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 29 May 2012

LET CHARITY BEGIN AT HOME!


At the G – 20 meeting early this week in Mexico , our  Prime Minister , Manmohan Singh , pledged a contribution of $ 10 billion ( Rs. 56,000 Crores ), to help out debt-ridden countries like Greece , Italy , Spain etc.

This was on top of $ 2 billion ( Rs 11,000 Crores ), pledged by India earlier this year

No doubt , PM Manmohan Singh must have struck a quid-pro-quo deal

But what about some equally debt-ridden States of India ?

I am sure , Chief Ministers of West Bengal , Punjab , Kerala etc., would be too happy to support Pranabda for President , only if Manmohan agrees to write off their Central Government loans

At least nearer home , forget quid-pro-quo and let charity begin !


With  regards

Hemen  Parekh

Friday 25 May 2012

Mulayam stands vindicated !

Long before recent petrol price hike of Rs 7 / 8 per litre , Samajwadi Party , in its election manifesto , had promised to replace all pedal-powered rickshaws in the State , with battery or solar-powered tricycles
That means replacing 2,48,839 rickshaws registered with the Civic bodies in UP ( India )
At a cost ( to the Government , of course ) of Rs 1 lakh per rickshaw
Or , Rs 2,500 Crores
But that is peanuts when compared to Rs 100,000 Crores worth subsidy that Central Government doles out to the Oil companies every year
Then there are hidden benefits to some enterprising Samajwadi Party members , who will set up factories to manufacture :
? Batteries
? Solar Panels
? Power Outlets every 5 Km, to re-charge batteries
? Tricycles (to be supplied to State Government )
Just watch out for the election manifesto of BJP for the forthcoming State elections in Gujarat in December, which will read :
“ All petrol driven cars will be replaced with electric cars , free of cost “
It is better than protesting on the streets !
In any case , CM Narendra Modi has already turned Gujarat into a “ Auto Hub “ of Asia !

With regards

Hemen Parekh

Wednesday 23 May 2012

PRICELESS POSSESSIONS ?

Who says there is no “ free lunch “ in the world ?

Jayalalitha ( AIADMK ) Government (State of Tamilnadu – India), completed one year in office on May 16th

And true to its election manifesto promises , it is distributing following “priceless “ possessions , to its people :

  • Rice

  • Mixes

  • Grinders

  • Electric fans

  • Footwear

  • Domestic animals ( including “ pets “ for the rich ? )

  • Milch Cows / Sheeps ( for the poor )

  • 1,51,430  laptops to students

Now , Chief Minister of Gujarat , Narendra Modi , is an admirer of politically astute Jayalalitha

And he is about to release his election manifesto in a few months, for the forthcoming State Assembly elections in Dec 2012

So , expect him to promise “ priceless “ homes to all poor people of Gujarat !

That will ensure his victory and his nomination as his party’s “ Prime Ministerial Candidate “ in 2014 National elections

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH

Monday 21 May 2012

Quo Vadis ?




Whither thou goeth ? ( In Shakespearean )

Where are you headed ?  ( In Queen’s English )

That about sums up the findings of AMCAT [ Aspiring Minds Computer Adaptive Test ], conducted by the Mumbai University , for 5,000 final year undergraduate students of 20 colleges in Maharashtra , between Nov 2011 and Feb 2012 ( Source : DNA / 04, May 2012 )

Of these 5,000 students who appeared for the employability test , only 50 could be placed !

Mumbai’s Thakur College participated in the exercise in Dec 2011 , but none of its 930 students could be placed !

The Employability Testing project is expected to cover all 150,000 final year students , studying at 400 colleges

Now , given the several recent cases of “ leakage “ of examination papers of the University , who can guarantee that even AMCAT Test may not get “ compromised “ !

After all, jobs are at stake and companies , all over India , are cutting back on recruitment of fresh graduates

With  regards

hemen  Parekh


Jobs  for  All  =  Peace  on  Earth


A Ram – Rajya on the horizon ?


Yes , if we were to believe Bombay High Court in India

DNA ( May 09, 2012 ) reports a division bench of the Bombay High Court having observed during a divorce case hearing,

“ A wife should be like goddess Sita who followed her husband , Lord Ram , to the forest and stayed there for 14 years “

Honorable judges seem to be saying to the wife :

“ So what is the big sacrifice in following your husband to Port Blair ? “


I am not competent to comment on the merits of the case, or on the judicial activism , but it would add dignity to a judge if he refrains from dictating moral standards to Indian Women !

May be there bought to be a law that says , divorce cases can be tried by women judges only !


With regards

hemen  Parekh

PROBLEM OF PLENTY ?

By 1st of June 2012 , stock of food grains with FCI ( Food Corporation of India ) will reach 75.7 million tons

But , no more than 50 million tons can be kept under covered storage !

Rest will be left to rot in the open under the monsoon rains

Even as 1.6 million children ( under 5 ) will die of mal-nutrition in 2012

That is 4,384 children every single day !

A panel headed by Mr. C Rangarajan [ Chief Economic Advisor to Prime Minister ] , recommends following way for disposing the “ Surplus “ stock :

1.  Export
  
·     2 million tons ….  thru Government Channels
·     1 million tons ….  thru Private Channels

2.  Distribute

·     8 million tons…   to families below poverty line
·     2 million tons…   to families above poverty line

Earlier , a Group of Ministers [ GoM ] headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had shot down the proposal to distribute 10 million tons of surplus food grains to poor people because of “ Fiscal Constraints “ !

For him , saving 1.6 million children at a “ Subsidy Cost “ of Rs 19,500 Crores , works out to a whooping Rs 12,187 per child saved !

Clearly unthinkable for a “ Would Be “ President of India !

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH

Thursday 17 May 2012

WHO CAN SACK THE VOTERS ?

Apparently , no one

But voters of Europe are sacking their Prime Ministers / Politicians left & right.

Here is a brief list :

·         Italy  …………………….  Silvio Berlusconi

·         Britain  …………………  Gordon Brown

·         Greece  ………………..  George Papendreou

·         Spain  ………………….  Jose Zapatero

·         Ireland  ……………….. Brian Cowen

·         Portugal  ……………..  Jose Socrates

·         France …………………  Nicolas Sarkozy

Who are next ?

·         Germany ……………….  Angela Merkel  ?

·         India  …………………….  Manmohan Singh  ?

And what was their fault ?

They spoke bitter truth which people did not want to hear , viz:,

“ We must cut back on Government borrowing – and spending. We need to lower our standard of living, in order to avoid State bankruptcy “

On the other hand , only last week , Greek people withdrew $ 890 million of their savings from their bank accounts !

Next in queue are the European lenders

Mayans were wrong

World will not come to an end in 2012

Followed by Greece , the World – order will

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH

Tuesday 15 May 2012

BACK TO THE FUTURE -2050 AD?


Times of India [21 May, 2012 ] reports about the existence of an Indian village which you would not expect to come across till 2050

Here are the details:

  • Name of village / State
Punsari (Himmatnagar/Gujarat)
  
  • Recognition
Voted best Gram Panchayat ( out of 240,000 ) by Govt of India
  
  • What does it have ( that is futuristic ) ?
  
  • WiFi to cover village

  • Optical Fibre Broadband Network

  • Air conditioned Schools

  • CCTV cameras in class-rooms to watch over teachers

  • Schools with zero drop out rates

  • 25+ CCTV at street junctions to catch litterbugs

  • Mini-bus transport system

  • Rs 1 lakh insurance cover for each of the 6000 villagers

  • Rs 25,000 Med claim policy for each villager

  • Reverse Osmosis plant to supply 20 liter clean water to each house for Rs 4 /- ( Dean Kamen, take heart ! )

  • How did Panchayat ( Village Council ) manage this miracle ?

  • By managing its own funds well

  • By better management of funds received from State / Central Governments

  • By selling part of village grazing land as plotted schemes to various communities

  • Village Panchayat ( Council ) capital has gone up from Rs 25,000 five years ago to Rs 75 lakhs today

  • By villagers agreeing on a co-operative approach to development

  • What “ obvious “ factor did Times of India leave unstated  ?
  
  • There are no corrupt people in the village panchayat
  
  • My suggestions to Punsari Village Panchayat

  • Invite Management Institutes to prepare case-study

  • Request Peter / Steven ( Authors ) to write a sequel to their excellent book,” Abundance: Future is better than you think “

  • Build a 3 star hotel in village – then invite Panchayats from all over India to send delegations on Study Tours . One more source of income . The Panchayat has a name for it :

                      “ Development  Tourism “ !




Hemen  Parekh