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, 12 February 2012

CHINA GROWTH STORY


Writing in Times of India ( 03 June, 2012 ), Subodh Varma provides following 

statistics about the city of Chengdu in China :


Ø  Incentives for attracting Industries from all over the Word


*  Electricity  ………………………..      $  0.13  per Kwh


*  Water  ……………………………..       $  0.70  per Cubic Meter


*  Freight  ( to Europe )……………… $  4.0   per Kg (by Air )


*  Rent ( for Workshops )…….       $   2.9  per Sq Meter


*  Rent ( for Software Park )..      $  8.0  per Sq Meter


*  No of Highways connecting..     8


*  No of International Flights….     129  per  day


*  Wages for Unskilled Worker..    $ 145  per  month


*  Wages for High Skilled Worker..$ 580 per  month


Ø  Outcome

·        207 of the Fortune 500 Companies have facilities in Chengdu

·        Every 2nd laptop and every 5th PC in the World ,is running on a chip processed in Chengdu

·        Concentration of heavy precision industries

·        Top Nuclear and Missile Research Centres


Ø  Wage Comparison ( for low skilled new entrant )

·        India  …………………………..  $  90  per  month

·        China  ………………………….. $  145  per  month

·        Japan  ………………………….  $  937  per  month

·        France  ………………………..  $  1734  per  month

·        USA  …………………………….. $  1740  per  month


For policy-makers of both, the Eurozone and India , there are here , a lot of lessons to be learned ! They have lived in denial for too long !

With regards

Hemen  Parekh

Friday, 10 February 2012

Creative Resumes ? Fake CVs ?

Writing in The Economic Times ( Jan 8-14,2012 ), Mishita Mehra provides following findings of a report by First Advantage , which conducts 1.5 million background checks per year in India :
 Who lies the most in resumes ?
• Senior Management ……………………. 2 %
• Middle Management ……………………. 21 %
• Associates …………………………………… 65 %
 What do they lie about ?
• False employment info …………………… 41 %
• Incorrect tenure ……………………………….. 32 %
• Inflated designation ………………………… 15 %
 Which Industry have most liars ?
• Education ………………………………………… 33 %
• Travel & Hospitality ………………………….. 25 %
• Bio-Technology …………………………………. 19 %
 Top Resume Cheat list
• Hong Kong …………………………………………. 47 %
• Singapore …………………………………………….35 %
• India ………………………………………………………11 %
No wonder , Recruiters are saying :
This is no way to Customize Resume !
With regards
hemen Parekh

Tuesday, 7 February 2012

Higher Education : how do fair sex fare ?


What percentage of girls go for higher studies beyond high school certificate ?

2009 – 10 Survey data, compiled by India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development, provides following figures :


State                        Boys ( % )                   Girls ( % )



> Andhra Pradesh      21.3                            12.3

> Goa                       26.1                            30.9

> Maharashtra           25.3                            16.9

> Uttarakhand           27.5                            45.2

> Meghalaya              14.8                            16.1

> Mizoram                 28.3                            24.7

> Delhi                      50.7                            44.9



When it comes to “ Gender Inequality Index “ ( compiled by United Nations ), India ranks a poor 129 in 146 countries, lagging behind even Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan !

Not surprising, considering that even after debating for over 25 years in the parliament, we cannot pass the Women’s Reservation Bill !

With regards

Hemen  Parekh

Saturday, 4 February 2012

Healthcare in India ?



US President Barack Obama recently told US citizens :

“  My preference would be that you don’t have to travel to Mexico or India to get cheap healthcare “.

Of course, 25,500 US citizens who traveled to India in 2010 for medical treatment , would have preferred to get cheap / quality healthcare in their own country – if they could have.

US citizen, Sydney Gambill, who came to India for knee replacement surgery, said,

“ The cost of surgery in US was $ 60,000, whereas in India I paid $ 7,000. Not only the money, but the facilities and post-operative care here is excellent “.

Listen to Mary Knoll, a school teacher from Massachusetts, who got a facelift in India,

“ The surgery was done extremely well and the hospital facilities here is top class “.

Can you blame 150,000 medical tourists to India ( 2010 ), if they got cheap / quality treatment as follows ?

Ø  Angiography……………………………..  $  500 / 600

Ø  Bypass Surgery……………………….   $  5000 / 6000

Ø  Vitrectomy…………………………………  $  800 / 2400

Ø  Cataract ( one eye )…………………. $  500

Ø  Lasik  ( both eyes )…………………… $  600 / 1600

Ø  Gall Bladder Stone……………………. $  700 /  800

[ Source : DNA Money / April 28,2011 and Mumbai Mirror / April 22,2011 ]

With regards

hemen  parekh

Granaries are full ? No, overflowing !


It beats the imagination.

As per a report appearing in Economic Times ( 30 June,2011 ), with a current stock of 65.5 million tons of food grains, India’s granaries are overflowing.

Even as 3 million children die every year due to mal-nutrition ( - Government does not like to call it starvation ! ).

Apparently, that is a minor issue for the government ( - especially, for the Agriculture Minister ), which wants to export 2 million tons of wheat and one million tons of rice , quickly, in order to ,


Ø  stop the grains from rotting in the open

Ø  earn export revenue

Ø  encourage farmers to produce more


So what, if the food price inflation is running at 40 % - 50 % ?

Has any wife of any minister complained ?

People have this bad habit of cribbing all the time !

With regards

Hemen  Parekh