Newsletter Issue No 3-1st Febrary 2012 - PKF Sridhar & Santhanam

Voice of ChangeConfidential and for private use of PKF S&S and SRKB staff onlyPKF SRIDHAR & SANTHANAMChartered AccountantsISSUE 3, 2012“Ya Esha Suptheshu Jagarthi”CA S MythiliMedical Tourism: Taking off ina Big Way (Part 1)Ms. Mahera ChouhanCongratulations!!!Birthday Bash!!“The views expressed herein are those of the authorsof the article and do not represent the views of thefirm. This Newsletter is mainly for educating the staff.”Fun Corner1www.pkfindia.in

PKFSRIDHAR & SANTHANAMChartered Accountants“Ya Esha Suptheshu Jaagarthi”CA S Mythilymythily@pkfindia.inI admire our deep-rooted Indianphilosophy & every word that talks ofit. Of course, the recent women’sconference in Chennai titled“Jaagruthi” also instigated somethought process on this. Some jokesaround this, read: “One needs to stayawake, when all are asleep tobecome a CA”. Since it is pertinentfor all of us to understand our motto,wish to share some thoughts on this.Just as India has taken its motto“Satyameva Jayathe” fromMundakopanishad, the CA institutehas taken its motto “Ya EshaSuptheshu Jaagarthi” fromKathopanishad (Chap 2-5 th part-8 thverse). Aditya Hrudayam also quotesthis phrase. Gita also expoundssimilarly “That which is night to allbeings, in that state of DivineKnowledge, the Yogi keeps awake &that in which all beings keep awake isnight to the Seer” (Chap 2-Verse 69).By the way, courts have recently heldthat Gita is Indian philosophy & not areligious text & so can be taught atschools.Let’s get into understanding thisrudimentarily - there are variousareas of practice that one can getinto as CAs- and majority of us wouldrather pertain to a few of those areas.In these areas, there are things thatwe know & that we don’t know.(Thanks to Google, you manageinformation on ‘need to know’ basis!).Remember Johari’s window thatshows how there are things, we know& know not about ourselves (there isan open area known to others &oneself, façade known to oneself notto others, blind spot known to othersnot to oneself & unknown not knownto anyone). There is a knower in us,who knows what we know & what wedon’t know. So, subject knowledge isnow an object. Who is the knower?Google was boasting, “In search, I’munbeatable”. Wiki said, “But,Information what one searches for, isbest obtained through me”. ElectricityBoard enquired in a rather roughtone, “What’s the noise there…?”Both Google & Wiki hurriedlyanswered, “Nothing, nothing- wewere just chatting up casually”.Without power, neither of these is ofany use!We all have hearing, seeing faculties(software), which is different from thesense organs (hardware). We havealso been fortunately blessed withbrain (operating system) thatmanages the use of it. At will, all thatwe use/ know in our wakefulness(switch on mode), is put to rest whenasleep (switch off mode). We need tothank God for this comfort of ability totemporarily forget certain things whileasleep & yet keep the involuntaryjobs like breathing going on. Thereare some brain dead people living.2www.pkfindia.in

PKFSRIDHAR & SANTHANAMChartered AccountantsSo, there is a power in us, which isbeyond & behind our body/ mind/intellect.This power (we) is ever awake andwitnesses, even when our body/mind/ intellect is at sleep- “Ya eshasuptheshu jaagarthi”. Now why thisin the Institute?Let’s take help of the Gita verse- Itdraws an analogy of day/ night toenunciate that one endowed withright knowledge with his sharp wit,would see things that others are blindto (dark as the night) & bedisinterested to the seemingly real(bright as the day). As CAs,remember never to be blind toimportant hidden realities (nonexisting bank balance of SatyamInfotech). Remember there is adream state, in between your waking& sleep state, which is alsoexperienced by you (Kamam kamampuruso nirmimanah). Do not becarried away by seemingly realentries, which are quite unreal like adream (like their forged bankstatements/ other window dressing).What physically seems real mayindeed be unreal-Evaluate substanceover form. Arise, Awake & Be(A)ware of it!We earlier concluded that we are thepower beyond intellect & ourknowledge is an object different fromus. If we learn to watch ourknowledge & work, that isindependent of us, isn’t this theheight of independence & selfgovernance?Enhance yourknowledge base; Check your workfrom a third person’s angle (can alsobe construed as peer review);Benchmark yourself against seniorCAs worth emulating; correct yourdark spots; Do not compromise yourvalues & watch your thoughts, words& deeds. “Ya esha suptheshujaagarthi”, begins with you & thussums up what you need to be as aChartered Accountant!3www.pkfindia.in

PKFSRIDHAR & SANTHANAMChartered AccountantsMedical Tourism: Taking off in aBig way (Part 1)Mahera Chouhanmahera.c@pkfindia.inLong before the Westernersstepped onto foreign soil forcardiac surgery, a tummy tuck or adental job, medical travellers fromaround theworld havebeensearchingfar and wideto seek thebest medicalservices.One can saythat theconcept ofmedicaltravel is asold asmedicineitself.Medicaltourismhistory infact datesback to ancient times.Studies of ancient cultures depicta strong link between religion andhealthcare, which dates backthousands of years.The Big OpportunityIndia’s bounteous heritageincludes not just breathtakinglybeautiful architecture, richtraditions and diverse cultures butalsomesmerizingand sceniclandscapes.In fact sopopular is thecountry as aglobal touristhot spot thatthe ‘CondeNastTraveler’, oneof the acetravelmagazines,profiled Indiaas the mostpreferredtouristdestination inrecent times.India has historically been aregional healthcare hub for4www.pkfindia.in

PKFSRIDHAR & SANTHANAMChartered Accountantsneighbouring countries likePakistan, Nepal, Bhutan,Myanmar and the Middle-East.Evidence of ancient hospitals andhealthcare centres funded by theIndian kings and monarchs can befound in the medieval scripts andaccounts of foreign travelersvisiting ancient India. During theMughal era India was a wellknowndestination for conclaves ofphysicians and surgeons.The Indian tourism economy hasbeen deemed as the second-mostrapidly increasing tourismeconomy in the world at 8.8%annually, by World Travel andTourism.The impact of tourism on India’snational gross domestic product isestimated at US$275.5 billion by2018. In fact, the World Travel andTourism Council declared India asa travel hotspot from now until2018. People are not only drawnto India for cultural history, butthey also travel for business andmedical purposes.Growing insurance sector,development of private and publicsector healthcare delivery centresclose to tourism destinations,robust pharmaceuticals industryare increasingly contributing tomake India a preferred healthtourism destination.Currently, the market size ofIndian healthcare industry is US$600 Million and is projected toreach US$ 1.1 Billion in 2013 i .Medical tourism is on the rise inIndia. Travelers can receive highqualitytreatments at a fraction ofthe prices they would incur inhome country. Surgery costs areon an average 30% lower thanother well-known medical tourismdestinations such as Thailand.India is best known for heartsurgery. Access to leadingmedical technology at alluringrates is not the only place touristsspend their money on but also thetaste of the unique culture andhistory India possesses.As per IBEF, current IndianMedical Tourism market is worthUS$ 333 million. Mckinsey-CIIestimates that the market size willincrease up to US$ 2 billion by2012. This is justified by the rangeof advantages that India offers:• Internationally accreditedmedical facilities using thelatest technologies, highquality implants andglobally accepted medicalsupplies• Highly qualified andskilledPhysicians/Surgeons andhospital support staff• Significant cost savingscompared to domesticprivate healthcare.Medical treatment costs inIndia are lower by at least60-80% when comparedto similar procedures inNorth America and theUK.• No Waiting period forinternational patients• Wide spread use Englishand fluent Englishspeaking staff5www.pkfindia.in

PKFSRIDHAR & SANTHANAMChartered Accountants• International banking andwidespread use of plasticmoney• Options for private room,translator, private chef,dedicated staff during thestay and many othercustomized services.• Use of alternative healingmedicines, wellness andrejuvenation programmesfor holistic healing.The major driver forMedical/Healthcare Tourism inIndia is the cost competitiveness.India benefits from a large staff ofworld class experts and the ultracompetitivecost advantage itoffers. While a heart surgery costs$30,000 in the US, it costs $8,000in India. Following table showsprice advantage of Indiacompared to its counterparts.Medical Treatment Budgets (In US$)US/UK INDIA THAILANDBone Marrow Transplant 250,000 69,000 62,500Liver Transplant 300,000 40,000 75,000Coronary artery bypass surgery 70,000-133,000 7,000 22,000Hip Replacement 33,000-57,000 7,200 12,700Knee Replacement 30,000-53,000 4,500-7,200 11,500Face Lift 30,000-53,000 3,100-4,800 5,000-6,000Source: Indian Medical Travel Association, IMaCS Research, Medical Tourism Websites ( Indicative Prices)(To be continued…)6www.pkfindia.in

PKFSRIDHAR & SANTHANAMChartered AccountantsCONGRATULATIONS!!!Kudos to the S Audit Team for theiroverwhelming performance under theable guidance of Mr. Raman!Team Members:1. Mr S Raman2. CA Shanthi3. Mr. Janakiraman4. Shamili5. Medha6. Prasanna7. Shreyansh8. Prathima9. Sai Ganesh10. AzharudeenHats off to Padma T and HariniVijayakumar for great work relating to control testing of a travel agency!7www.pkfindia.in

PKFSRIDHAR & SANTHANAMChartered AccountantsBIRTHDAY BASH!!!Sl. No. Name Birth dates Branch1 BHARADWAJ K.R. 1-Feb Chennai2 ABISHEK. R 2-Feb Chennai3 JEYAVIJAYAN S 11-Feb Chennai4 RENY CHINNAMMA VARGHESE 12-Feb Chennai5 ANAND. G 13-Feb Chennai6 JAI KUMAR KASHYAP 2-Feb Delhi7 DEEPAK KHETAN 1-Feb Bangalore8 DHANARAAJA K 3-Feb Bangalore9 YOGESH M 8-Feb Bangalore10 JAYA KRISHNAN. A 22-Feb Chennai11 PRABA M 27-Feb Chennai12 PAVAN KUMAR PUVVATI 25-Feb Hyderabad8www.pkfindia.in

PKFSRIDHAR & SANTHANAMChartered AccountantsThanks to WebFUN CORNER!!!9www.pkfindia.in