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 31 December 2017

#DontBurnMumbai

Dismiss   Inefficient   Government   Servant  [   DIGS  ]




Three days back , there was a fire at Kamala Mill Compound


14 persons ( mostly young girls ) died


Maharashtra Government / BMC took the following , expected “ Actions “ :


·         Set up a departmental ( - not “ high level “ ? ) inquiry


·         Ordered Fire Audits of restaurants


·         Started partial demolition of some unauthorised extensions (- don’t expect completion with no guarantee of non-return ! )


·         Suspended 5 officers / Transferred  one to Andheri ward ( shifting cancer to just another part of body ? )


·         Tried to arrest the owners of the pub


·         May be , offered “ compensation “ to the kin of the victims ?


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


Only thing , neither the Govt nor BMC did, was to tell the citizens (- though there was every desire to do so ! ) :


“ Statistically speaking, accidents like this are bound to happen in a big city like Mumbai, from time to time .


While you grieve , wait for the next one to happen .


By that time , we hope you would have forgotten this Kamala Mill accident.


Till then, keep busy with your everyday miserable life in this metropolis ! “


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


Is it unfortunate that the Government officers responsible for such accidents, are never held accountable for their lapses ( or worse , for their “ bribe-inspired “ collusion ) which lead to such accidents


I urge some TV Channel / Print Newspaper to develop / launch , a mobile app ( - to be called , DIGS ? ) , with following features :


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

·         The App will have following SECTIONS :

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

[ A ]  NATURE  of accident  ( select from following drop-list ) :

#     Fire


#     Building Crash / Bridge crash


#     Road / Rail / Air travel , accidents ( including those created by potholes )


#     Daily 10 persons getting run over by local trains


#     Falling through open gutter manholes


#     Stampede at religious places


#     Flooding due to monsoon rains


#     Boat capsizing


#     Construction workers falling from heights


#     Epidemic  breakout


#     Running out of Oxygen in hospitals or Power Failures during operations


#    Electrocution


#    Drowning in  swimming pool


#    Hooch   tragedy


#    Food poisoning in public eating place or in schools ( Private or Public )




Citizens may be invited for a comprehensive list ( even involving accidents without deaths )


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

[ B ]    LOCATION  (  enter  )

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

[ C ]    DATE  (  enter  )

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

[ D ]   OFFICER RESPONSIBLE ( in your opinion ) :

·         Chief Minister

·         Home Minister

·         Transport Minister ( including local trains / Metros )

·         PWD / Housing Minister

·         BMC Chief

·         Deputy Municipal Commissioner

·         Assistant Municipal Commissioner

·         Ward Officer

·         Fire Department Chief

·         Officer in charge of Building Approvals

·         Manager / Owner of concerned premises

·         NOTA - None of the Above – ( will require providing name and designation )

·         AOTA - All of the Above – ( can be selected but will result in only “ Warning / Caution Letter “ )



Against each name , citizen will have following choices to tick :


#    Most  Responsible

#    Somewhat Responsible



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


[ E ]  PUNISHMENT  ( being recommended by user of DIGS )


What punishment do you recommend for officer who you considered MOST RESPONSIBLE  ?

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


#     Warning / Caution Letter ( with salary freeze / no annual increment )


#     Demotion ( to a post two levels / grades lower )


#     Salary cut (  by 50 % for one year  )


#     Transfer out of city to a remote village ( even without any work )


#     Suspension ( pending inquiry )


#     Resignation ( forced but as a saving grace )


#     Dismissal ( followed by Inquiry )


#    FIR for a Non-bail able Offense ( followed by IMMEDIATE ARREST )


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


[ F ]   CONDITIONS   (  governing use of DIGS app ) :

·         Any citizen can use it , after an accident


·         Citizens will log into the App through Aadhar Authentication ( Fingerprint / Iris or Voice )



·         For each “ Accident Incidence “ , a citizen can use the app , only once ( disabling feature )


·         DIGS can be used only within the first week after the accident ( late use to be rejected )


·         Results will be published on the TV Channel / Newspaper web site  and also regularly broadcast ( like the polls being conducted by them )





What I have suggested is a simple – but very powerful – tool through which, MEDIA ( whether Online or Offline ) can bring about E - Governance


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



Notice to Start-Ups :


How about coming up with a prototype CHAT-BOT ( based on Google Action ? ), eliminating all typing , which users will find very easy to use ? 






Through DIGS , media can mobilize citizens and even come up with a ,


CITIZEN’S  CHARTER  OF  DEMANDS


As far as Mumbai citizens are concerned , they should ( through the Charter of Demand , mentioned above ) , send out to all Political Parties , the following message :


“ We will boycott any Political Party which does not commit itself in its Election Manifesto , to pass appropriate law in the Maharashtra State Assembly, to give LEGAL SANCTION / BACKING to DIGS “


Appropriately organized by Media , if we raise our voice, I think , Shri Devendra Fadnavis , may not want to wait for the next state election, to implement DIGS


He is clever enough to realize that ,


·         This is one initiative which must not be handed over to the Opposition


·         If some other Opposition Party seizes this opportunity in the next 15 days ( by launching DIGS ) , he will face “ Anti-Incumbency “ sentiment in 2019  !



Did you say :  Time for a NEW  YEAR  RESOLUTION  ?



01    Jan  2018


Confirmation ?



Just came across following news (  27  Dec  2017  ) :





EXTRACT :


A group of researchers at Osaka University has developed a new method for dialogue systems*1.


This new method, lexical acquisition through implicit confirmation, is a method for a computer to acquire the category of an unknown word over multiple dialogues by confirming whether or not its predictions are correct in the flow of conversation.


The group led by Professor Komatani developed an implicit confirmation method by which the computer acquires the category of an unknown word during conversation with humans.


 This method aims for the system to predict the category of an unknown word from user input during conversation, to make implicit confirmation requests to the user, and to have the user respond to these requests.


In this way, the system acquires knowledge about words during dialogues.


In this method, the system decides whether the prediction is correct or not by using the user response following each request, its context, by using machine learning*2 techniques. In addition, this system’s decision performance improved by taking the classification results gained from dialogues with other users into consideration.




This reminded me of my following note ( to colleagues , Kartavya / Abhi ) in May  2003 :


This will also facilitate implementation of :

 

to : Alphabet / from : ARIHANT


https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/10/to-alphabet-from-arihant.html

 

 

Racing towards ARIHANT ?


https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/08/racing-towards-arihant.html

 

 

Fast Forward to Future ( 3 F )


https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/10/fast-forward-to-future-3-f.html

 

 

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

31  Dec  2017


Saturday 30 December 2017

Dance of Democracy ?



Some may get tempted to call it, “  A  Tamasha  called  Elections  “


You guessed it right


We , Indians are about to witness :  The Greatest Show on Earth


The year 2018 – which , in a blog 2 weeks back , I called , “ TheNightmare Year





A year in which ( hopefully , starting from April ) , some 12 Special Courts will conduct 13,500  cases against 1,581 MPs and MLAs


With a target to dispose off , ALL of these cases within ONE YEAR , these courts will be required to hear / decide and hand out punishment in 4.6 cases PER DAY  !


Nearly ONE CASE per HOUR  ?


In the meantime , Indians are told to get ready to vote for and elect , 330 ( my guess ) CRIMINAL candidates ( as MLA ) during 2018 !


How did I arrive at this figure ?


Simple !


Some 33 % of all the MLAs that will contest the following State Elections during 2018 , are likely to have CRIMINAL CASES pending against them !  If in doubt , just ask ADR  !


·         Tripura  (  Feb – March  )……………. 60  Seats

·         Meghalaya  (  Feb – March )………. 60  Seats

·         Nagaland ( Feb – March )………….   60  Seats

·         Mizoram  ( Oct – Nov ) …………….   40  Seats

·         Karnataka  (  April – May ) ………   240  Seats

·         Chhatisgarh ( Dec )…………………..     90  Seats

·         Rajasthan ( Dec ) ……………………..  200  Seats

·         Madhya Pradesh ( Dec ) ………….  230   Seats

·         TOTAL ……………………………………   980   Seats


On top of this , if ( say ) some 365 MPs / MLAs , out of those 1,581 to be tried , are found GUILTY / PUNISHED and DISQUALIFIED from Lok Sabha / State Assemblies concerned , then we could have 365  BY-ELECTIONS in 2018 !



One every day !


So , a total of 1,345 to be elected in 2018  !  ( 980 State Election + 365 By-Elections )


And assuming that some 20 persons will contest each seat , that will be close to 26,900 candidates !


I get reminded of :


God must love CRAZY people since he made so many of them !


One gets tempted to paraphrase and say :


God must be loving IDIOTS , since he made so many Indians ( - including an 84 year old gullible like me , who thinks he can still “ make a difference “ by writing such blogs ! )


Who else on earth , would want to get drugged by a machine called EVM and go out to vote / elect persons who would, for the next 5 years , exhibit following trademark traits :


·         Sleep / yawn , during the Sessions ( when not watching porn on their smart phones )


·         Eat ( almost ) FREE food in government canteens , when serious issues are being debated



·         Rush into the well of the LokSabha (when not shouting slogans from their seats )


·         Go out on overseas “ Pleasure Junkets “ ( euphemistically called “ Study Tours “ )



·         Stand in a queue at Airports to welcome foreign or local dignitaries ( when not holding up departures of flights as late arriving passengers )


·         Found in their constituencies only to lay foundation stone of a corner toilet


·         Collecting bribe money for writing all kinds of “  Recommendations


·         Never bothering to respond to voters’ emails or come on line on phone



·         Slap any policeman who tried to give them a traffic-ticket or asked to pay toll


·         Threaten Police who tried to file an FIR against them for Rape / Assault / Murder


·         Ensure that any citizen asking that their FRAUDS / CORRUPTIONS get investigated , gets behind the bars or gets threatened by their goons



·         Any suggestion of  ELECTORALREFORMS  is promptly “ rubbished “ as “ hair brained “




·         Consider any talk of  “ Recall OurMember of Parliament  “ as blasphemy !





·         Any talk of better / equal representation of WOMEN is “ summarily dismissed “


·         To be unanimous in demanding doubling of salary every alternate year




I can go on and on – and wonder :


Why do we need TV SITCOMS / SERIALS / BOLLYWOOD FILMS , when we can have year round entertainment called,  “ Dance of Democracy “ ?



31  Dec  2017