A Software Powerhouse ?

A   Software  Powerhouse  ?

Yesterday , when I went to polling booth , there was a chaos , with a number of people complaining that their names were missing from the Electoral Rolls ( Voter Lists )

As per news-reports , in Mumbai alone , some 50,000 people returned home without casting their votes - including Deepak Parekh  ! Altogether , names of some 15 lakh voters ( out of a total of 98 lakh ) were missing  !

Then there are some 300 million people who will simply won't walk down to the nearest polling booths , and wait for 1 hour to cast their votes ( - assuming that some 40 % of the 814 million eligible voters do not exercise their right to vote )

WHY  ?

Going out to vote is becoming a big hassle

COULD  IT  BE  OTHERWISE  ?

Sure , if Central Government and the Election Commission care to implement my suggestion for developing a mobile App for voting .  I called it , VotesApp

 see .. hemenparekh.in/2013/08/votesapp.html  

Or , just type in Google , " VotesApp "

HOW  WILL  IT  HELP  ?

>  No need for 930,000 polling booths / EVMs / Ink / Papers etc

    Every voter's own mobile becomes a miniature EVM  !

    Any registered Voter can vote from anywhere in the World  !

>  Nor any need to deploy 1,100,000 people to conduct the polls

>  No need for millions of Police / Military personnel

>  No need for months of advance preparations, across entire country

>  Voting can be completed in just ONE day - instead of over 6 weeks -

    and results can be declared next day  !

>  Voting could be 95 % or more  !

>  No worry for booth-capture

>  No  bogus voting ( Bio-metric ID from built-in camera )

>  No duplicate voting ( Self-destruct after single usage )

>  No worry for any terrorist attacks

>  Enormous saving of time for Voters

>  No need to declare a public holiday - costing thousands of crores

     worth of production

>  Central Government will save, at least , Rs 2,000 Crores .

     If business-friendly BJP government comes to power , it would not

    hesitate to earn Rs 20,000 crores , by enabling 15 million Indian

    businesses to advertise to 814 million voters , thru this mobile VotesApp -

    sharply targeting by Gender / Age / Marital Status / City / Street /

    Education / Income Tax paid / Employed or Jobless ..etc

>  No need for Central Government to stop taking even routine decisions

If a tiny country like Estonia ( population 1.6 million ) can elect its Members of Parliament thru a VotesApp type mobile App , why can't we  ?

Already 900+ million Indians have mobiles - all of which , will soon become Smart Phones

And we call our country , a " Software Powerhouse "  !

*   hemen  parekh  ( 25 April 2014 / Mumbai ) 

Wrong Business ?

Talking about Narendra Modi's " Crony Capitalism " , Rahul Gandhi said ,

"  During 12 years of NaMo's rule in Gujarat , Gautam Adani's companies '

assets  ( or did he mean , Market Cap  ?  or Revenue  ?  it does not matter )

went up from Rs 3000 crores to Rs 40,000 crores  "

That is a CAGR ( Compounded Annual Growth Rate ) of 25 %

Now look at the assets declared by the Congress Candidates of the current Lok Sabha elections ( Let us not inquire re:  Undeclared Assets !  )

Within 5 years ( from 2009 to 2014 ) , the average assets of these Congressmen , went up from Rs 4.87 crores to Rs 54.38 crores  !

That is a CAGR of 62  %  !

So , which is a better business  ?

>  Building Nation by  building Ports , Power Stations , Infrastructure etc  ?

OR

>  Fooling Nation by robbing its precious natural resources , such

     Spectrum , Coal , Gas , Minerals , etc  ?

>   Not revealing the names of 50 individuals who have stashed away black

     money in German Banks - and whose names , German Government has

     provided 3 years back ?

>   Promoting " Crony Relative-ism " when it comes to buying government

      land for Rs 1 lakh / hectare and selling for Rs 100 lakhs / hectare  ?

Gautambhai ,

Obviously , you are in the wrong business  !

Switch over to sycophancy  !

Enjoy a CAGR of 200 %  !

Then , like late Babu Jagjivan Ram , don't file your Income Tax Return for next 10 years - and , if reminded , say , " I just forgot "  !

*   hemen  parekh  (  24  April  2014  /  Mumbai  )

What Could Arvind Do ?

After 49 days in office , Arvind Kejriwal resigned as CM of Delhi

Some people say , he is a " Bhagoda " ( an absconder ), who ran away from his responsibility to people of Delhi

Now , if you were AK , what would you have done , if you were faced with the following situation ?

>   You have promised to people of Delhi , to root-out corruption

>   To this end , you have promised to pass Jan Lok Pal Bill

>   Business Rules of Central Government say , Delhi Government CANNOT

     introduce any bill which has financial implication / burden , without first

     seeking OK from the Lieutenant Governor ( LG ) to introduce the bill

>   Business Rules are " Un-Constitutional " , as per eminent jurists

>   But Congress Government at Centre , was NOT willing to drop these

     rules , despite a written request from Delhi Government

>   LG had no power to give a go-bye to the rules . His only option was to

     reject the introduction of the bill , if it was referred to him

>   Knowing this too well , Congress / BJP ganged up and insisted that

     AK must , first refer the bill to LG and introduce it in Assembly , only if

     approved by LG

Did Arvind have any option other than to resign  ?

Now suppose , he throws up his hands and tells people of Delhi ,

"  What can I do  ? 

   I tried my best but BJP / Congress would not let me introduce the bill ,

   citing some un-constitutional rules

   Jan Lok Pal Bill must wait till ,

  *  AAP comes to power at the Centre and drops those Business Rules

     ( I admit , this is a most unlikely scenario ! )

   *  AAP government at Centre grants full Statehood to Delhi

   So , I have decided to forget the whole matter and continue as CM  "

Those very same people would have said ,

"  What business you have to continue as CM , if you cannot fulfill your   

   promises  ?

   You are no different than those power-hungry politicians of BJP / Congress

   If you have any shame left , you must resign immediately  "

DEAR  ARVIND ,

Kuchh to log Kahenge

Logo ka kaam hain kahena

Chhodo ye bekaar ki baante

Kahin bit naa jaye rainaa  (- I mean , Mat-Ganana  !  )

*   hemen  parekh  (  22 April 2014  /  Mumbai  )

    

   

SCAMS ARE AVOIDABLE !

Early this week , Supreme Court held that , CAG ( Comptroller and Auditor General ) has the right - and obligation - to conduct an audit of telecoms

WHY  ?

>   Spectrum is a natural resource that belongs to the nation

>   Private telecom companies have a revenue-sharing agreement with the

      Central Government , for allowing them to " exploit " this natural

      - and national - resource

WHAT  ELSE  ?

>  This logic should also hold good for all private companies , who are

    allowed to exploit India's NATURAL / NATIONAL resources , to create

    materials / energy

    Here is a partial list :

    *  Fossil Fuels ( Oil / Gas / Coal )

    *  Minerals

    *  Sea-bed Nodules

    *  River Waters

    *  Wind

    *  Tides

    *  Sunlight

    *  Sea Water

    *  Jungles / Trees

    *  Earth's Magnetism

    *  Electromagnetic Waves

    *  Gravitational Force.....etc

HOW  ?

*  Tendering process must be public / transparent / equitable

*  Tender terms must be open for scrutiny/comment  by public

*  All resource-exploitation licenses must follow auction route

*  Eligibility Criteria must be pre-defined / publicized in advance

*  Licenses should be valid for pre-defined fixed period

*  Licenses cannot be renewed / extended

*  Concerned States must have a share in profit-sharing etc

*  Profit - sharing formula must be part of tenders

*  Any failure / delay on part of the Licensee Company to implement the

   Contract , will require return / surrender of the natural resource

   concerned , to the Central Government, with appropriate penalties

*  Natural Resource involved , cannot be hypothecated to banks / financial

    institutions to raise loans

*  Shares of the licensee companies

 cannot be traded in open market or

     pledged , without prior permission from Central Government

*   CAG Audit will be mandatory and reports must be published

*   Tendering / Auctioning / Licensing must not be handled by any Govt

     Department . A separate statutory authority should be created for this

*   To encourage early / fast implementations of Exploitation Licenses , there

     will be no Corporate Income Tax for the Licensee Companies

*   Each license will be given only to a SPV , created for this purpose

*   Cost-escalation leading to any Selling Price Escalations would be pre-

     defined

IN   HIND-SIGHT

*   Had we followed the above-mentioned process , perhaps , we could have

     avoided several scams of recent past and KG-D6 type  disputes

*   We could have also avoided ,

     #   Arbitrary price escalations

     #   Inflation

     #   Private profiteering

     #   Costly litigations

     #   Policy and Decision Paralysis

*   hemen  parekh  ( 21  April  2014  /  Mumbai  )

      

A 66 year long Coma

Even after 66 years of Independence ( Swarajya ) , 400 million Indians are forced to live on Rs 27 per day ( Rs 16 per day , in rural areas  )

Don't call them BPL    ( Below Poverty Line )

Call them under BCL   ( Below Coma Line  )

In a hospital , those in Coma , are kept alive on a Life Support System ( LSS ) , consisting of oxygen / intravenous glucose / heart-rate monitor etc

Congress wants to keep those 400 million people in a vegetative state by supplying / delivering , free or subsidized ,

>   Food Grains

>   Health-care

>   Education

>   Housing

>   Transport .. etc

And further goes on to keep alive , the goods manufacturers and service providers , by subsidizing ,

>   Coal / Gas / Petrol / Diesel

>   Electricity

>   Water

>   Fertilizers

>   Infrastructure...  etc

Congress Game-Plan is simple :

>   Do not create jobs or opportunities for Self - Employment

>   Put as many obstacles as possible to start industries

>   Keep alive Public Sector Units which keep bleeding the Exchequer

>   Make poor utterly dependent on " Sarkaar  Maa  Baap  "

>   Feed them with opium of subsidies to forget their miseries  !

>   Ensure that the poor remain poor for ever  ! Why do you need money ?

>   Let poor lead a Vegetative life - without showing sign of consciousness

>   Keep telling them , over and over :

     *  This is your Destiny - which no one can change

     *   Do not aspire for more

     *   Watch Bollywood TV to forget your hunger / cold / pain

     *   Sleep on footpath / in slums / over stinking gutters and dream

     *   Don't bother your little brain with such trivia that the average assets

          of Congress candidates have gone up from Rs 4.87 Crores ( in 2009 )

          to Rs 54.38 Crores ( in 2014 )

     *   We promise continuity - more of the same for next 5 years

     *   We promise to bring you " Surajya " - in next 50 years

     *   Don't listen to Crony Capitalists who promise it in 5 years

     *   Vote for us

     *   Vote for Dynasty

People  of  India  ,

While casting your vote , remember that this is the hidden Manifesto of Congress  !

*   hemen  parekh  (  20  April  2014  /  Mumbai  )

   

  

To Be or not To Be ?

Shakespeare would say , " That is the question "

For Federal Reserve Board of Revenue ( Pakistan ) , that question was ,

"  What to publish ?  And what not to publish ? "

It seems , in Pakistan , only 1 million people [ out of a population of 140 million ] , pay income tax

Finally , the Board published the names of those 1 million ( running into a 17,000 page directory ) , with the amount of tax paid by each

To give to Pakistan , a loan of $ 6.7 billion ( approx Rs 41* Thousand * Crores )  , the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) , insisted on such a publication

Now , in India , we have 40 million people who pay personal income tax ( out of a population of approx 1220 million )

Obviously , for India's Income Tax Department , it would be an impossible task to publish their names in a directory - which could possibly run into 17,000*40 pages  !

Then again , India has no need for an IMF loan , what with its Personal Income Tax revenue amounting to , Rs 2.47*Lakh*Crores

And if the incoming government at the Centre , dares to implement my suggestion of INVERSE TAXATION regime , that revenue could go up 100 times  !

Simply , " Inverse " the tax slabs as follows :

>    Up to  Rs 2 lakhs..................... NIL

>    2.1 - 5.0 lakhs......................   10 %

>    5.1  - 10 lakhs.......................   8 %

>    10.1 - 20 lakhs......................   6 %

>    20.1  - 50 lakhs.....................   5 %

>    50.1 - 100 lakhs.....................  3 %

>    Above 100 lakhs...................... 1 %

What is likely to happen with such " INVERSE  TAXATION  " regime  ?

Following few things :

>  Total personal tax payer base will go up dramatically from current 4

     crores tax-payers

>   Total personal tax collection too , will rise dramatically

>  with this " INVERSE  TAX  REGIME " , there will be no incentive to  evade

    taxes and to generate " BLACK  MONEY  "

>  There will be no resistance to accept ALL payments by cheque / electronic

     clearance  !

 >  The more you disclose as your income , the less you pay by way of taxes

     ( Of course , incrementally  )

>  For a change , we will learn to reward honesty / efficiency / productivity !

    No need to bribe those Income Tax officers  !

>  Lakhs of crores of BLACK MONEY , stashed away in bank

     lockers / gold / land - and , of course those Swiss bank accounts  - will ,

     become " WHITE  MONEY " , overnight  !

>  There will be a huge surge in bank deposits ( - even with , the inevitable

    lower interest rates )

>  Banks will be awash with funds to finance businesses / infrastructure

    projects etc , encouraging entrepreneurs / self-employed to set up new

   businesses ( at 2 % interest rates of loans ) and generate millions of jobs

>  There will be a phenomenal rise in Capital Markets

Only questions are  :

>  To innovate or not  ?

>  To think out-of-the-box or not  ?

>  To feed poor or to teach them how to fish  ?

>  To enable people to earn more or to subsidize their expenditure  ?

  

>  To let people stand on their own legs or continue "Dependency Culture" ?

>  What is possible ?  To reverse the human greed or try and  harness it  ?

*  hemen  parekh  ( 18 April 2014 / Mumbai )

Down with Dictator ?

Congressmen ( - including ex-Congressmen like Sharad Pawar ) , do not tire of calling Narendra Modi , a DICTATOR

And every other party , afraid of losing its Lok Sabha seats , echoes

Congressmen are warning 814 million voters ,

“  Look ,

  

   If NaMo comes to power , he will take decisions

   How dreadful  !

   Look at his audacity – taking decisions

   Doesn’t he know that “ Decisiveness “ is a , debilitating

   disease of decadent Crony Capitalists  ?

   Have you ever seen us taking decisions  ?

   Ask any farmer putting a rope around his neck !

   We never do

   

   We believe in perpetual procrastination

   We believe in Democracy

   Occasionally , we even believe in Mobo-cracy ( eg : 1984  )

   We leave it to the Dynasty to take decisions

   Can’t believe  ?

   Read Sanjaya Baru’s book “ An Accidental Prime Minister “

   ( Much as we would like to ban it , we will not decide on our own )

   Or , look up  P C Parakh’s book ,

   “ Crusader or Conspirator ? “

   It will dispel any lingering doubts that you may have , as to WHO in

   UPA – 2 , takes the decisions  !

   We abhor Dictatorship

   We strictly abide by the Dynasty – ship

   You cannot find us making any honest mistakes , because we never

   take any honest decisions  !

   Now don’t ask ,

   What about 2G / 3G / CWG / CoalGate / Irrigation / Land-Grab etc ?

   Those were NOT honest decisions  !

   And believe us ,

   Maya / Mamta / Jaya are no better than “ Daughters of Dictator “  !

   They too , take decisions

   COUNTRYMEN ,

   Beware of Decision – Takers

   Don’t vote for them

   Vote for us

   Vote for Status Quo

   Vote for “ More of the same “

   Vote for Yesterday

   Vote for Dynasty

   Vote for Darkness  “

*  hemen  Parekh  ( 14 April 2014 / Mumbai )