Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Monday 15 February 2016

PUBLIC TRANSPORT AS A SOLUTION ?



Soon India will produce 10 million vehicles per year - mostly private cars / two wheelers

These will create nightmare of traffic jams since roads in the cities cannot expand in width to add more lanes

And already narrow roads keep getting crowded with cars parked on both the sides

Cars moving at snail pace and stopping at signals , emit a lot of polluting gases

Now we cannot stop people from buying cars !

But , can we make it attractive for them not to buy a car but use public transport ?

If we succeed in persuading people to use public transport , problems of traffic jams / pollution can be reduced


QUESTION :

Why people don't use public transport but opt for their own private vehicles ?


REASONS  :

*   Own car is available at a moment's notice    (  Convenience )

*   Own car is air-conditioned       (  Comfort  )

*   Own car is not packed with " Standee Passengers "  (  Crowding )

*   At public transport bus stops , there are long queues  - or worse , crowds !


SOLUTIONS  ( even , if partial ) :


*   Gradually change over to air conditioned buses

*   Do not allow standee passengers ( this will require adding many more buses )

*   Introduction of BRTS ( Bus Rapid Transit System )

*   Bus Arrival Time Indicators ( linked with GPS in all buses ) at all bus stops

*   A tablet type digital device fitted behind each seat , where passenger to touch his destination on route map
     displayed . 

Passenger will also touch his smart phone to the device which will transfer the fare amount to the
    bus operator , through a mobile wallet . 

No need for a conductor - as practiced in many foreign countries ! 

    This will tell the driver , at which stops , which passengers are getting off and seat/s are falling vacant


    If bus is already FULL and no passenger is getting off at the next bus stop , then driver will not halt the bus ,
    since he cannot accommodate any standee passenger


    If a passenger is supposed to get off at , say XYZ stop , digital device will flash a signal / ring a bell , a few
    minutes before reaching the stop


    The Bus Arrival Time Indicator , at the stop will also display the " No of Vacant Seats " in this bus


    This ( No of Vacant Seats ) sign will also appear prominently on the bus itself as it pulls into the halt


    It is equally easy to introduce such an integrated traffic management system in Inter-City buses as well

    Entire intra-city bus traffic will be monitored and controlled from the Central Traffic Control Station of the city
    traffic department , much in the same way ATC control air traffic or railways control train traffic


    It is just a question of extending an existing ( but slightly modified ) technology to city traffic

    As far as density of traffic on various roads is concerned , mobile apps are already available

    Based on the situation , Central Traffic Control will order additional buses to be injected on any particular
    route , at any given time


    In some foreign countries , even elevator systems in large office buildings are designed to gauge

    *  the number of persons waiting for elevator at each floor ( and how many want to go UP and how many want
       to go DOWN ),

     *  the number of persons riding at any time , within each elevator ( and their travel intentions ) 

 
     and adjust their stopping / halting pattern accordingly  , automatically without human intervention !


Implementing such a system could not be a big problem for a country which takes pride in calling itself ,

A  SOFTWARE  SUPER  POWER  !

Only thing lacking is political will 

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hemenparekh.in / blogs

16  Feb  2016   

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Make    Yourself    Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

(  Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :


    narendramodi1234@gmail.com; 38ashokroad@gmail.com;ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in; jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in;piyush.goyal@gov.in;nitin.gadkari@nic.in; spprabhu1@rediffmail.com;bandaru@sansad.nic.in;smritizirani@nic.in;nsitharaman@nic.in; ravis@sansad.nic.in;sureshprabhu@irctc.co.in;prakash.j@sansad.nic.in;secy-ipp@nic.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; shaktikanta.das@nic.in; rsecy@nic.in; adhia1981@gmail.com; ceo-niti@nic.in; atul-chaturvedi@nic.in; uma.bharati@sansad.nic.in; d.pradhan@sansad.nic.in; rprudy.office@gmail.com; rudypr@rediffmail.com; eam@mea.gov.in; mosvks@mea.gov.in; mvnaidu@sansad.nic.in; mnaqvi@sansad.nic.in; rao.inderjit@sansad.nic.in; mljoffice@gov.in; sadananda.gowda@sansad.nic.in; ministerminority@gov.in; najmah@sansad.nic.in; minister-ca@nic.in; ramvilas.paswan@sansad.nic.in; gandhim@sansad.nic.in; akumar-alpha@sansad.nic.in; jpnadda@sansad.nic.in; hm.moca@nic.in; geete@sansad.nic.in; simratbadal@yahoo.com; ns.tomar@nic.in; rmsingh@sansad.nic.in; tc.gehlot@sansad.nic.in; dr.harshvardhan@sansad.nic.in   




HOW FAR SHOULD WE SEE ?



The rate at which innovations are continuously happening all around us , we need not look very far  !

In the internet age , the " Slow " ( to adapt ) will get overtaken by the " Fast & Nimble "

Even the " Big " will get left behind by the " Small "


How long before textile scientists come up with a fabric that does not require " Stitching " to make garments  ?

May be a fabric that can be " welded " or " glued " to form a garment  ?

And a automated assembly-line where :

*    Fabric is fed at one end

*    Glue ( or a welding wire ) , is fed at intermediate stages

*    Fabric gets cut into pieces as per online personalized  " designs " ordered  by visitors of Amazon / Flipkart /
      Snapdeal etc


What would this do to the manufacturers of domestic / industrial sewing machines and threads  ?

And then what would happen to such automated garment-making assembly lines when people install 3D Printing Machines in their homes ? - machines that can print garments as per designs downloaded from Net  ?

Far fetched  ?

Not if you have heard of Shanghai-based company WinSun , which recently constructed 10 concrete houses ( 5 stories each ) , overnight , using a 3D Printing Machine which is 6 meter tall , 10 meter wide and 40 meter long !


If invited to set up country-wide operations in India , I have no doubt WinSun can transform our Housing Construction Industry thru technology transfer


In turn , NDA Government can fulfill its promise to construct 50 million 
affordable houses by 2020


I hope this message reaches Shri Narendra Modi / Shri Venkaiah Naidu / Shri Nitin Gadkari


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hemenparekh.in / blogs


16  Feb  2016

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Make    Yourself    Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

(  Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :


    narendramodi1234@gmail.com; 38ashokroad@gmail.com;ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in; jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in;piyush.goyal@gov.in;nitin.gadkari@nic.in; spprabhu1@rediffmail.com;bandaru@sansad.nic.in;smritizirani@nic.in;nsitharaman@nic.in; ravis@sansad.nic.in;sureshprabhu@irctc.co.in;prakash.j@sansad.nic.in;secy-ipp@nic.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; shaktikanta.das@nic.in; rsecy@nic.in; adhia1981@gmail.com; ceo-niti@nic.in; atul-chaturvedi@nic.in; uma.bharati@sansad.nic.in; d.pradhan@sansad.nic.in; rprudy.office@gmail.com; rudypr@rediffmail.com; eam@mea.gov.in; mosvks@mea.gov.in; mvnaidu@sansad.nic.in; mnaqvi@sansad.nic.in; rao.inderjit@sansad.nic.in; mljoffice@gov.in; sadananda.gowda@sansad.nic.in; ministerminority@gov.in; najmah@sansad.nic.in; minister-ca@nic.in; ramvilas.paswan@sansad.nic.in; gandhim@sansad.nic.in; akumar-alpha@sansad.nic.in; jpnadda@sansad.nic.in; hm.moca@nic.in; geete@sansad.nic.in; simratbadal@yahoo.com; ns.tomar@nic.in; rmsingh@sansad.nic.in; tc.gehlot@sansad.nic.in; dr.harshvardhan@sansad.nic.in   


Sunday 14 February 2016

Making Yourself Obsolete ?



As I observed in my earlier blog ( 05 Feb 2016 ), Theodore Levitt wrote in his seminal essay," Marketing Myopia " :


If you don't obsolete yourself , someone else will . So keep asking yourself : What business are we in ?


Levitt gives example of American Railroads , which failed to ask themselves this question and got obsolete by American Car manufacturers and American Airlines . No more people wanted to travel by trains !

Whereas it may take 10/20 years before Car Manufacturers themselves get obsolete ( by manufacturers of Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality / Holographic / Hepatic devices and web-services - making travelling unnecessary ) , according to me , taxi-rickshaw Meter Manufacturers are in the danger of getting obsolete , within the next TWO YEARS  !

Expect some Indian Start-Up to come up with a digital taxi meter ( to be called , DigiMet  ? ), resembling a 8" tablet , with a screen on both the sides , visible to both , the driver and the passenger


DigiMet will be integrated with :

*  GPS based Google Map

*  Mobile App ( called , FareCalc ? ) downloaded from the web site of the Authority fixing " Tariff " ( RTO ? )

Passengers will also need to download / install , FareCalc app on their smart phones

As requested by the passenger , taxi driver will enter the destination location , in DigiMet

Immediately , DigiMet will display the following routes to the desired destination :

*  Shortest route ( distance-wise )

*  Fastest route ( time wise ) , taking into account the traffic conditions on different routes


DigiMet will also display , the amount of " fares " payable for each route ( also displaying tariff : Rs per Km )

Now it is the passenger's turn to select / choose the route that he wants the driver to take

The taxi / rickshaw will start only thereafter !

At the end of the journey , passenger will have the options to pay the fare ,

*  In cash

*  By entering his Credit Card details into the DigiMet , or

*  Through his Mobile Wallet ( using NFC  ? )

The Mobile App will also need to have a provision for any " Waiting Time " charges to be added

When the destination is reached , DigiMet will display :

*  Distance travelled

*  Time taken

*  Waiting Time ( if any )

*  RTO approved tariff ( Rs per Km )

*  Fare amount payable

Any revision in the tariff will get updated automatically in DigiMet as also on the smart phone of passenger

For taxis / rickshaws running on Hybrid fuel ( producing less Co2 ) or Electric Vehicles ( zero emission ) , both , the driver and the passenger will get " Carbon Credits " , which will also get displayed on the DigiMet as also on the FareCalc Mobile App on the smart phone of the passenger ( @ 20 % of the fare payable ? )

These amounts will get transferred to their respective Jan Dhan Bank Accounts ( thru DTB ) , every quarter

I suppose some variation of DigiMet / FareCalc can be introduced in all State Transport buses and intra-city Municipal buses

I hope , the current manufacturers of taxi - rickshaw meters are asking themselves :

What business are we in ?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

hemenparekh.in / blogs

15  Feb  2016

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Make    Yourself    Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

(  Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :


    narendramodi1234@gmail.com; 38ashokroad@gmail.com;ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in; jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in;piyush.goyal@gov.in;nitin.gadkari@nic.in; spprabhu1@rediffmail.com;bandaru@sansad.nic.in;smritizirani@nic.in;nsitharaman@nic.in; ravis@sansad.nic.in;sureshprabhu@irctc.co.in;prakash.j@sansad.nic.in;secy-ipp@nic.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; shaktikanta.das@nic.in; rsecy@nic.in; adhia1981@gmail.com; ceo-niti@nic.in; atul-chaturvedi@nic.in; uma.bharati@sansad.nic.in; d.pradhan@sansad.nic.in; rprudy.office@gmail.com; rudypr@rediffmail.com; eam@mea.gov.in; mosvks@mea.gov.in; mvnaidu@sansad.nic.in; mnaqvi@sansad.nic.in; rao.inderjit@sansad.nic.in; mljoffice@gov.in; sadananda.gowda@sansad.nic.in; ministerminority@gov.in; najmah@sansad.nic.in; minister-ca@nic.in; ramvilas.paswan@sansad.nic.in; gandhim@sansad.nic.in; akumar-alpha@sansad.nic.in; jpnadda@sansad.nic.in; hm.moca@nic.in; geete@sansad.nic.in; simratbadal@yahoo.com; ns.tomar@nic.in; rmsingh@sansad.nic.in; tc.gehlot@sansad.nic.in; dr.harshvardhan@sansad.nic.in   







Saturday 13 February 2016

QUANTUM JUMP OF 50 MILLION HOUSES

CHEAP  HOUSES  ?


At the ASSOCHAM " Smart City Summit " on 10 Feb 2016 , Shri Nitin Gadkari said :

" At a time when only one percent of India's population can afford a house above Rs 10 lakh , the government is not only committed to building smart cities but also to offering affordable houses below Rs 5 lakh

If we make available houses at below Rs 5 lakh , 30 percent people can buy them

Apart from focusing on building smart cities, providing affordable houses to the poorest of the poor also tops the agenda of the Narendra Modi government 
Under one such venture , an experiment was done in Nagpur to construct a house on steel structure using 70 % fly ash

The construction cost of the building came to Rs 1000 per sq ft . We will be able to provide a 450 sq ft house within Rs 5 lakh "


On 2 Sept 2015 , I sent following email to several Ministers ( Union + Maha ) / CII / ASSOCHAM / FICCI etc :

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DREAM   HOUSE   BY   2020  ?

Shri Ravindra Waikar , Minister for Housing , Maharashtra Government , says ( DNA / 16 Aug 2015 ) :

"  We want to provide a dream house to everyone by 2020 . We won't compromise on the quality of construction . It will be at par with that of private builders . We are working on a mission mode "

He is referring to planned construction of 5 lakh " affordable " houses ( flats ? ) , by 2020

No doubt , this is a very daunting task but it is possible if there is " Political Will " - which is evident from above statement of Shri Waikar


Here are my few suggestions that Shri Waikar may want to consider :

#   SPECIFICATIONS

     *  Carpet Area = 400 sq ft
     *  Selling Price = Rs 10 lakhs ( Rs 2,500 / sq ft )

#   LOCATIONS

     *  Building Clusters to be located on the outskirts of cities ( important )
     *  100 Clusters of 50 buildings ( each with 10 floors*10 flats/floor )

#   LEGAL FRAME-WORK

     *  A Special Purpose Vehicle ( SPV ) , named,
        Dream House Private Limited ( DHPL )

#   INDUSTRY STATUS

     *  Infrastructure Industry with 100 % FDI thru automatic route

#   SPV OWNERSHIP

      *   10 % equity by Maha Govt ( in lieu of land )
           Maha Govt to pass on this equity to land-owners
      *   90 % equity by WinSun Decoration Design Engineering Co ( China )

#   SHARE  CAPITAL

      *   Rs 10,000 Crores

#    ROLE OF MAHARASHTRA GOVERNMENT

      *  Acquire land ( under modified Land Acquisition Act )/hand over to SPV
      *  Comprehensive Town Planning of each Cluster like a Smart City
      *  Building Design / Drawings / Material Specs
      *  Quality Control / Material Testing Lab at each site
      *  A Project Monitoring Team at each site / Use of PERT
      *  Site surveillance using CCTV cameras
      *  Make available land for setting up 3D House Printing factories
      *  Interconnection of site offices with HQ , thru VPN
      *  Blanket permissions ( IOD / NOC etc ) issued in advance
      *  OC based on certification from Site Project Manager
      *  Maintenance of flats thru Coop Societies of each cluster

#   COMMERCIALS

     *   Neither SPV , nor Maha Govt to pay any royalty to WinSun for
          transfer of technology

     *   Maha Govt to act as the agency for allotment of flats to eligible public
          in Maharashtra thru a " Lottery System "
  
     *   Selling Price of flats will be fixed by the Maharashtra Government
         once a year , based on a pre-agreed cost - escalation formula, which
         will be explained in detail on SPV web site
          Calculation of each upward revision shall be made public
        
     *   SPV to hand over possession of flat to the allotee upon receipt of
         full payment

     *   SPV shall not be permitted direct selling of any flat in Maharashtra

     *   SPV would be free to set up factories in other States and be free to
          sell flats built there, thru Open Market Sale


#   ROLE  OF  WinSun

     *  Setting up of 20 factories for 3D Printing of flats
     *  Assembling of 3D printed flats at sites
     *  Transfer of 3D house printing technology to Indian project managers /
         site engineers / construction workers


#   TECHNOLOGY

     *  3D ( house ) Printing Technology developed / patented by WinSun


>    WHY  WinSun  ?

     #   On 29 March 2014 , WinSun constructed TEN , 3D printed houses ( 200 sq meter each ) in Shanghai, each costing $ 4,800 ( approx Rs 3 lakh ! )


#    On 17 July 2015 , using its 3D printing technology , WinSun built a 2 storey villa , in just 3 HOURS  !


#    WinSun holds 98 patents for construction materials


#    For 3D printing of houses , WinSun , mostly uses recycled construction materials


#    3D house-printing technology saves,

      *  30% -60 % of building materials

      *  70 % of production time

      *  80 %  of construction cost


#   Egypt Government has placed on WinSun , an order for supplying 20,000 pre-fabricated , 3D printed houses

#   In Egypt , WinSun will establish 12 Dream Factories ( to build pre-fabricated houses ) , within 2 years

     These factories will mostly use desert sand as its main construction material , which was found ideal for 3D printing of houses !


#   In next 3 years , WinSun will set up ( in JV with local parties ) , similar factories in 20 countries , including Saudi Arabia , UAE , Qatar , Mexico , S. Korea , Russia , Morocco , Tunisia , and USA

       
As someone has said :

" It is OK to build castles in the air , as long as you know how to put foundation underneath , later on "

Even if you are dreaming of building 5 lakh castles !


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I do hope , Shri Gadkari remembered to invite Mr Ma Yi He, CEO of WinSun ( Shanghai ), to attend the Make in India Week , inaugurated by Shri Narendra Modi , yesterday , when he said :

" We want to construct 50 Million houses by 2022



There is no time for incremental changes . We want a quantum jump . Do not wait . Do not relax  "


How else is  China able to construct , one brand NEW city capable of housing ONE MILLION people , every 20 days ! - continuously for past 15 years  ! - and for next 20 years  ! 

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hemenparekh.in / blogs

14  Feb  2016

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Make    Yourself    Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

(  Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :


    narendramodi1234@gmail.com; 38ashokroad@gmail.com;ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in; jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in;piyush.goyal@gov.in;nitin.gadkari@nic.in; spprabhu1@rediffmail.com;bandaru@sansad.nic.in;smritizirani@nic.in;nsitharaman@nic.in; ravis@sansad.nic.in;sureshprabhu@irctc.co.in;prakash.j@sansad.nic.in;secy-ipp@nic.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; shaktikanta.das@nic.in; rsecy@nic.in; adhia1981@gmail.com; ceo-niti@nic.in; atul-chaturvedi@nic.in; uma.bharati@sansad.nic.in; d.pradhan@sansad.nic.in; rprudy.office@gmail.com; rudypr@rediffmail.com; eam@mea.gov.in; mosvks@mea.gov.in; mvnaidu@sansad.nic.in; mnaqvi@sansad.nic.in; rao.inderjit@sansad.nic.in; mljoffice@gov.in; sadananda.gowda@sansad.nic.in; ministerminority@gov.in; najmah@sansad.nic.in; minister-ca@nic.in; ramvilas.paswan@sansad.nic.in; gandhim@sansad.nic.in; akumar-alpha@sansad.nic.in; jpnadda@sansad.nic.in; hm.moca@nic.in; geete@sansad.nic.in; simratbadal@yahoo.com; ns.tomar@nic.in; rmsingh@sansad.nic.in; tc.gehlot@sansad.nic.in; dr.harshvardhan@sansad.nic.in   






Friday 12 February 2016

Make in India Week


Promo Emails to :


Industry Associations - Trade Associations - Indian Chambers of Commerce
( All India + State Level + City Level )

( do not send this to Foreign Chambers of Commerce )
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear  President :


Hon PM , Shri Narendra Modiji will inaugurate in Mumbai tomorrow , " Make in India " Week

Following are expected to participate :


*    60  Countries

*    5,000  Foreign Delegates /  8,000  Indian  Delegates

*    190  Companies

*    4  Heads of States

*    12  Chief Ministers of Indian States

*    17   Indian  States

*    13   Union Ministers



MOUs worth Rs 4 Lakh*Crores are expected to be signed


QUESTION :


For each of your Member Firm that attends this function , there will be  1,000 other Members who can not .

How can they send their Marketing Message ( Buy - Sell - Form JV - Tech Collaboration etc ) , to those 5,000

Foreign Delegates ? .  Neither Maharashtra Government nor DIPP , will give you a list of those participating

Foreign Companies , along with their E mail IDs  !



ANSWER :


Just advise your Member Firms to ;


>  " Register " / " Compose Message " and then " Blast ", to  5,000+  Foreign Chambers of Commerce

     from ,  ...   www.B2BmessageBlaster.com

Presidents of these Foreign Chambers of Commerce will happily deliver the Message of YOUR member-firms

to THEIR member-firms !

There is no better / faster / easier method of " Announcing Your Existence " to the World  !

with regards,


hemen  parekh


Marol , Mumbai , India


( M ) +91 - 98,67,55,08,08


CAN WE TALK ?


Dear Amitabh ,


Tried to reach you over your office landline , yesterday when you were away

When I tried few minutes back , I was told you are in Mumbai

Please phone , if and when you can spare couple of minutes

with regards,


hemen  parekh / ( M )  98,67,55,08,08