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

Wednesday, 28 February 2018

Deja Vu ? #Latur #Marathwada #Waterwar





Wikipedia defines “ Déjà vu “ as follows :


Another possible explanation for the phenomenon of déjà vu is the occurrence of "cryptomnesia", which is where information learned is forgotten but nevertheless stored in the brain, and similar occurrences invoke the contained knowledge, leading to a feeling of familiarity because the event or experience being ...




Context :


Following headline in Times of India ( 26 Feb ) :


It’s not yet summer, but parts of Marathwada go dry already


913 medium and minor dams in region have less water storage than last year


138 Tankers Supply Water in 111 Villages






In this , where is that  “ Cryptomnesia    ?


My following blog :





Saturday, 15 April 2017



Water Water Everywhere ? Even in Latur ?


( aka “ How to avoid Water Wars next month ? “ )



·         And without sending from Mumbai to Latur , a “ Water Train “ twice a day ?


·         Absolutely  FREE ? ( free of cost and free of Water-Mafia ! )


·         Without women of Latur , having to walk 5 km in 42* C temperature for one bucket ?


·         All of this is possible if Maharashtra Chief Minister , Shri Devendra Fadnavisji , just picks up phone and dials Prof Omar Yaghi ( University of California , Berkeley / yaghi@berkeley.edu / oyaghi@lbl.gov / Ph : 510-643-5507 )


·         After reading the following report , if he does not , it would deeply distress millions of drought-affected Maharashtrians !



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


Dear Prof Yaghi :


Congratulations for your invention which deserves better than a Nobel Prize


A billion " Thank You " from a billion people is not enough !


·         Even if you do not get that phone call , in the “ Supreme Court of your Conscience “, treat this appeal as a “ Public Interest Litigation “ and make available to the Citizens of India, your technology / patent / manufacturing drawings / material specifications etc , in order to save thousands of lives !




REPORT :


( Source 
:




·         A device that can create water out of thin air in even arid environments has been invented that could make Coleridge’s famous line “Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink” a thing of the past.



·         Using only the power of the sun and a special material with some extraordinary properties, the device is capable of producing 2.8 litres of water in 12 hours.



·         And it can work in conditions where humidity is as low as 20 per cent.



·         Professor Omar Yaghi, who helped create the prototype water harvester, said: “We wanted to demonstrate that if you are cut off somewhere in the desert, you could survive because of this device.



·         A person needs about a [ 330ml ] can of water per day. That is something one could collect in less than an hour with this system.



·         This is a major breakthrough in the long-standing challenge of harvesting water from the air at low humidity. 



·         “There is no other way to do that right now, except by using extra energy. Your electric dehumidifier at home ‘produces’ very expensive water.”



·         But, as well as saving people stranded in a desert, the harvester could become a major part of everyday life, enabling people to have water without a connection to the public supply or a well.



·         “One vision for the future is to have water off-grid, where you have a device at home running on ambient solar for delivering water that satisfies the needs of a household,” said Professor Yaghi, a chemist at University of California, Berkeley.



·         { My Note Just like the Roof Top Solar Power panels which may, someday eliminate the need for an Electric Power Grid ?  }


·         “To me, that will be made possible because of this experiment. I call it personalised water.”


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



Dear “ Bottled Water Manufacturers “ of India :


It is time you asked ( ala Ted Levitt in his seminal essay “ Marketing Myopia “ ) :


“ What business are we in ? 


Are we in the business of “ Bottling Water “ or are we in the business of “ WATER “ ?


Time to “ re-invent “ yourselves is just around the corner !


With “ Edible Water Balls “ replacing plastic bottles ?



Here is what start-up “ Skipping Rocks Labs “ writes on its web site :


Our goal :


   To create a waste-free alternative to plastic bottles / cups / plates / you name it


Our vision :


To become the leading global producer of seaweed-based packaging


Our impact :


    To stop 1 BILLION plastic bottles reaching the ocean every year and to stop 300 million Kg of CO2 from being emitted


01    March  2018



NPV : Non Performing Vision ?




Just came across following news / headlines in papers :


·         Aircel files for bankruptcy, blames it on new operator

The company said in a statement that it is facing troubled times owing to intense competition and a disruptive entry of a new player ………… the company could not reach at a consensus with respect to restructuring its debt and funding



·         Older Telcos have no choice but to move Court : Mittal

“ We have heard Trai’s response and since the order binds us from conducting our business in an orderly manner , I cannot envision anything other than a legal challenge “, Mittal said

“ We believe we must be provided with the rights to conduct our business in the marketplace. This is enshrined in in the Constitution under Article 14 “






There is no doubt that , in the months to come , we will hear a lot of cases of NPA ( Non-Performing Assets ) owned by banks – all of which will try their best to hide this information from public



Do the above mentioned news , strike you as examples of companies trying to hide their NPV ( Non-Performing Vision ) from public, by trying to divert our attention to TRAI / Telecom Commission etc ?



It is possible the top managements of these companies did not get a chance to read my following blog

  

But it is high time the share-holders / employees of all the companies , start asking :



WHOWILL OBSOLETE WHOM  ?   [ 20  Aug  2015 ]

 

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2015/08/who-will-obsolete-whom.html

 



Saturday, 22 July 2017


What Business Are You In ?



For the entire Telecom Industry , the one lesson they must learn after the latest announcement of Shri Mukesh Ambani , is what Ted Levitt wrote in his seminal essay (  Marketing Myopia / 1960  ) :


" What business are you in ?  If you don't make yourself obsolete , someone else will "


He went on to quote the example of the US Railroads , who thought they were in the “ RAILROAD BUSINESS “


Along came Henry Ford with his Model T , saying :  I am in the business of  TRANSPORTING PEOPLE


And made the railroads obsolete ( at least in USA ) , as far as  PEOPLE BUSINESS  was concerned !


I still cannot forget when I had a 30 minute one-to-one meeting with late Shri Dhirubhai Ambani , in February 1990 , when , for a short period , he was Chairman of L&T


I said :

Sir , I just resigned as General Manager ( Planning & Development ) of L&T , after working for 31 years


I was hoping that he would dissuade me from resigning



To my utter surprise , he said :

Very Good !  Despite being son of a Bania , why did you work for someone else for 31 years ?



Dhandho Karo ( Start your own business ) . If you need funds , just tell me . I keep a separate fund for people from Saurashtra



The he explained to me in details , his plans for a backward integration of his business :

"  From Fabric to Yarn to Petro-Chemicals ( which are basic raw materials for synthetic yarn ) to Refining to Production to Exploration of Oil "



It is high time for the giants of  Telecom Industry  to ask of themselves :

WHAT  BUSINESS  ARE  WE  IN  ?



Are we in the business of  “ MOBILE  TELEPHONY “  or are we in the business of  “ MOBILE  ENTERTAINMENT “ ?


Then , after 5 years , what business should we be in ?


Should we continue to remain in “ MOBILE  ENTERTAINMENT “ or should we consider ourselves in the business of “ MOBILE  SOLUTIONS “  for ANY / EVERY problem faced by a user ?


And should we continue our “ Backward  Integration “  into the  ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY  or should we integrate with Start Ups in  HEALTH-CARE  /  EDUCATION  /  EMPLOYMENT  ?


The writing is on the Wall – for professional executives who can read !


01    March  2018






Some questions remain unanswered





Hindustan Times ( 23 Feb ) carries following news :







Students who graduated from the University of Mumbai (MU) in 2016-17 will now be able to access their degree certificates online by sharing their Aadhaar details, the university announced at its annual convocation ceremony held at the Fort campus on Thursday .

“For the first time, all graduating students will be able to access their mark sheets digitally by simply sharing their Aadhaar details. Every student will have a personal username and password to access their individual certificates from the National Academic Depository (NAD),” said an official from MU.

NAD was formally launched at the National Convention on Digital Initiatives organised by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in July 2017 in New Delhi, as part of the government’s Digital India initiative. The expectation is that NAD will drastically reduce incidents of fake degrees.


At FAQ page of  NAD web site (  http://nad.gov.in/faq.html  ) , I found this :



Q: How do I come to know if some employer ( verifier ) requests for verification of my certificate?


Ans: If some employer requests for a verification of your certificate record, NAD will notify you by sending an email / SMS on your registered details.





This seems clumsy !



I hope someone takes another look at the points raised by me in my following blog,


Consenting is Complicated  [  15  Sept  2016  ]





01   March  2018




Tuesday, 27 February 2018

One door closes ; Another opens





Times of India ( 27 Feb ) carries following news :








The finance ministry has approved the much-awaited policy to scrap vehicles that are more than 15 years old and the document will now go to the GST Council, a source said today.



Gadkari at an event here today said the policy was needed to curb vehicular pollution as well as given the annual 22 per cent growth rate of automobile industry that will require an additional highway lane every third year, costing Rs 80,000 crore.


He said once the policy is approved the country is bound to become the hub for automobile industry and the prices were bound to be cheaper as scrap could be used for production of auto parts among other things.


The V-VMP policy proposes to take 28 million decade-old vehicles off the road.


Gadkari had earlier said that the PMO is keen on the proposal and once it is implemented, pollution would be checked considerably as 65 per cent of the pollution is caused by heavy vehicles that are more than 15 years old.


As per an earlier proposal, a relief of about Rs 5 lakh was to be provided to people who purchase new commercial vehicle of about Rs 15 lakh, if they surrender their over 15-year old commercial vehicles.


Gadkari has said that once the proposal is accepted it is bound to result in Rs 10,000 crore boost in tax revenue , as the automobile sector will benefit from it.


The draft Voluntary Vehicle Fleet Modernisation Programme (V-VMP) policy has proposed to bring under its purview vehicles bought on or before March 31, 2005, numbering about 28 million.





Read above in conjunction with following news :


 


Highlight :

Millions of heavily polluting vehicles could eventually disappear from roads across Germany after its top administrative court ruled that cities have the right to ban diesel motors in an effort to improve deadly air quality levels.

Tuesday’s historic decision potentially affects an estimated 12m vehicles and has delivered a heavy blow to Europe’s largest car market, while being celebrated by environmental campaigners.

The court said it would be up to city and municipal authorities to apply the bans, but advised them to “exercise proportionality” in enforcing them, and to impose them gradually, granting exemptions for certain vehicles, such as ambulances, rubbish collection lorries and police cars.



But what is that “ another door   ?



My rough estimate is that , all over the world , there are approx. 450 Million vehicles which are more than 15 years old ( out of a total population of approx. 2,000 Million )



In absence of any official “ Old Vehicle Scrapping Policy “ by most countries , of these , some 30 – 35 million vehicles get scrapped each year



But , expect most countries to follow the examples set by India / Germany , and enact such similar laws very soon



If that happens , within next 4 / 5 years , it will be a “ Old Vehicle Scrapping Business “ of 400 / 500 million vehicles per year , from which India can vastly benefit



In my following blog , I have explained how :

CarGrave-Yard of World ?  [  14  Feb  2018  ]






Remember, steel scrap from just 50 million cars would amount to 45 million tons



And  when used as feed-stock for our steel plants , that would bring down the selling price of steel sheets ( used for making new vehicles ), from current Rs 50,000 per ton to Rs 30, 000 per ton  !



In turn , that would bring down the ex-factory selling price of cars by Rs 15,000 / -  , eliminating any need for providing long-term incentives / benefits to our auto industry or customers



I do hope NDA govt gives serious consideration to my suggestion




28  Feb  2018