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

Saturday 5 June 2021

Uniting the World ?

 


 

That is the idea / experiment taking shape in Vilnius ( Lithuania ) and Lublin ( Poland ) , as per following news report :


Vilnius, Lithuania built a ‘portal’ to another city to help keep people connected 


Extract :

Ø  The city installed a circular “door” for the portal near its train station that connects to a portal in Lublin, Poland, about 600 kilometers (or roughly 375 miles) away. The portals both have large screens and cameras that broadcast live images between the two cities— a kind of digital bridge, according to its creators— meant to encourage people to “rethink the meaning of unity,” Go Vilnius said in a press release. Aw.


Ø  the project is “a bridge that unifies and an invitation to rise above prejudices and disagreements that belong to the past.”


Ø  There are plans to add portals in other cities in the future, organizers say. 

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

Is this :


Ø  Virtual Reality ( VR ) ?

Ø  Augmented Reality ( AR ) ?


I don’t know what to call it, since it does not require you to buy an expensive Head-Set / Glasses ( - connected to broadband internet ? )


You may want to name it “ REAL reality “ – which many can EXPERIENCE simultaneously, in REAL TIME !


It is not a different experience for different people


Question :

Rather than peering into a very large screen ( by many people walking on the street ), can this REAL-TIME viewing / visiting, ANY PLACE on the earth, be brought onto my bedroom TV Screen ?


This will happen. May not be within next 2 years, but very likely within next 5 years !


It will enable TOURISM WITHOUT TRAVEL


Not only to RICH people ( who are fed up of packing / unpacking bags and checking into umpteen flights ), but also to :


Ø  POOR people ( who cannot afford cost of physical travel , all over the world )

Ø  OLD ( and / or ) SICK people, confined to their homes / beds


To know the developing contours of this vision, look up my following earlier e-mail :

Ø  Future of Tourism ? …………………….[ 22 July 2020 ]

 

Extract :

How can/should the INDIAN TOURISM INDUSTRY, turn the present dismal business scenario, into an opportunity ?

 

Answer :

 

          By tying up with Roomality

 

          By having “ TOURISM GUIDES ( humans ) “ walk around places in India,

          wearing headsets ( like Jio Glass ? ),


          and 


          streaming LIVE VIDEO BROADCASTS to Roomality installations, all over the

          World

 

   To start with, Roomality might install its hardware / software infrastructure at

   CINEMA HALLS around the world . 

 

   Once the prices drop ( with competing companies coming out with similar

   technologies ), such installations will reach individual homes

 

    

   For Indian Tourism Industry, becoming VIRTUAL seems like an answer, in order

    to cater to billions of people around the World

  

   Dear Shri Prahlad Singh Patelji,

  [ Minister for Tourism / prahladp@sansad.nic.in ],


  I urge you to exploit this opportunity to make India

 , VIRTUAL  TOURISM  CAPITAL  of the world

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

RELATED READINGS :

 

Ø  ROOMALITY   (   Live Your Own Reality   )

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

Ø  This Is the Unbelievable Future That Awaits   /  Medium.com  /  23 May 2021

            Extract :

    #  Not that transportation will be necessary with the rise of telepresence.             This involves connecting your mind to that of a robot in a distant place.             Nerve taps will send synthetic signals to your sensory organs as part

         of a simulation that will allow you to feel as if you were really at that                  location after all. 

          This is the future of  tourism, business meetings, and expeditions

          carried out for science and for fun

         

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

Ø  Light at the end of the Tower ? ……………………………………[16 Dec 2020 ]

Ø  Video Interviewing ……………………………………………………… [12 May 2018 ]

Ø  Will Holograms beat H1B Visa Ban ?   …………………………[ 03 Jan 2017  ]

Ø  Move over, Zoom. This magic interface is the future of videoconferencing [ 29 April 2020 ]

Ø  A  Welcome  Initiative …………………………………………………………….[ 08 April 2018 ]

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

Ø  Singularity : an Indian Concept ? ……………………………………[ 29 Mar 2020 ]

 

             Extract :

            #  “ As of 1 March 2020, SpaceX has launched 302 Starlink satellites.

                 They plan to launch 60 more per Falcon 9 flight, with launches as

                 often as every two weeks in 2020. In total, nearly 12,000 satellites are

                planned to be deployed, with a possible later extension to 42,000. “

                

           #    Within next 2 years , any internet – connected device / sensor,

                 present on each of those 57 trillion  earth-squares, will transmit all

                 kinds of data ( including LIVE VIDEO STREAMING of what is happening

                 in that square ), to anyone in the World, in real time !

                 

  

           #    Like Sanjay of Mahabharat , all of us will be able to SEE in real time,

                 what is happening on any street-corner of any city / town / village or a

                 piece of land / ocean , by just typing into Google :

 

 

                  [  ///shifts.track.backdrop , address of what3words ]  >  Map

 

  

          #    We will also be able to project our VIRTUAL AVATARS to any of those

                57 trillion squares by just pointing  an AI enabled smartphone towards

                ourselves ( like Video Calling but in 3D )

               

           #    We can be PRESENT [  सर्व व्यापि  ]  anywhere simultaneously at the

                 same time !

 

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

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  06 June 2021

 

 

 

Friday 4 June 2021

Law is fine : Add some Incentives as well

 


 

Context :

To ensure water recycling in housing societies, Centre to mandate double-piping for approvals  

(  Business Line – 05 June 2021 )

 

Extract :

Ø  The Centre will issue a double piping criterion for building approvals to new housing societies to ensure that water is recycled and reused on the premises, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar said on Friday

Ø  “We are now issuing a new criterion for building approvals where there as to be DOUBLE PIPING, one of which is to reuse water at the housing society level. That will be stored in a separate storage tank and used for flushing only “, Javadekar said at TERI World Sustainable Development Summit

Ø  NEW housing societies will need to install a COMMON EFFLUENT TREATMENT PLANT on the premises to treat water for reuse, he added

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


Dear Shri Javadekarji,


Congratulations on this initiative for recycling of water


But why limit it to only NEW housing societies, when quite likely, we have over 200,000 OLD / EXISTING housing societies, which continue to waste water ?


I agree, we cannot MANDATE this NEW CRITERION to OLD societies, retrospectively . It would be unfair


But how about offering to these OLD housing societies, some VERY POWERFUL INCENTIVE as suggested in my following , 5 YEAR old e-mail ?


Ø  Incentivize Housing Societies …………………………….. [ 27 Apr 2016 ]


Extract :

 

Here is how :

 

*  The society where I live ( Marol / Mumbai ) has 200 Members ( flats )

 

*  Each member pays monthly Municipal Tax of ( approx ) , Rs 600

 

*  That translates to Rs 1.2 lakh per month ( Rs 14.4 lakh / year )

 

*  In 5 years , Society pays to Municipality, Rs 72 lakhs

 

*  Govt / Municipality to make it compulsory for each big society ( size to be

    decided ), to install on its premises :

 

       Methane gas generating plant or Compost Fertilizer plant

 

           (  to take care of wet / organic garbage )

 

 

      #   WATER RECYCLING PLANT ( TO FILTER AND REUSE WATER

           FROM SHOWER / WASH BASIN / KITCHEN SINK FOR TOILET

           FLUSHING PURPOSE )

         

 

                  

 

       #   A Compacting Press for dry waste ( paper / bags / cartons etc )

 

 

*   Towards installation of such plants , Municipality to give a discount of 25 %

     to the Society in monthly taxes for a period of 5 years

     

     

     That is a rebate of Rs 150 / month / flat for 5 years

 

     This would work out to a saving of Rs 18 lakh ( 25 % of Rs 72 lakh )

 

*   This amount should be sufficient for the Society to invest in these plants

     and for paying wages for persons needed to look after their operations

 

 

 

I believe such a positive incentive will motivate most of the Societies to undertake to install such facilities

 

 

As a negative incentive , Govt / Municipality should levy additional surcharge of 25 % on the monthly taxes ( ie raise to Rs 750 / month in our case ) to those societies which fail to implement this scheme within ONE YEAR of notification

 

 

It is high time citizens are involved and motivated ( through negative as well as positive incentives ) in keeping their cities clean and its environment pleasant

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

 

Dear Shri Javadekarji,


In last 5 years since sending this e-mail, no doubt the financial numbers would have undergone changes. That apart, monthly property-tax rates / amounts, differ from municipality to municipality


But nothing stops the Central Govt to append following to the “ APPROVAL “ guidelines :


“ Any loss of “ Property Tax Income “ suffered by a State on account of introduction of such INCENTIVES, will be reimbursed by the Central Government, upon submission of relevant documents “


Just imagine 2 Lakh OLD housing societies, each needing 1000 feet of Galvanized Pipes !


And if wet / organic Garbage is converted to Methane Gas ( for use in kitchens of all members of a housing society ), then the requirement for pipes could well become 2,000 feet / society !


That would give a huge boost to PIPE / PIPE-FITTINGS MANUFACTURERS


This incentive will also provide lakhs of jobs to :


Ø  Plumbers / Plumbing Contractors

Ø  Architects

Ø  Masons ( constructing concrete water-filtration / storage tanks and Garbage Compost Tanks )



With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  05 June 2021

 

Thursday 3 June 2021

Thank You , Chief Ministers,

 


 

 

Thank you for moving towards a consensus on CENTRALIZED PURCHASE OF VACCINES, as suggested I my following e-mails :


Ø  Vaccine Policy : Supreme Court elaborates ……………………….[ 02 June 2021 ]

Ø   Apple for Apple ? Vaccine against Vaccine ? …………........[ 23 May 2021 ]

Ø  Accelerating Learning / Improvising / Course-correcting …[ 18 May 2021 ]

Ø   Vaccine : a Case of Missing Data……………………………....[ 09 Apr 2021 ]

Ø  Voting and Vaccination : Compare and Contrast …………………[ 18 Oct 2020 ]

Ø  Thank You, Adar Poonawala …………………………………………  …[ 26 Sept 2020 ]

Ø   A Nightmare come true ? ……………………………………...[ 18 Sept 2020 ]

Ø       Rationing of Covid Vaccine ? ……………………………………………....[ 06 July 2020 ]

 

  

Context :

Govt considers single jab-purchase channel  /  Hindustan Times  /  04 June 2021


Extract :

Ø  Is the Centre considering procuring vaccines on behalf of the states? According to three people familiar with the matter, it is discussing the modalities of a centralised channel for vaccine procurement. The agency in charge of this channel will negotiate terms with vaccine manufacturers, and supply jabs on a pro rata basis to states, the people added, asking not to be named.

Ø  The chief ministers of some states, including Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik, Delhi’s Arvind Kejriwal and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan have taken a public position that the Centre should procure vaccines centrally after global tenders raised by many states evoked no real response. Some large pharma companies, including Pfizer and Moderna have also told states that they prefer dealing with the federal government.

Ø  With vaccines in short supply, the result has been chaotic, with not enough jabs to go around. The widely varying charges levied by private hospitals presented another problem. The Supreme Court on Wednesday termed the policy for 18-45 year olds “arbitrary and irrational”.

Ø  In a letter to chief ministers, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said global vaccine manufacturers were unwilling to get into supply contract with individual states. “The best option available is for the Government of India to centrally procure the vaccines and distribute it among the States so that our citizens are vaccinated at the earliest,” he said in the letter, a copy of which has been reviewed by HT.

Ø  Similar sentiments have been expressed by chief ministers of Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Punjab. On May 26, Kejriwal tweeted that the global tenders by states could not elicit any vaccine manufacturer. Hence, the Centre should give vaccines to state as per their needs.

Ø  …” it is certain that a collective negotiation will reduce to cost of vaccines by 25%,”

Ø  On May 31, Vijayan wrote to 11 chief ministers “in the spirit of Cooperative Federalism” demanding the Centre to take the responsibility of procurement. On May 24, he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that competition among states to procure vaccines would push up their prices.

Ø  Audit and consulting firm EY India, in the latest edition of Economy Watch, said that if the Centre procures vaccines, the average price would be much lower than if individual states get involved. Conservatively, it estimates savings of over 43,000 crore or 40% of the total cost.

Ø  DK Srivastava, chief policy advisor of EY India said: “This cost enhancement, which may be higher if the average vaccine price increases even more, is clearly avertible apart from avoiding the confusion ensuing from states’ involvement in vaccine procurement and implementation.

Ø  Union Budget 2021-22 allocated 35,000 crore for vaccination programme.

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

 With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuruu.com  /  04 June 202

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

PS :

Of late, there has been a lot of rightful criticism that poor / rural citizen without a smartphone ( or a PC ) and lacking internet connection, are unable to REGISTER on CoWin platform

This is apart from the issue of non-availability of vaccine at many VDC ( Vaccine Delivery Centres ), leading to even tech-savvy  citizen spending hours at a time to find the desired combination ( option ) of :

>  Location ( desired Delivery Centre )

>  Date      ( desired Time )

It is just impossible to find the desired COMBINATION at first attempt. Even after several attempts, what Server gives you, is a poor COMPROMISE to put up with 

If this SELECTION OPTION was removed from CoWin, rest of the Registration is simple, taking a few minutes

In one of the e-mails listed above, I had suggested that CoWin server sends out an SMS ( to such a "simply-registered" person ), allotting a specific VDC ( as near to residence of the registered ) and specific Date / Time . No option !

Question :

How to deliver an SMS to a citizen without any mobile ( smart or feature ), who has, somehow managed to register by going ( and seeking help from ) to a, 

>   CSC ( Common Service Centre )  - 4 lakh 

>   Family Doctor - millions

>   Post Office (  1.2 lakh )

>   Ration Shop  (  5.3 lakh , most with Point of Sales terminal )

>   Health Centres ( 41,215 )


Can such a VACCINATION APPOINTMENT NOTIFICATION (  VAN ) , be delivered on his TV ?


In India, there are ( estimated ) 290 million households , of which, as of now, some 210 million have TVs 

We know that TV Channels and TV Service Providers, keep delivering " messages " to subscribers through TV SET-TOP BOX ( which is, essentially a small computer )

This suggestion may not be feasible to implement in next few months

But , with COVID, we are in for a LONG HAUL ( lasting, may be, several years of every new mutation, bringing a NEW WAVE )

I urge our Startup Geeks to consider coming out with a version of Set-Top Box , which can deliver not only VAN but also suitable JOB-ALERTS , as described at :

General Specifications- Phase 4  (  22 March 2010 )  

DELIVERING JAM ON NET TV OF BSNL ( 11 June 2004 )