The Kohinoor Group'sfirst multi-specialtyHospital, located at

Kohinoor City, Kurla-Vidyavihar, was inaugurat-ed by the Hon'ble ChiefMinister, Shri AshokChavan in the presence ofChief Guest Hon'ble ShivSena Executive President,Shri Uddhav Thackeray, onSunday, 20 December, 2009.Kohinoor Hospital hasearned the distinction ofbecoming the first hospitalin the Asian continent, andsecond in the world to winLeed Platinum Rating underthe Leadership in Energyand Environmental Design -LEED Green BuildingRating System. The LEEDIndia Platinum plaque waspresented to Kohinoor CMDUnmesh Joshi during theceremony in the presence ofKohinoor Founder ShriManohar Joshi, IndianGreen Building Council(IGBC) Chairman Dr PremJain, Minister of State forHome (Urban) ofMaharashtra, Shri NaseemKhan, Mayor of Mumbai,Smt Shraddha Jadhav andother dignitaries.

As a 'Green Building', thehospital is designed to useresources like energy, water,materials and land muchmore efficiently than normalbuildings. Additionally,with more natural light andbetter air quality, it will con-tribute to improved employ-ee and public health, com-fort and productivity. Thereare special carbon dioxidesensors which automaticallytrigger injection of fresh airin the hospital premiseswhen the carbon dioxideexceeds a certain level toensure that patients and allentrants to the hospital areconstantly exposed to aclean healthy environment.

Says Kohinoor CMDUnmesh Joshi, "Green is theway to go for all future proj-ects so that we do our bit inconserving the resources ofthe world and preservingthe environment. We havemade a good beginningwith Kohinoor Hospital byachieving the highest LEEDrating for it - Platinum."

A 'green building' takesonly a small increase in theinitial cost over a conven-tional building, but the ben-efits are manifold.Productivity, health benefits,reduced operational costsdue to savings on energy,water and waste reductionare some of the benefits ofgoing 'green'. Studies ofworkers in green buildingshave reported substantialproductivity gains includingreduction in absenteeismand improved work quality

based on 'people-friendly'green design. In otherwords, green buildingdesign has environmental,economic and social ele-ments that benefit all build-ing stakeholders includingowners, occupants and thegeneral public.

ABOUT KOHINOORHOSPITAL:

Kohinoor Hospitalmarks the foray of theKohinoor Group into anew segment - healthcare.It is a multi-specialty hos-pital which is equippedwith world-class medicalequipment and technolo-gy. The Hospital, spreadover an area of approxi-mately two lakh squarefeet, is a ground-plus-five-storey building with two

basements. It has highlyqualified expert consultantdoctors with vast experi-ence. The doctors’ team issupported by well-quali-fied skilled nurses, para-medics and an administra-tion team.

Kohinoor Hospital hasused the best availableexpertise and resources todevelop highly specialisedunits in the following spe-cialties:◗ Cardiology andCardiothoracic Surgery◗ Orthopaedics and JointReplacements◗ Rheumatology◗ Spine Surgery◗ Neurology andNeurosurgery◗ General, MinimallyInvasive and BariatricSurgery◗ Internal Medicine

◗ Pulmonary Medicine◗ Gastroenterology◗ Obstetrics andGynaecology◗ Endocrinology◗ Haematology◗ Nephrology◗ Urology◗ Paediatrics andNeonatology◗ Oncology andOncosurgery◗ ENT◗ Critical Care◗ Ophthalmology◗ Plastic andReconstructive Surgery◗ Oral and MaxillofacialSurgery◗ Dental Surgery andCosmetic Dentistry

Facilities available inKohinoor Hospital ◗ More than 15 OutpatientClinics◗ 4 well-equippedOperation Theatres◗ 27 bed S.I.C.U. / I.C.C.U.◗ Well-equipped 6 bedN.I.C.U.◗ 6 bed Dialysis Unit◗ Custom-designed LDRPSuite◗ Cardiac CatheterizationLab◗ Blood Bank andPathology Lab◗ Round-the-clockRadiology and Imagingwith CT/MRI Scan◗ Cardiac Diagnostics, 2DEcho/Stress, ColourDoppler, PFT ◗ 24 hr Pharmacy

Kohinoor Hospital iscommitted to practices atthe leading edge of health-care and 'creating a newbenchmark in healthcare'.

The LEED Platinum plaque was presented to Kohinoor CMD Unmesh Joshi by the Hon'ble Chief Minister ofMaharashtra, Shri Ashok Chavan, in the presence of Indian Green Building Council Chairman, Dr Prem Jain, on theoccasion of the inauguration of Kohinoor Hospital. Other dignitaries seen in the pic (from l to r) are Mayor of Mumbai,Smt Shraddha Jadhav, Hon'ble Shiv Sena Executive President, Shri Uddhav Thackeray, Kohinoor Founder, Shri Manohar Joshi and Minister of State for Home (Urban) of Maharashtra, Shri Naseem Khan

Hon'ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Ashok Chavan, inauguratingKohinoor Hospital. Next to him on the left are Hon'ble Shiv Sena ExecutivePresident, Shri Uddhav Thackeray and Minister of State for Home (Urban)of Maharashtra, Shri Naseem Khan and on the right are Kohinoor CMD,Shri Unmesh Joshi and Founder, Shri Manohar Joshi

Mr Sudesh Bhelekar,General Manager-MEP,Kohinoor PlanetConstructions Pvt Ltd(KPCPL) elaborates onLEED Platinum Ratingachieved for KohinoorHospital.

What were the measurestaken by the KohinoorHospital constructionteam to achieve PlatinumRating?◗Right from the designstage and even duringconstruction, all requirements of greenbuildings were put intoprocess so as not to missout on any details whichwould affect savingsenvisaged for the future.◗Maximum vigilance onthe process of installationand a thorough check thatno short cuts were imple-mented during the instal-lation.◗Only theapprovedmake andquality ofmaterialswere used.No exceptionsweremade. ◗Selection and installationof all MEP devices likeglass, walls and roof insu-lation, sanitary fittingswith reduced flow, motorswith VFD drives for ener-gy savings etc.◗Care during constructionto protect all equipment toavoid damages.◗Above all, a strict checkto ensure that all process-es required by the GreenBuildings Council wereadhered to by appointinga third party which regularly conducted sur-prise inspections.

What are the specificbenefits to patients visit-ing Kohinoor Hospitalfor consultation, health-care, investigations,treatment or hospitalcare?

Patients have the rarebenefit of a healthy andhygienic atmosphere withextra fresh air in a con-trolled manner. This isdone with the help of car-bon dioxide sensors.When carbon dioxide inthe air goes above a cer-tain level, it automaticallytriggers injection of morefresh air into the atmos-phere. This ensures thatpatients are constantlyexposed to a clean greenenvironment within thehospital premises.

KOHINOOR HOSPITALINAUGURATED

BY CM ASHOK CHAVAN

KOHINOOR HOSPITALINAUGURATED

BY CM ASHOK CHAVAN

Asia's First LEED Platinum Rated Hospital

May Gudi Padva

usher in a

year of peace

and prosperity

October 2009 - March 2010 Vol 7 Issue 4 - Vol 8 Issue 1

A K O H I N O O R G R O U P P U B L I C A T I O N

As I attended the FourthAnnual Convocation atKohinoor Global Campus,Khandala, a line I had read

somewhere came back to me - It isindeed ironic that we spend our schooldays yearning to graduate and ourremaining days waxing nostalgic aboutit. Such was the atmosphere at theconvocation held at on Saturday, 19September 2009. Students fromKohinoor-IMI School of HospitalityManagement and Kohinoor BusinessSchool (KBS) had gathered to receivetheir degrees and diplomas and boastabout their academic excellence,which by no means would be a desti-nation for young energetic profes-sionals but an important milestone intheir life. Shri Vithal Kamat,Executive Chairman and ManagingDirector, Kamat Hotels, India, wasthe Guest of Honour. The functionwas graced by the presence of otherdignitaries like Shri Manohar Joshi,Founder, and Shri Unmesh Joshi,Chairman and Managing Director,Kohinoor Group, Dr Bigyan PrakashVerma, Director, KBS, Mr RodBunting, Principal, Kohinoor-IMI,faculty, students, parents and seniorofficials of the Kohinoor Group.

The ceremony began with the con-ventional convocation procession ledby the Naval Band INS Shivaji,Lonavala. The enthusiasm of the stu-dents and faculty was clearly visiblein their eyes. Then came the tradi-tional lighting of the lamp andSaraswati vandana after which CMDUnmesh Joshi declared the convoca-tion open. Dr Bigyan Verma andPrincipal Rod Bunting presentedtheir reports about the performanceof KBS and Kohinoor-IMI respective-ly in the year 2008-09.

Shri Vithal Kamat, the doyen of thehospitality industry was honouredwith the Kohinoor Award forProfessional Excellence 2009 by ShriManohar Joshi. He had the audiencein raptures with his high-spiritedspeech. 'Don't work Hard, WorkSmart,' he advised the students. Hegave some useful tips to the graduat-ing students who would now bestepping out into the world to make

use of their skills - Use your hobbiesand talent in your business and youwill do your best in your job. Timingis very important in life, he said, soone should use every opportunity atthe right time. 'Mauka dekhke chaukamaro', he said. Only such peoplebecome successful in life. Ideas areyour currency, encash them and acalamity is actually an opportunity indisguise, so grab it. He encouragedthe students and their parents to askhim questions which he answeredhonestly and light-heartedly, guid-ing them through their concerns andapprehensions.

He urged students to take inspira-tion from great personalities andlearn from them how to becomeachievers in life. He cited the exam-ple of Shri Manohar Joshi who madeit big from a small village Nandvi tobecome Speaker of the Lok Sabha,and a successful educationist andbusinessman, an awe-inspiring storyin itself. He could reach such heightsbecause he dared to dream, and hedared to dream big.

Shri Manohar Joshi then addressedthe students and congratulated themfor their achievement. He assuredthem that he will always be there toguide and help them through theirdifficulties and problems. He thenpresented the medals for AcademicExcellence. The degrees and diplo-mas were given to the students byShri Vithal Kamat while ShriUnmesh Joshi presented theChairman's Scholarship to the mostoutstanding students of Kohinoor-IMI and Kohinoor Business School.Shri Unmesh Joshi then declared theconvocation ceremony closed.

This was followed by a sumptu-ous lunch. There was a lot of cama-raderie among the students as thiswas an important milestone in theirlives. Convocation Day became aday which the young flag-bearersof the hospitality industry andupcoming managers of the businessworld would cherish for all time tocome.

- Sugandh BagiKAS Trainee

2 October 2009 - March 2010

Shri Vithal Kamat, doyen of the hospitality industry, was honoured with the Kohinoor Award forProfessional Excellence 2009 on the occasion of the Annual Convocation of Kohinoor-IMI School of Hospitality Management and Kohinoor Business School at Kohinoor Global Campus, Khandala.He is flanked by Kohinoor CMD Shri Unmesh Joshi and Founder Shri Manohar Joshi

C ulinary students of Kohinoor-IMI School of Hospitality ManagementSneha Uttamchandani, Binoy Abraham Madayadil Chako Abraham,Siddhesh Yerunkar, Akash Sharma and Ramandeep Singh B Gharu

were sent for industrial training to The Marco Polo Hotel, Dubai, a four-stardeluxe hotel in the heart of United Arab Emirates, which has the Royal SheikhFamily, eminent corporates and elite business magnates as their regular clien-tele. The students cooked, braised and diced their way for 22 weeks to honetheir culinary skills at this prestigious hotel. Peter Gomes, HOD FoodProduction, Training Kitchen at Kohinoor-IMI, Khandala, tells us why training atThe Marco Polo is an opportunity no student should ever pass up.

Marco Polo Hotel is just 15 minutes from the Dubai International Airport, and10 minutes away from the two biggest shopping malls and the Dubai WorldTrade Centre.

It has 126 well appointed rooms with all the luxurious amenities, ideal forconferences, weddings and banquet parties. The famous Jaipur Ballroom isthe largest in its class with a seating capacity of over 250, El Rancho, with deli-cious Mexican cuisine in the big dining space, Bombay Brasserie offering tra-ditional Indian dishes, Sugar & Spice, The Pastry Shop, Chopstix, the Chinesedelicacies and The Explorer, Coffee Shop & Grill are some of the delights atThe Marco Polo.

For our students the road to the kitchen was not easy, but they took up thechallenge and emerged winners. A lot of care and grooming went intopreparing them during their practical classes before they wielded the knife andladle. As part of the building experience, I guided the food production special-isation students and prepared them to participate in many activities related tothe department. Practice sessions were conducted using teaching tools and acomprehensive list of resources to meet advanced needs.

I have been actively involved in adding value to Food Production classes andsupporting the Training and Placement Department with Overseas Trainingand Placement of the students from 2006. I decided to take the initiative to geta strong and long-term association with The Marco Polo Hotel, Dubai.

The culinary students from the second yearwere referred to The Marco Polo Hotelwith a strong recommendationfrom me and they got theopportunity to get

wide exposure during their 22 weeks of Industrial Training in various aspectsof Food Production such as Basic Food and Hygiene, Job Knowledge andEfficiency, Personnel Attitude, Interest towards Job, Grooming and Attendanceetc. The Marco Polo Hotel was kind enough to offer the students free visa,accommodation, medical facilities, monthly stipend and overtime.

Our students got a good boost from their training at The Marco Polo. BinoyAbraham M Chako got a chance to work for the Dubai International Festivalalong with his industrial training. The training program also gave a platform toBinoy Abraham, Siddesh Yerunkar, Akash Sharma and Ramandeep Singh BGharu to make individual and collective presentations on their training andknowledge enhancement skills to the other students. Sneha Uttamchandaniwas initially offered a job as a Restaurant Hostess, but in six months’ time, shewas promoted to the position of Restaurant Manageress for their IndianRestaurant, Bombay Brasserie.

Kohinoor-IMI would like to reach out to different regions of the world having their typical native cuisine. We believe that if we Chefs unite and worktowards this, we will be able to bring in more culinary students who will pro-mote knowledge in this innovative culinary world of diverse cuisines to meetthe existing industry needs.

After this batch, we also sent two more students, Neelotpal Majumder andMohammad Iqbal, to The Marco Polo for 22 weeks of Industrial Training.

I shall always be thankful to the management of The Marco Polo Hotel, MrSunil Marya, Vice-President, Mr Renhil Krishnan, Director, Food & Beverage,and Mr A V Sujeet, Personnel Manager, for their ready support and coopera-tion.

I must add that the industrial training experience at The Marco Polo enrich-es our students with a wealth of knowledge and skills and gives them wideexposure in the Food Production Department as they get an opportunity towork under various versatile Chefs at The Marco Polo. This is an opportunitythey should never pass up.

- Peter GomesHOD Food Production

Training KitchenKohinoor-IMI

Khandala

Kohinoor-IMI Culinary StudentsAt The Marco Polo, Dubai

Kohinoor Global Campus

Fourth AnnualConvocation

October 2009 - March 2010 3

The new academic year 2010-11 will seethe opening of Kohinoor InternationalSchool (KIS) at Kohinoor City inKurla-Vidyavihar (W). Admissionsare already in progress and KIS is

committed to imparting not just academic educa-tion but ensuring holistic grooming of studentsinto fine individuals. The students of today arethe future of the country and KIS aims at shapingthem into innovative and dynamic change agentswho will make significant contributions in theirrespective fields towards the development of thecountry. KIS will also ingrain in them the rightvalues to make them upright, honest individualswith a high sense of integrity who can lead Indiato a more promising tomorrow. 'Nurturingachievers who are also great human beings' is themotto of KIS.

KIS will be affiliated to the ICSE Board initial-ly and subsequently to the IGCSE Board too.Classes will commence from June 2010. KIS willhave classes from nursery to Grade VI in its firstacademic year 2010-11. The pre-primary sectionof the school has been christened KohinoorBlossoms.

With a built-up area of 101,000 sq ft, the schoolwill have the most modern and complete infra-structure comprising:

Spacious classrooms of 580 sq ft area with afacility for LCD projector and screen.

A well-equipped 1800 sq ft library with books,informative material, CDs and DVDs on a widerange of subjects.

Individual laboratories for Physics, Chemistryand Biology with the latest equipment and facil-ities along with a composite science laboratoryfor junior classes.

Computer labs equipped with LCD monitorPCs.

A language laboratory for training in communi-cation skills.

Mathematics and Geography laboratories forsecondary classes.

Separate activity rooms for Music, Dance andArt and Craft.

All classrooms, library, computer labs andactivity rooms will be air-conditioned.

A spacious dining hall that can seat 700 students at a time.

Outdoor sports facilities for cricket, hockey,volleyball, basketball, tennis, badminton andathletics.

Indoor games: table tennis, chess and carrom.A semi-Olympic size swimming pool.School bus services on various routes

encompassing Ghatkopar, Chembur,Kurla, Vidyavihar, Kalina, Vakola,Santacruz (E), Sion, Vikhroli, Powai andSaki Naka areas.

That is not all. There is still a lot more. KIS will offer cricket coaching based on

a recognised coaching plan and method-ology, possibly supported by an interna-tional certification at different progres-sive levels.

The school will have free access toa state-of-the-art auditorium inthe Kohinoor City EducationComplex that can accom-modate 550 people.

School students willbe taken for summercamps/trips to theKohinoor GlobalCampus situated inthe serene and beauti-ful environs ofKhandala as well as toother places.

School students willhave access to vocation-al training in areas such

as automobile servicing, electrical repairs, homeappliances and electronic gadget repairs, mobilephone servicing, computer hardware and net-working, garment making etc at concessionalfees.

Routine medical and dental check-ups by thedoctors of Kohinoor Hospital located inKohinoor City itself.

In order to identify and hone other talents ofthe students -� Efforts will be made to identify each child'sinherent talent and s/he will be encouraged topursue an activity as per her/his special talents.� Every student will be motivated to participatein extra-curricular activities and encouraged toactively take part in at least one activity, be it asport, music, dance, art, craft, drama, debate,

writing or anything else, depending on thechild's interest and aptitude.� Separate timings will be allocated for theseactivities every week, with experts being madeavailable to guide the students. The facilities forall these activities will be provided mostly at theschool's own premises, and in a couple of cases,at other premises.

Bearing in mind that it is the teachers who playthe most important role in moulding the stu-dents outside of their home, KohinoorInternational School will make a special effort toengage teachers who are not only masters intheir subject, but teachers in the true sense 'witha passion for teaching and a caring approachtowards the students'. The teachers at KohinoorInternational School will be fully dedicated

towards achieving the mission of the school -Nurturing achievers who are also great

human beings.

Kohinoor International Schoolwill place great importance onpractising the high core values itprofesses -

KIS believes that every child isspecial irrespective of his/her

level and type of natural ability,and that it is the duty of the school

to treat each child with trust, loveand caring so that s/he may grow up

into a good human being with highself-esteem.

KIS recognises that differentchildren have different talentsand interests. A school, there-fore, must offer its students theopportunity, environment andfreedom to pursue differentactivities to develop their indi-vidual interests and abilities.

KIS is aware that childrenlearn more from what they seeas being practised by elders

around them than what theymerely hear from them.Therefore, KIS lays greatemphasis on right conduct by

the teachers in the school and also urges the parent community to set the right example fortheir children.

KIS is committed to excellence and shall constantly strive to inculcate the habit of excel-lence in its students.

KIS believes that children learn best whenthey find the learning interesting. Therefore,KIS considers it its sacrosanct duty to find waysand means of making the learning experienceinteresting for its children.

KIS believes that overall development of achild happens only when s/he is spurred to pursue at least one of her/his talents apart fromacademics, whether it is sports, arts, literature, oratory or any other talent.

KIS believes that the school and the parentsare equal partners in the development of a childand a relationship between the two based on understanding, trust and sensitivity to eachother's positions is of paramount importance inachieving the common goal of the child's all-round development.

The Kohinoor Group has been doing stellarwork in the education world for the past 48years. The founder of the Group Shri ManoharJoshi is still a teacher at heart and a renownededucationist who was one of the pioneers invocational technical education. His son andCMD of the Kohinoor Group, Shri UnmeshJoshi, has not only inherited his passionateapproach towards the betterment of educationbut taken it further with novel educational ven-tures in hospitality and business education inthe new millennium. The Group is furtherwidening its interest in education by startingthe top-class Kohinoor International School inthe first decade of the new millennium.

Kohinoor International School also has thedistinct locational advantage of being near theepicentre of Mumbai at Kurla-Vidyavihar,which is easily accessible to residents of centraland western pockets like Ghatkopar, Vikhroli,Powai, Kanjurmarg, Chembur, Sion, Bandra,Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Kalina, Vakola,Santacruz, Saki Naka and even Navi Mumbai.Apart from school buses operating on severalsuch routes, which will facilitate easy travel forKIS students, the upcoming metro railways(Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar, Bandra-Kurla-Mankhurd, BKC-Kanjurmarg via airport) andthe double-decker Santacruz Chembur LinkRoad (SCLR) with a direct link to Kohinoor Citywill make access to the school from all theseareas faster and easier.

Kohinoor International School is not a stand-alone venture but will be part of the KohinoorEducational Complex in Kohinoor City. Apartfrom Kohinoor International School, the edu-cational complex will also house -

Mumbai centres of the currently Khandalabased AICTE approved Kohinoor BusinessSchool & Center for Management Research(KBSCMR) and Kohinoor-IMI School ofHospitality Management affiliated toYashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra OpenUniversity (YCMOU)

Kohinoor Science & Commerce CollegeKohinoor Community CollegeKIS has received an overwhelming response

for admissions so far and that speaks a greatdeal for the confidence Mumbaikars have inKohinoor - even in a greenfield area for thegroup like school education. Each class willhave a strength of about 45 students. So if youare seeking admission for your child for the aca-demic year 2010-11 and wish to give him/herthe distinct KIS advantage...

Please contact Kohinoor International School for admission on 91-22-61408412/22 or info@kohinoorschool.ac.in and do visit theschool website: www.kohinoorschool.ac.in

Kohinoor International School ToCommence In Academic Year 2010-11

4 October 2009 - March 2010

On 26 November2009, students ofKohinoor Business

School and Center forManagement Research(KBSCMR), faculty mem-bers, press reporters andother non-teaching stafftook a solemn oath atKohinoor Global Campus,Khandala - 'Indianism is ourreligion, Peace is our motiveand Unity our strength'.

Team Phoenix, BrandCommittee of KBSCMR,launched a patriotic andsecular campaign - 'Be aProud Indian'. As part of

the 14-day campaign, whichstarted on 12 November,students distributed 600cards carrying the mobilephone numbers of SeniorInspector Langile andInspector Gaud and thelandline numbers ofLonavala and KhandalaPolice Stations to people inthese places and also totourists visiting Khandalaand Lonavala. This was aneffort to educate everyIndian about the impor-tance and greatness of theIndian Police. The effortwas greatly appreciated by

the police force. Theyencouraged the students byextending their completesupport in the operation.

The campaign ended witha function to pay homage tothe police personnel whosacrificed their lives to pro-tect and rescue their broth-ers and sisters caught in thethroes of a dastardly terrorattack on 26 November2008. A video on the valianttask executed by theMumbai Police, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS),National Security Guards(NSG) also known as BlackCats and MARCOS, thecommandos of MarineCommando Force (MCF),was shown as a mark ofrespect to all those whofought valiantly and sacri-ficed their lives.

The message sent out loudand clear was - No evil like ter-rorism can ensnare us if westand united and each one of usis conscious of his/her sense ofresponsibility towards fellowIndians. It was like reaffirm-ing the motto of MumbaiPolice, “‚º˝ˇÊáÊÊÿ πÊ‹ŸËÉÊ˝„UáÊÊÿ” inSanskrit which means 'Toprotect the good and to pun-ish the evil'.

- Prof G M JayaseelanCo-ordinator

Team PhoenixBrand Committee

KBSCMR

KBSCMR Launches

Kohinoor-IMI has beenadmitting students

from Korea and the MiddleEast. But now, thanks tothe Internet, the name ofKohinoor-IMI School ofHospitality Managementhas crossed the Asian borders and reached theeastern shores of Africa.For the first time an Africanstudent has joinedKohinoor-IMI at Khandala.

Kohinoor-IMI School ofHospitality Management ispleased to welcome JoyceWinnie Julius Rugina fromDar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.She has two brothers whoare also studying in India.Joyce speaks lovely English

and her mother tongue isSwahili, a new languagefor Kohinoor?

Kohinoor-IMIReaches Out To

The African Continent

Two students from Kohinoor-IMI School of Hospitality Management,Khandala, Harshal Gala and Edelbert D'Souza, went on scholarship forinternship for two months to Vatel Institute in France. The internshipwas rigorous, but it was a great learning experience for both of them.

The pic shows Harshal (left) and Edelbert during their training at Vatel.

Police officers receiving a token of appreciation on the eve of 'Be a ProudIndian’ campaign organised by Team Phoenix, Brand committee of KohinoorBusiness School, Khandala

Some say: "Don't be a big fish in a small pond,be a small fish in a big pond".

Some also say: "Don't be a small fish in a bigpond, be a big fish in a small pond".

I say: "It doesn't matter if you are a big fishor a small fish….as long as you have thepotential to make the pond big".

Here is a look at Kohinoor AdministrativeServices or KAS, as we commonly know it, fromthe eyes of a KAS Trainee.

For me, KAS is not a job; it's a career. We do ajob to earn a living, whereas, a career itself is 'liv-ing your profession' and much more gratifying. Ajob has a very limited perspective and a bound-ed thinking, whereas a career is permanent, hasa broader horizon, and ultimately becomes theidentity of a person. KAS is my identity.

I would describe KAS in two words - Vision andOpportunity. The vision of Shri Unmesh Joshi hasmarked the beginning of KAS, and has presented

to us the opportunity to exhibit our calibreand potential, in order to drive organisa-

tional and personal growth.Kohinoor is expanding, and is

expanding big time. All theverticals of the group -

Real Estate, Hospitality,Education, Power areon a high growth

phase. Newer verticals are being added in termsof Kohinoor Hospital and Healthcare. As perindustry estimates, the Indian Hotel industry isprojected to grow at a rate of 8.8 per centbetween 2007-2016, whereas the Real Estateindustry in India is growing at a rate of 33 percent. Education and Healthcare are currentlyseen as sunrise sectors in the Indian industry,and are among the favourites of both domesticand foreign investors. All these facts lead to aGolden era for Kohinoor in the coming years.

Connecting this to the fish-pond analogy,Kohinoor is the pond which has immense growthpotential. It just requires the right fish, with theright attitude and capability to make the growthhappen. I believe that we, along with Kohinoor'sexperienced workforce, are the fish that this pondrequires to grow larger and larger into an ocean.

The experience that I am having as a KASTrainee is wonderful. The kind of treatment andrespect that we receive, the amount of resourcesspent on us, and the knowledge and trainingprovided to us is overwhelming.

I am sure that if all of us take KAS in the rightspirit and work hard and smart with the right atti-tude, we shall surprise ourselves and everyoneelse by delivering much more than expected.

- Saurabh KarkhanisKAS Trainee

What KAS Means To Me

Campaign

October 2009 - March 2010 5

Divali Party for Underprivileged Children

Kohinoor Continental organised a Divali partyfor underprivileged children at the Emerald

Hall. This is an annual event and the children lookforward to this function. When the hotel staff wentto invite the children two weeks prior to the date ofthe function, the children became so excited thatthey could not get their minds off the imminentDivali party and kept buzzing about it.

A special bus was arranged for the kids to bepicked up and when they arrived at the hotel, theywere welcomed by the hotel staff and the execu-tives who escorted them to the Emerald Hall.Welcome drinks were served and there was a com-pere who hosted games for the children. The win-ners were given special prizes and gifts.

There was a lot of fun, excitement and gaiety. Thekids danced lustily and really enjoyed themselves.Later, the children were served snacks, followed bya lovely buffet spread which included mouth-watering Chinese and Indian cuisine. All the chil-dren were given gifts while leaving.

Festival Times Are Special Occasions AtKohinoor ContinentalSome festival times at Kohinoor Continental are times devoted to children of society who may not be asfortunate and privileged as the rest. These are times when they are invited as special guests to the hotel fora fun and frolic program specially arranged for them to convey that they too are loved and cared for

Cake-Mixing Ceremony for DilkhushSpecial School Students

Kohinoor Continental recently organised a cake-mixing ceremony for the students of Dilkhush SpecialSchool to make them feel special and cared for.Dilkhush Special School is a school for children whoare mentally challenged. Around 30 students werebrought in to Kohinoor Continental along with theirteachers and warmly welcomed by Mr MukundKamat, Vice-President - Hotels Division, KohinoorGroup, Mr Lester Pereira - Deputy General Manager,Kohinoor Continental and other senior staff membersof Kohinoor Continental. A welcome drink and snacksserved to put them at ease and kick off the festivemood. "The children love cooking and are very thrilledabout the cake-mixing ceremony," said their teacherCarol on the festive occasion.

Mr Mukund Kamat himself donned the Chef's capto conduct the cake-mixing ceremony for the children.The children were delighted to actually participate inthe cake-mixing ceremony by mixing raisins, red cher-ries, tutti-frutti, dates, almonds, figs, cashew nuts andother dry fruits. Later, the Chef and other F & B staffmarinated the mixture prepared by the students bysoaking them in various liquors and added the finish-ing touches to it.

"Preparations for making the Christmas cakes beginabout a month before Christmas. During the ceremo-ny, the dry fruits are marinated by soaking them inrum, brandy and wine to make them ready for thecake. The longer the dry fruits are left soaking, the better the cake," informed Mr Kamat.

After the ceremony, the students and teachers weretreated to a sumptuous lunch. That was not all. Thiswas followed by songs and dance in which the chil-dren took an active part. The camaraderie culminatedwith token gifts given to the Dilkhush School students.

"Periodically we organise such events for children inour society who happen to be less privileged so thatthey too are made to feel that society cares for them.Nothing is more gratifying than bringing a smile ontheir faces. We at Kohinoor Continental believe that itis the moral responsibility of every citizen to do theirlittle bit for such children. By organising such events,we try to make our own modest contribution to thisworthy cause," Mr Kamat said in conclusion.

1st Floor Slab 3 April 2009Raft and Foundation 31 July 2008Excavation 9 February 2008

6 October 2009 - March 2010 October 2009 - March 2010 7

The Kohinoor Hospital project was completed within just 25 months of break-ing ground, probably an example of sorts inproject management. This is no mean

achievement. A lot of sweat, toil and tears of theentire hospital team has gone into this mammothbreakthrough project executed at breakneck speedagainst the onslaught of untold difficulties andobstacles, not to speak of natural calamities and dis-asters. In this captivating story which unfolds below,Bharat Ishi, Vice-President (Constructions),Kohinoor Planet Constructions Pvt Ltd (KPCPL),gives a candid account of the making of KohinoorHospital…

The bhoomi pooja (ground-breaking ceremony) of Kohinoor Hospital was held on17 November 2007. This was a first forKohinoor as the Group was making its forayinto healthcare with this project. The multi-specialty Kohinoor Hospital, spread over anarea of approximately two lakh square feet,would be a crucial project for Kohinoor. Workon the hospital commenced soon after break-ing ground, but it had not gained enoughmomentum even after a year.

7 December 2008: Kohinoor FoundationDay. CMD Unmesh Joshi made a sensationalannouncement and made a commitment toFounder Shri Manohar Joshi - Sir, KohinoorHospital will be commissioned on 7December 2009.

This shook the very insides of the entirehospital team. How could this be possible?There was such a lot to do! But everyone knewthat the CMD's word and commitment wassacrosanct and there was no backing out. Thehospital had to be ready by 7 December 2009.No one had a clue how to achieve this, buteach one set about his work in right earnestkeeping in mind the target of 7 December.

But a hospital building requires tremendousteam work and one must link the work of eachof the groups, which need to work in syncwith each other to achieve the goal. By July2009, we managed to complete just two tothree slabs. We now had just five months leftand almost 70 per cent of the work remainedto be done.

At this stage, I set about thinking how thesituation could be remedied. I realised that alot of coordination was needed between thevarious teams involved - architects, engineers,contractors, medical team, consultants etc.Each one needed to augment the efforts of theother to produce a catalytic effect and take theproject to completion. There was a lot of dis-cussion, disagreements, even argumentsbetween the various teams and it took long toresolve matters and reach a consensus. Butnow there was no time for that. We had to findinnovative solutions to achieve our targetswithout compromising on the quality.

Conventional methods of working would haveto be abandoned and new effective measuresintroduced. For this, each one would needtremendous motivation and there was onlyone person who could do it - CMD UnmeshJoshi. I discussed the seriousness of the matterand impressed upon him that he would haveto intervene.

A 'trigger meet' was held at KohinoorContinental on 16 August 2009 for all theteams involved in the hospital project, wherehe reiterated his dream and vision of KohinoorHospital. He spurred everyone to fall in linewith his vision and have one single-mindedgoal - Kohinoor Hospital must get going on 7December. This meet truly served to inspireeveryone and trigger everyone into action toachieve what seemed impossible. It also creat-ed a hitherto undiscovered close bondingbetween all the individuals and the teams,now having a more conciliatory approach.

Then I took matters into my own hands.While I decided to tackle all problems relatedto civil and construction work, my colleagueSudesh Bhelekar took over the MEP (mechani-

cal, electrical, plumbing) part of it. We formedsub teams like the Design team, CivilExecution team, MEP Execution team, InteriorExecution team, Infrastructure Developmentteam, appointed heads for these teams andassigned specific responsibilities with specificdeadlines to them. The process of modifyingdrawings as per changes required was taking toolong; so we decided that on-the-spot decisionswould be taken and work would continue toprogress. The paper work and drawings couldbe taken care of a little later at the earliest. Atany cost, the pace of the work should not suf-fer.

A lot of coordination was required betweenthe architects, consultants, site engineers, con-tractors, BMC, medical team etc. This coordi-nation was accelerated. The work progressedat a much faster pace and it was a great reliefto see the rising slabs.

In the meantime, nothing was done in thebasement. The basement was still wet, ratherfilled with water, to say the least. Then weracked our brains as to how we could do workin the basement. We decided that we would

pump the water out, dry marked areas and startwork there. We knew that this was not the idealway to go about it and we may have to redo about20 per cent of the work, but there was no choiceand this was the most feasible option. It was noteasy to convince the contractors to work in suchconditions. Many of them started with a 'no', butwe somehow persuaded them, sometimes cajol-ing, sometimes encouraging, sometimes repri-manding them. We could not be just bosses, buthad to give them the confidence that we were asmuch in it as they were, sharing all they weregoing through, willing to listen to their troubles,at the same time uncompromisingly demandingresults.

Contd on page 8

2nd Floor Slab 4 May 2009 3rd Floor Slab 8 July 2009 4th Floor Slab 7 September 2009

5th Floor Slab 7 September 2009

Terrace Slab 7 September 2009

Brickwork 7 September 2009Brickwork 1 October 2009External Plastering 2 November 2009Finishing Work 6 November 2009External Plastering 14 November 2009Brickwork 18 November 2009

Plant Room Work 19 November 2009

Finishing Work 19 November 2009

THE MAKING OF

Against all odds, the Kohinoor construction team achievedthe impossible task of completing the hospital project within just 25 months of breaking ground, says Bharat Ishi

8 October 2009 - March 2010 October 2009 - March 2010 9

Finishing Work 3 December 2009 Infrastructure DevelopmentWork

4 December 2009 Reception 20 December 2009

Atrium 20 December 2009

24 Hrs Pharmacy 20 December 2009

CT-Scan 20 December 2009CT-Scan 20 December 2009Physiotherapy Dept. 20 December 2009Paediatric Dept. 20 December 2009Maternity Dept. 20 December 2009ICCU 20 December 2009

Neonatal ICU 20 December 2009

Operation Theatre 20 December 2009

Contd from page 7

We also had to face a couple of disasters andnatural calamities. One dark day, a portion ofthe road belonging to our neighbouring builderscollapsed. This seriously hampered the move-ment of our materials. We had discussions withthem to get the road back into shape. Just whenwe thought the monsoon had bid us goodbyefor this year came the unseasonal heavy rainswhich again filled the basement. The same exer-cise of pumping out water, drying and doing thework had to be repeated. By this time, the con-tractors and workers were demoralised and atthe end of their tether. They just said they want-ed to quit. Again we spoke to them at length andconvinced them to continue the work.

We also found that improving the housekeep-ing would bring a lot of relief to the woes of theworkers. A housekeeping team was pressed intoaction. Rubble was cleared regularly. Measureswere taken to protect and keep the workers ingood health and take care of infections withmedical treatment. Again, movement of trucksand consequently raw material supplies werehampered because there was no room for morethan one truck at a time to enter the premises.The movement of trucks had to be regulated. Inthe meantime, Mr Bhelekar and I coordinatedour work together so that there was no loss oftime. Sometimes he would complete his work ifI needed a little more time for mine and viceversa. That was the civil and construction partof it.

A hospital has many specific medical require-ments - design of the OPD, rooms, operationtheatres, consulting rooms, pathology, X-raydepartment, CT scan, sonography, reception,lobby, entrance… the list was endless. Each ofthese has its specific requirements and we need-ed to know these from the medical team at thisstage. Looking at our drawings and plans, theycould not really picture how they would look.They were still not convinced that we could geteverything ready and achieve our target.

A mock-up OPD room was created to givethem a good idea of how it would actually look.This proved to be a learning experience for both

the medical team and the construction team inunderstanding the final result. We understoodtheir specific requirements and saw to it thatthese were met with during construction.

An additional facet was that we were in theprocess of acquiring Platinum rating underLEED Certification for 'Green Building' for thehospital. The standards for this and requireddocumentation also had to be taken care of. Adedicated team was put in place to take care ofthis.

It was also Mr Unmesh Joshi's dream to havean escalator in the hospital. We went ahead withthe structural work for this, but somewheredown the line I realized that this would notwork out as it took up a lot of space. Again Ishared my apprehensions with him and he wasconvinced that we would have to change theplan. This was not easy, as the structure wasalready erected, but we went ahead taking a cal-culated risk and succeeded in suitably executingthe modified plan.

Parallely, Mr Unmesh Joshi made it a point tovisit the site every 15 days. This helped tremen-dously to boost everybody's morale and theyproduced much better results as though theyhad suddenly discovered they possessed a lotmore potential to deliver than they thought theyhad. The productivity increased manifold.

To further speed up the work, some uncon-ventional decisions were also taken. We werenow in October and 7 December was too closefor comfort. Casting normal overhead tankswould have taken at least a month and a half; sowe ordered overhead tanks from Singapore wellin advance. These tanks could be assembled atthe site itself in just 21 days. Many such innova-tive time-saving measures were adopted.

To expedite the hospital work even more fromthe functional point of view, Mr Joshi formed ahospital task force comprising experts from theKohinoor Group. Mr Mukund Kamat - VicePresident, Hotels Division, Kohinoor Group, Mr Atul Karanjkar, now Director, KohinoorGroup, Mr Subodh Kulkarni - Vice President,Projects & Alliances and Mr Milind Patwardhan- Head, Design Cell, who enthusiastically tookover the jobs of the kitchen and housekeeping,

External Painting 22 November 2009 Facade Work 30 November 2009 Terrace Waterproofing 30 November 2009

recruitment, systems, signage and uniformdesigns respectively. Mr Sainath Rajadhyaksha,Vice President (Regulatory Affairs), mobilizedthe required permissions. Mrs Madhavi Joshi,Director, also played an important role in decid-ing the furniture, décor and colour schemes.

However, forming a task force was notenough. Regular meetings of the task force at aninterval of 15 days were conducted, and thenthings started falling in line.

The work at the site was executed in fullswing and completion of the finishing work wassoon within sight. We all were geared up for 7December 2009.

Sometime in November, Mr Unmesh Joshiexpressed his wish to have the Vaastu Shantifunction on 27 November 2009. In order to facil-itate the function and perform the pooja in thebasement, it would to be have functional.

By this time, we had pulled out all our engi-neers from other sites and put them on the job atthe hospital site. I could see that they were los-ing energy and were totally fagged out. Irequested CMD Sir to give me the additionalsupport of four KAS trainees. He understoodthe seriousness of the situation and deputed theentire KAS team at the site. This proved to be ashot in the arm and worked out well particular-ly in the areas of housekeeping, handing overthe premises to the medical team and organiz-ing the functions.

To add to our difficulties, the disasters con-tinued. With the breakdown of sump pumpsand ingress of water from the cut-outs of thebasement, water again flooded the basement onthe night of 24 November. When Mrs MadhaviJoshi inspected the site the next day, she wasscared to see the basement in such a deplorablestate and almost lost hope of performing thepooja on 27 November.

But we are made of sterner stuff. We were notones to come this far and now give up. Wepressed all our reserve forces into action to com-bat the onslaught of this new calamity. The KAStrainees and housekeeping agency cleaned upthe basement, the admin areas were completed,the furniture was assembled and put in place.Mr Bhelekar succeeded in starting the television

set in just one day. The lift for Shri ManoharJoshi was pressed into operation. Finally wewon the battle and the Vaastu Shanti was held asper schedule.

This proved to be a blessing in disguise as theVaastu Shanti function helped us to complete theground floor, first floor and the lower basement.We decided to hand over certain areas to themedical team so that they could settle down andlearn more about the hospital. We got excellentcooperation from the Kohinoor Hospital team.There was very good synergy between the con-struction team and the medical team.

The visits of the LEED Audit Team, BMCengineers, MOEF officials, Food & DrugInspectors were also happening simultaneouslyand the statutory approvals were falling inplace with the help of Mr Sainath Rajadhyakshaand Mr Sandeep Shikre.

Architects Sandeep Shirke and Anuja playeda vital role in giving their inputs for enhancingthe finishes as a result of which, the elevation ofthe building, atrium and pharmacy had comeout with a marvellous finish.

Smaller surprises like water leakages fromplumbing pipes, AC ducting, shafts etc. contin-ued, but we took everything in our stride, sport-ingly accepted the challenges and found solu-tions to win over the situation.

At the same time, there were commitmentsfor the mall, educational complex and Phase IIIof the residential complex in Kohinoor Citywhich had to be honoured. This work too wasgoing on simultaneously along with the hospi-tal work. But the commitment of 7 Decembermade by CMD Sir to our founder Shri ManoharJoshi HAD to be honoured at any cost.

Work continued at a furious pace even on theD-day right till 6 pm. My special thanks to themedical team for setting up medical furnitureand equipment in just one day. With that, wefinally won the long drawn battle and the hospi-tal was ready as committed on 7 December 2009.

I am also happy to make another declarationabout the hospital. By God's grace, the wholeproject was completed without any casualty orfatality to any of the workers. It gives me a lotof satisfaction to say that as far as workers are

Labour Delivery RecoveryPostpartum (LDRP)

20 December 2009

concerned, the hospital was a zero casualty/fatali-ty project.

In my entire career of 20 years, this is my first hos-pital project. Though I have been used to workingunder stringent deadlines, Kohinoor Hospital hasbeen a unique experience, one of the most challeng-ing and satisfying projects for me, and the creditgoes to each and every team member involved in theproject as this feat could never have been achievedwithout their staunch drive and support.

- Bharat IshiVice President (Constructions)

KPCPL

THE MAKING OF

October 2009 - March 201010

Kohinoor TechnicalInstitute (KTI) recentlyorganised a Principals’

Meet at its Vadodara branch tocreate brand awareness. Thetheme of the meet was 'Today'sScenario of Vocational TechnicalEducation and Importance ofVocational Technical Education'.B S Soni, retired Principal ofIndustrial Training Institute(ITI), and N M Vyas, Senior

Manager, Training, Gujarat StateFertilizers and Chemicals (GSFC)were invited as speakers for theoccasion.

The meet was attended by 13school principals, who veryactively participated in the pro-gram. Chhaya Khedkar,Divisional Manager, KohinoorTechnical Institute, instituted thesession by giving details of theKohinoor Group activities.

Mr Soni made a presentationon 'Today's Scenario ofVocational Technical Education'while Mr Vyas expressed hisviews on 'Importance ofVocational Technical Education'.

Later, an open discussion washeld to understand the views ofthe principals on vocational tech-nical education. B F Rathod,who is the Principal of MahirevaHigh School, Bajwa, Secretary ofVadodara District AcharyaSangh and President ofVadodara Career CornerTeachers’ Association said,"Kohinoor Technical Institute isserving society by providingvocational training at a reason-able course fee to economicallybackward students so that suchstudents can learn vocationaltechnical skills and have a betterlife. Congratulations to theKohinoor family for such won-derful work. I wish them moresuccess for the future."

Expressing his views, V BShah, Principal of T R Patel HighSchool, Nizampura, said, "The

Having spent a few fruitful months as a KAS(Kohinoor Administrative Services) Trainee, I am in a credible position to share our

experiences with you.The adventure began on 1 June 2009, with our

induction program which started with a visit toKohinoor Global Campus (KGC), Khandala. Wewere instantly awestruck by the surroundings. Aftera sumptuous breakfast we got introduced to thecoordinators of the program in a lecture room. Thiswas where we would be spending the rest of theday for the induction.

It started with the usual ice-breaking session, butthere was a splash of creativity to it. This was fol-lowed by a series of activities wherein our intellect,team spirit and creativity was tested through indoorand outdoor events. Outdoor activities were reallyenticing for all of us. We had a great time. Asevening broke, it was time to say goodbye and werealised that we had developed a unique bondingamong ourselves. It was a great feeling. Just imag-ine entering into an organisation, and by the end ofthe first day itself you find a like-minded breed ofcolleagues always ready to work as a team!

With Day one being so fantastic, it was time tomove on to the Real Estate, Hotel and otherEducation divisions. For me and four of my col-leagues who began the training in the Real Estatearm of the group, the excitement was ten-fold asthe CMD of the group, Mr Unmesh Joshi drove us tothe Kohinoor City site in his car. On the way, he evenshared his knowledge about the various business-es and asked us about our aspirations. I experi-enced a feeling of 'nervous happiness' and willalways remember this journey during which I camea step closer to Kohinoor.

At the site, all of us were greeted by the decision-makers consisting of the Senior Managers and theVice President (Constructions), Mr Bharat Ishi, whobriefed us about the project and various aspects ofthe training we would be going through in thoseninety days. As our training began, we wereexposed to each and every aspect of the construc-tion business. From something as small as mixingcement to attending decisive management meet-ings, we saw it all. Every day was a new adventureof manoeuvring through construction sites and

even driving the JCB cranes on certain occasions,making work fun. Being exposed to the activities ineach and every department, we developed a holis-tic view of the entire business and picked up rootcause identification and problem solving skills thatwould help us become better business leaders oftomorrow.

The KAS trainees in other businesses also havesimilar stories to tell. From the dusty roads in a ruralbranch of JKTI to the posh banquets of KohinoorContinental, the KAS management trainees haveshown immense respect and dedication towardsvarious functions and disciplines.

Sheetal Savrikar was among the first group oftrainees to be trained at Joshi's Kohinoor TechnicalInstitute (JKTI). She visited the Pune, Chiplun andHyderabad branches. "My entire tenure at JKTI wasdivided into four locations; Pune, Chiplun, Mumbaiand Hyderabad. Although I had to understand thestandard business processes, each branch was dif-ferent and a fascinating learning experience. ThePune branch was quite systematic. I worked withthe counsellors, branch manager, regional manag-er, faculty members, accountants and the place-ment executive. Getting walk-ins was not too muchof a challenge there. Outdoor media like hoardings,pamphlets, road shows etc generated sufficientenquiries. Hence it was easier to achieve monthlytargets. The SSC results were announced the day Ireported at the Regional Branch, Deccan, and theentire staff was gearing up to go to different schoolsto distribute the pamphlets to the students who had

come to pick up their results and I too was oneamong them! I actually stood outside the schooland distributed around 200 pamphlets in a matterof an hour," she said.

"Chiplun being a smaller branch, there were dayswhen it had no walk-ins," she continued, "So creat-ing awareness about JKTI in and around Chiplunrequired extra efforts. Here, along with the usualpromotional activities, every month, the entire stafftravelled to nearby villages and did door to dooradvertising and counselling. But Hyderabad was adifferent scene altogether. The work culture wasquite different and they were not really aware ofhow popular and big we are in Maharashtra. Thisbranch was also facing challenges to meet admis-sion targets, but things improved drastically afteraggressive marketing efforts were undertaken. Myoverall experience at JKTI was a total eye-openerbecause I had never been exposed to somethinglike this before. Providing education to the needy iswhat JKTI does best," Sheetal concluded.

Tushar Jahagirdar got the opportunity to head theJKTI Parbhani branch for nearly a month. "People atthe branch showed a lot of respect towards me andwere very supportive of my decisions," he said.

Some KAS trainees were also trained at the cor-porate office in the HR department in functions rang-ing from Recruitment to Performance Appraisalinvolving interaction with internal and external cus-tomers. The interaction with internal customers wasin the form of the Employee Satisfaction Survey andthe Training Needs Analysis for the employees ofKohinoor Planet Constructions Pvt Ltd and with theexternal customers was in the form of the CustomerSatisfaction Survey for the customers of the BanquetHall of Kohinoor Continental. But the time spent bythe trainees at Kohinoor Global Campus, Khandala,where they extensively interacted with the studentsand faculty members, was most interesting. They gota taste of the exciting campus life. "Looking back intoour short stint at KGC, it is unbelievable that we couldlearn such a lot in such a short time. The knowledgethat we gained on varied aspects such as SupplyChain Management, Administration, Duty Chartsand Optimum Utilization of Resources is somethingwe will always value," says Shraddha Dey.

Contd on page 12

KTI Organises Principals’ Meet At Vadodara

Transcending Conventionality

Joshi’s Kohinoor Technical Institute (JKTI) recently signed aMemorandum of Understanding with Indira Gandhi NationalOpen University (IGNOU) and Hero Honda Motors Ltd (HHML),at its Deccan Branch, Pune, to implement a Certificate Coursein Motorcycle Service And Repair (CMSR) under the IGNOU-HHML Motorcycle Technicians Competency DevelopmentProject. Seen here (l to r) are Fanindra Khanapurkar, ZonalTraining Head (West), HHML, Kalpana Gupte, Regional Director,IGNOU (Pune), Jitendra Perkar, Manager (Academics), JKTI,and Sandip Kavde, Regional Manager, JKTI, Pune.

Kohinoor Technical Institute Principals’ Meet hasproved to be an eye-opener and truly brought outthe need and importance of vocational technicaleducation in today's era. It has also given us valu-able information on how students should be guid-ed towards vocational education. I am very happyto know that KTI is serving students who are com-ing from modest families by giving them training atvery reasonable fees."

The other principals also expressed their eager-ness to invite Kohinoor Technical Institute to educate their students about vocational technicaleducation.

JKTI SIGNS MoU WITHIGNOU AND HERO HONDA

October 2009 - March 2010 11

ADVANCED ENDOSCOPIC SPINESURGERY BY DR DESTANDAU'STECHNIQUE

February 6: Today late in theevening, Dr S M Rohidas,Consultant Spine Surgeon,Kohinoor Hospital, and Dr JeanDestandau, Neurosurgeon fromBordeaux, France, performed aninnovative advanced endoscopicspine surgery using DrDestandau's unique minimallyinvasive technique at KohinoorHospital, Kohinoor City, Kurla. DrDestandau's unique minimallyinvasive technique is an endoscop-ic technique pioneered by Dr JeanDestandau to treat spinal degener-ation pathologies. This techniquein a way minimises the approachrelated trauma to the tissue, and atthe same time, achieves adequatedecompression of the compressednerve root by discectomy and neu-ral foraminal decompression onboth the sides. Dr Destandau,international faculty fromBordeaux, France, has been usingthis technique since 1993. He hasperformed around 8000 surgeriesso far.

Dr S M Rohidas is one of the fewcervical endoscopic spine surgeonsin India. He introduced DrDestandau's technique in India in2002. With this minimally invasiveprocedure, it is possible to treatpathogenic conditions like DiscHerniation in the lumbar, cervicaland thoracic region. Procedureslike Endoscopic LumbarDiscectomy, Endoscopic LumbarCanal Decompression (also at mul-tiple levels), Endoscopic AnteriorCervical Discectomy, EndoscopicPosterior Cervical Discectomy,Endoscopic Posterior CervicalLaminoforaminotomy, EndoscopicPosterior Cervical Laminectomywith Canal Decompression andEndoscopic Removal of Intraduraltumour like Neurofibroma andMeningioma can be performedusing this technique.

"With this minimally invasivespine surgery, patients aremobilised within four hours of sur-gery and discharged on the sameday, as the post-operative pain isless. This minimally invasive spine

surgery technique is evolving veryfast as a daycare spine surgery.With this technique, adequatenerve root decompression withpreservation of spinal stability isachieved. Thus it is a functionaldisc preserving spine surgery,"says Dr S M Rohidas.

Dr Mustafa T AL Rubayi, himselfan ophthalmologist based in Iraq,was the patient who was operatedupon by Dr S M Rohidas onSaturday (6 February) at KohinoorHospital. He felt extremely relievedafter the surgery. This is what hehad to say, "I had a disc prolapsethree weeks ago with severe pain,numbness and weakness on my leftside. My friends advised me to meetDr Rohidas. I contacted Dr Rohidasthrough the Internet. He asked meto come down to Kohinoor Hospitalin Mumbai, India. I came here on3rd February, 2010 with severepain. I could not move my legsmoothly, there was difficulty inwalking and sitting and I came herealmost sleeping. After a few investi-gations for two days, I was operatedon 6th February. Just after the oper-ation there was dramatic improve-ment. No pain, I could walk, sit. Itwas like magic and that too with avery small incision. Now I can walkfor a longer time and there isabsolutely no pain. RegardingKohinoor Hospital, I am reallyastonished. I did not expect such awelcome and great treatment. Thestaff is very polite and kind. I felt athome. Many thanks to Dr Rohidasand Kohinoor Hospital. I asked oneof the hospital staff, “what is themeaning of Kohinoor”? She said itis a kind of diamond. KohinoorHospital is a really like a diamond."Dr Rubayi was ready to be dis-charged the very next day and healso flew back to Iraq the followingday.

This surgery has been performedwithin one month of four success-ful daycare surgeries namedPercutaneous Disc Decompression(PDD) using the recently advancedCoblation Wand technology.

FOUR BACK TO BACK SPINE SURGERIES PERFORMED IN A DAYWITH COBLATION WAND METHOD

January 19: An innovativeadvanced spine surgery was per-formed today on four patients suf-fering from discogenic low backpain at Kohinoor Hospital. The sur-gery performed is technically calledPercutaneous Disc Decompression(PDD) using Coblation Wand tech-nology also referred to asNucleoplasty.

Chronic low back pain is the mostcommon ailment in modern indus-trial societies. It ranks first amongmusculoskeletal disorders, result-ing in serious consequences. Whenthe discs of the spine enlarge andstart pressing on the nerves (herni-ated disc), it causes severe backpain. Surgical treatment of interver-tebral disc herniation such as opendiscectomy, microdiscectomy, andlaminectomy are often targeted for

patients with uncontained or largeherniations, and/or sequestereddiscs.

PDD using Coblation technologyis an effective procedure in cases ofdiscogenic back and/or leg painwhere conservative therapies havefailed and the patients are not con-sidered suitable candidates for opensurgical interventions. In the PDDusing Coblation Technology, acobaltion wand is inserted in thenucleus of the disc. The wand thenimparts heat of 40oC to 70oC to thesurrounding area, shrinking theherniated disc and gives relief fromlow back pain.

This innovative form of minimal-ly invasive surgery was witnessedby more than 100 doctors across thecity. Dr Vishwanathan Iyer, SpineSurgeon, Kohinoor Spine Centre,performed these surgeries alongwith international faculty fromMalaysia Dr M K Radhakrishnan.Both are specialised in doingPercutaneous Disc Decompressionwith coblation wand technology.

Dr Iyer says, "This is an ultimateform of minimally invasive spinesurgery. It is a daycare surgery per-formed under local anesthesia.Patients get immediate relief frompain and can go home the same day.They can even resume work soon.

"Treatment of back pain by pri-mary care providers typicallyinvolves prescription of opioids,expensive non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), orphysical therapy. Though these arecommon treatments, they may notbe the optimal solution. Opioidsmay be addictive and patients arelikely to build drug tolerances.NSAIDs have potentially danger-ous side-effects, and physical thera-py may be ineffective. Manypatients suffering from discogenicpain become refractory to medicalmanagement after some time.Minimally invasive techniquesaddressing the discogenic painshould therefore be made availableto these patients. "

Kohinoor Hospital is committedto play a leading role in expandingthe horizons in advancements ofvarious superspecialties, not onlywith a focus to make these advance-ments more patient friendly butalso more affordable. The beginningof these advanced superspecialtysurgeries (Endoscopic SpineSurgery with Dr Destandau's tech-nique as well as PDD withCoblation method) within twomonths of launch reflects the pacethat Kohinoor Hospital is setting inreaching these advancements to itspatients.

"These innovative techniques inspine surgery will give quality lifeto patients. In order to pass the ben-efit to the patients suffering fromback pain, Kohinoor Hospital hadorganised a Special Spine weekfrom 15th February to 20thFebruary 2010 at our Spine CareCentre," informed Dr PravinSwamy, General Manager,Kohinoor Hospital.

First Surgery At Kohinoor HospitalPerformed Successfully

Kohinoor Hospital successfully performed its first surgery on Monday, 18thJanuary 2010. A surgery named 'Superficial Parotidectomy' which is donefor suspected malignancy of the parotid gland was performed on a 48-year old lady residing in Kurla. This surgery was performed by Kohinoor'sOncosurgeon, Dr. Rakesh Badhe. The post-operative recovery of the patientwas very good and the patient was discharged the very next day in themorning

Kohinoor Hospitals will play a leading role in expanding the horizons inadvancements of various superspecialties, not only with a focus to makethese advancements more patient friendly but also more affordable. Ourbeginning of these superspecialty surgeries within one month of launchreflects the pace that we are setting in reaching these advancements to ourpatients.

Kohinoor Hospital is part of the well-known and fast growing Mumbaibased Kohinoor Group. The Kohinoor Hospital building has the unique dis-tinction of being Asia's first and World's second Platinum rated hospitalbuilding under the world recognised LEED certification for 'green buildings'.Kohinoor Hospital is equipped with world-class equipment and technology,supported by highly qualified consultant doctors, all of whom are recog-nized experts in their respective domains and conversant with the latest inmedical technology. The hospital's highly qualified and experienced nurses,paramedics and administrative staff have been specially trained to makefull use of the hospital's modern facilities and provide cutting edge care tothe patients.

Kohinoor Hospital Evolving As A Centre For Minimal Invasive DaycareSpine Surgeries

With this minimallyinvasive spine surgery,patients are mobilisedwithin four hours of surgery and dischargedon the same day, asthe post-operative pain is less.

- Dr S M Rohidas

12 October 2009 - March 2010

Published by: Hotel Airport Kohinoor Private Limited, Kohinoor Corporate House, S B Marg, Dadar (W), Mumbai 400 028. Email: kohinoortimes@kohinoorgroup.co.in Website: www.kohinoorgroup.co.in Editorand Publisher: Ullhas B Kulkarni Assistant Editor: Sequencia Kharvi Printed by: Lucid Prints, A 227, T.T.C. Ind. Area, Mahape, Navi Mumbai-400701. Editorial and Design: The Source (kohinoor.source@gmail.com) For Private Circulation Only.The editors and Kohinoor Group do not necessarily subscribe to the views expressed in this publication. Copyright © 2010 Hotel Airport Kohinoor Pvt Ltd

The aftermath of the inauguration of KohinoorHospital took two days to sink in. It was like thesudden vacuum after the hectic activity of a daugh-ter or a sister’s marriage. My wife Madhavi pro-posed a short holiday, but we were already on 22December. I had to be back for the new year party Ihave been hosting for the past 20-25 years. Whereshould we go? Going anywhere in India wouldentail long journeys and uncertain bookings. Fromsomewhere Thailand emerged as a good destinationfor this quick trip. Having seen Thailand earlier,getting a break and relaxing was more the motivethan sightseeing. Visa on arrival made matterssimpler. My bosom pal Sandeep too readily agreedto come with his family. My Man Friday Eban andGirl Friday Uma got the bookings done. And wewere off on Jet wings to Bangkok; I with my family,wife Madhavi, son Chirayu and daughter Aayusha,and Sandeep with his family, wife Alpa, sister-in-law Mona and clone daughters Anisha andAnusha.

From Bangkok we proceeded to Pattaya andchecked into Centara Mirage, a cosy resort with alovely ocean view. On the first day, we went withthe family for a Thai Culture show. The show wasgood, but when Sandeep and I get together, we can-not escape business creeping into our heads. It issaid that to be in business you need to ‘live andbreathe business’ and we both do just that. Hisarchitect’s eye was absorbing the décor, lights,dimensions and other architectural details whilemy business eye was taking in the number of seats,occupancy and mentally calculating the probablecapital cost and break even point. Our third eyefocusing on business is perpetually open.

On the second day, we went for the Coral Islandtour. Chirayu, being 10 plus, qualified for theunderwater tour. It is really strange how thehuman mind works. While watching the Thai

Culture show, my mind was on business, but here,a new experience was awaiting me. Although thisunderwater tour was my third experience, it wasthe first with Chirayu. This evoked the father in meand all my attention was focused on Chirayu. Canhe bear the weight of the heavy helmet? Is he in anyway uncomfortable or is he enjoying it? Will he beable to convey any discomfort through the signstaught to him? These were the thoughts crossingthe mind of the anxious father in me. Everythingwent through smoothly. He was perfectly fine andenjoyed the tour, but this experience of taking my12-year-old son for the first time for an underwatertour made it unique. Then we also went parasail-ing. Chirayu went right ahead and was one of thefirst to go. Again I spent some anxious momentstill he finished his parasailing and landed safely.

The next day all of us went to see the ‘miniatureworld’, a fantastic world having everything fromreplicas of the seven wonders of the world to somany other wondrous things. We were strollingalong when we suddenly realized that Aayusha andAnisha were missing. We looked around for thembut they were nowhere in sight. All of us got tense.If these two 10-year-olds got lost here, how wouldwe find them? Fortunately I kept my cool anddecided to wait for a while.

Aayusha had stubbornly taken a mobile from hermother ‘just for fun’. We knew she had it with her.Sure enough, after a while, I got a call from her. Thesmart brat knew my number and coolly dialled it.“Baba, aamhi haravalo aahot (Dad, we have gotlost),” her trembling voice came through the phone.It was then just a question of talking calmly to herand tracing them. After some desperate searching,we were relieved to find them. But I was to learnmore about Aayusha’s smartness. The girl cuddledup to me avoiding her mother and asked for icecream. I gladly got ice creams for all. She took her

time licking the ice cream and enjoying it. Thenslowly, she sauntered up to her mother and buriedher face against her. Madhavi lovingly stroked herhair and consoled her. Through the corner of hereye, she mischievously looked at me and winked asif to say ‘Aai patli (I’ve won over Mum, now shewon’t shout at me)’. So much for the smartness ofthe new generation!

I get hardly an hour with my children everydayapart from Sundays. Eighty per cent of my time isdevoted to business and about 20 per cent to thefamily. But such holidays are rare occasions whenthe ratio gets more than reversed and brings mecloser to the children. It strengthens our bond andI get to see new hues to their personality.

After these good-bad experiences, we returned toBangkok for the usual shopping, but we didn’t shopmuch. We come from a middle-class backgroundand even the ladies in our family are conservativewhen it comes to shopping.

Looking at the multiple flyovers, huge skywalksand metros in Bangkok, I couldn’t help thinkingthat this is what Mumbai will look like in futurewith the new infrastructure projects of skywalks,flyovers, metro and mono rail progressing in themegapolis.

We returned relaxed and happy with the trip.Getting to spend some days at a stretch with yourfamily really does you good. Madhavi and I alwaysencourage our children to be bold and find their wayaround even in a foreign country, whether it is ask-ing for directions or interacting with the hotel staffor room service. It is very gratifying to see yourchildren growing up, breaking free from you tobecome independent and blossoming into confidentindividuals. That is why I make it a point to go fora holiday with the family at least once a year.

- UMJ

Between u & me…

Contd from page 10

My story will not becomplete without tellingyou about the KohinoorContinental experience. Inthe hotel business, everyday is considered uniquefor its experiential value.Sugandh Bagi trained atthe hotel said, "The culturerevolves around the phi-losophy that the guest isalways right. The trainingat Kohinoor Continentalnot only comprised func-tional learning but alsoaspects related to person-al grooming which is suchan important facet in thehospitality industry. Beingfrom the hotel industry, Iwas aware of the basicfunctions and culture of ahotel. Therefore, I wasable to accept wearinguniforms and varied shifttimings easily. An interest-ing training was that of'Service Excellence',where we learnt aboutthe industry, culture, workstyle, mindsets and vari-ous communication andbehavioural aspects ofthe hotel business. It is allabout perception, the kindof impression you createin the guest's mind and

the fact that similar hotelsoffer similar facilities.What makes us unique isour personalized serviceand cordial relations withguests. This was the suc-cess mantra we learnt.We were also trainedextensively in Food &Beverage service andproduction, Housekeepin,Front Office, Security,Maintenance, HR, Financeand Marketing."

All this was aimed atdeveloping KAS traineesas individuals to play abigger role. Their stint atKohinoor Continentaltaught them that knowingthings is quite differentfrom actually doing them.Tactfully handling

different situations withone's knowledge andexperience is crucial insuch a set-up.

There are endless stories to share with youabout our KAS experiencebut what is most impor-tant is that the KohinoorGroup is grooming uswith great efforts andprecision under the lead-ership of Unmesh Sir. Weare sure that at the end ofthis innovative KAS pro-gram, we will be shapedinto multi-faceted leaderscapable of taking onresponsibility in any of thegroup businesses.

- Abhijit ChakravartyKAS Trainee

Transcending ConventionalityCumberland Rum Butter : A Recipe

IngredientsHalf a pound of softened butter6 oz Muscovado sugar (soft brown)One glass dark rum (not white)Ground nutmegMethod:Beat the butter and sugar until light and soft (Some people would melt the butter and add the sugar, the choice is yours)Mix the rum and nutmegTaste!… And A Little Story Behind It

Most of you will know that I am from the north of England; more particularly, I wasborn and went to school in a special place called the Lake District, the home ofWordsworth, Ruskin and other famous poets of yesteryear. To this day, despite my wan-derings, I still have a home in the area. The Lake District is a place of natural beautywhich attracts millions of visitors every year and relies on tourism and agriculture formost of its income. This National Park that is called the Lake District covers most of thecounty of Cumbria, which was born out of the combing of the historic counties ofCumberland and Westmorland about a generation ago. On the Western border of thecounty of Cumbria is the Irish Sea, then out towards the Atlantic Ocean. Like every coast-line, there is a long sea-faring history. Some of this history does not make pleasantreading.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, ships left the important port of Whitehaven carry-ing guns and weapons to West Africa. From West Africa, native Africans were trans-ported to the Caribbean and the southern states of the USA and sold as slaves. This tri-angular trip was completed by the ships returning to Whitehaven with a cargo of rum,varieties of sugar and exotic spices for the rich families of England. The folks of oldCumberland developed their own 'industry' by thieving more than a little sugar, rumand spices from the dockside or warehouses and combined it with the abundance oflocal butter to produce what is now known as Cumberland Rum Butter. Rum and sugaris a wonderful preservative for the butter and the product will keep fresh for weeks.There is a suggestion that after combining the ingredients, the Rum Butter could be putinto containers and buried in the ground, so that when the bailiff or policemen came toinvestigate, no evidence could be found!

The recipe for this concoction varies from family to family but the ingredients do not.Nutmeg from the Caribbean was also added as a final flavour enhancer. The concoc-tion was and still is spread on biscuits, bread, X'mas mince pies, X'mas pudding oranything which takes your fancy in times of celebration!

- Rod BuntingPrincipal, Kohinoor-IMI,

Khandala