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

Friday, 25 March 2016

Oracle has spoken


 
WHO   IS  THE   ORACLE ?

Sanjay Sarma ,

 {  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjay_Sarma  }

has a bachelor's degree from IIT Kanpur , his master's from Carnegie Mellon University and his PhD from the University of California , Berkeley

He has authored more than 75 academic papers in Computational Geometry, Sensing, Radio Frequency Identification ( RFID ), Automation and Computer Aided Design

He also serves on the boards of GS1 , EPCglobal , several start ups and edX , the not-for-profit set up by MIT and Harvard



He sent me following email on 25 March 2016 , after reading my suggestion below :

Dear Mr. Parekh,

Yes, placing tags on money has certainly been considered in the past.

I think it is a matter of time before it happens.

I do agree with your idea.

Having said that, as more and more transactions become digital (credit cards, bitcoin, Adhaar card, etc.) the need for tracking cash goes down — ironically as our ability to track it increases.

-Sanjay
 Sanjay Sarma , 35-206 MIT. 617 253 1925 (T). 617 253 7549 (F).
 Email : 'SESARMA@MIT.EDU'
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WHAT  DID  I  SUGGEST  ? 

NETWORK OF CURRENCY NOTES ?

( A Mobile App called, " BLACK-MAIL " )

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

While inaugurating the International Conference on " Networking the Networks " on Nov 2 , our FM Shri Jaitleyji said :

" Tax evasion and money laundering will become extremely difficult in the next 1-2 years, with the global automatic exchange of information system coming into effect on a real time basis "

To speed up this process and make it truly automatic / real time , I suggest resorting to the following technologies :


#   Internet of Things ( IoT )

     As each currency note of Rs 500 / 1000 , is getting printed , embed it with microscopic RFID sensors

     Besides communicating with each other , these sensors will also transmit their existence location , through internet , to cloud-based servers of Income Tax Department
 
     This will form a " NETWORK  OF  CURRENCY  NOTES ( NoC ) "

     You may like to call this Internet of Currency ( IoC ) , a sub-set of IoT  !


#   Internet Protocol Address System ( IP V 6.0 )

     Each Rs 500 / 1000 currency note must be assigned ( at the time of printing ) , its own unique Internet Address , using IP V 6.0

      This IP address should be linked with the unique Serial Number printed on each note.

     Since IP V 6.0 , will be capable of assigning   " 2 * 10 to the power of 128 ", no of  IP addresses , there is no danger of running out of addresses , even if we decide to extend this idea to Rs 100 currency notes !


Here are the most important BYE - PRODUCTs :

*   No more possibility of fake / forged / counterfeit , currency notes !

*   Plastic currency notes will last 10 times longer !

    
This reform will enable the Central Government / Income Tax Department  to :


*    Continuously trace the movement of each of these higher denomination currency notes

*    Instantly locate any place ( using Google Map based GPS ) , where there is an accumulation of more than Rs 1 Crore worth of currency notes

     Such accumulation will be made to appear as a TAG CLOUD on the web site of IT Dept, like thousands of balloons floating on a map of India , capable of being drilled down to within 1 Sq Meter  !

     On each balloon , will appear a number announcing , " Amount of Cash here - Rs " !

     This will vastly simplify the task of Anti Corruption Dept / Enforcement Dept etc

Of course , RBI will need to allow 6 month's time to the owners of current paper currency notes of Rs 500 / 1000 , to get these exchanged with new plastic notes before withdrawal of the old notes from circulation

Now , would not that distribute the hidden , unaccounted wealth ! - a welcome fall out  !

But then such transparency might lead to break-down of social order / chaos

It may be a better / safer / saner solution for such balloons / tag clouds to appear , on a secret Mobile App , available only to the officers of Enforcement Department ( ED )

You may want to call this app ,  " BLACK-MAIL "  !

Of course , my suggestions may become outdated with the arrival of mobile wallets based CASHLESS SOCIETY , by 2030

In the meantime , should Shri Arun Jaitleyji and Shri Ravi Shankar Prasadji , want this implemented , it can be done in 6 months , at one tenth the cost of MoM ( Mars Orbital Mission ) , ie approx Rs 43 Crores
All they have to do , is to tell the bureaucracy :

"  Since we need not depend upon Opposition parties to pass a bill in Rajya Sabha , please go ahead and implement this - in less than 6 months "


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hemenparekh.in / blogs

26  March  2016

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RFID Tagging of Currency / Two Views

  


For over a year , I have been strongly advocating embedding Rs 500 / 1000 new ( plastic ) currency notes with RFID sensors , to track large accumulations of these high denomination currency notes ( Rs 1 cr worth in 1 Sq Meter area ) , in order to bring an end to BLACK MONEY - and CORRUPTION

Following are comments / views of two experts in respect of my suggestion

Sanjay Sarma , sent following email :

Dear Mr. Parekh,

Yes, placing tags on money has certainly been considered in the past.  I think it is a matter of time before it happens. I do agree with your idea

Having said that, as more and more transactions become digital (credit cards, bitcoin, Adhaar card, etc.) the need for tracking cash goes down — ironically as our ability to track it increases.

-Sanjay
 Sanjay Sarma ,  35-206 MIT. 617 253 1925 (T). 617 253 7549 (F).
 Email : 'SESARMA@MIT.EDU'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guillaume  Lepecq  sent following views :

Dear Hemen,

Thank you do for your kind e-mail. I am delighted you enjoyed the article.

If I understand correctly you are suggesting to incorporate RFID into high-denomination banknotes in order to avoid tax evasion.

This idea is not new; let me point out why I personally believe it would not work.

  • There is a need for an anonymous payment instrument
In a democracy, it is perfectly legitimate to have the freedom to make a transaction, or to store money without the monitoring of the State.  And this anonymity is not synonymous with tax evasion.

One may wish to buy a present for his wife, without her seeing the transaction on a bank receipt. People who are ill have the right to purchase medicine in a confidential way.

I recently spoke to a pharmacist in France, who mentioned that many young people purchase contraceptives in cash.

  • Cash is anonymous but the anonymity is limited.
The anonymity of cash is limited by regulation, technology and bulk. Regulations include for instance imposing a cap for cash transactions; many countries in Europe have implemented this.

Internationally, the transportation of cash across borders is limited to $ 10,000. Technology, includes for instance inks used in banknotes which can be detected by sniffer dogs.

Also, forensic taggants are used in some countries and are sprayed on a banknote in the case of a robbery; when the taggant is detected, the banknote can be traced back to the robbery. Lastly, cash is heavy and bulky to store and transport.

  • Other anonymous payment instruments pose a far bigger threat
During the recent terrorist attacks in Europe, it has appeared that the terrorists have used anonymous pre-paid cards to fund the activities. Virtual currencies also offer a cheap alternative to make perfectly anonymous transactions with a simple click.

  • Using electronic tags in banknotes poses operational challenges
Firstly, it would increase significantly the cost of the banknote. But what happens if the tag is deactivated? There are stories where consumers have deactivated chips in ID documents by ‘frying’ them in a micro-wave.

Would deactivated banknotes still be legal tender? Also, a  real fraudster would simply shift to another payment method and in the example you present, he would use lower denominations that do not carry electronic tags.


I hope this helps.

I invite you to visit www.cashesentials.com. The full report which was mentioned in the Business Line article will be available as of April 12.

With kind regards,


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My Take :

As onetime CEO of Sun Microsystems , Scott McNealy pointed out , way back in 1999 ,

"  Privacy is dead , so get over it !  "

Of course , a little bolder - and universally welcome alternative would be :

"  Abolish Personal Income Tax , thereby totally eliminating all incentive to generate Black Money through tax evasion . 

All payments will get made through official channels . 

Within 6 months , all Black Money will become WHITE  and flow into the productive mainstream of the economy

Revenue loss of Rs 2.5 lakh*crore but GDP will go up to 10 %  !

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hemenparekh.in / blogs


26  March  2016

Thursday, 24 March 2016

Enemy from within ?



No doubt , many of us think of following in terms of potential external enemies of India :

*  ISIL

*  North Korea's Nukes

*  Terrorists coming across Kashmir Border

*  Chinese Army poised across Arunachal Pradesh......etc


But the moot question is :

Who needs these " potential external enemies " when we have the following cancers silently spreading into our Society's innards ?

*   Drug (heroin ) smugglers in Punjab

*   Manufacturers of fake medicines

*   Hootch makers killing the poor

*   Legislators opposing " Representation of Women Bill " for 30 years

*   Political Parties refusing to reveal finance sources to Public under RTI

*   Netas spending Rs 15,000 cr of Black Money for elections each year

*   Ministers siphoning funds meant for irrigation projects

*   Well-heeled industrialists refusing to repay Rs 4 lakh*crore loans to
     banks , even as farmers owing few thousand rupees commit suicide !

*   Politicians filling up SYL canal, under construction for 35 years !

*   Some college students shouting : Bharat Murdabad
     and power-hungry politicians defending it as " free speech " !

*   Voters are urged to polarize along lines of caste /creed / religions

*   Justice is so slow , court cases outlive suffering humans

*   Hungry is put behind bars for stealing Rs 100 but rich get away for
     stealing Rs 100 cr !

*   Pollution kills only the poor ; rich don't get exposed to fumes of their cars


What is our chance of getting killed by one of those " External Enemies " listed above ?

May be " One in a Billion "

And by those " Enemies Within " ?

Close to " One in a Hundred " !

Don't expect any Political Party to talk of defeating these " Internal Enemies " in their Election Manifestos  !

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hemenparekh.in / blogs

25  March  2016   

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Tuesday, 22 March 2016

Missing The Disease ?



Symptoms :

Demonstrations / Agitations / Morchas / Militancy ( add your choice )


Disease  :

Injustice / Inequity / Exploitation / Corruption / Denial of Service ( add )


History  :

*  In pre-historic times ( stone age ), everybody had equal " opportunity "

*  In Medieval ages , Kings / Lords enriched themselves with slave labour

*  During last 200 years, machines replaced slaves and rich/poor gap widened

*  Rich people ( later, Banks owned by rich ) lent money to other rich , enabling them to
    control " Natural Resources / Means of Production / Means for creation of Wealth "

*  Rich / Poor gap became a Moat surrounding invisible " Forts /  Islands of Riches "
    
*  Religion became a tool in the hands of the Rich who asked priests to preach :

    " Resign to your Destiny - even if that means living in abject poverty . It is God's will "

*  Kings ( and later on States ) too became subservient to the CAPITALIST ORDER , serving
    the interests of the rich only . After all , the Rich could finance those land-grabbing wars !

*  75 years ago TV arrived and it started exposing the life-styles of those rich to the poor

*  Then came Internet / Mobile / Social Media and poor got appalled to know how rich/ poor
    gap continued to widen with arrival of each year , when finally it came to a stage where
    ONE percent of World's people garnered 90 percent of World's wealth !

*  Poor also learned how the State Bureaucracy conspired with the rich to deny them even
    their " Right to a dignified Life " - by denying them " Equal Opportunities "

*  How else can we explain , Naxalite movement / Reservation movement etc ?


I hope the Bureaucracy wakes up and recognizes that " Intolerance is only a Symptom "

Inequality / Injustice / Inequity are the Disease  !

Suppressing the symptom does not make the disease to go away

It only resurfaces in another part of this body that we call , " Society "


Please , do not wait till the poor / dying people , sleeping on footpaths outside our homes , just walk into our bedrooms one day and say :

" We have had enough  !  We are not going to leave / vacate your comfortable homes "

And when 100 million poor decide to occupy our homes simultaneously , no police or military will be able to stop them !


Ye ! The Rich , the Powerful , the Elected  , the Youth ,  of India  !

Open your eyes and see how millions of poor / starving people from war-torn Syria / Iraq / Afghanistan / Yemen / Nigeria / Congo / Libya  etc are OVER-RUNNING the Europe

They are crossing a moat called Mediterranean Sea and nothing can stop them  !

Our bedrooms are not that far  !

How long will we close our eyes to some 3600 + children ( under age 5 ) , die EVERYDAY due to starvation , in our beloved BHARAT MATA  ?

Please , do not charge me with sedition

I have learned my patriotism / non violence at the feet of BAPU and fought the British for our freedom in 1942

Now , it is  YOUR  turn to free  OUR  country from POVERTY

Bharat Mata ki Jay  !

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hemenparekh.in / blogs

23  March  2016

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

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Monday, 21 March 2016

Next Generation Newspaper ?


There must be many readers of newspapers , who ( like me ) wish they were able to instantly communicate with a person whose name is mentioned in an article / news report

I often feel like writing to the author of a newspaper article or to the journalist who wrote a piece of news

Whenever that desire is too strong , I spend hours on Google , searching for email ID of the person concerned

Sometimes I succeed but more often , I give up in frustration !

Even when I do find what looks like a legitimate looking email ID and spend hours typing email in Outlook , I doubt , it will reach the concerned person

And since I have so far received a reply against not more than one percent of the mails sent by me , I suppose , these never get delivered or get junked

For me , a very frustrating situation

How can people ( who are targeted by me ) , fail to read my mails and respond ?

OK , even if they do not wish to respond , why cannot they , at least " acknowledge "  ?

Of course , if a person were to actually receive every message ( email / SMS / Voice-Mail etc ) that everyone else who wants to send , it will be a deluge , especially if the recipient is a celebrity .

 A SPAM of a gigantic proportion  !

But then , advances of technology rarely bother about its undesirable " side effects "

Hence , it is only a matter of time before you experience following scenario :

*  Your paper newspaper gets replaced by a plain white LED embedded and internet connected sheet of plastic ( fold-able too )

*  Every morning , unfold it , and touch on a icon at the top bearing the name of your desired news-source ( Publication / TV Channel / Web site etc )

*  Touch a Subject Icon ( Politics / Sports / Entertainment / Economics etc )

Voila  !

All - and the only news , you ever cared to read - will instantly appear on that plastic !

Without advertisements , if you so desire

And where , touching on any NAME of any person ( or of any organization ) , appearing anywhere , will enable you to,

*  Read out / record your message , or

*  On a virtual keyboard , type out your message

A long press on the name will reveal ALL the messages ever sent to that person ( or that Organization ) , in a reverse chronological order

If any message is a spoken message , the " News-Plastic " ( cannot call it " paper " ), will read it back to you

Now , those targeted recipients ( of the messages ) will  receive those messages on their own " News-Plastic " , under an icon called , IN-BOX

Of course , nothing stops them from " long press " on their own name appearing in the news article and find out what other readers are trying to convey - and in what context

If  a person's name appears anywhere in the news , in his own " News Plastic " , it will be highlighted in RED color

No need for me to search those Email IDs in Google !

For those who worry about invasion of personal privacy , I quote onetime CEO of Sun Microsystems , Scot McNealy who , in 1999 said :

" Privacy is dead , so get over it "

All that we can hope is that it is an Indian Start Up which comes out with " News Plastic "

I hope news paper industry remembers Ted Levitt's  ( Marketing Myopia ) :

" If you don't obsolete yourself , someone else will "

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hemenparekh.in  /  blogs

22  March  2016




Discourage Plastics : Encourage Greed


Two days back, the Centre notified stringent plastic waste management rules to regulate use of the hazardous material and handle the waste generated by it

These include :

*  Banning of plastic bags of less than 50 micron thickness

*  Manufacturing / use of non-recyclable multi-layered plastic to be phased out in 2 years

*  Manufacturers of products using plastic wrapping materials will have to pay prescribed
    fees to States. Collected funds will be disbursed among civic bodies and gram panchayats
    for taking measures to dispose off plastic waste


No doubt , such measures were long overdue and must be welcomed , although I have serious doubts whether our corrupt bureaucracy will strictly enforce these or use these as one more means to extort bribes from manufacturers / retailers / users  !


SOME  BACKGROUND  STATISTICS :

*  India generates 15,000 tons of plastic waste everyday

*  6,000 tons remain uncollected and get disposed off in hazardous manner

*  There are approx 8,000 plastic recycling units ( half of them , unregistered )


MISSING  ELEMENT  :

Abolish Corporate Income Tax for all plastic recycling units for next 10 years  !

Let GREED take over GOVERNING  !



WHAT  CAN  WE  EXPECT  ?

*  Within a year , another 10,000 plastic recycling units will come up

*  100 % of plastic produced will get recycled

*   These units will mobilize lakhs of  " Plastic Rag Pickers " to collect every small scrap of
    plastic from every nook and corner of every street in every city,  leading to Swatchh
    Bharat  and self employment !

*   Recycled plastic will get used to build strong / long-lasting road surfaces

*   Some recycled plastic will be used as raw material for mass-producing of  3D printed
     houses , solving problem of 50 million " Affordable Housing " (ask WINSUN of Shanghai )

     ( This is the kind of innovations expected from our National Science Laboratories )


WHERE  ELSE  CAN  WE  TRY  THIS  ?

*   Abolish Corporate Income Tax ( for 10 years ) for all plants / units , producing Methane
     Gas using organic waste from household / hotels / restaurants
      
*   All municipalities and gram panchayats to allow such privately-owned Organic Waste
     Processing / Gas Producing units to collect such waste from all the streets , free of cost

*   Municipalities will save hundreds of crores of rupees in Garbage Collection

*   State Electricity Boards will set up Gas based Power Plants , next to these units and buy
     the gas for power generation

If this suggestion is implemented , we would have SWATCHH  BHARAT in 2 years

And , we would have harnessed human GREED ( viz: avoid income tax ) of our Start Ups to solve the problem of pollution

No more fires in Deonar dumping ground  !

I hope Shri Prakash Javadekar-ji is listening

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hemenparekh.in / blogs

22  March  2016

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Sunday, 20 March 2016

Making of a NPA ?



A news report tells about NHA ( National Highway Authority ) planning a 13 Km long pod-based Personal Rapid Transit ( PRT ) network in Gurgaon , at a cost of Rs 850 Crores , which will be Built / Owned / Operated ( BOT ) , by a private contractor for a period of 25 years , during which , it will recover the cost ( and , make some profit ? )


SALIENT  FEATURES :


*  Pods will carry 5 passengers who will be picked up at Docking Stations

*  A group can also " hire " an entire pod to take to desired destination ( 16 in all )

*  Pods will be suspended from overhead rails, and run on a guide way at close intervals

*  Pods are " automated " ( just touch destination icon on a screen ? )


MY  TAKE :

*  Dozens of Highways built under BOT system remain un-built or languish for want of sufficient paying traffic , resulting in contractors having suffered huge losses and now , NDA government trying to salvage these . Contractors are desperately trying to get out of their legal commitments

*  With no contractor coming forward for new projects , BOT system is nearly ditched and Govt has decided that it will finance future road projects, on its own

*  Contractors are unable to repay to banks , Rs 40,000 Crores worth loans ( I presume , in
case of PRT as well , private contractor will need a bank loan )

*  As to the ticket-price to be charged , a dispute has been going on ( now pending in Court ) , between Govt of Maharashtra and Reliance , in case of Mumbai Metro , for 2 years

*  Trans Harbor Link project ( in Mumbai ) was tendered and scrapped twice on the question of " Projected Traffic " and " Projected Revenue " and " Viability Gap Funding " , delaying the project by 10 years and consequent cost-escalation of 200 %  !

*  Has PRT compared  its " Ticket Price per Km " with ,

    *  Private and State owned buses plying on Delhi / Gurgaon roads  ?

    *  Delhi Metro ?

    *  Private taxis and auto-rickshaws ?

    *  Uber / Ola  ?


*   PRT can run only on a FIXED GUIDE WAY , and to DEFINED Destinations  only , whereas private taxis can take a passenger ANYWHERE


This means , PRT cannot compete with the destination FLEXIBILITY of taxis !

That means , its pricing / timings would need to be better than Delhi Metro !


*  Is it not highly " probable " that , much before PRT starts ( 2 years , at least ? ), private air-conditioned , Motorbike Taxis will arrive in Delhi , making PRT a " Non Starter " ?


I wonder if those bankers lending loan to PRT builder will search for answers to the above mentioned issues in DPR

Or , as is the current practice , they will write-off Rs 850 cr as NPA , when time comes  !

I hope NDA government / RBI spend more time / effort / energy to lay down " loan approval criteria " which will prevent future NPAs , than on cleaning up the current NPAs !

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hemenparekh.in / blogs

21  March  2016

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