Vicky Kapoor is driven by three goals. Propagating Krav Maga as a weapon against terrorism, a fitness regimen and a system that is equally good for kids.

His organisation has made packages specific to these goals. Besides security personnel attached to Government organisations, Vicky’s team works increasingly with the hospitality industry. Vicky considers Krav Maga most relevant to situations in hotels, because it sharpens a practitioner’s mind and trains him to size up people.

Vicky calls Krav Maga a holistic health solution and is excited by its growing popularity among corporates whose work-force is largely deskbound.

His third goal of reaching the system to children often leaves him frustrated. “Krav Maga is not a sport, but a system. Schools don’t show interest in anything that does not lend itself to competition.”

A fter gruelling drills in the dojo, Vicky Kapoor sits his students down for a talk. With that, the curtains come down on a two-day session of Krav Maga in the city; Vicky is now more of an older friend offering general advice than a coach cracking the whip. He tells his students to be greedy for knowledge. “Knowledge is one thing that can’t be stolen from you.”

During the free-wheeling interview that follows, he explains how infected he is with this form of greed. “In August, I’ll complete 36 years in martial arts,” says 46-year-old Vicky. “I have learnt quite a number of martial arts and done many fitness courses, but I have not lost the appetite for knowledge. Only recently, I completed the Spinning Instructor Certification course offered by the U.S.-based Mad Dogg Athletics.”

For Vicky, Krav Maga provides the opportunity to synthesise a diverse range of marital arts and fitness regimens. When Vicky makes Krav Maga packages for specific problems, he consciously or unconsciously runs through techniques of Okinawan gojuryu karate, judo, taekwondo, akido and kubudo. He also draws upon his experience as a fitness trainer.

“While devising defence techniques based on Krav Maga, we have to assume that the attacker is trained in all the traditional martial arts. Our techniques must be effective in combating threat from such a person.”

Since Krav Maga is a highly flexible combat system, Vicky has licence to constantly innovate and evolve new techniques or refine old ones. Krav Maga India, which Vicky heads, is credited with creating a technique that could be used when an attacker places a knife under the victim’s nose. “This technique was shared with the Krav Maga bodies in other countries. A Krav Maga technique evolved in one part of the world is shared with practitioners in other parts,” says Vicky. “Krav Maga is a dynamic system with a wide scope for improvement. A solution to a problem leads to a new problem. There is constant research and learning.”

Vicky says he has many options in life, but chooses to stay dedicated to Krav Maga because the system constantly challenges the student in him. “Not only Krav Maga, anything that challenges me to keep going further draws me. I can’t resist a challenge.” Tasks that seem impossible attract him more.

As a mountaineer, he has scaled an impressive number of peaks in the Himalayas. He undertakes four-wheel drive expeditions in this massive mountain range. And, he is into power lifting for the sheer difficulty of the sport.

Frank J, who conducts Krav Maga classes in Richmond Town, offered a different perspective. He usually delivers a five minute talk on how to deal with bullet wounds and shrapnel gashes, and also attempts to include a session by a doctor every two-three months. “Today, the war isn’t happening on the borders. If a car bomb goes off at a mall and your family’s injured, what do you do?” he asked. All of it may be rather grim talk for a city in which a pint is considered more a measure of beer than of blood, but, as Chatterjee said, “Everyone must know what to do in an emergency.”

There are many sobriquets our fair city has earned itself over the years – Bean Town, Garden City, Pub Capital and Silicon City. A rather strange one may soon join the list, going by a meeting of determined committee members of Nightingales Lifesaving Services on a Saturday evening. The group resolutely switched off the first match of the Indian Premier League between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians to thrash out marketing strategies which would make Bengaluru the Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation capital of India.

BV Murali Mohan, the project’s co-ordinator, and a pulmonologist and physician at Narayana Hrudayalaya, said, “It takes six minutes for the brain to die once the heart stops in the event of a cardiac arrest. Administering CPR helps to restart the heart, pump blood and keep the brain alive till emergency medical services get there, which would definitely take longer than six minutes in Bengaluru.”

Mohan cited the case of New Zealand tailender Ewan Chatfield to illustrate how an accident could happen to anyone, not just the elderly. In a match against England in 1974-75, Chatfield was seriously injured by a short delivery by Peter Lever. It took quick action in the form of a heart massage and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation by England’s physiotherapist Bernard Thomas to save his life. “One of our main challenges is to convince youngsters that they need to know CPR, because it could save someone’s life,” Mohan explained.

Another proponent of the importance of Basic Life Support courses is Somnath Chatterjee, a consultant at the intensive care unit at Manipal Hospital. “An emergency is what it is,” he stated firmly. “It could happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere.” Like at NLS, the BLS programme at Manipal Hospital (which includes CPR training) is carried out for corporates and groups comprising about 20-30 people, say from a particular housing colony. The classes are a mix of theory and practicals on mannequins, at the end of which a certificate is given to students who can confidently carry out the procedure.

Aysha H, a project engineer with the Quality, Safety and Technology department at Sobha Developers, attended the Manipal Hospital session in August 2008. “There are lots of accidents at construction sites,” she said. “We felt just auditing safety shouldn’t be our job, we should know how to have control over situations.”

R Jayachandran, a physical fitness instructor at Fitness First, joined the NLS programme in April this year, out of curiosity. He said, “There are so many accidents that happen in Indira Nagar and the outskirts. This way, I can at least try to save someone’s life.”

It might have been developed as hand-to-hand combat for the Israeli military, but Krav Maga today has morphed into a popular group activity with team building at its core. There are different programmes for civilians and for the military. And bite this: there are defence programmes for women and children too.

Ultimate Tactical and Combat, a private outfit of Krav Maga practitioners in Delhi, teaches the discipline at various locations like Radisson Hotel, Noida, Club Excel and its own studio in Saket. In Kolkata, Solace gym holds special classes for children twice a week.

Krav Maga trainer Udit Bagga, who conducts classes at Ozone in Delhi at least three days a week, says: “Apart from burning some 800 calories an hour, the highest in any group activity, it is about combat in a real-life situation.”

Exercising alone can be drop dead boring. So how do you get back your zest for burning that fat without letting the monotony of it kill you? Well, just go social.

Social workouts or group exercises are all the rage today. And the news gets better as group sessions — encompassing a wide spectrum from cardio workouts to body conditioning and flexibility routines — come free with membership at most savvy gyms across the country.

“A feeling of bonhomie pervades such sessions. If the person next to you is executing the same steps as you and an instructor is keeping up the tempo to peppy music, you are likely to exercise better,” says Devashish Singh of Fitness First.

According to fitness consultant Preetom Mukherjee-Roy, a good gym should offer at least four to five different group activities. He adds: “The routines are changed frequently which is also why group fitness is never monotonous.”

Les Mills Group Fitness

Group exercises conceived and formatted by Les Mills (a former athlete from New Zealand who developed a series of pre-choreographed fitness-to-music classes) are a rage internationally. At present they are available only at Fitness First and Celebrity Fitness — the two international health club chains in the country.

A typical session may include Body Combat that packs in a power-punching cardio session inspired by martial art disciplines, or Body Balance that incorporates yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates to improve flexibility and strength. For body sculpting there’s Body Pump that includes working out with weights.

“To keep the surprise element going the music is changed and the steps improvised once in three months,” says Singh of Fitness First.

Yoga

Yoga is the magic word in the world of fitness. While some go for the basic traditional yoga classes three times a week, others fit power yoga into their schedules.

If at Wildflower Hall, an Oberoi property in Shimla, group yoga is part of its wellness programme, at Fitness First, traditional yoga is on the schedule three times a week. Meanwhile there are yoga experts like Meera Bhagnani in Kolkata, who conduct classes in their studios.

At Vins, a fitness club in Gurgaon, power yoga is on the menu but only if members pass the flexibility test run by club-owner Vinodini Gupta.

Says Gupta: “If a little bit of power is added to it, yoga transforms into a cardio vascular activity that also helps one to lose weight. Depending upon your target, you can do it three times a week or more.”

Spinning

Non-stop cycling on a stationary bike for almost an hour at a stretch is a big hit too. With an instructor egging you on at intervals (“You are climbing a hill right now, don’t give up now”) and fellow spinners going at it with all they’ve got, it’s not hard to get into the swing of things.

Spinning tops popularity charts everywhere — at Gold’s Gym on AJC Bose Road, Ozone and Fitness First in Delhi.

Says Mukherjee-Roy: “Spinning came into being as off-season cycling. High-octane energy with the right kind of lighting, upbeat music and an instructor acting as motivator makes all the difference.”

Aqua Exercises

In Ballygunge, the heart of Kolkata, Solace Gym and Spa offers exercises in water. You can choose between sessions of aqua yoga, aqua therapy and aqua aerobics.

The deal: one burns more calories in water than otherwise because working out in water is very strenuous. The hydrostatic pressure of the water massages and refreshes you even as you exercise.

In Mumbai, fitness expert Deepali Jain takes classes of aqua aerobics with the help of equipment like aqua pumps, aqua balls, aqua resistance tubing and more. Her main focus is to strengthen the core muscles and the back.

Says Jain: “You cannot cheat the water. You’ve got to work yourself once you are in it.”

Source: I love Kolkata

If there is one martial arts that does not require perfect fitness, upper body strength, and ability to learn complex nitty gritties, it is Krav Maga. The Israeli based technique is useful under a sudden violent attack and stressful attack when our minds shut down. Krav maga is a practical and tactical system that teaches how to prevent, deal and overcome all kinds of violent attacks” says Frank J., senior instructor of the Hyderabad institute in Abids.

On its suitability to youngsters, Frank says that its techniques are easy to learn and retain and help improves fitness while training. Also KM is performed naturally and intuitively using body reflexes so it can be learned in a lesser time than other combat techniques. The technique that originated in Israel is growing in popularity in India, especially among the youth. “We have more than 12 centers around India, cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai etc. What strategies the instructors following to popularize the techniques amongst youngster in Hyderabad? In 2008 Mr. Vickram (Vicky) Kapoor Director and Chief Instructor of Krav Maga has organized a series of workshops in Hyderabad to a select group of individuals and corporate staff members. Now I am regularly coming to Hyderabad to teach Krav Maga in a simple training center in Sujata High School, Chapel Roads in Abids. We will introduce Krav Maga in others locations of Hyderabad soon says Frank, the senior instructor.

Krav Maga adapts to the fitness level of the beginner. The learner also understands that since the tactics & techniques are based on reflex actions, its easy for his/her to learn and retain under pressure of the assault. Lastly the modern methodology of training Krav Maga breaks away from the usually boring monotonous method of conventional martial arts or fitness training program as it incorporates a lot of games & drills along with realistic scenarios which gives the student a feel of the real thing and once he uses the techniques to get out of the problem, he learns to appreciate and respect the techniques of and it helps him/her to grow confident.

What is unique about Krav Maga? The techniques lends itself to modern pattern of training, incorporating of games along with drills, realistic scenario based training, techniques adaptable to fitness level, inculcating open mindedness in upgrading itself as well as teaching methods.

Elaborate on the technicalities involved and tactics
fighters need to employ during self-defence? Frank says “The idea is to survive & escape. We are not there to prove who is better or exact revenge. Every techniques is based on this idea. There are no ground rules. So anything goes, from throwing mud into his eyes, smiling and talking to him to await a better opportunity to defend, biting his arm or poking his eyes etc…”

Says one of his trainee, “Nearly every technique of Krav Maga starts and ends with hitting the vital & venerable target areas like groin, chin, knees etc. if the blow is taken under surprise, we are trained to respond with 5-8 blows aiming to these vital spots within few seconds and escaping from the location to avoid further attacks.” In mounting organized and calculated attacks, Krav Maga is helpful to a great extent in physically and psychologically hurting the assaulter. An assaulter plans or observe his attacker prior to the attack. He
will stands where he will give maximum surprise element in his attack.
He is not looking to fight his opponent hence he will use maximum
violence to overcome the victim or use a weapon as a threat factor to
shock the victim into submission. And he will use any unfair method
like having multiple attackers to stabbing or shooting to get to what
he requires.

To combat this level of threat, the defender practices these attacks
under carefully controlled and organized attacks to give maximum
exposure to the realist attacks as safely possible in training. Under
these real-time attacks, the students learns to appreciate the
battle-tested and practical techniques of Krav Maga which over-powers the assaulter physically and psychologically damage ten folds.

How useful do women (esp. employees working in night shifts needing to travel in the night) find learning Krav Maga? Many women still think that they required the same or more upper-body
strength as a man who will attack them in order to defend themselves.
Second they are so psychologically traumatized by the concept of
assault that they freeze in fear during any attack. Krav Maga uses
natural strength of women hips and empowers them to defends against
any stand-up and ground assaults. Plus to overcome the fear of
attacks, it uses realistic scenarios training drills to build the
confidence of the women and show them that they can defend against
most of the assaults with practice and techniques of Krav Maga.

Companies could be the next ‘trophy targets’ of terrorists. Those that don’t rush to build adequate cover, whatever the cost, may not live to regret it

Corporate India has just realised how vulnerable it really is. And it is terrified. “If we pool in our resources,” says Mazumdar-Shaw, “such a force can get common training from an international training agency from Germany or Israel.” “In Israel, it is compulsory for all buildings to have bomb shelters,” says Vicky Kapoor, a security expert who trains special forces and heads the Indian Krav Maga Foundation. “How many Indian companies can claim to have one?” Counter-terrorism has not been a priority so far. Now it is. Corporate India has just realised how vulnerable it really is. And it is terrified.

Team OLB

When terror bared its fangs in Mumbai, it triggered an emotion that corporate honchos rarely experience—raw fear. Less than 48 hours after the first murderous shot was fired in Colaba, seven directors on the board of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), led by Chairman and Managing Director RS Sharma, were sitting in a hastily convened meeting at the company’s Bandra office. The presence of a few senior officials of the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard made it seem like a war room, not a board room. ONGC directors feared for hundreds of its offshore installations spanning across nearly 10,000 square feet into the Arabian Sea—basically, process platforms such as Mumbai High, rigs, wells and individual exploration sites. Mumbai High has a full-fledged defence system—coast guard to patrol the seas; surveillance by the Air Force; even an in-house radar (thousands of fishing vessels ply the seas there). “Even this is not enough,” says BC Nayak, the Executive Director responsible for security at the Rs 60,137 crore corporation.

Attacks could come by way of air, land and sea. There are no armed guards at the offshore installations because of the presence of huge quantities of inflammable material. Then, there are a number of unmanned wells in the sea that can be used by terrorists as hideouts to launch an attack. In short, Mumbai High could easily have been a sitting target for the terrorists, en route to their assault. A strike there would have been spectacular for the terrorists and incalculably costly for ONGC and the nation.

Nayak did much of the talking at that meeting. Never before had he had so much to say in a board meeting. He made many recommendations to spruce up security. He then put in an urgent request to the Ministry of Defence for more cover in the offshore area.

All shook up

Elsewhere in the city, CEOs had already reached for the panic button. “In the last 24 hours, I have talked with board members of 40 companies,” says Raghu Raman, CEO of Mumbai-based Mahindra Special Services Group, a subsidiary of the $6.7 billion Mahindra Group that provides security-related services to corporates such as the Aditya Birla Group, British Telecom, Citibank and Mahindra & Mahindra. “They wanted to know what they can do to secure themselves.” The Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association (IDMA), which represents the $14 billion pharmaceutical industry, has called an emergency meeting on December 19 to develop counter-terrorism strategies. “It would be disastrous if terrorists find a way into our companies or production lines,” says BN Singh, President, IDMA.

The paranoia spread like wildfire beyond Mumbai, even into cities like Bengaluru. Are These Buildings Safe?

Cuffe Parade in South Mumbai is just one cluster where several companies are headquartered. The following offices are some that are located in the buildings seen in the picture:

• Axis Bank
• Bharat Shell
• Council For Leather Exports
• Dena Bank
• Engineering Export Promotion Council
• Export-Import Bank of India
• Federation of Indian Export Organisation
• Forbes Infotainment
• Hawkins Cookers
• IDBI Bank
• IDBI Gilts
• Indian Institute Of Banking & Finance
• ICAI
• Mafatlal Enterprises
• Manugraph India
• Maratha Sahakari Bank
• Mecklai Financial & Commercial Services
• MVIRDC World Trade Centre
• Nuclear Power Corp. of India
• OTC Exchange of India
• Oriental Bank of Commerce
• Rama Newsprint & Papers
• SBI Capital Markets
• SBI Securities
• Shapoorji Pallonji Power
• Standard Industries
• Stanrose Mafatlal Lubechem
• Taj President
• Tata Consultancy Services

CEOs began speculating about the worst possible scenarios, unimagined ever before. “If 20 guys arrive with AK-47s and move into the shop floor, there will be mayhem,” says Shekar Viswanathan, whole-time director of Toyota Kirloskar Motor. Its car plant in Bidadi has 2,560 employees. “We can’t make any assumptions that the corporate sector will not be hit (by terrorists). Currently, we are checking all employees’ cars at the gate for explosives, etc.” Bengaluru’s well-oiled corporate networks are in full flow. Prominent figures like Biocon Chairman and Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Infosys’ Director-Human Resources TV Mohandas Pai and Ficci President Rajeev Chandrashekar are in touch and are exploring the possibility of creating an anti-terrorist force—a veritable private army. “If we pool in our resources,” says Mazumdar-Shaw, “such a force can get common training from an international training agency from Germany or Israel.” CEOs are fast learning the combat language. (‘You have to stay one step ahead’- Alan Orlob, Marriott International)

In New Delhi, Nasscom, the $64 billion Indian IT services and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry’s representative body, immediately started work on evolving a roadmap to address counter-terrorism. “We have been talking to members, have met as an industry at the executive council level and are now meeting across cities,” says Vice-President Sangeeta Gupta. “Counter-terrorism has not been a priority so far.”

Now it is. Corporate India has just realised how vulnerable it really is. And it is terrified.

It has never had such a close encounter with terror, at least not since 1993, when bomb blasts shook the length of, what was then called, Bombay. When terrorists stormed the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi-Trident hotels last month, Yes Bank Non-Executive Chairman Ashok Kapur was felled, the entire board of Unilever was trapped for a few tense hours, and several CEOs heard the sound of bullets whiz past them for the first time in their lives. A few businessmen saw the terrorists face-to-face, and fortunately lived to tell the tale. Yesterday, none of these shots were specifically aimed at them. But tomorrow, they may be deliberately targeted.

We can put together a corpus that will support measures local authorities need to take for better security Pramod Bhasin, CEO, Genpact

Terrorists are growing in intelligence and sophistication, and have access to greater resources—both cash and weapons. Simultaneously, governments are building better security at public places—airports, embassies, government offices, etc. And as terrorists search for new and vulnerable ‘trophy targets’, companies and business establishments could soon come in their line of sight. The current state of corporate security—a few bored-looking unarmed guards, mock checks on visitors and a few surveillance cameras with cobwebs on them—is totally unprepared for the next strike.

Grenade in the boardroom

Rude shocks are sometimes good for business. The war-like violence in south Every city needs a crisis management centre to coordinate with agencies that combat terrorism Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD, Biocon

Mumbai—guns reverberating through the night, grenades exploding, choppers hovering menacingly close to the buildings, fires raging and truckloads of soldiers—all in the heart of the city’s business centre, has yanked managements out of their old notions of security. Without this shock, companies would have been unwilling to give up many outdated ideas and embrace the new, advanced mindset needed to counter terrorism. “This attack is unprecedented and unsettling,” says Infosys’ Pai. “There is a definite need to re-look security, both at a national and corporate level.”

Earlier, company security meant hiring an ex-service man who would also double up as the facilities manager. “They can make your company very secure, it’s just that you can’t do business anymore,” says Bob Hayes. Managing Director, Securities Executive Council (SEC), a Washington DC-based organisation for security and risk professionals that develops research-based solutions to help companies evolve security programmes. Slightly evolved companies may appoint a security agency, a flourishing business these days. But corporate security needs specialised skills. “It is more useful to provide an overall secure environment without creating a panic situation,” says Mahindra SSG’s Raman. “Companies have to bring security into their DNA, and this can only be done through human re-engineering.”

Many senior executives were trapped for many hours. Some like Tata Sons Executive Director Alan Rosling (in picture) spent a lot of time on ground zero, anxious to know the fate of those held hostage inside
The spotlight is now on the need for a chief security officer (CSO). “Companies need a CSO in a powerful position,” says Nitin Bhatt, Partner, Advisory Services, Ernst & Young. If there was one learning American companies absorbed after 9/11, it was the role of a chief security officer. In India though, this is a glaring gap in the security apparatus of even large corporates. Only about 10-20% of companies in the so-called vigilant BPOs and banking and financial services sectors have CSOs, says a consultant who wished to remain anonymous. But even they don’t have enough authority or access to the CEO.

Typically, such CSOs reports to the CFO. That is perhaps not the best model. But exceptions are rare. “I report directly to Anand Mahindra, and there is a briefing with the top management every month,” declares Raman. Abroad, though that is the norm. “I have personally seen CEOs extensively engaging in security discussions in European companies,” says Navita Srikant, Partner & National Leader, Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services, Ernst & Young. “That sets the right tone.”

It is important that the CSO has a dotted line relationship with the CEO. Equally For many CEOs, Mumbai is their den and the Taj Mahal Hotels their lair, Never had they imagined that it could be stormed and almost destroyed. Nothing could have driven home the need for security better
important is that the board needs to make security a routine agenda, including assessing the cost of security and its impact on profit margins. None of that happens now. Says Hayes: “The process that your companies (in India) need to go through is risk and threat assessment, develop a mitigation strategy, align the strategy with the rest of the business partners, provide the security options that you can choose from—guards, electronic surveillance, etc—and then calculate the cost to do that and manage the residual risk.” Also, it is not enough to have all of this on paper. Much of it would need to be tested, monitored and perhaps re-drafted all over again many times till it is near perfect.

It’s time to redefine the role of security. “All these years, security was considered as a support function,” rues Ravindra Kishore Sinha, CMD of Security and Intelligence Services (SIS), which provides security solutions. “Now, managements have realised that security is an important mainline function just as marketing or finance.” SIS claims it has about 3,000 clients, 35,000 employees and revenues of Rs 1,600 crore. (Read R K Sinha interview: Government will have to trust private security agencies)

Finally, counter-terrorism has to be embedded into every business process. Entry and exit of employees is one example. “Background checks on employees will become more stringent,” says Infosys’ Pai. But there is more to it. Private airlines have retrenched hundreds of employees at all levels in the past few months. Have they considered the possibility that former staffers—jobless, disgruntled and broke—could be a source of vital inside information on airports or even a probable source of unauthorised entry into them? Post-employment or post-layoff follow-ups are unheard of in India. (Read The Power of Practice)

Many such basic fears are now beginning to gnaw at CEOs. The IDMA, for instance, Security costs are going to eat into already declining profit margins. But companies can’t cut corners. It is better to be safe than sorry

is worried about even basics such as ensuring that harmful ingredients don’t enter the drug production line at the raw material procurement stage. It would seem elementary that most pharmaceutical companies would have attended to this as a matter of process, rather than as a security issue that needs to be addressed now. Or take the instance of Toyota-Kirloskar, which has 50 expatriates on its rolls but beefs up security arrangements only when overseas visitors travel to the company’s premises. “That should begin now for all our key personnel. We have very little in place,” admits Vishawanathan.

“In Israel, it is compulsory for all buildings to have bomb shelters,” says Vicky Kapoor, a security expert who trains special forces and heads the Indian Krav Maga Foundation. “How many Indian companies can claim to have one?” Perhaps none, except one—Reliance Industries. It has a bunker at its Jamnagar refinery (capacity of 33 million tonnes per year) that can withstand a nuclear attack. “It is big enough to host key individuals. Critical parts of the plant can be controlled from there,” says a source who has worked closely with the company for many years. “It is nothing like you have ever seen before.” Not all companies need to build nuclear shelters, but there are several small counter-terrorism measures they need to integrate into every corporate activity.

The price of safety

This attack is unprecedented and unsettling. We need to re-look both national and corporate security TV Mohandas Pai,
Director­-HR, Infosys

“If you had done a poll with CEOs two weeks before the attacks and asked them two questions: one, is security a board issue? Nine out of 10 would have said, yes,” guesses Raman. “Then, ask them the second question: what is the biggest hurdle to security? Nine out of 10 would have said the budget.” When IT services and consulting firm Capgemini India deputes employees on assignments to the Middle-East, it puts them through a three-hour programme imparted by its security partner, International SOS. It trains staffers on how to react in emergencies, including terror attacks. The cost: Rs 1 lakh per head. That’s how expensive even basic security resources can be. “You can’t measure the cost. It is compulsory,” says Pramod Bhasin, CEO of Gurgaon-based BPO firm Genpact. Alkem Laboratories, a Rs 1,200 crore pharma company that currently spends a few lakh on security, expects spends to increase anywhere by Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 20 crore depending on the steps it decides to take now. “Security costs may go up to 0.5-2% of sales,” says managing director, BN Singh. That will eat into its net profit margin of about 8%.

The IT-BPO industry, possibly among the highest spenders on security in terms of It will be disastrous if terrorists find a way into our production lines. Security costs may go up to 0.5-2% of sales BN Singh,
President, Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association

disaster recovery plans and business continuity, apart from data and information security, doesn’t yet have an estimate on how much it would incur in additional costs for physical security.

Also, given the fact that such costs would need to be woven into the business plan of the company, firms would need to factor in the impact on profitability over a long term, perhaps a 8-10 year period. Slowdown or not, this is one area where companies can no longer cut corners on.

We encourage large companies to help mentor smaller businesses in the area of security planning Erin Streeter, Director, Ready, Department of Homeland Security, US “Our security budget is in crores…and this (the Mumbai attacks) will increase it further,” says Biocon’s Mazumdar-Shaw. “Though the actual numbers and percentage would vary from company to company, many MNCs are set to double their security allocation in 2008-09),” adds SIS’s Sinha, who works with firms like Coca-Cola and Volvo.

Another lesson from the post-9/11 environment is working effectively and So far, security was a support function. Now, managements realise that it is mainline like marketing or finance Ravindra Kishore Sinha, CMD, Security and Intelligence Services proactively with government agencies. “This has been a very serious wake-up call. Every city needs to have a crisis management centre, which would coordinate with security agencies that are involved in carrying out operations of combating terrorism,” says Mazumdar-Shaw. Most companies realise they cannot counter terrorism on their own, and having armed guards is not the easy and simple answer. “We’re prepared to put together a corpus that will support any measures that the local authorities need to take to ensure better security,” says Genpact’s Bhasin.

More than a fortnight after the last of the crazed gunmen was eliminated at the Taj Mahal Hotel, CEOs are still outraged at what happened in Mumbai, a city they consider to be their den. But they are also afraid that companies could be the next target. That fear is not such a bad thing. It will ensure that companies build their defenses, whatever be the cost. Fast.

(With inputs from Snigdha Sengupta, Ashish Gupta, Kunal N Talgeri, Sebastian PT, Rajiv Bhuva, Sudipto Dey and Dhruv Rathi)

Source : http://business.outlookindia.com/

April 24th, 2008

To whomsoever it may concern:

Its my pleasure to provide this letter of recommendation on behalf of Intelligroup.

, Instructor of Krav Maga India’s Chapter Bengaluru did a Basic Self Defense and Survival Sress Management Workshop with us on April 10th, 2008 with 30 of our female staff members.

The workshop was well received by nearly all the participants. It had a lot of interactive games along with re-enactment of possible violent situations which cleared out many of our doubts, myths and misconceptions about such situations.

Another important aspect that we all learned was that by the use of words and wits, we can avoid a possible threat without resorting to physical violence. Krav Maga Israeli Self Defense gained our respect as , the instructor demonstrated very simple techniques on how to use common day to day things to protect ourselves when we are against bigger, stronger attackers.

Also the live demonstration inside a car/ cab was an eye opener on how we can use our body as a natural weapon to hit and immobilize an attacker inside such a confined space.

We highly recommend all corporates/BPOs to have these workshops with “Krav Maga India” Israeli Self Defense system and learn the best from the best.

Best of luck,

Meghana Ravi,

Sr. Executive – Admin & facilities
Intelligroup Asia Pvt. Ltd.
Bengaluru

MYCATREF

Posted: May 15, 2005 at 0000 hrs IST

What do you do when incidents of crime against women keep on spiralling and authorities fail to contain this menance? Take up self-defence courses so that you can keep the wolves at bay. Assisting women in this regard, are a few committed corporates.

According to the latest official figures, the number of cases of sexual harassment reported in Haryana jumped by more than three times between 2001 and 2003, up from 401 to 1,302. In Uttar Pradesh, 4,970 such cases were registered in 2003, nearly twice as many recorded in 2001 (2,575). However, there was a sharp decline in the number of rape cases in the state, according to the figures tabled in Parliament recently.

As more and more women enter the workforce, sexual harassment has seen a rise in workplaces and issues of safety confront women every time they step out of their homes.

Says Electrolux India CEO and managing director, Rajeev Karwal, who has spearheaded the company’s self-defence programmes for women, “The constant fear that women undergo to realise their dreams prompted us to initiate martial arts courses for women in Delhi and elsewhere.”

Electrolux has conducted several courses in karate across the National Capital Region in the last couple of years, training more than 300 women in karate. Its Femme Force initiative, as it is called, has tied up with other like-minded organisations like Confederation of Indian Industry and Ficci Ladies Organisation to train women free of cost in martial arts along with a workshop on mental preparedness conducted by a trained psychologist.

“I got a chance to use the training while returning from office one evening and I made complete use of the training. The man, an army captain, will never do anything like that again in his whole life, and I’m more confident now,” says Ekta, a Femme Force activist who undertook the course at Vasant Valley School, New Delhi.

Electrolux, which invests Rs 1 crore annually in this project, now hopes to take this programme to other cities. Next on the list are Jaipur, Chennai, Lucknow, Indore, Mumbai and Bhubaneswar, where it is hoping to tie up with schools and private organisations. “We are also in talks with ITC to conduct a similar programme for their employees,” says Karwal.

Several corporates have evinced in such programmes, with a few starting in-house programmes for their employees.

IT services company Accenture recently launched a programme to sensitise employees about gender differences. As part of its More Learning@Accenture programme, the company is initiating roadshows to educate employees on its policies on gender discrimination and harassment, setting up employee-led clubs to organise sports initiatives such as self-defence skills, says Rekha Menon, head, India Geographic Services, Accenture.

Another Femme Force veteran, Asmita, says, “I haven’t had an opportunity to use the training, but you feel a strange sense of security now when moving out alone, staying at home alone or taking an evening walk in a seemingly isolated park.”

According to Harsh Soin, vice-president, People Excellence, Bharti Tele-Ventures,

“In a service industry and especially in a sector like telecom, people are the main asset. It is only through its people that Bharti can achieve its vision. As such Bharti spends a significant proportion of its resources in training employees. Training programmes include skill enhancement and general management programmes, offsites and outdoors. The self-defence training programme, Krav Maga, is one such exercise. The programme imparts the basic skills to withstand temporary aggression and at the same time brings about a work-life balance in the employees’ schedule.

The programme also brings about an element of physical exercise to it.”

Says Vicky Kapoor, an instructor in Krav Maga, a self-defence programme developed by the Israeli army, “This course incorporating Israeli combat tactics, can help make women more self-confident when travelling at late hours. The course helps one defend oneself with whatever object is handy, be it a pen, a mobile phone, or an umbrella, or even with bare hands.” Kapor has trained employees from Oberoi Hotels and the Bharti Group in this art.

“We have conducted this course free of cost for 200 girls at Nari Niketan, a shelter for women in Delhi. We are also trying to tie up with a couple of companies to offer this courses as part of their human resource initiatives.”

Oberoi Hotels and Resorts conducted a course on self-defence for some of its women employees last year. Around four batches consisting of 20 women each have been trained in Krav Maga by Mr Kapor, says the company’s director (human resources) Nidhi Chauhan.

The Delhi Police’s Crime Against Women Cell has been giving self-defence training in colleges but now it has started training working women also. Delhi Police has tied up with All India Women’s Conference for a permanent programme to train residents of its working women’s hostel in the capital. The women, either in their 20s or 30s, have learnt the basics of judo, karate and taekwondo.

“We would like five to six batches to run concurrently. This requires more resources and we would encourage other corporates to join hands with us so that more women, whether they are employees, students or housewives, are able to handle such unpleasant situations,” says Karwal. According to him, a corporate house can succeed in such ventures only if it has a strong social commitment, instead of just pursuing it for corporate mileage.

Source: http://www.screenindia.com/news/biffem-back/135268/