LIVING ON BORROWED TIME ?

130 billion euro bailout for Greece could well be termed,

“ Give money , will splurge “

But lenders are not amused. They want the Greeks to tighten their belts. And here is how :

·     Current monthly minimum wage of 750 euros to be reduced by 22 %

·     Younger employees ( below 25 ), must suffer a cut of 32 % . Half of them are in any case unemployed !

·     Social security contributions to be cut by 5 %

·     15,000 workers to be paid 60 % of basic wages and be dismissed after 1 year

·     State work-force to be cut by 150,000 by 2015

·     Retirement age to be increased

Even as Greeks are rioting in the streets , no one is asking :

“ How long can any individual or a nation continue to live beyond its means ? How long can you live on borrowed time ? “

The writing is on the wall

Germans and French are unwilling to play , “ my brother’s keeper “  , for Greece , Portugal , Italy , Spain , UK etc

Forget global warming. Global cooling is around the corner !

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH

WANT A PATENT ? BE PATIENT !

Newspaper Pravasi ( 26 Feb 2012 ) gives following interesting – but far more distressing – info about working of India’s Patent Office in Mumbai :

• No of patent applications pending  ………………………………… 100,000

• Which will take to clear  …………………………………………………..  3  years

• No of requests being examined / year  ………………………….. 12,000

• Additional Patent Examiners being trained  ……………………..  250

• Which will help clear no of applications / year ………………… 40,000

• New requests being received / year  ………………………………… 25,000 +

• Annual growth-rate of requests  ……………………………………… ..   20 %

I would not be surprised if Indian scientists working in foreign labs are filing more patent applications abroad than the Indian scientists working in Indian labs !

Innovation will get a huge boost if Patents can be granted – or even rejected – in 6 months !

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH

WHAT MAKES AAKASH DIFFERENT ?

There can be many opinions about Aakash tablet , but it is worth remembering that ,

• At its price-point , Aakash is the only tablet capable of bridging the digital divide between the urban and the rural India

• It will be used by persons who have not even seen a smart phone or a computer – much less used these

• Aakash is its own benchmark. Much like Walkman and iPod , it has created a new category - hence there can be no comparisons

• More than 2 million orders are a proof that , it is a product which millions have been waiting for

     No doubt there will be hiccups – as with any innovation

    With regards

    HEMEN  PAREKH

HALF WAY HOUSE

FREE TRIAL

PROJECT BARTER

LEARNING FROM OTHERS

ALL THE RAVE

VICIOUS CIRCLE ?

On 25 Mar 2012 , temperature  was 40* C in Mumbai ( India )

Must be a record of some sort !

And a clear sign of global warming

Over the next few months , temperatures all over India will hover around 40* C

Millions will switch – on their air conditioners to beat the heat, drawing huge amount of electricity

To generate all that power , thermal power plants will need to consume enormous amounts of coal

Which will throw up into atmosphere , large quantities of carbon dioxide

Producing green-house effect

Raising temperatures still further – and demand for more air conditioners

Only escape – route is non-fossil fuel energy

Even if it is Kudankulum

With  regards

HEMEN  PAREKH

PARENTS KNOW BEST !

Indian parents know too well that , in order to succeed in life , their children must master English language

Here is the proof

National University of Education , Planning and Administration ( NUEPA ) compiled following figures for enrollment of students by medium of instruction :

• English Medium Schools ……. 20.4  Million ( + 18.9 % over 2009/10 )

• Hindi Medium Schools ………… 90.9  Million (+ 5.6 % over 2009/10)

With 220 million cheap Tablets ( computers ) to be given away free to the school children in the next 5 years, I would not be surprised if English overtakes Hindi before long !

Reason ?

Almost all the “ Educational Content “ ( as of today ) is in English – whether online or pre-installed on these tablets by their manufacturers

We are about to witness the biggest – and the most profound – social change in independent India

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH