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, 12 July 2012

Underachievers All




Don’t blame an individual

It is the entire Central Cabinet

Here is proof ( as provided by DNA / 05, July 2012 ) :

Ø   To “ manage “ overflowing wheat stocks – presumably to prevent its rotting in open under rains – Central Cabinet has decided to export 20 lakh tons of wheat , at an export price of Rs 12,400 / ton

Ø   Now , considering that it costs Central Government , Rs 16,500 / ton to buy / transport / stock that wheat, this would amount to “ subsidizing “ the foreign buyers by Rs 4,100 / ton.

Ø   USA has warned the commerce ministry that it cannot sell wheat below the MSP at which it buys from Indian farmers


I await the day when our 400 million poor people muster the courage to warn the “ Underachievers “ :

“ Forget the export

1.6 million children cannot be allowed to die of starvation every year

( 24,365 in Maharashtra alone during 2011-2012 )

Don’t wait till 2014 National Elections . If you do , you will be swept into the dustbin of history ! “

With regards

Hemen  Parekh


Jobs  for  All  =  Peace  on  Earth

    

Monday, 9 July 2012

A TALE OF TWO MINISTERS

  • Sunil  Dutta

When he was the Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs in the Central Government a few years back , he allotted Rs 25 lakhs from his MPLAD fund ( Member of Parliament Local Area Development Fund ) , for development of a garden at Marol  ( Mumbai ) – his constituency.

Today , hundreds of slum-dwellers relax in this garden every evening , to get away from the unhygienic surroundings of their 100 sq. ft , tin-roofed “ homes “ ,  and get some fresh air

  • Akhilesh  Yadav

Yesterday ( 3rd July 2012 ) , he announced in UP Legislative Assembly that ,

·     MPLAD Fund amount is being increased from Rs 125 Lakhs to 150 Lakhs

·     All MPs can use the additional Rs 25 Lakhs to purchase a car for personal use

         What next ?

Unlimited amount of free petrol / diesel for all 403 MPs of UP, so that no one need to worry about petrol price raises?
  
Hemen  Parekh

HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THIS?

From a report in Times of India [ 13, July 2012 ] :

  • During last year , British people left “ unworn “ , 1,700,000,000  items of clothing ( approx. 28 items per person )

  • Approx 1/3 rd of these “ unwanted “ clothes ( 430,000 tons ) ended up in landfills ( garbage dumps )

  • Total cost of these “ unworn “ items was British Pounds 30 billion

  • That means , during last year , on an average , every British person threw away , brand new clothes worth,

·     Pound ……… 484

·     Dollars……….757

·     Rupees…….. 41,624

(more than per capita income of 1.2 billion Indians  !)

  • And this is a country with

·     4,500,000  unemployed

·     $ 200  billion of budget deficit

I suppose these ( no doubt ) imported garments must be helping the Chinese Economy !

Hemen  Parekh

Saturday, 7 July 2012

A DROP IN THE OCEAN ?

India’s Health Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad wants Indian medical students to sign a bond , before going to USA , that they will return to India after finishing their higher studies

Why ?

Because India is short of doctors

He is right. Here are figures for numbers of doctors per 10,000 population ( 2000 – 2010 ), published in World Health Statistics – 2011:

·         India  …………………… 6.0

·         China  …………………. 14.2

·         UK  ………………………. 27.4

·         USA  ……………………  26.7

Question :

Will forcing 1,000 medical students [ who do not return after higher studies abroad every year ], make a drop of difference to our Ocean of Ill-health ?

No doubt , Minister of Health knows best !

Hemen  Parekh

Friday, 6 July 2012

ARE YOU SAFE?


Writing in DNA [ 05 July,2012 ], Maitri Porecha provides following figures for,

“Permissible limits of EMF radiation due to Mobile towers“
[Source: IIT-B report , 2010 ]:

  • India  …………………………..      4.5  Watts / Sq m

  • USA  ……………………………..     3.0   “

  • China  …………………………..      0.4   “

  • Italy / Poland  / Russia …….  0.1   “
   
Now , it is a different matter that our Telecom Ministry has adopted an exposure limit of 9.2 Watts / Sq m as “ Safe “ !

How can you blame Telecom Ministry when Agriculture Ministry and Food Ministry, jointly decided to export 20 lakh tons of food grains (to take care of surplus stock rotting in the open under rain), even as 4,383 children (under 5), die every day due to starvation ?

Telecom Ministry is justified in asking,

“Is anyone actually dying due to overexposure to EMF radiation?“
  
Hemen  Parekh

Tuesday, 3 July 2012

CONGRATULATIONS ! MAHARASHTRA STATE JUDICIARY

Here is what Times of India ( 02 July, 2012 ) reports re: disposal of Pending Cases by Maharashtra State Judiciary during 2 year period ( 30/06/2010 to 30/06/2012 ):

  • Opening Balance ………………………. 41.36 Lakh  cases

  • Added during 2 years ………………. 39.74 Lakh

     Total ……………………………………………81.09  Lakh

  • Less

     Disposed off during 2 years……….50.60  Lakh
  
     Closing Balance ……………………………. 29.49  Lakh
  
     Considering that the Courts work for,

  • 200 days / year

  • 3 hours  / day  

this works out to an unbelievable , 1.157  cases per SECOND of each working day !

It is anybody’s guess as to what will happen when millions of cases get added every year under the proposed Lokpal Act
  
Hemen  Parekh

Thursday, 14 June 2012

EVERYTHING IS FAIR IN LOVE AND POLITICS!


That is what Akhilesh Yadav , Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh ( UP – India ) seems to be saying

In Samajwadi Party’s election manifesto , he promised to pay an unemployment allowance of Rs 1,000 per month to all jobless persons in UP

Within weeks, some 4,000,000 persons registered with the State Employment Exchanges

Paying an allowance to all of them would turn a bankrupt State into a beggar State !

To prevent such a catastrophe, UP Government now says, a jobless person must meet following criteria to be eligible to receive the allowance:

·        Must be between the age of 30 to 40

·        Must have registered before March 15 , 2012

·        Must have passed HSC or equivalent

·        Family income of the claimant should be less than Rs 36,000 / month

·        Annual income of mother / father or mother/father-in-law , must be less than Rs 150,000
  
That brought down the eligible to a mere 900,000 !

Politicians of Greece / Italy / Spain etc may want to improve upon Akhilesh and insist that henceforth the State will not support the unemployed. It is the sole responsibility of the in-laws !
  
Hemen  Parekh 

Tuesday, 29 May 2012

LET CHARITY BEGIN AT HOME!


At the G – 20 meeting early this week in Mexico , our  Prime Minister , Manmohan Singh , pledged a contribution of $ 10 billion ( Rs. 56,000 Crores ), to help out debt-ridden countries like Greece , Italy , Spain etc.

This was on top of $ 2 billion ( Rs 11,000 Crores ), pledged by India earlier this year

No doubt , PM Manmohan Singh must have struck a quid-pro-quo deal

But what about some equally debt-ridden States of India ?

I am sure , Chief Ministers of West Bengal , Punjab , Kerala etc., would be too happy to support Pranabda for President , only if Manmohan agrees to write off their Central Government loans

At least nearer home , forget quid-pro-quo and let charity begin !


With  regards

Hemen  Parekh

Friday, 25 May 2012

Mulayam stands vindicated !

Long before recent petrol price hike of Rs 7 / 8 per litre , Samajwadi Party , in its election manifesto , had promised to replace all pedal-powered rickshaws in the State , with battery or solar-powered tricycles
That means replacing 2,48,839 rickshaws registered with the Civic bodies in UP ( India )
At a cost ( to the Government , of course ) of Rs 1 lakh per rickshaw
Or , Rs 2,500 Crores
But that is peanuts when compared to Rs 100,000 Crores worth subsidy that Central Government doles out to the Oil companies every year
Then there are hidden benefits to some enterprising Samajwadi Party members , who will set up factories to manufacture :
? Batteries
? Solar Panels
? Power Outlets every 5 Km, to re-charge batteries
? Tricycles (to be supplied to State Government )
Just watch out for the election manifesto of BJP for the forthcoming State elections in Gujarat in December, which will read :
“ All petrol driven cars will be replaced with electric cars , free of cost “
It is better than protesting on the streets !
In any case , CM Narendra Modi has already turned Gujarat into a “ Auto Hub “ of Asia !

With regards

Hemen Parekh