellery designing, 

manufacturing, management and 

gemmology. 

The IGJ is well-equipped with 

fully air-conditioned classrooms, 

top-quality laboratories, Wi-Fi 

THE COURSES ARE 

AIMED AT CREATING 

SKILLED LABOURERS 

WHO CAN PRODUCE 

INNOVATIVE 

DESIGNS IN GOLD 

AND GEMS SECTOR 

USING NEW AGE 

TECHNOLOGIES 

enabled design studio, e-library 

etc. Those who have passed Plus- 

Two can apply for the Professional 

Diploma in Jewellery Designing 

(PDJD), Professional Diploma in 

Jewellery Manufacturing Technology 

(PDJMT), Professional Diploma 

in Jewellery Management (PDJM) 

and Diploma in Gemmology (DG). 

Those who have passed the 10th 

standard can apply for the Vocational 

Programme in Retail Management 

(VPRM). 

The course will enable aspirants 

to fit into positions like Manager, 

Store Manager, Appraiser, Merchandiser, 

Supervisor, Floor Manager, 

Salesman and Cashier. 

For more details, log on to www. 

igjinkel.org. 

DK 


COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT 

SCHEME FOR TECHNOPARK 

CHIEF MINISTER OOMMEN CHANDY 

SPEAKING AT THE FUNCTION TO FELICITATE 

TECHNOPARK’S FOUNDING TEAM 

Chief Minister Oommen 

Chandy has announced a 

Rs. 997.65-crore comprehensive 

development project to assist the 

Technopark and its satellite centres 

in infrastructure development, land 

acquisition and marketing in the 

next five years. 

Speaking after inaugurating the 

silver jubilee function held on the 

Technopark campus to honour the 

visionaries and the administrators 

behind India’s first and the largest IT 

Park, he said that the project would 

cover the Technopark’s phase-I, 

phase-II and phase-III campuses, 

Technocity and the Kollam Technopark, 

which is the satellite centre. 

Referring to the proposed Rs. 

1500-crore project by global investor-developer 

giant Taurus on the 

Technopark’s phase-III campus, 

Chandy said it had been approved by 

the government and the construction 

activities would commence 

soon. Addressing the concerns 

raised by several stakeholders of 

Technopark, IT and Industries Minister 

P K Kunhalikutty, who presided 

over the function, announced the 

decision to roll-back the rent-hike 

in the Park. In his special address, 

Technopark founder CEO G Vijayaraghavan, 

who is also a member 

of the Planning Board, said: “The 

concept of Technopark originated in 

a 1989 meeting held at the Government 

Guest House at Thycaud and 

the credit goes to the then Chief 

Minister E K Nayanar, Industries 

Minister K R Gowri Amma and visionary 

technocrat K P P Nambiar.” 

Recollecting that initially there 

were some issues with trade unions, 

he said that the entire project had 

always been viewed beyond political 

considerations, and all successive 

governments supported it in a big 

way. He also applauded thousands of 

construction workers and hundreds 

of head-load labourers, who cooperated 

sincerely during the Park’s 

construction. The Chief Minister 

honoured Vijayaraghavan and P 

K Kunhalikutty, founding team 

members, and members of the first 

project implementation board (PIB) 

on the occasion. 

Prathidhwani, a socio-cultural 

forum of Technopark employees, 

handed over a letter of consent signed 

by 1000 employees volunteering for 

organ donation, to the Chief Minister 

at the function. “The forum began 

their campaign only recently and the 

number of volunteers is expected to 

touch 3000 in the coming days,’’ said 

Technopark CEO K G Girish Babu. A 

cheque for Rs. 75,000, pooled by the 

employees of a car washing company 

in Technopark, was handed over to 

the Chief Minister for the welfare of 

cancer patients. M A Wahid MLA, 

Mayor K Chandrika, IT and Industries 

Principal Secretary P H Kurien 

IAS and Chairman of Group of 

Technology Companies (GTech) V K 

Mathews were also present. The event 

was followed by a live performance by 

the music band Thaikkudam Bridge. 

As part of silver jubilee celebrations, 

the new Rs. 2.5-crore solid waste 

management plant and security control 

room were inaugurated. 


CHIEF MINISTER OOMMEN CHANDY HONOURING MINISTER P K KUNHALIKUTTY AND TECHNOPARK FOUNDER CEO G VIJAYARAGHAVAN 

NEW LOGO AND 

WEBSITE RELEASED 

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said 

the greatest achievement attributed to 

Technopark in its 25 years of successful 

journey is the change in attitude it has created 

among the general public regarding work culture. 

He was speaking after launching Technopark’s 

re-designed official logo and website as 

part of its silver jubilee celebrations. 

IT and Industries Minister P K Kunhalikkutty 

said that with the IT infrastructure being elevated 

to match international standards, Kerala 

could be declared the first digital state of the 

country. “The experience earned during the last 

25 years will be the biggest asset of Technopark 

in its future endeavours,” said IT and Industries 

Principal Secretary P H Kurien IAS. An animation 

film made by WowMakers a company incubated 

at Startup Village on the silver jubilee of 

the world’s greenest IT Park, was also screened. 

“On its 25th year, Technopark is committed to 

improve its performance with a better vision 

and a fresh liveliness in action,” said Technopark 

CEO K G Girish Babu. “The new logo reflects 

our new face of action,” he said. M A Wahid 

MLA also spoke on the occasion. 

‘TEAM ELEVEN’ REUNITES 

AFTER 25 YEARS 

They were only as big as a football team. But their 

herculean task of converting a dense forest area called 

Vaidyankunnu into India’s first IT Park was as sportier 

than any other game. The entire landscape was transformed 

into the country’s largest IT Park with a built-up space of 

eight million sq. ft., hosting over 340 companies and employing 

nearly 47,000 people. 

Reuniting after 25 years, the team included G Vijayaraghavan, 

the founder CEO and K G Satheesh Kumar, who served a 

short period as CEO later; K C Chandrasekharan Nair, CFO, 

K Ramachandran, Head of Administration, M Vasudevan, 

Senior Marketing Manager, Ajith Mohan and R Veeramani 

all of whom left office on completing their tenure; R Chithra, 

Geetha Gopalakrishnan and Jaisamma Joseph, are still working 

with Technopark. 

Technopark’s founding team had lost one of its brilliant 

players midway when the documentation expert, P Satheesh, 

was killed in a road accident. Despite that loss, they had to 

move forward to make the Park a leading IT hub. Slowly and 

steadily they won the race. “Technopark has a long road to 

go,” said its current CEO K G Girish Babu. “But we are out 

of the hard times. We receive enough financial support and 

guidance from the State Government, which will definitely 

take Technopark to further heights.” 

MEMBERS OF TECHNOPARK’S FOUNDING TEAM. (FROM LEFT) 

R VEERAMANI, R CHITHRA, JAISAMMA JOSEPH, M VASUDEVAN, 

SATHEESH KUMAR, G VIJAYARAGHAVAN, AJITH MOHAN, GEETHA 

GOPALAKRISHNAN, K RAMACHANDRAN AND K C C NAIR 

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FROM TECHNOPARK 

The Chief Executive Officer, Technopark, Park Centre, Technopark Campus, Thiruvananthapuram 695 581, Kerala, India 

Phone: +91 471 2700222 | Fax: +91 471 2700171 | Email: response@technopark.org | www.technopark.org 


AGRO / Neera 

FINDING NEERA TAPPERS 

IS THE NEED OF THE HOUR 

As per statistics, there is an urgent requirement of 25,000 Neera tappers in 

Kerala. Till now, the CDB has imparted training to 1559 Neera technicians 

Ten years ago, in his 10-point 

development agenda aimed 

at making Kerala an economic 

powerhouse by 2015, the 

then President A P J Abdul Kalam 

suggested value addition to coconut. 

Inspired by his words, the State 

has progressed in the right direction 

with Neera changing the life of 

coconut farmers and creating many 

job opportunities. 

Finding skilled technicians is the 

need of the hour so that the coconut 

producers companies can enhance 

the production of Neera as per the 

market demand. As per statistics, 

there is an urgent requirement of 

25,000 Neera tappers in Kerala. 

Extracting Neera requires a 

technically skilled person to perform 

activities such as climbing tree, skillfully 

stimulating the inflorescence, 

application of disinfectant, wrapping 

the inflorescence etc. in a hygienic 

manner. So, there is an immediate 

AVERAGE MONTHLY 

INCOME OF A NEERA 

TECHNICIAN IS 

APPROXIMATELY 

RS. 20,000 

need to create a task force of ‘Neera 

technicians’. According to State Planning 

Board, tapping Neera from one 

per cent of the total 18 crore coconut 

trees in Kerala would generate Rs. 

5,400 crore. Of this, farmers would be 

getting around Rs. 2,700 crore, Neera 

technicians Rs. 1,350 crore and the 

government would receive around 

Rs. 405 crore by way of tax. Average 

monthly income of a Neera technician 

is approximately Rs. 20,000. 

But, actual statistics point out that 

the income is higher than what was 

projected. 

There are Neera technicians in 

Kaipuzha Coconut Producer Company 

Ltd. (KCPCL), who have drawn 

about Rs 50,000 as their monthly 

remuneration. The situation is same 

in other producer companies also. 

KCPCL had given training to people 

from Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Assam, 

Jharkhand and Lakshadweep for 

the job. Around 345 toddy tappers, 

who were given 15 days of training 

by CDB, have been appointed as 

master technicians so far. 

Coconut Development Board 

(CDB) is also giving training to 

develop a pool of skilled Neera technicians. 

The 56-day training is open 

to unemployed persons belonging 

to the age group of 18-45 years. 

Till now the Board has imparted 

training to 1559 Neera technicians 

through coconut producers’ companies. 

The State Government has allocated 

Rs. 12 crore for the training. 

Mini Mathew & Arya Aravind 

(The authors are Publicity Officer & 

Journalist of CDB respectively) 


INFRA / Kannur International Airport Limited 

KANNUR TO ENTER COUNTRY’S 

AVIATION MAP BY NEXT YEAR 

KIAL is working on a war footing to finish the project by 

December, which is the deadline set by the government 

If things pan out as per plan, the 

commercial operations at Kerala’s 

upcoming fourth international 

airport at Moorkhanparambu in 

Kannur district will commence in a 

year. Kannur International Airport 

Limited (KIAL), which is implementing 

the Rs. 1,892-crore project, is 

working on a war footing to finish 

the project by December, which is the 

deadline fixed by the government. 

According to G Chandramouli, 

the Managing Director of KIAL, the 

month of September will be crucial 

in completing the construction 

work within the stipulated time. 

“Almost 60 per cent of the runway 

work is complete. Also, 38 per cent 

work on the terminal building is 

finished. We hope to begin the trial 

run by December 31. The airport 

will commence commercial operations 

by the middle of 2016,’’ he said. 

Adding further, Chandramouli said: 

“Designed and constructed based on 

green building concept, the airport 

will be suitable for the landing of 

wide-body aircraft like Boeing 747 

and Boeing 777. In the first 

year, we expect passenger 

traffic of 15 lakh.’’ 

Separate divisions of 

Larsen & Toubro are carrying 

out the work. The initial 

tarring on the 3,050-m-long 

runway has been completed. 

The work on the apron, 

which can accommodate 14 

aircraft at a time, passenger terminal 

and air traffic control (ATC) tower 

is progressing as planned. Given the 

geographical area of operation and 

infrastructure, the upcoming airport 

in Kannur will be the largest in the 

State. The airport is expected to cater 

to 50 lakh passengers per year with 

39,638 flights operating from there 

annually. The cargo terminal will 

have the capacity to handle 60,758 

tonnes of cargo annually. 

G CHANDRAMOULI 

MD, KIAL 

The terminal with a built-up 

area of 80,000 sq.m. will 

have an adjoining 22,000 

sq.m. parking lot for taxis 

and private vehicles. The 

Airports Authority of India 

has acquired equities worth 

Rs. 160 crore in KIAL while 

Bharat Petroleum Corporation 

Ltd. (BPCL) has purchased 

shares worth Rs. 170 

‘‘THE COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS AT KIAL 

WILL BEGIN BY THE MIDDLE OF 2016’’ 

crore. The government had signed a 

deal with a consortium of banks for 

a loan of Rs. 892 crore on May 20. As 

per the agreement, Canara Bank is 

providing Rs. 692 crore, South Indian 

Bank Rs. 110 crore and Federal Bank 

Rs. 90 crore. Of the total requirement 

of 2,061 acres, the acquisition 

of 1,278 acres was completed initially. 

The procedures to acquire the remaining 

785.45 acres of land are in 

the final stages. 

DK 


TOURISM / PATA Travel Mart 

‘TELL INDIA’S TOURISM 

STORY LOUDER, ONLINE’ 

In an exclusive e-mail interview to Destination Kerala, Pacific Asia 

Travel Association (PATA) Chief Executive Officer Mario Hardy 

explains the key constructs of this year’s event 

MARIO HARDY 

CEO, PATA 

The 38th State Pacific Asia 

Travel Association Travel 

Mart (PTM) will begin at 

Bangalore International Exhibition 

Centre (BIEC) on September 6. 

The three-day event, which is being 

held in India for the third time after 

Hyderabad in 2008 and New Delhi 

in 2011, is expected to attract more 

than 1000 delegates from over 60 

countries. 

In an exclusive e-mail interview 

to Destination Kerala, Pacific Asia 

Travel Association (PATA) Chief 

Executive Officer Mario Hardy said 

the Bengaluru event will give international 

tourism players to experience 

all that the Karnataka State has 

to offer. “PATA is the voice of the 

industry in the Asia-Pacific region 

and, more importantly, is a bridge 

between the public and private 

sectors. Through our events, our 

training and our research, we bring 

both parties around the same table 

to have meaningful discussions on 

issues and trends affecting travel and 

‘‘PATA IS THE VOICE 

OF THE INDUSTRY IN 

THE ASIA-PACIFIC 

REGION AND, MORE 

IMPORTANTLY, IS A 

BRIDGE BETWEEN 

THE PUBLIC AND 

PRIVATE SECTORS’’ 

tourism,” he said. 

Stating that tourism numbers in 

India are relatively low considering 

the size of the country and its rich 

culture and heritage, Hardy suggested 

that the nation needs to tell 

its tourism story louder and online. 

“PATA, through its vast membership 

network, can also help the 

nation conduct an assessment of 

pain points and develop a strategy 

on how to improve its image. PATA 

has, over the years, successfully 

conducted research with the help 

of the PATA Task Force, which is 

led by leading industry experts and, 

if India felt the need, we would be 

delighted to put a team together,” he 

said. According to Hardy, the next 

wave of travel development is making 

technology available to SMEs 

at a reasonable cost. “We all know 

how large online travel businesses 

are driven by technology. Several of 

the technology businesses present at 

this year’s forum and pavilion will 

be showcasing what they can do to 

save costs and improve productivity 

for SMEs,’’ he said. The previous edition 

of PTM was held in Cambodia 

which focused on sustainable development 

of tourism in the country. 

“It was about raising awareness 

of some of the key challenges faced 

by Cambodia, particularly the high 

concentration of tourists to Angkor 

Wat and the need to disperse tourists 

to other parts of the country. 

India can learn from this as we have 

similar challenge with the Taj Mahal 

in Agra,’’ said Hardy, adding that 

he would bring PTM to Kerala if 

invited. 

DK 


ENTERTAINMENT / AriesPlex SL 

A SPELLBINDING TREAT 

OF VISUALS AND SOUND 

AriesPlex is the only facility in South India equipped with double 4K projection, 72-ft 

DMAX 3D screen and Dolby ATMOS sound with 64 individually powered speakers 

SOHAN ROY S K 

CEO, ARIES GROUP 

The majestic Athirappilly 

looks belligerent. The splash 

of the mighty waterfall; you 

can even see the tiny drops of water 

crystal clear though it is raining. The 

eeriness of the woods nearby amidst 

the backdrop of the rush and the 

roar of waterfall, accompanied by 

intense thunder storm haunt you. 

For minutes, you literally forget 

the cosiness of the plush recliner at 

the all-new AriesPlex SL as the film 

opens. Watching the current blockbuster 

Baahubali here is simply a 

treat; the only screen in South India 

where the 4K print of the movie’s 

Tamil version is being shown. 

If you have not experienced AriesPlex 

SL yet, then you are missing 

something truly mind-blowing. The 

35-year-old SL Cinemas in Thiruvananthapuram 

has been transformed 

into a state-of-the-art multiplex 

offering a whole new cinema experience 

to movie lovers. 

In Kerala, or for that matter all of 

South India, it does not get better 

and bigger than this for the hardcore 

movie buff - Double 4K projection 

that greatly enhances the 3D experience, 

72-feet DMAX 3D screen for 

an all encompassing, immersive 

feeling, Dolby Atmos sound with 64 

individually powered speakers for 

powerful lifelike sound that flows 

around you, and plush recliner seating. 

A double 4K projection retains 

the original quality of a film like 

Baahubali, hailed for its technical 

acumen and visual extravaganza. 

Usually films shot in 4K or more are 

scaled down to 2K or less resolution 

for projection at most centres as 

they do not have higher resolution 

projectors. This gravely compromises 

the visual experience. 

According to Sohan Roy S K, the 

CEO of Aries Group of Companies, 

AriesPlex SL is a small step towards 

showcasing the power of new 

generation projection capabilities to 

influence the mindset of viewers and 

exhibitors. 

Says Roy: “My directorial venture 

DAM 999 was the first 4K-scanned, 

2D-to-3D-converted movie in India 

with the best sync sound features. 

But at the time of post production 

I realised that not even a single 

theatre in India is capable of 4K 

projection and none of the theatres 

is properly sound calibrated as well. 

Due to the 1/32 compression ratio 

and the poor glasses provided at 

the theatres I had to remove the 3D 

version from the theatres on the first 

day itself. That day I decided I shall 

go for another directorial venture 

only when Indian theatres are 

equipped with quality infrastructure 

that can do justice to the film.” 

Since Thiruvananthapuram, Roy 

adds, is the nearest metro city to his 

hometown Punalur, he tried this 

experiment at SL Cinemas, the biggest 

theatre complex of Kerala, even 

though it is a very old structure. DK 


REAL ESTATE / Skyline Builders 

SKYLINE OFFERING A 

HOME AWAY FROM HOME 

The facility, which is absolutely free for Skyliners, is available in 

Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Kochi, Kozhikode and Kannur districts 

Where would I stay? 

How safe it would be? 

You would be pondering 

about your accommodation 

whenever you think of travel. And 

often, you might cancel the trip and 

tend to remain in the comforts of 

your home. But, you need not have 

to worry if you are a Skyliner. For, 

Skyline Builders provides a special 

privilege to its customers, Skylineage 

- transit homes across the State. Any 

Skyliner can avail the facility that 

comprises complimentary stay for 

two nights once in a year. 

Launched three years ago, Skyline 

now offers the facility in Thiruvananthapuram, 

Kottayam, Kochi, 

Kozhikode and Kannur districts. 

According to P A Verghese, 

Senior Vice President (Marketing) 

of Skyline Builders. the initiative 

is getting thumping response from 

Skyliners and they are planning to 

expand the facility. 

TRANSIT HOMES ARE 

FULLY FURNISHED 

AND HAVE A 

COFFEE MAKER, 

REFRIGERATOR AND 

TOILETRY SUPPLIES 

‘‘There is very heavy booking and 

we are introducing the facility in 

Thrissur and adding one more unit 

in Kottayam. People choose transit 

home while traveling for treatment 

or to visit Lulu Mall in Ernakulam 

or to take part in family get-togethers 

and social occasions,’’ Verghese 

added. 

Happy with the success of this 

novel idea, Verghese said: ‘‘For 

Skyline, the business is not about giving 

the key and getting away. Every 

Skyliner has pride of ownership. And, 

Skylineage is part of our commitment 

to our customers. 

A privilege for Skyliners, the facility 

is absolutely free.’’ The Skyline 

apartments that offer transit home 

facility include Citypark, Ivy League, 

Marigold and Imperial Gardens in 

Kochi, Hill View in Kottayam, Sea 

View in Kozhikode, Cliff Waters in 

Kannur and Domain in Thiruvananthapuram. 

DK 


INFRA / Vizhinjam Port 

ADANI GROUP CHAIRMAN 

GAUTAM ADANI SHARING A 

LIGHT MOMENT WITH CHIEF 

MINISTER OOMMEN CHANDY, 

AS MINISTER K M MANI, 

SPEAKER N SHAKTHAN AND 

MINISTER K BABU LOOK ON 

VIZHINJAM: KERALA GOVT 

INKS PACT WITH ADANI GROUP 

The full-fledged construction of the Vizhinjam Port project will be kicked 

off on November 1, 2015, the Kerala Foundation Day 

Twenty-five years since it 

was conceptualised, Kerala 

Government has entered 

into an agreement with the Gautam 

Adani-led Adani Ports and Special 

Economic Zone (APSEZ) for 

building Rs. 7,525-crore Vizhinjam 

International Deepwater Multipurpose 

Seaport project. Inside the 

historic Durbar Hall at the Secretariat, 

State Ports Principal Secretary 

James Varghese IAS and Adani 

Vizhinjam Port Private Ltd. CEO 

Santosh Kumar Mohapatra inked 

the concession agreement on August 

17 in the presence of Chief Minister 

Oommen Chandy and Adani Group 

Chairman Gautam Adani. Speaking 

on the occasion, Gautam Adani said: 

“We will make Vizhinjam one of the 

largest mega transshipment terminals 

in the world. Our objective is to 

have Vizhinjam Port operational in 

a record time of less than 1000 days.” 

Stating that Vizhinjam Port will 

be transformational for the maritime 

future of the nation, Adani said 

the full-fledged construction of the 

group’s ninth port project in India 

will be kicked off on November 1, 

2015, the Kerala Foundation Day. 

Adani said the single most 

important aspect for the success of 

Vizhinjam Port will be relaxation of 

the Cabotage law. 

In his address, Chief Minister 

Oommen Chandy, in a bid to allay 

the concerns of the fishermen community 

over their rehabilitation, said 

the State Government will not allow 

anything to adversely affect the life 

of people in the project area. He also 

said that the government is hopeful 

that the Centre would relax the 

existing Cabotage law. 

Adani said the work force for 

different roles involved in plant 

construction and operations will be 

sourced locally. “We realise it as the 

best way to show our commitment 

to the local people which include 

farmers and fishermen,” he added. 

The port project, slated to come up 

near Kovalam beach, was first proposed 

in 1991 when late Congress 

leader K Karunakaran was the Chief 

Minister but did not materialise due 

to various reasons. 

DK 


KINFRANEWS 

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER 

GST EXPERIMENT IS WORTH 

TRYING: PARTHASARATHI SHOME 

CHIEF MINISTER OOMMEN CHANDY PRESENTING A 

MEMENTO TO PARTHASARATHI SHOME. FINANCE 

MINISTER K M MANI, TAXES DEPT. PRINCIPAL 

SECRETARY DR. W R REDDY IAS AND KINFRA MD 

DR. G C GOPALA PILLAI ARE ALSO SEEN 

Tax Administrative Reforms 

Commission (TARC) former 

Chairman Parthasarathi 

Shome has said that the Goods and 

Services Tax (GST) regime is facing 

challenges on three fronts - tax 

evasion, States’ demand for a band 

of rates and exclusion of big-ticket 

items such as petroleum. He was 

speaking at a colloquium on ‘Role of 

Taxation, Tax Administration and 

GST’ organised by KINFRA in association 

with Taxes Department in 

Thiruvananthapuram recently. 

“Perhaps it is worth trying the 

experiment for a year or two and 

then deciding whether the bottomline 

question is answered at all. And 

that bottom-line question is: have 

business and investment decisions 

become more seamless than during 

the regime of VAT, Cenvat and 

Service Tax? I will not say today 

without real experience that we will 

be worse off. I will not say that we 

will definitely be better off either. 

And, therefore, perhaps we are at a 

little bit of risk here,” he said. 

Shome further said that the GST 

implementation part should be simpler 

because there was no constraint 

on improving it – be it the forms to 

be filled or refunds. 

“There is going to be an appropriate 

input tax credit for inter-state 

trade, which is called IGST. This is a 

complex system of registering input 

tax paid in one State and transferring 

to another. A computerised system 

being maintained by the Centre is 

likely to take care of this. The Centre 

will operate as a clearing house. 

A band of rates is not a good idea 

because then businesses will have 

to deal with many rates. Maybe the 

States will converge on a few rates. 

But there is no compulsion on them. 

We must require them to operate 

on a few rates. I hope policymakers 

will be able to reduce and agree on a 

much reduced number of rates,’’ he 

said. 

Another challenge is that goods 

like petroleum are likely to be kept 

out of the tax base, meaning that no 

input tax credit will be given. “What 

it means basically is that the exporting 

State will keep the money to 

itself. It will have a cascading effect 

and we will not move fully into a 

consumption-based tax system since 

the revenue is not coming to the 

importing State,” he said. 

Earlier, inaugurating the colloquium, 

Chief Minister Oommen 

Chandy termed GST as the 

“biggest tax reform since 1947.’’ 

“GST would subsume excise duties, 

additional duties, Central and State 

sales tax, service tax, luxury tax, 

State-imposed cess and surcharges. 

It will benefit a consumer State like 

ours and lead to an expansion in the 

country’s gross domestic product by 

unifying a host of Central and State 

taxes,” Chandy said. 

State Finance Minister K M Mani 

said Kerala has taken effective steps 

in educating the business community 

about GST reforms and equipping 

them to meet the challenges and, 

this colloquium can be considered 

as one among those initiatives. Taxes 

Department Principal Secretary 

Dr. W R Reddy IAS and KINFRA 

MD Dr. G C Gopala Pillai also spoke 

on the occasion. 


DETERGENT 

PLANT INSTALLED 

Victory Soaps and Cosmetics Pvt. 

Ltd. situated at KINFRA Industrial 

Park, Wayanad has installed a new 

detergent powder manufacturing plant. Set 

up near its existing unit, the detergent plant 

has a production capacity of 30 metric tonnes 

per day. According to M Muhammed Mihraj, 

Managing Director, the company is also planning 

to produce liquid soaps and dish wash 

cleaners. Currently, the company produces 

laundry soaps and soap noodles by saponification 

of vegetable oils and fatty acids with 

totally soap vacuum-spray-drying process. 

“The manufacturing processes are fully 

mechanised and designed for high efficiency, 

low energy and labour utilisation. The plant 

capacity is over 1000 metric tonnes (MT) of 

soaps and noodles per month. We also have 

the storage and handling facility for more 

than 1000 MT of base stocks like vegetable 

oils, fatty acids and chemicals,” he said. 

INT’L YOUTH DAY: MLAs 

INTERACT WITH YOUNGSTERS 

Magic Planet, in association 

with KINFRA, 

organised ‘Wings of 

Vision’ on the occasion of International 

Youth Day. KINFRA 

Managing Director Dr. G C 

Gopala Pillai inaugurated the 

event. MLAs V T Balram, T V 

Rajesh, P Sreeramakrishnan 

and V S Sunilkumar interacted 

with youngsters as part of the 

programme. V S Sunilkumar 

stressed the need for having 

good politicians in the country, 

where a significant majority 

of the people earned only Rs 

20 a day. T V Rajesh said that 

interactions across political parties 

have been happening at the 

grassroots-level as well. In his 

constituency Kalliassery, leaders 

of Congress, Muslim League, 

CPI, CPM and even BJP, which 

has no representative in the 

Kerala Assembly, have been 

working together, he said. Shafi 

Parambil said that there would 

be obstacles whenever someone 

sets out to do good and one 

needs to overcome them. 

V T Balram spoke about 

caste-based reservation ensuring 

a level playing field as a 

corrective measure to rectify 

‘thousands of years of injustice’, 

while P Sreeramakrishnan said 

that reservations should be subjected 

to creamy layer scrutiny. 

He said that reservation should 

be for the downtrodden among 

the backward classes and there 

should be 10 per cent reservation 

for the financially backward 

upper castes. Renowned 

magician and Magic Planet 

Executive Director Gopinath 

Muthucaud honoured the 

MLAs. 

WORK ON AYURVEDA VILLAGE TO BEGIN IN TWO MONTHS 

In a significant development, the 

construction of Global Ayurveda 

Village (GAV), the ambitious 

project of Kerala Industrial Infrastructure 

Development Corporation 

(KINFRA) at Thonnakkal and 

Varkala, will begin soon. According 

to officials, plans are afoot to complete 

the project within a year. 

“The project estimate is around 

Rs. 152.5 crore, including the cost 

of land. It will be implemented on 

public-private participation (PPP) 

mode," said Dr. G C Gopala Pillai, 

Managing Director, KINFRA. 

"Construction work for the first 

phase at Thonnakkal, estimated to 

cost Rs. 32.5 crore, is expected to 

begin soon," KINFRA Ayurveda 

Village special officer Dr. J Muralidharan 

said. 

KINFRA has already procured 

7.48 acres of land for the first phase 

that will have a 100-bed ayurveda 

integrated super-specialty hospital, 

international academy, library, 

convention centre, college and other 

amenities. 

A finishing school meant to offer 

skill development and advanced 

training for medical and para-medical 

degree holders is also a component 

of the project. 

Of the Rs. 32.5 crore for the first 

phase, Rs. 10 crore will be contributed 

by the State and Rs. 10 crore by 

the Centre under the Ayush scheme. 

The remaining Rs. 12 crore for the 

first phase is expected to be mobilised 

from the private sector. KIN- 

FRA has identified 63 acres of land 

for second phase at Varkala. 

KERALA INDUSTRIAL INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION 

(A Statutory Body of Govt. of Kerala) 

KINFRA House, 31/2312, Sasthamangalam, Trivandrum 695 010, Kerala, India 

Tel: +91 471 2726585, 2724860 | Fax: +91 471 2724773 | Email: kinfra@vsnl.com | www.kinfra.org

COVER STORY / Dr. Harish Pillai 

Giving wings to Dr. Azad 

Moopen’s dream is Dr. Harish 

Pillai, a physician-turned 

Chief Executive, has an array 

of projects to look after 

LIVING THE 

FUTURE 

PRESCRIBING 

TOMORROW’S 

MEDICARE 

i n t e rv i e w by at h u l lal a g 

p h oto g r a p h s by siril thomas 




His visit to the iconic Mayo Clinic at 

Minnesota in the United States left 

an indelible impression on Dr. Azad 

Moopen, the chairman of leading 

healthcare conglomerate Aster DM 

Healthcare. ‘I need to do something 

like the Mayo Clinic back in my 

home country’ became his dream. 

There began the story of Aster 

Medcity, the mega healthcare project 

in Kochi. Now, a year after it started 

operations, Aster Medcity has set a 

benchmark for healthcare in Kerala. 

It has become the first quaternary 

care hospital in Kerala to receive the 

coveted Gold Seal approval from 

the Joint Commission International 

(JCI). It has also attained India’s 

National Accreditation Board for 

Hospitals & Healthcare Providers 

(NABH) accreditation, the first-ever 

accreditation by NABH for Excellence 

in Nursing and Green OT Certification 

by Bureau Veritas within 

this short period. 

Giving wings to Dr. Moopen’s 

dream is a physician-turned Chief 

Executive. Fit and stocky, he resembles 

a military officer at first glance 

with crew cut hairstyle and clean 

shaven face. 

Meet Dr. Harish Pillai, the Chief 

Executive Officer (CEO) of the 

670-bed Aster Medcity. Dr. Harish, a 

native of Thiruvananthapuram, is infectiously 

positive, sharp, empathetic 

and forthright. A proud Malayali, 

a military buff and an avid debater, 

as he describes himself, Dr. Harish 

joined Aster DM Healthcare around 

two years and three months ago. 

He is the strategy head of all 

Kerala-based Aster DM units such as 

MIMS Kozhikode, MIMS Kottakkal 

and DMWIMS Wayanad, and also 

ASTER MEDCITY IN KOCHI HAS BECOME 

THE FIRST QUATERNARY CARE HOSPITAL 

IN KERALA TO RECEIVE THE COVETED 

GOLD SEAL APPROVAL FROM THE JOINT 

COMMISSION INTERNATIONAL 

leads phase II expansion of Aster 

Medcity, Kochi, new multi-specialty 

hospital in Kannur, new Oncology 

Centre at Perinthalmanna and phase 

II expansion of MIMS Kozhikode. 

Before joining Aster, Dr. Harish 

had a seven-year stint as CEO of As 

Salam International Hospital, Cairo. 

He was also the Hospital Director of 

Belhoul Specialty Hospital, Dubai 

for nearly three years. An MBBS 

graduate from Kasturba Medical 

College, Mangalore, he did his MBA 

in International Healthcare and Hospital 

Management at the Frankfurt 

School of Finance and Management, 

Germany. 

Excerpts from the Interview 

Why Aster Medcity in Kerala? 

Dr. Azad Moopen’s dream was 

to set up a healthcare facility in 

Kerala just like the Mayo Clinic in 

the US. The clinical model of Mayo 

is very unique in that doctors work 

BI-PLANE HYBRID 

CATH LAB 


as collaborative teams. You feel as 

if the entire institution’s knowledge 

capital is focused on you as if you are 

the only patient. It is an important 

aspect of this project. 

Subsequently, we did an epidemiological 

research to look at the 

disease burden in Kerala and the 

findings were startling; a wonderful 

set of good news as well as bad ones. 

VERY GOOD MACRO HEALTH 

INDICATORS 

We compare Kerala to Scandinavian 

countries. It is a reflection of 

very good macro health indicators 

- the best maternal mortality rate, 

infant mortality rate, the best PQLI 

(Physical Quality of Life Index) and 

life-expectancy for men and women. 

Thanks to high women’s literacy, the 

age of marriage in our State is much 

higher than in other states. The net 

fertility rate in Kerala is 1.7 in comparison 

to 2 for countries such as the 

US, Canada and the UK. 

CHANGE IN DEMOGRAPHICS 

As per the last census, Kerala’s 

population is reaching the net 

3 TESLA, FULLY 

DIGITAL MRI 

SCANNER 

replacement ratio, almost like Japan. 

The fertility rate of 1.7 indicates a 

massive demographic change - less 

babies being born, longer lifespan 

and more people above sixty years 

of age. Being a Malayali boy or girl, 

you will have the longest lifespan in 

India. Consequently, out of the total 

33 million people in Kerala, more 

than 5.5 million are above 60 years 

of age. As you get older, you require 

more healthcare services. 

KERALA, THE DIABETIC 

CAPITAL OF INDIA 

So, what is the bad news? The 

data is scary. The society has rapidly 

changed between 1950s and 2015. 

From joint family system, we have 

now reached the sub-nuclear family. 

Kerala has become a completely 

urbanised State. The incidence of 

non-communicable disease clusters, 

starting with metabolic disorders, is 

very high. With a population of 6.5 

million who are diabetic, Kerala has 

become the ‘diabetic capital’ of India 

whereas India is the ‘diabetic capital’ 

of the world. 



As diabetes impacts the body 

from head to toe, we have high 

incidence of chronic renal failure, 

coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular 

disease. Compared to other 

parts of India, myocardial infarction, 

commonly known as heart attack, 

occurs at a much younger age in 

Kerala. Normally, it affects people 

above 50 or 60 years of age but in 

Kerala even those in the age group of 

25-35 years are susceptible to it. 

Kerala stands third in India 

in mortality due to cancers after 

Mizoram and Assam. With one RCC 

and one MCC, we are under-serving 

our population. The demand for a 

new cancer centre in Ernakulam 

is quite apt. Take the example of 

former Kerala Assembly Speaker G 

Karthikeyan, who passed away recently. 

Why did he go all the way to 

Bengaluru for treatment? Why could 

not the treatment be provided in 

Kerala? Those are questions which 

society needs to ask. 

OBESITY A BIG CHALLENGE 

When we take the number of 

obese people, Kerala is only second 

to Punjab in India. It is almost like 

a paradox. A thin man can actually 

be obese as it is related to the 

distribution of fat. The thumb rule 

is that if you have abdominal fat, 

your coronaries definitely will have 

a block. Anyone with a potbelly is in 

for trouble. 

INFRASTRUCTURE 

INADEQUACIES 

Owing to inadequate facilities, 

there is a large-scale migration of 

patients from Kerala to other states 

seeking better healthcare. The 

number of patients going to Vellore, 

Mangalapuram and Bangalore 

from Kerala is high. In spite of great 

human resources, we do not have 

adequate infrastructure which could 

match it. All these factors form 

the baseline of the need for having 

Mayo-model care and an institution 

like Aster Medcity. 

MINIMAL ACCESS ROBOTIC 

SURGERY AT ASTER 

MEDCITY USING DA VINCI 

SURGICAL ROBOT 

How unique is Aster Medcity’s 

approach to treatment? 

Like the Mayo model, our philosophy 

of holistic care is meant to 

follow a multi-disciplinary approach. 

We would serve as a referral hospital 

and lighthouse of excellence in 

healthcare for the entire country and 

South Asia. It is mandatory that the 

doctors work in collaborative teams 

here. We are the only hospital in the 

country which has managed to gain 

all accreditations in less than one 

year. We are focusing on nine clusters 

- Cardiac Sciences, Orthopaedics 

& Rheumatology, Neurosciences, 

Nephrology & Urology, Oncology, 

Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 

Women’s Health, Child & Adolescent 

Health and Metabolic diseases. 

THE DOCTOR’S PREDICTION 

A hundred years from now, 

hospitals will be obsolete 

as medicine is rapidly 

changing. Everything will 

become personalised and 

it will be home-based care. 

For example, your shirt and 

tie will be monitoring what 

is happening in your body. 

On a real time basis, you 

will receive warning signals. 

Instead of clinician, there will 

be a software programme. 

Disease that we know now 

will not exist then. Cancer 

for sure would have been 

conquered. 

STRESS ON ONCOLOGY 

Oncology is one of our key focus 

areas and we have designed the 

Oncology programme on the lines 

of that of the RCC in Thiruvananthapuram. 

We are building a comprehensive 

cancer care centre having 

sub-specialties such as medical 

oncology, paediatric oncology and 

radiation oncology. Equipped with 

highly advanced technical support for 

chemotherapy, bone marrow transplantation, 

radiation and surgery, 

the Centre of Excellence is the first 

facility in Kerala to offer Minimally 

Invasive Robotic Cancer Surgery. 

How affordable is treatment at 

Aster Medcity? 

Our mission is to be the comprehensive 

healthcare provider of high 

quality to the masses. We will not 

differentiate between somebody from 

the lower income group or the higher 

income group. We have the general 

ward as well as the premium ward. 

Aster Medcity is located in the village 

of Cheranalloor, which is getting 

collateral benefits. As per data, if you 

invest Rs. 12 lakh in healthcare projects, 

you can generate 77 jobs, which 

is better than any other service sector. 

Almost 20 per cent of the employees 

are from within 10 km radius of the 

hospital. We have a village health insurance 

scheme for all the BPL families 

in Cheranalloor. The real estate, 

grocery shops, transport companies; 

everywhere the economy is benefited 

because of one project. Dr. Moopen 


has publicly committed 20 per cent 

of his net income every year towards 

charity. As CSR commitment, we 

have offered free healthcare services 

worth Rs. 1.2 crore in the last one 

year. The service of rapid response 

teams and emergency medical technicians 

on bikes is free. We already have 

a traditional ICU ambulance. As CSR 

initiative, we are working on launching 

boat ambulance and emergency 

chopper services. 

MEDICAL INSURANCE 

The biggest factor which could 

push the middle class families into 

poverty is the cost of treating acute 

illness. People have to be sensitive. 

We all take insurance for bikes. Why 

don’t you insure the human body 

which is much more complex? 

What are Kerala’s prospects of emerging 

as the ‘medical value travel’ destination 

in South Asia? 

The market for ‘medical value 

travel’ is so massive that it can actually 

transform the whole economy 

of Kerala. Unlike Ayurveda, Kerala 

has not really focused its mind on 

modern medicine yet. Just like the 

Kerala Travel Mart, a collaborative 

approach with the government acting 

as a key facilitator and competitors 

coming together for everyone’s 

good, a similar initiative should happen 

in healthcare. My dream is to see 

Kerala as the global healthcare destination 

by 2020. In Aster Medcity, we 

have a dedicated ward to cater to the 

needs of international patients. 

NEW JOB OPPORTUNITIES 

One of the premium workforce 

required for healthcare is language 

translators. If you go to hospitals in 

Bangkok, you have translators for sixty 

different languages available in one 

hospital. It is an emerging opportunity. 

What is Aster’s roadmap? 

Aster Medcity is a project worth 

USD 300 million or Rs. 1800 crore. It 

is phenomenal as no project in India 

I HAVE A DREAM 

My dream is to have an Indian 

Health Service, similar to Civil 

Services, wherein all public 

hospitals would be managed 

by a cadre of professionals. 

Now what happens is a senior 

doctor, who might be a senior 

surgeon having no expertise 

in management, is made 

the chief. You should have 

qualified professionals to run 

complex institutions. And you 

should not waste a soughtafter 

doctor’s time running a 

hospital. 

has invested so much in one site. 

The first phase, a 670-bed hospital 

complex, has been completed at a cost 

of Rs. 550 crore, including land. In 

the second phase, we will add another 

500 beds. Besides the hospital, Aster 

Medcity includes a rehab project and 

assisted-care living homes, a three 

star hotel and a five-hundred seater 

convention centre. Our plan was 

to start the second phase after four 

years. But, given the patient traffic, 

we have to fast-track our plans. Our 

OP area also needs to be expanded 

as it has already become congested. 

We are quite confident that we would 

meet the financial targets in five to six 

years. As I said earlier, Aster Medcity, 

Kochi will be the mother ship for 

the entire hospitals of the group. In 

military terms, if Aster group is the 

Indian Navy, Medcity is the aircraft 

carrier, INS Vikramaditya. 

The next project, Aster CMI in 

Bengaluru, is of similar scale. It is a 

500-bed hospital near the International 

Airport and will be commissioned 

by December. We also have 

projects in Hyderabad, Pune and 

Kolhapur. 

From a physician to healthcare chief 

executive, how did you transform 

your career and why? 

Well, I broke my father’s heart 

(chuckles). I am a second generation 

expat and I grew up in Dubai. While 

pursuing my B.Sc. at Mar Ivanios 

College, Thiruvananthapuram. 

I learned Malayalam by hiring a 

teacher and travelled extensively 

to know the State in KSRTC buses. 

Those were the formative years of my 

life. Just as in other typical middle 

class families, my parents wanted me 

to become a doctor or an engineer. 

I finished my medicine degree and 

was interested in specialising in 

neuro surgery. Then, somebody 

told me that I have the ability to be 

a good administrator in healthcare. 

While I was junior resident in the 

department of Psychiatry at St. John’s 

Medical College Hospital, Bengaluru, 

my chief also suggested me to 

pursue Civil Services. But, I thought 

that if I could capitalise on my medical 

knowledge and do management 

that would be the best case scenario. 

Though I had a difficult time 

convincing my father, I did Masters 

in Hospital Management from the 

Apollo Institute of Hospital Administration, 

Hyderabad. That was basically 

the transformation. 

Who makes a better administrator 

in healthcare - a doctor or a nondoctor? 

The debate is on. There are 

hospitals in many countries which 

are run successfully by non-doctors. 

I believe a doctor will make a better 

administrator if he is good in the 

business aspect of running a hospital 

efficiently. You understand every 

aspect of the hospital because you are 

a doctor. Your colleagues respect you 

and listen to you more than if you 

were a non-doctor. It’s actually a big 

advantage but stressful as well. 


ISSUE THEME / Medical Value Travel 

RE-INVENTING KERALA’S USP IN 

QUALITY HEALTHCARE 

A person coming to Kerala for treatment can save 30 to 70 per cent 

even if we consider air travel and accommodation expenses 

by at h u l lal a g 

photo courtesy: kims 

Setting off a revolution in the field 

of quality healthcare in Kerala, 

stakeholders of the industry have 

embarked on a unique mission – to 

transform the State into one among 

the topmost destinations for Medical 

Value Travel (MVT) in Asia by 2020. 

In an unprecedented manner, 

both the government as well as 

private players are working in unison 

for the cause taking a cue from the 

Singapore model. The upcoming 

fifth edition of Kerala Health Tourism 

Conference being organised 

by the Confederation of Indian 

Industry (CII) with the support of 

the State Government in Kochi in 

October is one step towards achieving 

this goal. Globally, according to a 

KPMG India and FICCI report, the 

medical tourism industry was valued 

at USD 10.5 billion in 2012. It is 

expected to grow at a CAGR (Compound 

Annual Growth Rate) of 17.9 

per cent from 2013-19 to reach USD 

32.5 billion in 2019. Each year, seven 

million patients are said to be travelling 

to receive medical care. The cost 

of medical treatment and the availability 

of state-of-the-art technology 

are the most important factors 

prompting them to travel abroad for 

treatment. 


THE AVAILABILITY OF TERTIARY CARE 

HOSPITALS WITH NABH ACCREDITATION IS A 

MAJOR FACTOR WHY TRAVELLERS CHOOSE 

KERALA FOR AVAILING HIGH-END TREATMENT 

As per the statistics released by 

the Union Ministry of Tourism, the 

number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals 

(FTA) to India in 2014 was 76.8 lakh. 

Of this, roughly, close to 3 per cent 

constitutes the number of medical 

FTAs. In 2012, according to KPMG 

India, the total number of medical 

tourists who came to India was 1.7 

lakh. 

WHY KERALA? 

The availability of tertiary care 

hospitals with quality accreditation 

from National Accreditation Board 

for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers 

(NABH) is the pull factor for the 

travellers to choose Kerala for availing 

high-end treatment. Apart from 

this, the availability of internationally 

trained doctors and skilled paramedical 

team, salubrious climate and 

mature tourism products, connectivity 

to the State and relaxation of visa 

policy, and holistic and uncompromised 

medical care to the patients 

are also considered by the tourists 

while zeroing in on Kerala. 

A person coming to Kerala for 

medical treatment can have savings 

anywhere in the range of 30 to 70 per 

cent even if we include the expenses 

for air travel and accommodation. 

For instance, if a heart bypass surgery 

costs about USD 130,000 in the US, 

hospitals here have the wherewithal 

to do it in less than USD 7,000. Similarly, 

if a knee replacement procedure 

in the US costs about USD 40,000, a 

leading Indian hospital will do it in 

roughly USD 9,200. 

According to E M Najeeb, Executive 

Director of KIMS, in order to 

enhance healthcare quality standards, 

the Government should take 

the initiative for public-private 

partnerships in this sector which are 

quite common in western countries. 

“The State Government with the 

support of Information and Communication 

Technology (ICT) can 

activate a network wherein the 

patients can search and select the 

best and affordable treatment facility 

available in Kerala,” said Najeeb, who 

is also a leading figure in travel and 

tourism industry. “Such a consolidated 

effort will definitely strengthen 

the synergy between the health and 

tourism industries transforming the 

State into a medical tourism hub. 

National or international accreditation 

can be the criteria for shortlisting 

hospitals that can be promoted 

for medical value travel. KIMS will 

be in the forefront if the government 

moves ahead with such initiatives 

which will be a great boon to the 

patients seeking medical treatment 

in the State,” he said. Experts feel 

that there is an urgent need to invest 

in tertiary and quaternary care 

hospitals that can effectively address 

three major categories of advanced 

technology-enabled healthcare services: 

invasive or surgical, diagnostic 

testing and lifestyle-related. 

The forex revenue will also be instrumental 

in ensuring competitive 

compensation for medical professionals 

in Kerala so that they do not 

have to risk their lives in war-torn 

Syria and Iraq. • turn to p34 



RAJAGIRI HOSPITAL 

BUILDING A ROLE MODEL 

Highlighted as a mission 

hospital with a corporate 

face, Rajagiri Hospital 

at Chunangamveli near 

Aluva is a 1200-bed healthcare facility 

which when complete will also 

house a Medical College, College of 

Nursing, Institute of Paramedical 

Sciences, Rehabilitation Centre and 

Senior Citizens’ Village. 

“By saying that it is a mission hospital 

with a corporate face we clearly 

mean that Rajagiri is not a charity 

hospital. We have our own business 

principles; to reinvest the returns 

and not to focus on profit-making. 

No one who comes here should 

go without treatment for want of 

money. We may not be able to give 

them the luxuries available here but 

everything basic would be taken care 

of,” says Rev. Fr. Johnson Vazhapilly, 

the Executive Director. 

Commencing operations in 

March, 2015, Rajagiri focuses on 

six departments - Cardiac and 

Cardiac Surgery, Neuro and Neuro 

Surgery, Urology and Nephrology, 

Orthopaedics, Gastroenterology and 

Neonatology. To cater exclusively to 

the needs of international patients, 

REV. FR. JOHNSON 

VAZHAPILLY 

We intend to develop this 

hospital into a “onestop-place” 

for all health needs. 

We also focus on education. 

The educational institutions 

will start functioning as soon 

as we have sufficient patient 

inflow into the campus. It is 

essential for education to be 

authentic and meaningful. 

The senior citizens’ village 

will have 500 apartments 

with all facilities. As part of 

our commitment towards 

responsible healthcare, we will 

have internal audits to validate 

the treatment prescribed post 

diagnosis by doctors. 

Rajagiri has set up the entire seventh 

floor with 50 beds. 

“We will have separate tariff for 

local and international patients. 

Still, we may be priced at around 30 

to 40 per cent less than the rates at 

overseas markets. Unless we cater to 

the high-end segment and pursue 

MVT diligently, we cannot subsidise 

the treatment for the lower income 

group,” he said. 

Once completed, Rajagiri will 

have close to 3000 employees. 

The first phase of the project costs 

around Rs. 300 crore exclusive of the 

land value. “The total project cost 

would cross Rs. 1000 crore and it 

will take a minimum of five years to 

complete all the components of the 

plan,” he added. 


KIMS TO RAISE BENCHMARK 

IN HEALTHCARE 

Within a span of 

13 years, Kerala 

Institute of Medical 

Sciences (KIMS) 

in Thiruvananthapuram has grown 

from a super-specialty centre to a 

tertiary care centre and is currently 

in the process of transformation to a 

quaternary care hospital. 

“We have been following a multidisciplinary 

approach wherein the 

patient gets all the treatment under 

one roof. Being the largest healthcare 

network in Kerala delivering quality 

healthcare, KIMS can definitely play 

a vital role in raising the benchmark 

of healthcare services in the State,” 

Executive Director E M Najeeb said. 

KIMS has a dedicated international 

patients’ relations team for extending 

personalised care and service to the 

foreign nationals seeking specialised 

treatment. Ultra modern, sophisticated, 

well-furnished designer rooms 

on the executive floor offer 5-star 

comfort and luxury to add to the 

exclusive KIMS care and experience. 

“The foreign patient traffic has been 

E M NAJEEB 

IMS is well equipped 

K to deliver high-end 

treatment, including organ 

transplantation (Kidney & 

Liver), comprehensive cancer 

care, advanced minimally 

invasive cardiac surgeries, 

ortho, neuro care, cosmetic 

surgery and advanced 

dental care. The ambience, 

hospitality of the staff and the 

wonderful view all contribute 

to a fast recovery. 

steadily increasing over the past 13 

years and currently, we treat around 

40,000 patients per year,” he said. 

KIMS has dedicated desks for inhouse 

travel and currency exchange. 

Once the treatment gets completed, 

guided tours in and around the city 

are arranged for the patients as well as 

those accompanying them. 

Currently, KIMS is recognised as 

the largest private hospital network 

- five super-specialty/tertiary care 

centres and two wellness centres 

- in Kerala with a bed-strength of 

1650. As part of its expansion plan, 

a first-of-its-kind resort-themed 

super-specialty hospital in India 

is being planned at Thonnakkal 

in Thiruvananthapuram district. 

Apart from this, the flagship hospital 

in Thiruvananthapuram will be 

adding 200 beds. Building a green 

field project in Nagercoil region for 

extending super-specialty treatment 

to neighbouring Tamil Nadu and 

increasing the bed strength of the 

existing facilities in Kochi, Kottayam 

and Kollam, are also on the cards. 



• contd... from p31 

Why do you think, asks Dr. Harish, 

CEO of Aster Medcity, Malayali 

nurses are stuck in strife-torn areas 

like Libya, Iran and Iraq? “In a 

hospital like Aster, we charge Rs. 200 

as consultation fee for a doctor. The 

same doctor, if he sits in Delhi, will 

get Rs. 1200. Because of the economics 

of the situation, you cannot 

compensate your manpower adequately. 

The only way we can come 

out of this whirlpool is by focusing 

on MVT and by cross subsidising 

our population,” he said. 

BENCHMARKING, THE NEED 

OF THE HOUR 

Currently, the entire medical 

value travel traffic which is originating 

from West Asia go straight to 

Thailand or Singapore. A study by 

E&Y indicates that medical tourists 

look for coordinated care on medical 

campuses or in integrated health cities 

like in Singapore or Bangkok. The 

rest of their expectations are similar 

to any tourist. Kerala now has 22 

NABH accredited hospitals (including 

State-run hospitals) and two 

JCI-accredited hospitals. Meanwhile, 

Singapore has 21 JCI-certified hospitals 

and earned USD 832 million in 

2013 through MVT. 

Dr. Harish, who is also the chairperson 

of healthcare committee for 

CII, said it is important to cultivate a 

mature healthcare ecosystem beyond 

insular centres of excellence for 

MVT to succeed. 

According to him, task forces 

involving representatives from all 

the hospitals have been constituted 

to work on a ‘mission mode’ for the 

purpose. 

“In Singapore, all the government 

and private hospitals are JCI 

accredited. We should also look at 

benchmarking. In five years’ time, 

we should become the first State in 

India having NABH accreditation 

for all hospitals. The common man 

will benefit the most. You can notice 

the change in Ernakulam General 

‘‘THE STATE GOVERNMENT WOULD ACT AS 

A FACILITATOR IN PROMOTING MEDICAL 

TOURISM IN KERALA BY ENVISAGING 

PRO-ACTIVE POLICIES’’ 


photo courtesy: kims 

Hospital after it received the NABH 

accreditation,” he said. 

The need of the hour, according 

to Rev. Fr. Johnson Vazhapilly, 

the Executive Director of Rajagiri 

Hospital, is to constitute a body with 

Secretaries of Health and Tourism 

Departments heading it. 

“A welcome sign is that stakeholders 

have started working collaboratively 

shedding the sceptical attitude. 

Only that will bring in lasting results. 

There can be a win-win situation 

even if there are many players,” he 

said. 

Talking to Destination Kerala, 

Health and Family Welfare Department 

Secretary Dr. Ellangovan IAS 

said that the Government would act 

as a facilitator in promoting medical 

tourism by envisaging pro-active 

policies. 

LESSONS TO LEARN 

popular destination 

A for cosmetic surgery 

procedures, Thailand is 

home to internationally 

accredited medical facilities. 

Thailand has 37 healthcare 

facilities accredited to the JCI. 

Bumrungrad International is 

one of the leading hospitals 

in Thailand, which caters to 

about 1,000 international 

patients everyday with the help 

of over 900 physicians across 

55 specialties. Out of the 

million patients the hospital 

treats annually, more than 

520,000 are foreign nationals. 

Largely famous for 

complicated medical 

procedures such as heart 

surgeries, Singapore has 

been positioning itself as 

a destination for modern 

medical technology with 

highly trained doctors. It ranks 

sixth among 191 countries 

with advanced health systems 

in the world. 

“Towards this, the State Government 

has started actively promoting 

organ transplantation. Kerala State 

Network for Organ Transplantation 

has been constituted for the purpose. 

The forum will strictly ensure 

smooth conduct of transportation 

procedures and see to it that the 

queue of recipients is not violated 

unless in a life-saving situation. 

Besides, the Government is considering 

the possibility of setting up 

an air ambulance service to support 

organ transplantation activities,” the 

secretary said. 

Meanwhile, noted Medical Oncologist 

Dr. V P Gangadharan, newly 

appointed special officer for Kochi 

Cancer Centre, shared a slightly 

different view. “No doubt, we have 

to raise the standards of healthcare. 

But, if you want to transform Kerala 

into the most sought-after destination 

for MVT, you need to project 

the success rate of medical procedures. 

We have to do basic research, 

compile data from hospitals and 

showcase the results. If the success 

rate is high, it is implied that you 

have the best expertise and advanced 

facilities,” he said. 

ULTRA SOUND 

IMAGING SYSTEM 

AT RAJAGIRI 

HOSPITAL 


TRAVEL / Thenmala 

t e x t by k g mohanlal ifs 

TREKKERS’ 

PARADISE 

T H E N M 

TOURISTS 

ENJOYING THE 

BEAUTY OF 

THENMALA 


Adventure is a major component of ecotourism here which includes rivercrossing, 

elevated walkway, mountain biking, rock climbing, corracle ride, 

Burma bridge, valley crossing and different types of trekking 

A L A INVITES 

YOU 


TRAVEL / Thenmala 

The celebrated Brindavan Gardens 

of Mysore was in his mind when 

E Chandrasekharan Nair, the then 

Tourism Minister of Kerala, convened 

a meeting to discuss the tourism 

potential of Thenmala way back 

in 1996. 

As the Director of Ecotourism, I 

was asked to visit the area adjacent 

to the Thenmala dam and evaluate 

its tourism potential. I had been to 

Thenmala earlier as a Forest Officer. 

The moment the Minister suggested 

the idea, images of ecotourism 

destinations in Melbourne and 

Tasmania, which I had seen during 

a study tour on policy planning to 

Australia way back in 1995, began 

streaming across my mind. The way 

that project was implemented had 

impressed me very much then. 

Thus evolved the story of the 

country’s first planned ecotourism 

destination. Whenever political will 

is backed by bureaucratic commitment, 

miracles happened in Kerala. 

Thenmala ecotourism project is the 

best example of this. 

IN TUNE WITH NATURE 

The word ecotourism gained 

currency by mid 1990s. Basically, 

the concept revolves around any 

tourism programme that is naturebased 

and ecologically sustainable, 

where education and interpretation 

are given utmost importance and 

has benefited the local community. 

If you can integrate these objectives, 

it can be called ecotourism. 

The resource base of this particular 

ecotourism destination is Shendurney 

Wildlife Sanctuary. A soft 

ecotourism spot, the destination will 

give you exposure to what is authentic 

ecotourism and a familiarisation 

of the area in and around Thenmala 

dam. Around 30 acres of land in 

three sections has been developed as 

soft ecotourism zone so as to let the 

tourists enjoy the real communion 

with the ecology of forest areas. 

The peculiarity of this project 

is that it is coordinated by three 

departments - Forest, Tourism and 

Irrigation. The soft ecotourism components 

were developed in the land 

which was once given to the Irrigation 

Department for the construction 

of a dam. 

As it was not required for the 

purpose, those 30 acres of land was 

restored to its original forest ecosystem. 

That alone would support the 

concept of ecotourism. 

FEATURES 

• Butterfly Safari • Leisure 

Zone • Deer Rehabilitation 

Centre • Children’s Park & 

Nakshatravanam • Musical 

Dancing Fountain • Boating 

• Night Camping 


see different tree species, small waterfalls 

in between and the beauty 

of the whole landscape of Thenmala. 

On seeing a musical fountain 

there, one may wonder what has it 

got to do with ecotourism. Definitely, 

it has nothing to do with ecotourism. 

But here, it is an open-air musical 

fountain set against the backdrop 

of a cluster of bamboo plants. 

All these activities are co-ordinated 

by various eco-development 

committees, which stand to gain 

from them. 

Palaruvi waterfalls, Thenmala 

(Parappar) dam, Ottakkal, Aryankavu, 

Pandavan Para, Achankovil, 

Rosemala, Kulathupuzha and Jadayupara 

form the satellite centres of 

Thenmala ecotourism destination. 

In my view, though we were the 

first to implement the project in 

the country, the full potential of the 

region is yet to be tapped. Indeed, 

their is a long way to go. 

(The author is Additional Principal Chief 

Conservator of Forests (Administration). He 

was the first CEO of Thenmala Ecotourism 

Promotion Society) 

THE ‘HONEY HILLS’ 

IN LOCAL PARLANCE, 

‘THEN’ MEANS HONEY AND 

‘MALA’ MEANS HILLOCK. 

LOCATED IN THE VALLEY OF 

WESTERN GHATS AMIDST 

EVERGREEN FORESTS OF 

SHENDURNEY WILDLIFE 

SANCTUARY, THENMALA 

IS SITUATED 72 KM FROM 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM AND 

62 KM FROM KOLLAM. 

Adventure is a major component 

of ecotourism here which includes 

river-crossing, elevated walkway, 

mountain biking, rock climbing and 

different types of trekking. 

The tree canopy is a special 

attraction as it enables you to get 

a complete view of the ecosystem. 

Standing on it, one would get to 

OPTIONS TO STAY 

IN THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: 

• HILTON GARDEN INN 

www.hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com 

• VIVANTA BY TAJ 

www.vivantabytaj.com 

IN KOLLAM: 

• THE WELCOMHOTEL RAVIZ ASHTAMUDI 

www.theraviz.com 


MAKING A DIFFERENCE / NISH 

G Vijayaraghavan and team build NISH into the nation’s first university 

for disability studies and rehabilitation sciences 

by jose k u n n a p pa l ly 

G VIJAYARAGHAVAN 

THE INSTITUTION 

BUILDER 

The Central Government’s decision 

to elevate Thiruvananthapurambased 

National Institute of Speech 

and Hearing (NISH) as India’s first 

National University for Disability 

Studies and Rehabilitation Sciences 

is a dream come true for one man – 

G Vijayaraghavan (GVR to many). 

Even before the silver jubilee euphoria 

of Technopark had died down 

fully, an institution whose founder 

CEO he was and instrumental in 

nurturing it to its current position as 

India’s largest and greenest IT park 

employing 50,000 people, we met to 

discuss the journey of NISH, another 

stellar institution he conceived, now 

poised for even greater glory. 

“It was in 1996. The then Chief 

Minister E K Nayanar and Industries 

Minister Suseela Gopalan asked me 

if I could recommend some project 

in the software sector, but I told 

them I had a project in the social 

welfare sector. They liked what they 

heard and asked for a one page note 

which I prepared. In the 1996 budget 

speech, Finance Minister T Sivadasa 

Menon announced it and earmarked 

a token amount. But things did 


not move forward. Then in 1997, 

under their insistence, I agreed to 

spearhead it as honorary director”, 

GVR reminisced. NISH was set up 

as a society under the State’s social 

justice department. 

NISH’s 10 acre campus in 

Aakulam where it now stands was to 

happen much later. The beginnings 

were very modest in rented premises 

across the city offering diagnostic 

services, technology education with 

deaf programs and a pre-school. 

The first batch of teachers was sent 

to Balavidyalaya in Chennai for 

training since there was no reputed 

institution in this field in Kerala. 

“The single largest funding in those 

early days came from Kottayam’s 

Kollemvarieth family - TJS Mathew 

who got his entire family together 

to contribute Rs. 26 lakh,” reminds 

GVR. 

NISH is the first institution in 

the country to propose new degree 

courses exclusively for students with 

hearing impairment. It also offers a 

variety of other programs covering 

pre-school training, parent guidance, 

audio-logical intervention, vocational 

courses and summer workshops. 

Since inception, NISH has produced 

about 300 Audiology and Speech 

Language Pathology (ASLP) professionals 

and near 100 graduates in 

disciplines like Computer Science, 

Fine Arts and Commerce. 

As a central university NISH will 

get into new areas like autism and 

cerebral palsy. “We want to do extensive 

research and collaborate with 

the best universities in the world for 

special needs children like Gallaudet 

University, Washington DC to develop 

our own model for addressing 

the learning needs of students where 

cognition is intact, but disability 

based barriers exist and hence requiring 

higher education to integrate with 

mainstream society”, says executive 

director Samuel N. Mathew. 

“Deaf and high functioning 

autistic children who have advanced 

NISH IS THE FIRST 

INSTITUTION IN 

THE COUNTRY TO 

PROPOSE NEW 

DEGREE COURSES 

EXCLUSIVELY 

FOR STUDENTS 

WITH HEARING 

IMPAIRMENT 

cognition and children with multiple 

disabilities can perform better 

with Assisted Technologies (AT). 

AT is basically technologies that 

will help students in the classroom 

to overcome the academic barrier” 

says GVR. Recently Federal 

Bank committed Rs. 2 crore to set 

up an AT Center at NISH as part 

of its CSR program. “We will be 

doing in-depth research to better 

understand deaf culture and specific 

requirements we have, like speech 

generation technology for Malayalam. 

TCS is working on a project 

with us converting sign language 

in to speech. IIT may pitch in too”, 

informs Samuel. 

For NISH, the current outlay is 

about Rs. 9 crore contributed by the 

State. The requisition NISH has put 

forward to the central government 

is for Rs. 400 crore and the State has 

promised to find a land parcel of 

over 100 acres to house the new central 

university. However GVR insists 

NISH is not focussed on scale but 

quality. Says GVR for whom NISH 

has been a very personal labor of 

love, “We want to build a world class 

special needs friendly educational 

institution which other universities 

in India and the region can model, 

where the learning programs are 

not limited to special needs people. 

Studying alongside children without 

disabilities, and powered by AT, 

we can ensure a level playing field 

which allows faster integration into 

the mainstream society”. 

When I exit NISH I speak to a 

young mother whose child is at its 

pre-school about how the journey 

has been. The response is heart 

wrenching. It’s a roller coaster ride 

for many with the struggle being 

a combination of economic inadequacy, 

emotional trauma and social 

boycott. As her toddler gets ready 

after pre-school to join mainstream 

education, she is hopeful the difficult 

part of the journey is behind 

them and thanks NISH profusely for 

breathing life back in to her world. 

Now that’s a difference Vijayaraghavan 

and the entire team at NISH can 

be very proud of. 

Know someone who is making a 

difference? Write to us at 



STARTUP / WowMakers 

YOUNG BRIGADE OF 

DIGITAL STORYTELLERS 

Vivek and Jaseem are the founders of WowMakers Digital Media Studio, 

the first company to be incubated in Startup Village, Kochi in 2012 

by jose k u n n a p pa l ly 

CELEBRATING WORK: 

VIVEK, JASEEM, DEEPAK, 

NITHIN, JITHESH AND 

RALU AT A BIRTHDAY 

CELEBRATION ALONG WITH 

COLLEAGUES 

The 

venue has been packed to capacity. 

The chief guest has arrived. The 

event is about to begin. Lights off! 

The AV starts playing. Pin drop 

silence for the next two minutes as 

a white board animation video with 

voice-over arrests the audience’s 

attention. Lights on. Thunderous applause. 

WOW! 

“That feeling of witnessing your 

creative output being appreciated every 

time, like first love, is so refreshing 

and heartening,’’ says 26-year-old 

Vivek Raghavan. Jaseem Thayal Shareef, 

26, agrees: “The biggest high in 

our work is the appreciation for our 

art form, from whichever quarters it 

comes.’’ 

Vivek and Jaseem, both computer 

science graduates from College of 

Engineering (CET), Thrikkaripur, 

are the founders of WowMakers 

Digital Media Studio, the first 

company to be incubated at Startup 

Village, Kochi in 2012. 

The genesis and early days of what 

was to become WowMakers were 

in their home town Kanhangad in 

Kasargode district of north Kerala. 

Vivek had participated in a logo 

design competition by 99designs. 

com, a leading online marketplace 

for graphic design, and won Rs. 1 

lakh in 2007 while still a student at 

CET. That was the turning point. 

For the next four years, the duo did 

a lot of freelance graphic design 

work, requests for which came via 

online, and built credibility among 

clients mostly from overseas for 

creative quality and timely delivery. 

All the while they kept their day job 

at Foradian Technologies, a software 

start-up providing ERP solutions 

for educational institutions. It is at 

Foradian that both learned the ropes 

of running an organisation complete 

with processes. They were getting 


eady for the plunge. 

Joined by four college mates, 

Jithesh Lakshman (Art Director), 

Nithin Bekal (CTO), Ralu Rajan 

Madathil (VP, Business Development) 

and Deepak Prabhakaran 

(COO), they formed WowMakers 

in 2011 to offer branding services 

from a 100 sq. ft. rented office in 

Kanhangad. Soon the team realised 

that design-related branding services 

was an over populated field with 

stiff competition from established 

branding and advertising agencies. 

The need to find a sustainable 

niche that fully leveraged their raw 

creative talent led them to zero in on 

animated explainer videos. According 

to NASSCOM, the demand for 

animation production services in 

the non-entertainment segment will 

touch USD 14.7 billion this year. 

“A picture speaks a thousand 

words but a video speaks a million 

words. So we decided to tell the story 

behind a product, service or idea 

through explainer videos,” reminisces 

Jaseem. “Explainer videos are 

short duration videos with a catchy 

story and fun visuals. We do different 

types of explainer videos like 2D, 

3D, whiteboard animation and live 

videos. Videos for employee training, 

product demo or service communication 

can follow this format 

with great results”. 

MobME Wireless responded to 

a demand generation email from 

WowMakers and awarded them a 

project in late 2011. The outcome 

pleased CEO Sanjay Vijayakumar so 

much that MobME came onboard 

as the first investor in WowMakers 

picking up 20 per cent stake for 

Rs. 25 lakh. Later, when Sanjay 

became chairman of Startup Village, 

WowMakers moved to Kochi. 

In the last few years WowMakers 

has picked up an impressive roster 

of clients like Microsoft, Yahoo, 

Blackberry, HDFC, Geojit, CUMI, 

Quick Heal, Federal Bank, WeChat, 

Startup Village and Technopark 

among others. 

WOWMAKERS HAS AN ARRAY OF CLIENTS 

LIKE MICROSOFT, YAHOO, BLACKBERRY, 

HDFC, GEOJIT, CUMI, QUICK HEAL, 

FEDERAL BANK, WECHAT, STARTUP 

VILLAGE AND TECHNOPARK 

A month ago WowMakers 

became a Google-approved vendor. 

Today over 80 per cent of the annual 

revenue comes from India and 

remaining from overseas clients. 

“Currently we are running full capacity 

delivering five to eight films a 

month.” adds Jaseem. 

Along with the services business, 

WowMakers has also launched a 

product called CrowdStudio which 

is a crowdsourcing platform for 

offering graphic design services to 

startups. CrowdStudio is very much 

like 99designs but the showcase is 

curated and not every submission 

is published. “Currently over 500 

handpicked designers publish regularly 

on the platform and more than 

20 client transactions occur every 

month,’’ says Deepak. 

That’s not all. The team led 

by Nithin is building an internal 

training/e-learning platform that 

ensures engagement with employees 

post delivery of learning content. 

“The platform is at Beta stage now 

and we intend to offer it to customers 

soon,’’ informs Nithin. 

I ask Vivek and Jaseem how the 

going has been so far and where do 

they want to see themselves? There 

is introspection and resolve as they 

respond in chorus. “We want to be 

India’s biggest non-entertainment 

animation production house. We 

want to become one of the best digital 

storytellers in the world!” 


AUTO / The all-new BMW X6 

BLENDING POWER 

AND ELEGANCE 

The all-new BMW X6 is available in Alpine White as non-metallic 

paintwork and in four metallic paintworks - Carbon Black, Flamenco Red 

Brilliant Effect, Space Grey and Mineral White 

G 

erman auto giant BMW has once 

again set the benchmark for luxury 

car coupe by launching the second 

generation of its first Sports Activity 

Coupe (SAC), the BMW X6. 

The updated version comes with 

the xDrive40d variant having BMW 

3-litre twin-turbo six-cylinder 

in-line diesel engine. It churns out 

313 HP of total power and produces 

maximum torque of 630 Nm 

at 1,500 – 2,500 rpm. Mated to an 

eight-speed automatic transmission, 

the new BMW X6 goes from 

0-100 km/hr. in 5.8 seconds with a 

top speed of 240 km/hr. The vehicle 

comes with a fuel tank of 85 litres. 

Launching the redefined version, 

BMW Group India President 

Philipp von Sahr said: “BMW 

established the SAC segment with 

the introduction of BMW X6 and it 

was the first-of-its-kind. The second 

generation once again perfectly 

combines quintessential BMW X 

qualities with elegance of a BMW 

coupe.” 

Further, Sahr said, the sporty 

exterior of a coupe and equally 

impressive dynamism and agility 

make the vehicle distinct. “Luxury 

has always been written with an X. 

To the very last detail, the all-new 

BMW X6 offers a unique synthesis 

of luxury, sporting dynamics and 

powerful style creating an excitingly 

different driving experience for our 

customers.” 

At the exterior, the BMW X6 is 

broad, muscular and dynamic. A 

wide kidney grille and large front air 

inlets with horizontal chrome trims 

dominate the front view. You get 


THE SAFETY FEATURES INCLUDE SIX AIRBAGS, DYNAMIC STABILITY 

CONTROL, CORNERING BRAKE CONTROL, SIDE-IMPACT PROTECTION, 

ELECTRONIC VEHICLE IMMOBILISER AND CRASH SENSOR 

THE NEW BMW 

X6 IS BROAD, 

MUSCULAR AND 

DYNAMIC 

inside and the interior evokes the 

sense of exclusive sportiness with 

the hallmark BMW driver-oriented 

cockpit design, innovative control 

and display elements, elevated seating 

position and lines which streak 

dynamically from the instrument 

panel into the door panels to form a 

ring around the interior. 

The extravaganza apart, the 

updated BMW X6 is spacious. 

With the seat backrest in an upright 

position, the luggage compartment 

in the BMW X6 offers 580 litres of 

storage space. Depending on various 

requirements, the three sections of 

the backrests can be folded down 

in a 40:20:40 split which then offer 

an impressive 1,525 litres of luggage 

space. The safety features comprise 

six airbags, dynamic stability control 

(DSC), including dynamic traction 

control (DTC), cornering brake 

control (CBC) and hill descent control 

(HDC), side-impact protection, 

electronic vehicle immobiliser and 

crash sensor. 

When it comes to the performance-to-fuel 

consumption ratio, 

the BMW X6 is equipped with a 

comprehensive technology package, 

including lightweight construction, 

automatic start/stop function, brake 

energy regeneration and electric 

power steering. 

Compared to the previous 

model, the second-gen BMW X6 

is 34mm longer, 4mm wider and 

12mm higher. The ex-showroom 

price of the BMW X6 xDrive40d is 

Rs. 1,17,89,188 in Kochi. 

DK 

PLATINO CLASSIC - KOCHI 

Phone: +91 484 669 6666 

Email: info@bmw-platinoclassic.in 

Website: www.bmw-platinoclassic.in 


FOOD 

STEAMED CHICKEN SUPREME 

WITH PRAWNS 

SERVES 1 

20 MINUTES 

COOKING 

TIME 

Binu Mon 

Sous-Chef, The Gateway 

Hotel, Kozhikode 

NECESSARY 

INGREDIENTS: 

Chicken Supreme (cleaned & 

trimmed) - 1 no, Prawns 

Large (shelled, de-veined) - 1 no, 

Chicken Mince - 50 gms, Parsley 

(chopped) - 1 tsp, Salt to taste, 

White pepper powder - 1/4 tsp, 

Cream - 1 tbsp, Egg white - 1 no, 

Plastic wrap to cover 

For the Sauce: Head and shell of 

the prawn, Onion - sliced (medium) 

- 1 no, Celery (cut roughly) - 1 

tbsp, Garlic (sliced) - 2 cloves, Tomato 

ripe (roughly cut) medium - 1 

no, Refined Flour - 1 tsp, Butter - 1 

tbsp, Carrot (roughly cut) small - 1 

no, Chicken stock - 1 cup, Salt and 

Pepper to taste, Cream - 2 tsp 

PROCEDURE: 

Slit open the chicken supreme and marinate the prawn and the supreme 

with salt and pepper. Blend the chicken mince, salt, pepper, cream and 

eggwhite in a blender till smooth. Add chopped parsley and mix well. 

Place the slit chicken supreme open on a cutting board. Spread the mince 

evenly on it leaving 1/2 cm around the edges. Keep the prawns in its 

centre lengthwise and roll up the chicken supreme around it. Wrap the 

stuffed supreme tightly in the plastic wrap to form a cylinder. Refrigerate. 

To make the sauce, heat the butter in a heavy skillet and add the onion, 

garlic, celery and carrots. Saute till the onions are transparent. Add the 

reserved shells and fry until the shells turn orange in colour. Add the 

flour and saute well for a minute and add the tomatoes and chicken 

stock. Cook on a slow flame until the tomatoes are mashed and the sauce 

slightly thick. Pass the sauce through a strainer. Reheat the sauce and 

cook until the sauce thickens to a pouring consistency. Season and finish 

with the cream. Cook the prepared chicken supreme in a steamer for 17 

minutes. Remove the plastic wrap. Slice the supreme diagonally and arrange 

on a plate. Serve hot with the sauce and boiled vegetables of your 

choice on the side. 


FOOD 

PAN-FRIED TENDERLOIN 

STRIPS WITH MUSHROOMS 

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE 

BROWNIE 

SERVES 1 

10 MINUTES 

COOKING 

TIME 

SERVES 8-10 

25 MINUTES 

COOKING 

TIME 

NECESSARY INGREDIENTS: 

Beef Tenderloin (cleaned and trimmed and cut into 

strips) - 125 gms, Salt as required, Black pepper (freshly 

pounded) - 1/2 tsp, Refined flour - 1 tbsp, Refined 

oil - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp, Garlic (chopped) - 2 cloves, Onion 

(chopped) - 1 no (small), Button mushrooms (sliced) - 

3 nos, Parsley (finely chopped) - 1 tbsp, Fresh cream - 1 

tbsp, Chicken stock - 2 tbsp, Side salad to plate. 

PROCEDURE: 

Marinate the beef strips with salt and pepper. Dust them 

with the flour. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan and fry 

the beef on all sides for 30 seconds each. Remove and reserve. 

Add 1 tsp of oil to the same pan and saute the garlic 

and onion till transparent. Add the mushrooms and 

saute till soft. Add the parsley and chicken stock. Season 

to taste. Add the pan fried beef strips to the pan and mix 

well. Add the cream and cook for another minute on 

medium flame, till the cream is absorbed. Transfer into a 

plate and serve immediately with a side salad. 

NECESSARY INGREDIENTS: 

Butter - 250 gms, Castor sugar - 400 gms, Eggs 

- 4 nos, Cocoa powder - 40 gms, Flour - 70 gms, 

Walnuts (roasted chopped) - 50 gms, Chocolate 

- 400 gms. 

PROCEDURE: 

Melt butter and keep aside. Sieve together the 

flour and cocoa powder. Melt chocolate in a 

microwave and keep aside. Whisk the eggs and 

sugar until fluffy. Fold in the melted butter, 

chocolate and dry ingredients and nuts. Fold into 

prepared tins and bake at 180°C for 20 minutes. 

Serve with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. 

To feature your favourite recipes in this column, 

write to us at 


(Also attach photographs) 


WELL BEING / Feng Shui 

INAUSPICIOUS DIRECTIONS 

Your lucky feng shui directions help you attract the feng shui 

energy which is most beneficial for you 

Santtosh Pulikkal 

Feng Shui Expert 

santtoshpulikkal@gmail.com 

As we discussed in previous 

article, it is excellent to face 

an auspicious direction. 

But, it is even more important to 

ensure that you never, ever have to 

face your unlucky direction whenever 

you are engaged in a productive 

pursuit. You would not believe how 

many of my most successful consultations 

have been simply rearranging 

furniture at work for people so 

that they can sit facing an auspicious 

direction. 

FOUR INAUSPICIOUS 

DIRECTIONS 

• Ho Hai: Bad Luck - also known 

as Ho Hai in Chinese - brings mild 

bad luck that is more aggravating 

than severe. It is usually manifested 

by obstacles that delay your success, 

cause to lose your cool and are 

generally very annoying. 

• Wu Kwei: Five Ghosts - also 

known as Wu Kwei - refers to 

troublemakers in the office who 

play politics against you, cause you 

problems by gossiping about you 

and spread malicious, untrue or 

exaggerated stories about you. It is a 

direction you really must avoid. 

• Lui Shar: Six Killings - also 

known as Lui Shar - involves six 

kinds of misfortune that stab at your 

heart causing you grief, heartbreak 

and terrible sufferings. It usually refers 

to the loss of a loved one, money 

or assets, your repute, friendship, 

home or the loss of good health. 

• Chueh Ming: Total Loss - also 

known as Chueh Ming - is the 

ultimate bad luck direction, which 

can result in you losing everything 

that is dear to you, and necessary for 

your survival - perhaps through a 

natural disaster like a Tsunami or a 

financial meltdown like that of 2008. 

TO FIND YOUR KUA NUMBER, VISIT: 

http://www.knowfengshui.com/your-fengshui-kua-number-chart-calculator/ 

TIPS 

Make a list of things that need 

to be done in specified time 

frame. 

Identify what you want to do 

with each room. 

Get started to declutter and 

revitalise. 

Decide what you wish to 

throw away, what you need 

to repair, what you want to 

sell. 

Revitalise with a fresh coat of 

paint. 

Put new light, door or a 

window. 

Finally let new wind (light 

breeze) flow right through 

the house. 

Kua Number 1 2 3 4 5* 6 7 8 9 

Ho hai W E SW NW E/S SE N S NE 

We kwei NE SE NW SW SE/N E S N W 

Lui sha NW S NE W S/E N SE E SW 

Chueh ming SW N W NE N/SE S E SE NW 

East or West 

group person? E W E E W E W W E 

* Kua Number 5 : Men Women 


SOCIAL PLANNER 

SOCIAL CALENDAR 

Save the date 

01.09.2015 

THE ANNUAL 

FEAST OF ST. 

MARY’S CHURCH, 

MANARCAD 

KOTTAYAM 

SEP 1 - 8 

01.09.2015 

KERALA 

HOMESTAY & 

RURAL TOURISM 

MEET 2015, 

BOLGATTY 

PALACE, SEP 1 - 3 

06.09.2015 

PATA TRAVEL 

MART 2015 

38TH EDITION 

BIEC BENGALURU 

SEP 6 - 8 

10.09.2015 

ASIAN LATEX 

CONFERENCE 

(ALC) 2015 

CROWNE PLAZA, 

KOCHI 

SEP 10 - 11 

12.09.2015 12.09.2015 

INDIA RUBBER 

SUMMIT & DINNER 

2015 

CROWNE PLAZA, 

KOCHI 

YES CAN 2015 

YOUNG 

ENTREPRENEURS 

SUMMIT 2015 

CROWNE PLAZA, 

KOCHI 

13.09.2015 

NATIONAL 

HOMOEOPATHY 

CONVENTION 

TAGORE HALL, 

KOZHIKODE 

13.09.2015 

NEELAMPEROOR 

PATAYANI 

KETTUKAZHCHA 

PALLI 

BHAGAVATHY 

TEMPLE 

30.10.2015 

KERALA HEALTH 

TOURISM 2015 

CONFEDERATION 

OF INDIAN 

INDUSTRY 

KOCHI 

To feature your event here, write to us at info@destinationbusinessmedia.com 


THE LAST WORD 

KERALA’S AYURVEDA, 

PRECURSOR TO INDIA’S 

MEDICAL TOURISM 

Mathukutty J Kunnappally 

Founder and Editorial Chairman 

Destination Kerala 

With incessant fury 

of the Kerala 

monsoon raging 

all around me 

in its royal majesty, leading to the 

usual power outage, I sat in the semi 

darkness of our tiny office room in 

the ancient Aundal Building close 

to the Thiruvananthapuram Central 

Railway Station, planning the 

fourth issue of the three-month-old 

Destination Kerala, due for release 

on September 1. 

By then, it was more or less 

clear that the pioneering venture to 

showcase Kerala in a Kerala-based 

Guests from Germany and other 

German-speaking countries were 

regulars at the resort. The word 

soon spread and there was a steady 

stream of tourists to the resort, seeking 

solace for infirmities caused by 

the extremely cold climate in northern 

Europe. However, Dr. Franklin 

wanted to practice Ayurveda outside 

the trappings of star hotel compulsions 

like non-vegetarian food and 

liquor. They soon parted company, 

with Dr. Franklin launching his 

own Panchakarma Institute close 

by, offering sustained and scientific 

remedies at reasonable cost. 

“Ayurvedic tourism was my idea, 

and I have intellectual property 

right over it,’’ Dr. Franklin continued. 

‘‘Now, I am in a fix, because 

I have no network to reach out to 

the world, and not much money on 

hand to mount a global campaign. 

Can you help me as you go to London 

for the WTM, carrying some 

copies of my pamphlets and distributing 

them at the event?” Though I 

would be overloaded with bundles 

of our magazine, I felt his cause to 

be genuine and worthy of support. 

I carried his leaflets to London, 

spreading them around. 

To cut a long story short, in a 

couple of months, his Panchakarma 

Institute became a hit with tourists 

from the UK and The Continent. 

Soon he appeared in my office in 

his newly bought gleaming sedan, 

this time with a fabulous, perennial 

advertisement contract and gift 

packs of his wonder potions. 

To Dr. Varghese Franklin goes 

IN 2000, WE HONOURED DR. VARGHESE FRANKLIN WITH THE 

DESTINATION KERALA TOURISM MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD 

English print journal would ‘make 

it’, and the confidence gave me the 

courage to announce that we plan 

to attend the World Travel Market 

(WTM) in London, come November, 

thus becoming the first-ever 

media banner from South India to 

participate in the prestigious expo. 

Advertisements poured in, even a 

non-tourism PSU like KSIDC hiring 

space in our WTM Special. 

Back to that rainy day in Aundal 

Building. A knock on the door, followed 

by the entry of a tall, middleaged 

gentleman woke me up from 

deep thought. “My name is Varghese 

Franklin, I am an ayurvedic practitioner,” 

he self-introduced and sat 

down opposite me. 

The story he then unveiled was 

both astonishing and bewildering 

in more than one sense. Franklin 

was, until just the other day, serving 

as the Chief Medical Officer of an 

ayurvedic treatment centre, attached 

to a luxury resort near Kovalam. 

the credit for marrying tourism with 

ayurveda, and we of Destination 

Kerala were delighted to become 

the launch pad for the most ambitious 

tourism product ever from this 

‘God’s Own Country.’ In 2000, we 

honoured the good doctor with the 

‘Destination Kerala Tourism Man of 

the Year Award.’ Now in his twilight 

years, Dr. Franklin continues 

to practice his art and mentor his 

successors with hand-holding and 

guidance. 

Modern Medical Tourism came 

to India much much later. Our 

ayurvedic tourism was, in fact, the 

precursor to all those multi-million 

dollar modern medical conglomerates 

that today dot the skylines of 

the country’s megapolises, cities, 

towns and even villages serving 

tourists. 

Big ideas most often spring forth 

from the meek, and being biblically 

blessed, they inherit the Earth. And 

that is precisely how it should be. 


DESTINATION KERALA 

SPECIAL ISSUE 

NOVEMBER 2015 

FOR DISCUSSING ANNOUNCEMENTS 

AND ADVERTISING OPTIONS CALL US TODAY 

ISSUE CLOSING: 20 OCTOBER 

Destination Kerala’s editorial team will be attending WTM 2015. 

Copies of Destination Kerala will be distributed at the event.

Destination Kerala 1 September 2015 Price Rs. 100/- (within India) US$ 8 (outside India) RNI No. KERENG/2001/5154. Postal Reg. No. KL/TV (N)/418/2015-2017. Licence No. KL/TV (N)/WPP/6/2015-2017

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