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, 28 November 2019

Low Manpower Cost = Low Cost Economy




How much does Manpower cost while manufacturing a product ?



Although over-simplified , here is a broad framework

 :


Ø  Product Cost           =   Cost of   “ Assemblies “                       +  Manpower Cost


Ø  Assembly Cost        =   Cost of  “ Sub Assemblies “                  +  Manpower Cost


Ø  Sub Assembly Cost  =   Cost of    “ Components “                    +  Manpower Cost


Ø  Component Cost      =    Cost of    “ Semis “                            +  Manpower Cost


Ø  Semis Cost              =   Cost of    “ Minerals “                          +  Manpower Cost


Ø  Minerals Cost           =   Cost of    “ Beneficiation “                    +  Manpower Cost


Ø  Beneficiation Cost     =   FREE digging out from Earth                +  Manpower Cost



Every product that we see around us has its origin in Earth



At every stage , from digging out the minerals from the Earth ( which Mother Earth provides for FREE ) , to assembling the final product,  we need to employ people and pay them salaries / wages , which is “ Manpower Cost “ [ This also applies to generation of electric power – a crucial input ]



Hence,  fundamentally , every cost addition at every stage of manufacture, is  MANPOWER  COST  !



So , the industry which manages to keep its Manpower Cost low ( as compared to competitors ), manages to sell its products cheaper and corner a large market share within a country



This also holds true at international level



A country which manages to keep its Manpower Costs low , manages to out-price other countries and can export more



Now , here is some good news as far as lowering the manpower costs is concerned :



A fledgling concept, flexi-staffing may soon take giant strides


·         The Hindu Business Line
·         29 Nov 2019
https://i.prcdn.co/img?regionKey=%2ffK1m0CnuBftq4nCaUd5Vw%3d%3d

Extract :

Large companies are cutting down wage costs while startups want to hire people only for a short period.

Now, there is a solution for both.

Flexi, or temporary staffing, is fast catching up in India with retail, logistics, FMCG and IT start-ups taking the lead.

The government’s new labour reforms are likely to give a major boost to this concept which is still at a nascent stage in India, compared to matured markets like the US.


Recruitment body Indian Staffing Federation ( ISF ) said :

Ø  Flexi-staffing grew at 16.3 per cent to reach 3.3 million in 2018, out of the total 463.4 million total workforce.

Ø  This industry is expected to grow at 22.7 per cent to reach 6.1 million workforce by 2021

Ø  A flexi-workforce is the solution for being more competitive in the market, without investing a lot.


Simplifying and enabling labour laws in favour of contract employment ( like abolishing The Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970 ) will increase adoption of flexi-staffing by companies, and more formalisation will take place.


In a country, where an estimated 83 per cent of the workforce is informal, labour reforms will have a profound impact on flexi-staffing.


India is today the fifth largest staffing market globally. Due to policy reforms, over 11 million jobs shall get formalized in 2018-21.


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


Dear Shri Santosh Gangwarji






Congratulations for initiating the long overdue labour reforms



But , in order to make India, a LOW  COST  ECONOMY , we need to go beyond labour reforms



I urge you to consider my following proposal :



National Jobs Policy : Treasure Hunt                           [ 15 Dec 2017 ]


===============================================================================
30  Nov  2019
hcp@RecuitGuru.com

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

Edit / 03  Dec  2019

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

Thanks Dr HarshVardhanji , 


for your following acknowledgement to my above email :

Noted your suggestions  "


Dr. Harsh Vardhan <dr.harshvardhan@gov.in>

Sent :  Mon 02-Dec-19 4:44 PM

To  :    hcp@recruitguru.com


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



Delhi worse than hell ?





So thinks the Supreme Court


Read :


Extract :
Ø  " Why are being people forced to live in gas chambers ? "

Ø  " It is better to kill them all in one go. Get explosives in 15 bags and kill them at one go. Why should people suffer all this? "

Ø  " Can you treat people like this and let them die due to pollution? " asked the bench.

Ø  " You should explain why we should not impose fine on you for not being able to control your state. Despite our orders, it happened again."

Ø  " Life isn't so cheap in India anymore. What was given [compensation] in Bhopal gas tragedy is nothing compared to what is given to victims in similar cases worldwide. The chief secretaries have no right to be in chair if they can't serve people well. "
============================================



Extract :


Ø  Governments that fail to provide clean air and water to their citizens must compensate them for the adverse impact of pollution, the Supreme Court said on Monday while issuing notices to all states and UTs to explain why citizens should not have such a remedy.


Ø  “Delhi has become ‘narak’ (hell). People are living in a gas chamber and are dying due to cancer and other lung ailments. Their life spans are getting shorter,” Justice Arun Mishra, who was sitting alongside Justice Deepak Gupta, said.


Ø  The bench said they would begin by making the governments around Delhi-NCR accountable for air pollution in the NCR from stubble burning.



Ø  Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and UP must give compensation to Delhiites for the air    pollution,” he said.

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

Dear Hon Justice Mishraji and Guptaji ,



Thank you for some plain speaking



Some 5 months ago, I sent to the Supreme Court [ supremecourt@nic.in  ] , following blog / email :



Needed : a Service Liability Act                          [ 12 June 2019 ]


Where I said :

-          Not a single day passes without newspapers reporting dozens of such cases of ( what I like to call ) :



CRIMES OF OMISSIONS  [  as against “ Crimes of Commissions “  ]



Following owe their existence to such “ Crimes of Omissions “ :


Millions of Indians die  PREMATURE DEATH  every year , due to :


>  Water and Air Pollution

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


Then 3 weeks back, I sent to you following blog / email :

Legislation or No legislation !                               [ 06 Nov 2019 ]



It was high time for the plain speaking that you did

Now, if you fail to follow up with your “ threat “, no government minister / officer , will ever take you seriously !

For dereliction of their duty, how about levying “ demonstrative penalties “ as follows :

Ø  Union cabinet Ministers ………………………………………………………………. Rs  25 lakhs each

Ø  Ministers of Delhi – Haryana – Punjab – Rajasthan ……………………… Rs  10 lakhs each

Ø  Secretaries of these States……………………………………………………………. Rs  5 lakhs each

Ø  MPs ( Lok Sabha ) and MLAs ( State Assemblies )…………………………. 50 % cut in Salaries

This will . not only send a loud and clear message to all other States but also restore ordinary citizens’ faith in judiciary as a “ Court of last resort “
============================================================
29  Nov  2019
hcp@RecruitGuru.com



Thursday, 21 November 2019

Better Late than Never





Context :




Extract :

Ø ( DRDO ) has put its over  450 patents  for  free access to industries  for commercial exploitation.


Ø As per a new policy, the DRDO, under the Ministry of Defense will offer complete access to its patents filed in India without any licensing or royalty fees


Ø The DRDO has taken the lead as other leading R&D bodies like ( CSIR ), ( NRDC ), ( ICMR ), ( ICAR ), which have portfolios of national and international patents offer them for a fee and royalty.


Ø “It’s better to offer some patents free than keeping them in the shelf and pay hefty protection fee for its lifetime. After all, commercial exploitation is the key factor that should determine patents”, experts told BusinessLine


Ø The industry must apply with a fee of 1000, along with relevant technical and financial details. It will then be screened by an expert committee and if eligible a non-exclusive license for one year will be granted

Ø A one day “DRDO-Industry Synergy Summit 2019” will be held at the Research Centre Imarat (RCI) Hyderabad on Friday


Ø The topics of discussions include latest policy framework and opportunities created, high technology collaborations and defense manufacturing, defense export and a panel discussion on challenges and opportunities for Indian industries

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


Why do I say, “ Better late than never “ ?



because :


I hope this bold initiative of DRDO will, someday soon, lead to the creation of a post in the Central Government , called :



Technology Evaluation and Acquisition Minister  [  TEAM  ],



-      as suggested in my following E Mail :


          Need of the hour ? : TEAM                       [ 21  Apr  2017 ],




-      where I wrote :

By 
TEAM , I mean :  Technology Evaluation and Acquisition Minister



Whose job description will be :


-      Remain constantly on look-out for developing / developed technologies from around the World , evaluate their relevance to India’s myriad problems and acquire the same from the developers ( including patent rights / IP rights , to exploit it / improve upon it )


-      Make available these acquired technologies to Indian Companies ( both , in private and in public sectors ) / NGOs / Start-Ups etc , FREE of cost ( conditions apply in respect of production targets / pricing / time to implement / after-sales service etc )


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

Dear Dr HarshVardhanji  ,

( Minister for Science and Technology )



From among our many talented scientists, I urge you to pick one as your deputy minister for acquisition of technologies from around the World, for FREE licensing to Indian industries

Technologies that I have listed in my above-mentioned blog, are targeted to solve following problems :

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

>  Unavailability of clean drinking water in 



    drought / famine affected areas    



>  Pollution thru Plastic Bottles / Mountains 

    of Land Fills – Garbage Dumps



>   Loss of Forest cover / Rampant 

     Desertification  



>  Millions sleeping in Streets / Slums, for 

    want of affordable houses




>   Traffic Jams on City Roads / Hours to reach

      Office-Home




>   Charging of Batteries of Electric Vehicles takes

     hours !





>   No transmission lines for taking electricity to

     far-flung villages



>   No way to store ( for use at night ), billions of

     KWH of Solar Power


>   Fossil Fuel Power killing millions / Urgent need

     to generate Solar Power



>  Dependence on import for Li-ion batteries /

    Fast charging button batteries




>  High value currency notes facilitating
    generation of BLACK MONEY



>   Making available high speed Internet to entire

     India ( remotest corner )


>   Poor road construction methods resulting in

     perennial pot-holes



=================================  



With regards,


Hemen Parekh

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

22  Nov  2019

hcp@RecruitGuru.com


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

Added on 23  Nov  2019 :


I request Dr HarshVardhanji  to contact the following scientists , urging them to collaborate with one of our Research Laboratories to further develop this technology, which can , then be made available for FREE licensing to Indian industries  



Contact Details :



Dr. Hadi Ghasemi  /  hghasemi@uh.edu 



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


Varun Kashyap  

Postdoctoral Associate, Cornell University