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

Tuesday 30 August 2011

Bad News for Healthcare


Times of India [ 16 M1y 2011 ] provides following statistics of “ Doctor to people “ ratios :

Ø   Germany  ……………………..  1 :  296

Ø   USA  ………………………………. 1 :  350

Ø   UK  ………………………………..  1 :  469

Ø   Global Average ……………..  1 :  666

Ø   India  ……………………………… 1  : 1700

And it seems, Indian situation will get worse with the number of students appearing for All India Pre-Medical Test [ AIPMT ], dropping by almost 50 % over the last 5 years.

Reasons advanced :

Ø   Many more years of college / internship as compared to other professions

Ø   Too much rigorous training

Ø   Medical profession does not allow for making quick money

Ø   Biology involves mugging

Ø   A doctor can start earning a proper living when he is past 30 years of age as against an engineer / MBA earning a decent salary at 23

Ø   Longer working hours and less leisure hours



With regards

Hemen  Parekh

VOTE THEM OUT ?

30 Aug 2011

VOTE  THEM  OUT  ?

Who may India vote out in 2014 Lok Sabha elections ?

Possibly,

·          Manish  Tiwari  ?

·          Digvijay  Singh  ?

·          Laloo  Yadav  ?

·          Kapil Sibal  ?

·          P. Chidambaram  ?

But then who knows, they may not even wish to contest !

If you wish to expand this list, you have 3 years to do so. Then find a way to circulate amongst your friends. They may want to “ nominate “ some of their own favorites !

This is my concept of people giving “ Negative Tickets “, ahead of political parties giving “ Positive Tickets “ !

With malice towards none and goodwill for all,

HEMEN  PAREKH

ANNA’S ACHIEVEMENTS ARTICULATED


30 Aug 2011

ANNA’S  ACHIEVEMENTS  ARTICULATED  [  AAA + ]


This is not a comprehensive list of Anna’s achievements during the past 13 days, but some of these are :


  • Revival of the concept of Satyagraha

  • “ Fast “ as a potent means of persuasion

  • Rejection of the concept of “ Bandh “

  • Acceptance of Non–Violence as core principle for “ Change “

  • Pursuit of Peace thru peaceful demonstrations

  • Absolutely no damage to life or public property

  • No forcible downing of shutters to cause public inconvenience

  • No bringing life to halt by stopping traffic

  • Not stopping production in factories, causing economic loss

  • Restored people’s faith in parliamentary democracy

  • Reestablished  purity of “ means “ to achieve noble “ ends “


On World Arena, Anna has raised India’s rating to A A A +  !



Long Live Anna


With regards


HEMEN  PAREKH

Anna’s Achievements Articulated [ AAA + ]

This is not a comprehensive list of Anna’s achievements during the past 13 days, but some of these are :
 Revival of the concept of Satyagraha
 “ Fast “ as a potent means of persuasion
 Rejection of the concept of “ Bandh “
 Acceptance of Non–Violence as core principle for “ Change “
 Pursuit of Peace thru peaceful demonstrations
 Absolutely no damage to life or public property
 No forcible downing of shutters to cause public inconvenience
 No bringing life to halt by stopping traffic
 Not stopping production in factories, causing economic loss
 Restored people’s faith in parliamentary democracy
 Reestablished purity of “ means “ to achieve noble “ ends “
On World Arena, Anna has raised India’s rating to A A A + !
Long Live Anna

With regards

Hemen Parekh

Friday 26 August 2011

A Face – Saving Formula on Aug 26 ?

All political parties have agreed to discuss in Lok Sabha today , 3 issues raised by Anna
Hopefully, at the end of the day, consensus on all these points will get formalized in the form of a resolution
If there is no “ unanimous consensus “, then, I suppose, resolution will be passed by majority vote and forwarded to the Standing Committee along with full record of the proceedings.
Standing Committee will incorporate these 3 points in the draft Lokpal Bill and send it back to the Lok Sabha
Then Lok Sabha will debate entire Draft Bill, all over again
If some members introduce “ amendments “ at that stage, same would need to be debated – and voted upon !
Bill itself would need to be voted upon
A tortuous process no doubt
But if all this “ duplication “ serves as a face – saving formula for the Govt, it is certainly welcome. Must save Anna’s life.
As long as there is no “ duplicity “ !
With regards
hemen parekh

Thursday 25 August 2011

Drink this poison [ on 10th Day of fast ]

When Gandhiji was leaving for London to attend the last-ditch “ Round-Table Conference “ to demand India’s independence from Britain, poet Meghani wrote to Mahatmaji :
“ Even as you know the futility of your mission
O Bapu
Drink this last cup of hemlock ( poison ).
You , who have drank oceans of poison served by the British,
Do not throw away this spoonful “
( free translation from original Gujarati poem )
Poor people of India are telling Anna Hazare , on the 10th day of his fast :
Even if your talks fail
Even if your mission seems doomed
Do not shrink
Do not despair.
To save millions dying from hunger,
Like Neelkantha of old
Drink the poison that the Government
Will, no doubt , serve to you.
[ Adding, what Gurudev Tagore sang:]
Even if no one hears your call
Even if no one joins your march thru the dark night
Keep going alone.

With regards
Hemen Parekh

The Art of Making Babies


In Mint [ April 02,2011 ], Priya Ramani talks about two documentary films, viz;

Ø   Google  Baby

Ø   Made in India

Both dwell on surrogacy and ART [ Assisted Reproductive Technology ]

Here are some observations :

Ø   In USA, it costs nearly Rs.45 lakhs ( 4,500,000 ) to get a baby thru surrogacy ( $ 100,000 )

Ø   In Anand ( Gujarat – India ), a surrogate mother gets paid, Rs.350.000 per pregnancy ( $ 8,000 )

Ø   Indian doctors in the forefront of this trend are

·        Dr. Nayna Patel  ( Anand – Gujarat )
·        Dr. Hrikesh Pai   (  Mumbai  )
·        Dr. Shivani Sachdev Gour  ( Delhi  )

Ø   Surrogate mothers use the money to buy a house, to educate their children etc.

Ø   In India, the laws that govern adoption are much stricter than the rules for surrogacy

Ø   Surrogacy is now a $ 450 million business in India, as per some experts

In number of babies born, India already tops all the countries of the world, with 51 babies born every minute ( - the time it took you to read this ! )

With only 3 babies born per minute in Russia, president Medvedev wants to introduce incentives to boost the population.

This is his opportunity to increase bilateral trade with India !

With regards

hemen  parekh

Wednesday 17 August 2011

China’s Ghost Towns


Mumbai Mirror ( June 20,2011 ) had following to write about China’s ghost towns :


Ø            China has been building an average of 10 cities / year over the last few years

Ø            Recently, China announced plans to build 20 cities / year for the next 20 years ( 400 brand new mega cities ? )

Ø            There are more than 70 million uninhabited houses in China

Ø            Apartments in Chenggong ( a fishing village near Hong Kong ) are selling for up to $ 80,000 , with no takers !

Ø            Some of these ghost towns are twice the size of Los Angeles ! Some don’t even have a name ! All of them have a world-class facilities with empty shops, unused roads and no residents !

Ø            China consumes more steel, iron ore and cement per capita than any industrial nation in history.

Ø            Walking thru these towns is like walking thru a forest of skyscrapers, but they are all empty.

·                                      Incidentally, world’s biggest mall is in China – except that it is only 1 % occupied !


It would be a win-win situation, if China could “ export “ some of these ghost towns to India which is facing a current shortage of 25 million dwellings, and / or India “ exports “ to China, some 100 million Indians !

With regards

hemen  parekh

Who is to be blamed for global warming ?

An income / expenditure survey of 63,000 Indian households ( selected from an initial listing of 450,000 households ) found :
 45 % of the Indian population earn less than Rs.20 per day ( less than US $ 0.50 )
That is nearly 500 million people !
If they cut down trees for firewood to cook their 4 teaspoons of rice , could you blame them for global warming ?
[ source : Interview with Rajesh Shukla – author : How India Earns, Spends and Saves : Times of India / Aug 11,2010 ]

With regards

hemen parekh

Tuesday 16 August 2011

Rs. 200,000 per debtor ?




As per a report appearing in Economic Times ( 06 July, 2012 ), that approximately is the average amount of  loan that some 49,00,000 debtors would not repay to India’s nationalized banks


Exact figures are :

Ø   Debtors  ………………………      49,24, 611

Ø   Total default  ……………..Rs.  100,155  Crores


Although the report does not give out specific names of these defaulters , it is not too difficult to guess their “ categories “, viz:

Benamis / Relatives of

  • Big businessmen

  • Senior secretaries

  • Polished politicians

  • Corrupting contractors  etc


You won’t find amongst these


  • Farmers waiting for distant cloud – drought - suicide

  • Housewives waiting for jobless husband’s salary packet


You will find them praying for Anna Hazare and for the success of his crusade !


With  regards

hemen  parekh


Jobs  for  All  =  Peace  on  Earth