Point : Counter-Point // MSP : MPQ

 

 

Lok Sabha’s winter session starts today. Govt will introduce a bill to repeal 3 Farm Laws

Opposition party members will get vociferous by echoing the demands of Kisan Netas, which are :

Ø  Withdrawal of Electricity Amendment Bill

Ø  Scrapping of provisions of fines for stubble burning

Ø  Withdrawal of cases against farmers ( during protests )

Ø  Sacking and arrest of Shri Ajay Mishra ( for Lakhimpur violence )

Ø  Compensation to kin of 700 farmers who died during the protests

Ø  Allotment of site to construct a memorial

None of these are un-surmountable / non-negotiable, and I urge Shri Tomarji and the Farmer Leaders to reach compromise-solutions for each of these, in the spirit of “ Give and Take “

In that same spirit of “ Give and Take “ , a WIN-WIN solution can also be reached in the matter of the most important demand of  “ MSP for 23 crops guaranteed by an appropriate new law “

Both sides have reasonable arguments, viz :

FARMERS :

In APMC mandies, cartels of traders / middlemen / adatias etc., fix very low prices ( sometimes, even  below the cost of production ) and force the farmers to sell at huge loss ( cause for suicides ? )

GOVERNMENT :

We have following problems :

#   Against our current storage capacity ( FCI ) of 41 million tons, last season, we

     were required to purchase 120 million tons of food-grains from farmers ( at

     MSP ) .

     

     This meant storing food grains, in open ( covered by tarpaulins ). This results

     in millions of tons getting damaged ( rain-rats-insects ) and rendered unfit for

     human consumption- entailing a loss of lakhs of crores of rupees

       

#   We just have enough money ( funds ) to support a few crops with MSP. If as

      many as 23 crops were to be  guaranteed MSP, we just won’t have enough

      funds to buy out all 23 crops .

     

#   Fixing MSP and guaranteeing purchase of 23 crops, will further aggravate the

     storage problems and consequent damage problem

     

Dear Kisan Netas / Shri Tomarji,

Here too a Compromise Solution is possible in the spirit of Give and Take

It is : MSP linked with MPQ

Where, MPQ = Maximum Purchase Quantity ( separate figure for each of those 23 crops )

This means, in each year, Government shall not be obliged to purchase more than the MPQ ( at its MSP ), for any crop

The MSP and MPQ shall be worked out and announced by the govt. 6 months in advance of the coming year

As suggested in my following earlier blog-email, it is possible to automate this entire process of computation of MSP, by using Geo-Spatial Technology :

Agri Reforms : an Ongoing Process…………………….[ 20 Nov 2021 ]

 

Using same technology, it is possible to also calculate ( automatically and without human intervention ), the MPQ for each of those 23 crops for the upcoming year

 

Both, the Government and the Farmers should be happy with such an AUTOMATIC – SCIENTIFIC – UNBIASED – TECHNOLOGY BASED – DYNAMIC process, which announces its results on a Govt website within a specific time - frame

 

This way, Govt will know in advance, the total amount of FUNDS that will be required for the coming season

And, knowing in advance, the MPQ / MSP for each crop, farmers will decide WHICH crop to plant and HOW MUCH to plant ( Demand / Supply / Price, dynamics in regulated manner )

On Govt web site, each purchase ( at MSP ) will be published ( individual and cumulative ) for each crop

This will show, how much total has been purchased ( for each crop ) and how much still remains to be purchased

When Govt purchase for an MSP crop reaches its stipulated MPQ ( for a given season / year ) , the Govt will stop buying and declare in all media

Irrespective of this provision, farmers will be free to negotiate with any trader / middleman / business , any SALE QUANTITY at any negotiated price ( whether higher or lower than published MSP )

Based on State-wise distribution ( of production ) of any particular crop, Central Government will work out State-wise QUOTAS of purchase quantities for each crop

 

23

∬ msp_1 x mpq_1  =  Funds needed for Crop 1………..( insert data for all 23 crops, one by one )

0

 

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  29 Nov 2021

 

Related Readings :

2021

 Agri Reforms : an Ongoing Process………………………………… …..[ 20 Nov 2021 ]

 “ Tractor-Pulled “ to “ Technology-Pushed “ ………………………..[ 20 Sept 2021 ]

Finally Announced : Agri Infra Fund to APMC ……………………….[ 08 July 2021 ]

 Agristack: The New Digital Push in Agriculture  …………………..[ 26 June 2021 ]

Digital Farming ? ……………………………………………………..[ 15 April 2021 ]

Kisan Sabha gets Constructive ………………………………………………[ 20 Feb 2021 ]

Monetizing Geospatial Data ……………………………………………………[ 16 Feb 2021 ]

 

  

2020

Congratulations, Shri P K Purwarji  ………………………………………[ 21 Dec 2020 ]

 e-NAM ; reimagined to resolve farmer agitation……………………[ 10 Dec 2020 ]

 How about introducing a PLI for agricultural produce ?.........[ 08 Dec 2020 ]

Production Linked Incentive for Rice ( Paddy ) ……………………..[ 09 Dec 2020 ]

Thank You, Shri Tomarji ………………………………………………………..[ 28 Sept 2020 ]

Selling Farm Laws before selling Farm Crops………………………. [ 24 Sept 2020 ]

 

2019

Influence farmers and win Votes ? ………………………………………….[ 04 Feb 2019 ]

 ==================================================  

Copy to :

Akhil Gogoi	Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS)	secretarykmss@gmail.com
Dr Ashish Mittal	All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS)	aikms.cec@gmail.com
Atul Kumar Anjaan	All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS)	atulanjaan@gmail.com
Avik Saha	Jai Kisan Andolan (JKA)	avik@saharay.com
Dr Darshan Pal	Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU Dakaunda)	darshanpal1@gmail.com
Hannan Mollah	All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS Canning Street)	mollah.hannan@gmail.com
Kavitha Kuruganti	Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA)	kavitakuruganti@gmail.com
Kiran Vissa	Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV)	kiranvissa@gmail.com
K. Chandrasekhar	Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS)	kodihallichandrashekar@gmail.com
Medha Patkar	National Alliance for People’s Movements (NAPM)	medha.narmada@gmail.com
P. Ayyakkanu	National-South India River Interlinking Agriculturists Association
Pratibha Shinde	Lok Sangharsh Morcha (LSM)	loksamanwaypratisthan@gmail.com
Raja Ram Singh	All India Kisan Mahasabha (AIKM)	rajaramsingh18@gmail.com
Raju Shetti	Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana (SSS)	rajushetti@gmail.com
Satyawan	All India Kisan Khet Mazdoor Sangathan (AIKKMS)	kisansangathan@gmail.com
Dr Sunilam	Kisan Sangharsh Samiti	samajwadisunilam@gmail.com
Tajinder Virk	Tarai Kisan Sangathan	tajindersamajwadi@gmail.com
VM Singh	Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan (RKMS)	vmsingh@vmsingh.com
Yogendra Yadav	Swaraj Abhiyan	yogendra.yadav@gmail.com

  

Mumbai Desalination Plant ( Proposed ) : a White Elephant ?

 

Context :

BMC sets the ball rolling for first desalination plant    /   HT   /   15 Nov 2021

Extract :

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has set the ball rolling for the construction of the city’s first desalination plant, which will convert sea water to drinking water.

The civic body has decided to appoint consultants for vetting of designs for the 200 million litres per day (MLD) desalination plant in the western suburbs.

Construction should start next year and the plant is expected to be functional in the next 4 years. The BMC anticipates the construction cost to be ₹ 18,000 crore.

===================================================

MY  TAKE  :

A news report which appeared in Times of India, on 29 June 2021 ( approx. 5 months back ) , mentioned that this plant would cost Rs 1600 Crore

(  BMC, Israeli co ink pact for Maharashtra’s first desalination plant  /  TOI  /  29 June 2021 )

 

Based on that report, I had calculated the cost of desalinated water as follows :

( source :   With a pinch of Salt ?    /  29 June 2021 )

How much will this cost to produce 1,000 litres of water ?

 My guess :

       Ø  Capital Cost……………………….. Rs  1,600 crore

  Running Cost

      Ø  Interest @ 15 %...........................................................  Rs   240  Cr

      Ø  Depreciation @ 10 %.....................................................  Rs   160  Cr

      Ø  Operating Expenses @ 20 % ( Manpower+Electricity+OH )… Rs   320  CR

  TOTAL ……………………………………………………………………………………………Rs  720  Cr

Assuming 360 working days ( to round-up ), this works out to…Rs  2  Cr / day ( = Rs 20,000,000 )

To produce 200 MLD = 200,000,000 litre per day

Works out to Rs 20 / 200 litre ( Rs 100 / 1,000 litre, as against Rs 18 / 1000 litre reported in the news !

 

Now, if the estimated cost goes up:

#   from  Rs  1600 Crore

#   to      Rs  18,000 Crore

Then per litre cost would go up by 11 TIMES !

That means, the revised cost would be Rs 1100 for 1000 litre

Rs 1.1 / litre !

Going by past records ( of project executions ), you can safely assume that instead of :

#  4 years, completion would take 8 years

#  Rs 18,000 Cr, cost would go up to Rs 36,000 Cr

So, Mumbai-ites would get desalinated water at Rs 2.2 / litre  ( more likely, Rs 3.0  / litre )

As against this, a 20 Litre Mineral Water jar ( of BHOOMI brand ) sells for Rs 30 ( ie ; Rs 1.5 / litre )

Elephants don’t get any whiter !

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

Dear Shri Uddhav Thackerayji,

I urge you scrap this project and get experts to evaluate alternate ( technology ) solutions listed below

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 25 Nov 2021

 

 

RELATED  READINGS :

New Device Produces Water From Thin Air – No Electricity Required  Atmospheric water generator  A candid admission ? ………………………………………………..[ 12 July 2019 ] Water above our heads……………………………………………[ 29 Mar 2019 ]  Making Water from Air ? …………………………………………[ 26 Oct 2018 ] Water  Mutiny  of  2020……………………………………………..[ 17 June 2018 ] Water Wars Are Looming !..............................................................[ 09 June 2018 ] Writing  is  on  the  Wall …………………………………………….[ 08 May 2018 ] Replicating   Nature  ?............................................[ 23 Mar 2018 ] Deja Vu ? #Latur #Marathwada #Waterwar…………..[ 28 Feb 2018 ]  Water Water Everywhere ? Even in Latur ?............[ 15 Apr 2017 ] Not a straightforward Answer ! …………………………………[ 03 Mar 2017 ]  Water Wars ?  ………………………………………………………….....[ 08  Apr 2016 ]    And the MOST  IMPORTANT  READING : The Biggest , FREE , Desalination Plant : Sun + Sea………[ 09 July 2019 ]

 

 

 

 

A Wishful Thinking ? No, already here !

 

 

Context :

My “ Appy “  Diwwali   /  Business Line  /  18 Nov  2021

( Author : Manasi Phadke   /  manasi.phadke@gmail.com )

 

Extract :

So, here’s a start-up idea. One can’t do away with the information being put out, but one can weave it into the app! Apps need to give online shopping a desi haggle-touch !

Allow the shopper to put in a price that they are getting elsewhere and get the virtual shopkeeper to haggle. Shopper puts in a quote of ₹1,500 for the aforementioned handbag.

App says ‘ Dusre app pe jao  !

This quality is only available at ₹2,500 !

’ Well, you are now entering active price discovery. Shopper puts in a quote for ₹1,800. App has to say the golden words, ‘ Teri bhi nahi, meri bhi nahi ! 

Final price ₹2,150 !  ’ Please get me an app which ‘app’reciates how Indians shop  !

MY  TAKE  :

Ø  A Matter of Time …………………………………………[ 03 Jan 2017 ]

Extact :

       All bank accounts of a person ( in different banks ) become inter- operable / fungible, through seamless interlinking, using Aadhar / UPI Interface in a Mobile Wallet. No need to " select " a particular bank name

All transactions using a Mobile Wallet, automatically entered in BLOCK- CHAIN database commonly shared by ALL banks

         

      Wallet based algorithm will move funds across different bank accounts for best yield, constantly searching for best interest rates offered by banks on Fixed Deposits

This will happen automatically, much like algorithm-based share trading, taking advantage of price differences in two bourses located 300 km apart ( in one thousandths of a second ! )

No rocket science here considering availability of " BEST PRICE " apps for thousands of goods and services

And since computing power of mobiles are doubling every 18 months ( Moore's Law ), nothing will stop algo-trading through a Mobile Wallet  as well ( Demat A/C on Wallet ? )

       Of course, future Mobile Wallets will subsume within itself, ALL AUTOMATIC PAYMENT APPS, using which ( individually ), currently I make following digital payments :

 

   #    Property Taxes / Locker Fees / Housing Society Charges / MTNL bill

   #    Mahanagar Gas/Tata Power/YOU broadband/Vodafone/TATA Sky TV etc

  I expect, a future Mobile Wallet to take care of ALL my periodic dues, automatically

 

Ø  BHIM, the Impersonator ? ………………………………[ 17 June 2017 ]

Extact :

 

After reading the following news report ( Pune Mirror / 16 June ) , if you were to imagine an avatar of BHIM which starts “ bargaining / negotiating “ with the seller of a Saree / ladies’ dress , for a better price , you would not be far off !

 

 Can you guess how insanely popular that avatar of BHIM could become among Indians who love to bargain for each and every product or service ?

 

If NPCI ( National Payment Corporation of India ) , the primary developer / promoter of BHIM were to come up with such an avatar , it would obsolete ALL other mobile payment wallets !

 

“ Facebook bots can now negotiate , compromise “

 

 Bots will be able to engage in start-to-finish negotiations with people while arriving at common decisions or outcomes

 

Facebook’s artificial intelligence researchers announced that they had broken new ground by giving automated programs or “ bots ” the ability to negotiate and make compromises.

 

The new technology pushes forward the ability to create bots “that can reason, converse and negotiate, all key steps in building a personalised digital assistant,” said researchers Mike Lewis and Dhruv Batra in a blog post.

Up to now, most bots or chat-bots have had only the ability to hold short conversations and perform simple tasks like booking a restaurant table, according to the researchers.

But in the latest code developed by Facebook, bots will be able to dialogue and “ to engage in start-to-finish negotiations with other bots or people while arriving at common decisions or outcomes,” they wrote.

Facebook’s Artificial Intelligence Researchers (FAIR) team gave bots this ability by estimating the “value” of an item and inferring how much that is worth to each party.

 “FAIR researchers created many such negotiation scenarios, always ensuring that it is impossible for both agents to get the best deal simultaneously,” Lewis and Batra said.

“Furthermore, walking away from the negotiation (or not agreeing on a deal after 10 rounds of dialogue) resulted in 0 points for both agents. Simply put, negotiation is essential, and good negotiation results in better performance.”

But the bots can also find ways to be sneaky.

In some cases, bots “ initially feigned interest in a valueless item, only to later ‘compromise’ by conceding it – an effective negotiating tactic that people use regularly,” the researchers said.

This behaviour was not programmed by the researchers “but was discovered by the bot as a method for trying to achieve its goals,” they said.

 

WOW  !

 

How long before these  BOTS  beat humans at “ negotiating to win “ ?

 

And beat other BOTS or other humans , who too are negotiating with the same human for a favourable outcome ?

 

As in case of dozens of jobseekers being interviewed by a recruiter

 

Not inconceivable if someone comes up with a CANDIDATE BOT ( a software agent of the jobseekers ) , which gets pitted against a RECRUITER BOT ( a software agent of the employers )

 

===================================================

Here is what is already here :

[ A ]

JM FINANCIAL TO LAUNCH APP FOR RETAIL INVESTORS TO TRADE IN BONDS  / 18 Nov 2021

Extract :

Bondskart platform will also advise on investment decisions, assessing creditworthiness, current trends and options available in market on a regular basis, officials said.

An individual can buy or sell bonds through that app where JM’s dedicated institutional fixed income team along with a tech team of about a dozen people will ensure liquidity and smooth operations.

“Senior citizens and seasoned retail investors require steady interest income, which hit a record low these years,” said Ajay Manglunia, managing director (ajaymanglunia@jmfl.com ) – institutional fixed income at JM Financial.

 “ Through this app, they will get a platform to play over fixed income market and choose out of a curated portfolio of securities.”

 

[ B ]

Coutloot launches auto bargain feature on its platform  /  Eco Times /  23 Nov 2021

Extract :

Coutloot, India's social commerce platform built on the lines of Taobao, launched a feature that allows , both buyers and sellers to bargain automatically

The “ Automatic Bargain “ feature provides the buyer with a pre-set bargain price within a chat box

The buyer then can select and quote a favourable price, which the buyer thinks is fair for the product

Coutloot has brought offline retail sellers and street vendors to sell online for the first time in their lives and made it possible for buyers to live-bargain with the seller without having to wait for the seller to be online

“ Our Auto-Bargain feature makes a deal quickly between the buyer-seller instantly “ , said Jasmeet Thind. Founder Coutloot , in a statement [ thind.jasmeet@gmail.com / Jasmeet@coutloot.com ]

So, while Coutloot helps these sellers get the best price for the local products , shoppers can uy products within their budget

Taking the Chat and Bargaining feature a step forward, Coutloot has also recently rolled out a chat feature in 12 different Indian languages that have broken the language barrier between the sellers and buyers, helping bring the smallest and most remote sellers to a big platform

Founded by Jasmeet Thind and Mahima Kaul  [  mahima@coutloot.com ],

 Coutloot is a platform that allows buyers and sellers to bargain while shopping

It helps sellers list non-MRP unbranded local market products across Fashion, Electronics, Home Décor, Sports, and other boxed categories that make up 75 % of India’s retail sector at present

 

Related Readings :

www.RoboRecruiter.ai

Will Chatbots take away Jobs ? ………………………………………[ 24 June 2017 ]

 

Recruiters threatened by AI ?.................................... [ 31 Mar 2018 ]

 

Dear Shri Ashwini Vaishnawji – Shri Rajeev Chandrasekharji – Shri Piyush Goyalji  :

 

In today’s Cabinet Meeting, you will be approving the final drafts of DATA PROTECTION BILL and CRYPTO CURRENCY BILL

What I have envisaged – and described above – is an example of the rate at which technology is moving

While approving the drafts, you may want to start working on the AMENDMENTS !

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  24 Nov 2021