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

Thursday 31 March 2016

One day Polling is Possible


DNA ( 31 March 2016 ) reports :

"  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has mooted a proposal to hold simultaneous elections to Panchayats , State Assemblies and Parliament across the country

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel , Public Grievances , Law and Justice had in December , recommended holding simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections to reduce expenditure and frequent disruption of normal life  "


Not only it is possible to do this ( in ONE DAY ) but it has the potential to bring about Electoral Reforms of far reaching beneficial impact

Following is the suggestion that I sent to Shri Narendra Modiji on 06 Nov 2014 :

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VotesApp
( from my blog dated  18 Dec 2012 )


*  An Android app which can be downloaded from Google Play / Android Zoom / GetJar and the official web site of Election Commission of India

*  It will be pre-loaded on 220 million Aakash tablets  which Govt of India plans to distribute to students

*  It will also be pre-loaded on those Smart phones ( to be called, “ Dharati “ ? ), which Govt of India plans to distribute free to 400 million “ poor “ Indians , before 2014 National elections

*  All tablet / smart phone manufacturers will be encouraged to pre-load VotesApp

*  Using this app , a voter can register at Election Commission web site, where he will enter the same data which he has submitted for his Aadhar card, including Aadhar card number (Unique Identification No)

*  All of these details will be verified by Aadhar database

*  Obviously , those who have not obtained their Aadhar card , will not be able to use VotesApp . They will need to visit nearest polling booth

*  Upon correct verification , Aadhar Database will permanently link the person’s Aadhar number with the mobile number from which  registration is done, and issue a Password

*  An under aged person will not be allowed to register

*  A person will be able to vote only from that mobile number

*  After login on first screen, user will be asked to select one option from,

    #   Panchayat  Election

    #   Municipal  Election

    #   State Assembly  Election

    #   Lok-Sabha  Election


*  Upon selection, user will be presented with the list of candidates contesting , from which , he can select only one by ticking a check-box. 
  

    There will be also a choice , labeled “ None “ ( NOTA )


*  A long press on a candidate’s name will display details of his declared assets as also his criminal record


*  After ticking / selecting a candidate, voter will click on  “ VOTE “ button, whereupon his vote gets registered and VotesApp gets de-activated


*  Once a voter registers on Election Commission web site , he cannot go to a polling booth and vote physically


*  In less than one year , Govt of India will recover the cost of 220 million Aakash tablets and 400 million” Dharati “ smart phones , through this customized / personalized / shrinking of EVMs ( Electronic Voting Machines ) to a hand-held device.

    And imagine the millions of man-hours saved !


*  And the beauty is , no one can capture this booth , or conduct exit polls !
   What will “ experts “ discuss on TV channels ?


*  What next ? Election Commission “licensing “ this App to other countries ?



HOW  WILL  IT  HELP  ?


*  No need for 930,000 polling booths / EVMs / Ink / Papers etc

    Every voter's own mobile becomes a miniature EVM  !

    Any registered Voter can vote from anywhere in the World  !


*  Nor any need to deploy 1,100,000 people to conduct the polls


*  No need for millions of Police / Military personnel


*  No need for months of advance preparations, across entire country


*  Voting can be completed in just ONE day - instead of over 6 weeks -
    and results can be declared next day  !


*  Voting could be 95 % or more  !


*  No worry for booth-capture
 

*  No  bogus voting ( Bio-metric ID from built-in camera )


*  No duplicate voting ( Self-destruct after single usage )


*  No worry for any terrorist attacks


*  Enormous saving of time for Voters


*  No need to declare a public holiday - costing thousands of crores 
     worth of production


*  Central Government will save, at least , Rs 2,000 Crores .


*     For the Central Government , a potential  to earn Rs 20,000 crores , by
       enabling 15 million Indian businesses to advertise to 814 million voters
       thru this mobile VotesApp , sharply targeting by Gender / Age / Marital
       Status / City / Street / Education / Income Tax paid / Employed or
       Jobless ..etc

       

*   No need for Central Government to stop taking even routine decisions 
    ( due to Model Code of Conduct )


If a tiny country like Estonia ( population 1.6 million ) can elect its Members of Parliament thru a VotesApp type mobile App , why can't we  ?


Already 900+ million Indians have mobiles - all of which , will soon become Smart Phones


As far as designing / developing of  VotesApp  is concerned , it is NOT a Rocket Science


Any IT / E-Comm Start Up , should be able to develop  VotesApp  in 3 months


Can you think of a better way for " E-delivery of Service " ?


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www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

01  April  2016

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Make    Yourself    Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

(  Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :


    narendramodi1234@gmail.com; 38ashokroad@gmail.com;ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in; jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in;piyush.goyal@gov.in;nitin.gadkari@nic.in; spprabhu1@rediffmail.com;bandaru@sansad.nic.in;smritizirani@nic.in;nsitharaman@nic.in; ravis@sansad.nic.in;sureshprabhu@irctc.co.in;prakash.j@sansad.nic.in;secy-ipp@nic.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; shaktikanta.das@nic.in; rsecy@nic.in; adhia1981@gmail.com; ceo-niti@nic.in; atul-chaturvedi@nic.in; uma.bharati@sansad.nic.in; d.pradhan@sansad.nic.in; rprudy.office@gmail.com; rudypr@rediffmail.com; eam@mea.gov.in; mosvks@mea.gov.in; mvnaidu@sansad.nic.in; mnaqvi@sansad.nic.in; rao.inderjit@sansad.nic.in; mljoffice@gov.in; sadananda.gowda@sansad.nic.in; ministerminority@gov.in; najmah@sansad.nic.in; minister-ca@nic.in; ramvilas.paswan@sansad.nic.in; gandhim@sansad.nic.in; akumar-alpha@sansad.nic.in; jpnadda@sansad.nic.in; hm.moca@nic.in; geete@sansad.nic.in; simratbadal@yahoo.com; ns.tomar@nic.in; rmsingh@sansad.nic.in; tc.gehlot@sansad.nic.in; dr.harshvardhan@sansad.nic.in   




From Waste to Wealth ?



On 29 March 2016 , the Environ Ministry ( Central Government ) notified ,

" The Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules "

On this occasion , environment minister , Shri Javadekar said :


*  It is an initiative to tackle effectively the issue of pollution. Without any rules, it is dumped in open spaces , drains, rivers, forest areas, landfills and roadside

The basis of our new rules is recover , recycle and reuse

We can make tiles , pipes from it

Segregating construction and demolition waste and depositing it to the collection centres for processing will now be the responsibility of every waste generator  "



Dear Shri Javadekarji :

Your initiative to reuse construction / demolition waste has the potential to solve the problem of constructing 50 million " affordable homes " by 2020

And , I think , the Chinese firm WinSun Design Decoration Company, should be made an EQUITY partner in a SPV to construct these homes


Here is why :


 #   On 29 March 2014 , WinSun constructed 10 , 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

With the current slowdown in economies around the world and in the Chinese economy in particular , I think WinSun should be more than happy to invest in India

What Fox Conn is doing to transform the Electronic Industry in India , I believe , WinSun can do for the Construction Industry

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www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

01  April  2016

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

Make    Yourself    Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

(  Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :


    narendramodi1234@gmail.com; 38ashokroad@gmail.com;ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in; jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in;piyush.goyal@gov.in;nitin.gadkari@nic.in; spprabhu1@rediffmail.com;bandaru@sansad.nic.in;smritizirani@nic.in;nsitharaman@nic.in; ravis@sansad.nic.in;sureshprabhu@irctc.co.in;prakash.j@sansad.nic.in;secy-ipp@nic.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; shaktikanta.das@nic.in; rsecy@nic.in; adhia1981@gmail.com; ceo-niti@nic.in; atul-chaturvedi@nic.in; uma.bharati@sansad.nic.in; d.pradhan@sansad.nic.in; rprudy.office@gmail.com; rudypr@rediffmail.com; eam@mea.gov.in; mosvks@mea.gov.in; mvnaidu@sansad.nic.in; mnaqvi@sansad.nic.in; rao.inderjit@sansad.nic.in; mljoffice@gov.in; sadananda.gowda@sansad.nic.in; ministerminority@gov.in; najmah@sansad.nic.in; minister-ca@nic.in; ramvilas.paswan@sansad.nic.in; gandhim@sansad.nic.in; akumar-alpha@sansad.nic.in; jpnadda@sansad.nic.in; hm.moca@nic.in; geete@sansad.nic.in; simratbadal@yahoo.com; ns.tomar@nic.in; rmsingh@sansad.nic.in; tc.gehlot@sansad.nic.in; dr.harshvardhan@sansad.nic.in   





Long Term or Short Term ?



As per media reports , Vijay Mallya has offered to repay Rs 4000 cr of debt by Sept . I presume he would offer to repay the balance at some unspecified date

Supreme Court has asked RBI and the lending banks to come back in a week with their response to Mallya's offer

In a normal course , such restructuring of a loan would be a routine affair, without anyone in public paying any attention

But these are not " normal " times  !

Which bank would dare to be criticized for " being soft / being in collusion " , after Prime Minister's public announcement two days back that :

" We will ensure that every rupee of loan is recovered . We will not let the rich rob the poor and get away "

Apparently , PM wants the lending banks to,

*  Go beyond the symptoms and uncover the true nature of the disease

*  Stop worrying about immediate write-offs and focus on future health

*  Ensure that their soft approach does not set a bad precedent to others

*  Surgically cut the diseased limb to ensure that Cancer does not spread

*  Send a loud and clear message to,

   #  72 companies which have failed to service debt ( Rs 5.53 lakh*crore )
        for two years

   #   40 companies which have failed to service debt ( Rs 2.94 lakh*crore )
        for three years


I can understand why RBI does not want Supreme Court to reveal the names of companies in default , who have loan outstanding of over Rs 500 Cr . RBI feels that this may have " adverse impact " for business

But what about " adverse impact " for the public , using whose tax money , 29 Public Sector Banks , quietly wrote-off , Rs 1.14 lakh*crore of bad debt between 2013 and 2015 ?

And the " adverse impact " on Central exchequer by re-capitalizing of these banks , using taxes paid by you and me ?

Shri Arun Jaitley says :

Amount of re-capitalization will be linked to the speed with which these banks manage to recover their NPAs

I hope , he has also told all banks , in unmistakable words :

" You will neither restructure these existing loans to the defaulters nor make any further advances to

 #    these defaulting companies,  or

 #   its associate companies , or

 #   directors of these companies ( personal loans )

 #   relatives of these directors ( personal loans )

 #   persons who are sureties for these defaulters

You will launch court cases against such defaulters for repossessing their properties and wherever there are cases of " cheque bounces " , you will obtain from the courts , " Non Bail-able Warrants " against such directors

You will share with the public at large , full details of the defaulters online

You ( bank directors ) will not be paid any salary till you recover these loans

If you fail to recover in 24 months , you will get a sack ! "


Dear Shri Jaitleyji :

If anything that I have said above sounds too harsh to you , just hang on the wall across your table , a photo of any of those thousands of farmers who are committing suicides , every year because rains failed and they could not repay their bank loans !

Right below that photo , dynamically display statistics of :

*  Number of farmers who committed suicide in past 24 hours .............

*  Cumulative no of Farmer suicides , so far , this year.........................

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www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

01  April   2016

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

Make    Yourself    Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

(  Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :


    narendramodi1234@gmail.com; 38ashokroad@gmail.com;ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in; jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in;piyush.goyal@gov.in;nitin.gadkari@nic.in; spprabhu1@rediffmail.com;bandaru@sansad.nic.in;smritizirani@nic.in;nsitharaman@nic.in; ravis@sansad.nic.in;sureshprabhu@irctc.co.in;prakash.j@sansad.nic.in;secy-ipp@nic.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; shaktikanta.das@nic.in; rsecy@nic.in; adhia1981@gmail.com; ceo-niti@nic.in; atul-chaturvedi@nic.in; uma.bharati@sansad.nic.in; d.pradhan@sansad.nic.in; rprudy.office@gmail.com; rudypr@rediffmail.com; eam@mea.gov.in; mosvks@mea.gov.in; mvnaidu@sansad.nic.in; mnaqvi@sansad.nic.in; rao.inderjit@sansad.nic.in; mljoffice@gov.in; sadananda.gowda@sansad.nic.in; ministerminority@gov.in; najmah@sansad.nic.in; minister-ca@nic.in; ramvilas.paswan@sansad.nic.in; gandhim@sansad.nic.in; akumar-alpha@sansad.nic.in; jpnadda@sansad.nic.in; hm.moca@nic.in; geete@sansad.nic.in; simratbadal@yahoo.com; ns.tomar@nic.in; rmsingh@sansad.nic.in; tc.gehlot@sansad.nic.in; dr.harshvardhan@sansad.nic.in   






Tuesday 29 March 2016

One Day , Everything will Sell Online !



Today's ( 30 March 2016 ) Hindustan Times carries following news report :
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion ( DIPP ) issued following notification yesterday :

*  100 % FDI under automatic route is permitted in market place model of e-commerce

*  FDI was not permitted in the " inventory based " model of e-commerce, implying companies that get FDI cannot buy and store goods from various vendors to eventually sell to consumers

*   FDI will be permitted only if the products from a single vendor or a group of companies do not exceed the quarter of the online retail " market place's " total sales

I suppose , this notification is just the beginning of unshackling of the E Commerce, whose contours I outlined in my E mail (16 Nov 2015 ) to Union Cabinet Ministers / DIPP , as follows :

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E - Commerce   is    Easy  Commerce  !


Hindustan Times (16 Nov 2015) quotes Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as follows :

"  The Government is working on the definition of E Commerce to clear the air over issues such as taxation and Foreign Investment

We have got the inputs from States . We are in the process of putting it all together  "


Not an easy task to define what is E Commerce ( and what is not ), considering all the possible permutations / combinations ( running into LAKHS of them ! ) , of the following elements :

#    NATURE

      *  A physical " Product " ( Capital Goods / FMCG / Consumables / Perishables )

      *  A virtual " Service "    ( Medical advice / Legal advice / Consultancy / Software etc )


#    GEOGRAPHIC   SPREAD

     *   Across National boundaries    ( International Trade )

     *   Across State boundaries        ( within India )

     *   Across Municipal boundaries   (within a State )


#    SUPPLY- CHAIN   /  INTERMEDIARIES

     *   Mfr  >  Distributor  >  Dealer  >  Retailer  >  Buyer

     *   Mfr  >  Buyer

     *   Any disintermediation in the above chain


#     ORDER  PLACEMENT  /  ACCEPTANCE

     *   In a physical location ( Shop / Store / Office / Factory / Home )

     *   In a virtual location   (Web site/Mobile App/SMS/ Email / Phone / Video Conference  )


#     DELIVERY

     *   Physically in a Shop / Store etc where Buyer collects / picks-up from shelf

     *   Delivered to Buyer's location, thru Delivery Boy

     *   Delivered to Buyer's location, using a Drone

     *   Delivered to Buyer on his home-based 3D Printing Machine  ( using internet )


#    PAYMENT

     *   Cash against delivery

     *   Pre-paid / Post-paid Cheque

     *   Credit / Debit Cards across counter

     *   Credit / Debit Cards thru online Payment Gateways

     *   Through Mobile Wallets

     *   Electronic Bank Transfer

     *   Using Virtual Currency like Bit-Coins

     *   Barter of Goods or Services


#    FOREIGN   INVESTMENTS


    *   FDI in Manufacturing / Supply Chain / Payment Gateways - Apps-  Mobile Wallets
 
    *   FDI in Web sites like Amazon - Flipkart - Alibaba - Snapdeal etc ( What percentage ? )



Can you think of any other " Elements " that I have forgotten  ?


In any case , given the fact that there can be lakhs ( if not millions ) of permutations / combinations of the above-mentioned elements , one must not attempt to define what is E Commerce ( and what is not ) , by inclusion or exclusion of these elements in definition


Such a complex definition would lead to thousands of court cases involving Governments and each court interpreting the definition , differently  !


The only definition that would satisfy  ALL  of these permutations / combinations , is :

Any exchange of " Value " between any number of parties , involving ,

>  Goods or Services , on the part of one party

with,

>  Money or its equivalent consideration , on the part of a second party

with or without using,

>  Intermediary services , on the parts  of any other parties

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www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

30  March  2016

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

Make    Yourself    Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

(  Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :


    narendramodi1234@gmail.com; 38ashokroad@gmail.com;ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in; jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in;piyush.goyal@gov.in;nitin.gadkari@nic.in; spprabhu1@rediffmail.com;bandaru@sansad.nic.in;smritizirani@nic.in;nsitharaman@nic.in; ravis@sansad.nic.in;sureshprabhu@irctc.co.in;prakash.j@sansad.nic.in;secy-ipp@nic.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; shaktikanta.das@nic.in; rsecy@nic.in; adhia1981@gmail.com; ceo-niti@nic.in; atul-chaturvedi@nic.in; uma.bharati@sansad.nic.in; d.pradhan@sansad.nic.in; rprudy.office@gmail.com; rudypr@rediffmail.com; eam@mea.gov.in; mosvks@mea.gov.in; mvnaidu@sansad.nic.in; mnaqvi@sansad.nic.in; rao.inderjit@sansad.nic.in; mljoffice@gov.in; sadananda.gowda@sansad.nic.in; ministerminority@gov.in; najmah@sansad.nic.in; minister-ca@nic.in; ramvilas.paswan@sansad.nic.in; gandhim@sansad.nic.in; akumar-alpha@sansad.nic.in; jpnadda@sansad.nic.in; hm.moca@nic.in; geete@sansad.nic.in; simratbadal@yahoo.com; ns.tomar@nic.in; rmsingh@sansad.nic.in; tc.gehlot@sansad.nic.in; dr.harshvardhan@sansad.nic.in