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

Sunday, 26 July 2015

If Mohamed cannot go to Mountain



There is an old saying:

" If Mohamed cannot go to Mountain , let Mountain go to Mohamed "

In today's internet era , an equivalent would be :

" If people cannot go to where jobs are , let jobs go to where people live "


Remember , in 2015 , it is much easier / cheaper to import " digital service " based jobs into India , then to export people to foreign countries , where they will face a lot of resistance / animosity from local citizens

Examples :

Call Canters  /  BPO  /  RPO  / LPO  /  KPO ....any PO ( Process Outsourcing )


May be this is what was in the mind of Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad ( Minister for Communication and Information Technology ) , when he proposed setting up of 480 Call Centers ( @ 100 seats each )


As per Minister ,

>  These will be set up in smaller towns

>  These will be distributed State-Population wise

>  Union Government will give Rs 1 lakh subsidy per seat

>  Established Company will hand-hold a local entrepreneur for setting up
    the Call Center

>  Local entity can be an agency ,society ,individual ,partnership ,Company

>  State Governments will need to provide electricity / security

>  Center will soon issue call for expression of interest



But with 100 persons working in each shift , that would generate employment for only ,

480*100*3 = 1,44,000  youth 

And we have 12 million people joining our work force every year  !

Can we find ways to generate in small towns , millions of jobs for 3.5 million students graduating from our colleges , each year ?


It is possible , with following  " OUT OF THE BOX " thinking :


#   SPACE

India boasts of over 1.3 million schools . These school buildings are occupied for only 8/10 hours per day

Let Government frame rules which encourage these school-buildings to turn into Call Centers after 5 pm

For a 100 seat Center , Government is planning to give a subsidy of Rs 100 lakhs

If 25 % of this subsidy is passed onto a school , it will be happy to lease out its premises to a Call Center



#   BROAD-BAND

Under " Digital India " program , let Union Government provide a 100 Mb broadband connection to each such " School-cum- Call Center " , free of cost

That will also help the students to freely access digital education content throughout the day



#   BLACK  MONEY


Launch an Amnesty Scheme under which black money is permitted to be invested into setting up such Call Centers

No questions asked as to the source . No penalty to be paid . No income tax on earnings for 10 years

There can be no better way to put these money to a mainstream and productive use !

All that debate of " Rewarding " the tax-evaders while " Penalizing " the honest tax payers , is merely academic

India's problems are unlikely to be solved by academicians !

These can be solved , only by pragmatists  !

Luck happens when " preparedness " meets " opportunity "

My suggestions will prepare us to make 21st Century , an Indian Century !

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

hemen  parekh

27  July  2015

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Saturday, 25 July 2015

Building Castles in Air ?



Somewhere I read :

"  It is alright to build castles in air , as long as you know how to place a foundation underneath , later on  "

Here are some examples of castles that our Governments have built ( - in air ? ) , recently :


CASTLES

Government  /  No of houses to be built / Period / Ave No per day


#   Maharashtra  /  1.1 Million  /  2015 - 20  /  602 per day

#   Gujarat         /  5  Million   /  2013 - 18   /   2,740 per day

#   Centre         /   20  Million  /  2015 - 22  /  7,827  per day


I assume that it will take , at least  ONE YEAR  to organize :


#  Land

     Find / acquire , thousands of vacant plots all over State / Country


#   Funds

     Arrange loans / borrowings as follows :

     *  Maharashtra...............  Rs  1,00,000  Crores
     *  Gujarat....................... Rs  5,00,000  Crores
     *  All India...................... Rs  20,00,000  Crores


#  Contractors

    Invite tenders / negotiate / sign building contracts with hundreds of really
    big contractors , who can mobilize billions of rupees worth of construction
    machinery , crores of rupees of working capital and lakhs of manpower


So , if ONE year is lost before construction starts , then the " Average Number of houses to be built per day " will substantially go up from above mentioned figures


I leave it to you to work out how many houses ( - 500 sq ft flats ? ) will need to be built EVERY HOUR  !


FOUNDATION

Invite WinSun Decoration Design Engineering Company of China , to bring its 3D house printing technology to India , by setting up 100 factories for pre-fabricating 3D printed houses

Then leave it to thousands of small builders to " Assemble "  on site , a few thousands houses each, on a " Rate Contract " basis

Both , in " Pre-fabrication "  and in " On site Assembly " , mass production is the only foundation !


Why   WinSun  ?


#    On 29 March 2014 , WinSun constructed TEN , 3D printed houses ( 200 sq meter each ) in Shanghai , each costing $ 4,800 ( approx Rs 3 lakh ! )


#    On 17 July 2015 , using its 3D printing technology , WinSun built a 2 storey villa , in just 3 HOURS  !


#    WinSun holds 98 patents for construction materials


#    For 3D printing of houses , WinSun , mostly uses recycled construction materials


#    3D house-printing technology saves,

      *  30% -60 % of building materials

      *  70 % of production time

      *  80 %  of construction cost


#   Egypt Government has placed on WinSun , an order for supplying 20,000 pre-fabricated , 3D printed houses

#   In Egypt , WinSun will establish 12 Dream Factories ( to build pre-fabricated houses ) , within 2 years

     These factories will mostly use desert sand as its main construction material , which was found ideal for 3D printing of houses !


#   In next 3 years , WinSun will set up ( in JV with local parties ) , similar factories in 20 countries , including Saudi Arabia , UAE , Qatar , Mexico , S. Korea , Russia , Morocco , Tunisia , and USA


It is high time , we implement  " Look East " policy of Shri Narendra Modi-ji


I hope this suggestion will reach the people responsible for building those castles in air !


And , I hope Senior Executives of all the big Construction Companies of India ( L&T / Godrej / Tata / Shapoorji Pallonji / Shirke / Mahindra / Gammons / HCC etc ) will take the next flight to China !


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hemen  parekh

26  July  2015

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Friday, 24 July 2015

If You cannot lick them ; Join them





CAIT stands for Confederation of All India Traders


It has over 4.5 million retailers as its members


Till a few weeks back , CAIT was opposed to e-commerce in retail trade


But when it realized that the e-Commerce tide was unstoppable , it decided to join it !


Recently , CAIT General Secretary , Khandelwal said :


" E-commerce is a reality. We cannot be blind to it. Through ‘e-Lala’, our aim is to retain consumers who were traditionally with brick-and-mortar outlets but are now shifting away to online stores 

We are being forced by circumstances to get into this. We have to move with the times ”


By October 2015 , CAIT plans to launch its own e-Commerce portal " e-Lala" to take on the likes of Amazon / Flipkart / Snapdeal / Myntra etc


But unlike these existing e-Commerce portals , CAIT does not have a war-chest of billions of dollars , to


>   Set up Fulfillment Centers ( Warehouses ) all over the country

>   Advertise online / offline , in a big way



But when you have 4.5 million Fulfillment Centers ( of course small ) , spread all over the entire country , covering every street , then why do you need to build central warehouses ?


And when 10 million delivery boys / girls , deliver a billion packages every day to millions of households , with a plastic bag / card-box carton that reads " YOUR  e-LALA DELIVERY  " , then why do you need to waste money on advertising  ?


Now the bad news :


>   How will e-Lala control the quality of products being delivered by 4.5

     million retailers  ?

>   How will it ensure timely delivery  ?

>   How will it ensure that Member-Retailers do not overcharge ?

>   Existing e-Commerce portals buy in bulk , directly from the         manufacturers ; then offer heavy discounts over the printed MRP . 
     How will e-Lala counter this  ?


>  Today , barely 5 % of the retail buyers , pay thru Credit Cards . 95 % pay in cash

     If e-Lala insists on advance payment using Credit Card thru a online Payment Gateway , will this put-off buyers from using e-Lala portal  ?

          Again , today , almost all buyers pay " Cash Against Delivery " to their neighborhood retailer.

      They may not like to pay in advance of the delivery !

>   To- day, buyers do refuse to accept deliveries for various reasons , such as :

     #   Wrong product or labeling or package size or brand

     #   Expiry date exceeded or about to expire

     #   Even , change of mind !


     All because , there is no online advance payment , and nothing is lost by refusing !

>  To-day , buyers are even able to return the purchased goods to their neighborhood retailer , a couple of days later.

     And the retailer usually accepts the " Return " , in order to retain the

    client on a long-term basis - a client whom , he knows personally !

    This will not be easy to duplicate in E-Lala ecosystem !


This is not to say that CAIT's e-Lala experiment is doomed  !


If anything , e-Lala would do well to think through these issues , then provide answers thru a FAQ page on its e-com web site


And in order to crystallize this thinking , it may not be too late even now , for CAIT to host: TRUE / FALSE : YES/ NO : MULTIPLE CHOICE : online Questionnaires , on its existing web site


One questionnaire for the End-Consumers  and another one for its 4.5 million member retailers


In today's " Dog it Dog " world of e-commerce , one can neither dictate nor predict , a competitor's actions


That kind of wishful thinking just does not work


To stay two steps ahead of the Competitors , you need to think and decide :


"  What am I going to do this morning ? "


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

hemen  parekh

25  July  2015

B2BmessageBlaster

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Thursday, 23 July 2015

WILL YOU HELP MSME EXPORT ?



A recently released report by Google + Deloitte is titled :

" Connected Small Business : Unlocking India's Digital Potential "

If India's 30 million MSME get connected digitally , the report sees following changes in MSME eco-system :

>   Growth
     -  revenues could grow up to 27 %

>   Job Creation
    -  employment could grow up to 84 %

>   Innovation
    -  New product offering could go up to 450 %

>   Morale
    -  employee satisfaction could go up by 600 %

>   Productivity
    -  employee collaboration could go up by 900 %

>   Exports
    -  access to International Markets could go up by 65 %


Talking of exports by MSME , I wish report  had mentioned the following annual average export values by :

>  Singapore MSME............ $ 6,700,000

>  Indian MSME.................  $       4,000


Can " Digital Connectivity " help Indian MSME to boost their exports ? If yes , then  by how much ?


That would depend upon our MSMEs to be able to compose a Marketing Message , such as follows and then blast it to the Foreign Importers :


>  I exist and this is where ( Email ID / Phone No ) you can reach me

>  These are my products / services ( attaching photo / video to message )

>  Here are my FOB prices for you to compare with your current suppliers


Then blast it to 8,000 + International Chambers of Commerce ( located in 5,332 cities around the World ), requesting the Chamber Presidents to forward their message to their 8,000,000 Member Firms !


They would be happy to oblige


www.B2BmessageBlaster.com ( B2B ) , will deliver such a message to those 8,000 + International Chambers , within 24 hours


And a MSME would need no more than ONE HOUR to blast it !


You can help MSME exports to go up by 100 % within one year , by just telling them about www.B2BmessageBlaster.com ( B2B ) !


B2B is their " Digital Connection " to International Buyers


Help them announce to the World : Here I come  !


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

hemen parekh

24 July 2015

B2BmessageBlaster

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Wednesday, 22 July 2015

Close in India ?



Writing in Hindustan Times ( 23 July 2015 ) , Timsy Jaipuria
provides following information about Scooters India Ltd (SIL) :

*   SIL employs 1000 persons
*   Incurred losses from 2002 to 2012
*   Given Rs 200 crore revival package in 2013
*   Expected to make loss in 2015
*   Government could not find a buyer for SIL in2011
*   If SIL fails to revive , Government will try to divest again

All of these reminded me of the following letter that I wrote to 7,500 employees of L&T Powai Works ( individual copies in English and Marathi ), some 30 years back :
------------------------------------------------------------------------

28 Feb 1986



Dear Friends :

FLOGGING A DYING HORSE

The correct  idiom is  "flogging a dead  horse" but  there is every possibility that  the horse ( Scooters India )  is dead by now.

This is because  the enclosed article ( Dying Horse ) about  SIL  is almost 18 months old.

And  as of  Dec.  31, 1985,  we have  such  93,282 dying  (or dead?)  horses in  our  country.  

These are  known as  " Sick Units " 

 What  I do not  know is whether  the above mentioned figure  includes  public-sector ( Govt.  owned ) sick-units  or not. 

Most of  these are sick - in fact VERY SICK.  If you wish to know how "sick", here are some  "temperature-readings" :

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

Government Unit ( PSU ).......... Loss in last 3 years ( Rs Crores )

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

1.
Engineering Projects India Ltd. (EPI)...............90

2.
Hindustan Steelworks Const. Ltd. (HSCL)..........67

3.
Cycle Corporation of India Ltd. (CCIL)............   8.8

4.
Scooters India Ltd. (SIL)..............................  50

5.
Tanneries & Footwear Corp. of India Ltd.(TAFCO)..5

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


I  understand   that  the  Govt.   is  planning   to  wind-up (close-down) the  first  3 units  and merge  the  remaining 2 units with some successful public or private sector company.

From the  "Dying Horse" article, we  find that neither  Bajaj nor HMT wants to even touch Scooters India !


And no  wonder

A similar  company in America  would perhaps employ  500 persons whereas Scooters India  has employed 3500 persons .

Reminds me of Bombay Municipality ! 

IBMC can sack (terminate/retrench)  half  of  its  employees,  productivity would go up FOUR TIMES ! 

If you  do not believe me, next time stop  and count  the number of  persons  pretending to  dig a hole for a faulty telephone cable !

And  talking surplus  labour  (?)  HSCL  has  12000 !  ( See following article )

How long before some of us muster enough courage to ask

"Am I my brother's keeper?"


H C Parekh
General Manager ( Powai )

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


It seems , since I wrote the above-listed letter , things have not changed ! May be the " Industrial Sickness " has spread

May be we need to launch another initiative called , " Close in India "  !


And permitting 100 % FDI in sick units could be another " Out of Box " solution worth considering  ! Nothing to lose but something to gain


And , the beauty is , no political party will oppose such " Privatization " !


---  hemen  parekh

      23  July  2015


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