A Mobile App named " BANMALI "

Hindustan Times ( 15 Sept 2016 ) carried following news :

" Pankaja Munde’s dept wants to replace hot meals with ready-to-eat food packets "

Pankaja Munde, is now looking to replace the concept of hot cooked meals

 provided under the Centre’s Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) for

 children under 6 years, with THR-like ready-to-eat premixed food packets.

This means that instead of the “khichdi” (a mix of dal and rice) prepared locally

by village communities or self help groups, anganwadis – government run child 

care centres – will be provided with certain kinds of ready-to-eat packets to 

prepare and serve the children.

If cleared, the state government may once again run foul of the apex court

 orders that have reiterated that children under six should be served hot meals 

prepared locally by village communities or self help groups.

She said there was no question of awarding contracts to any company. “As per

 the Food Security Act, food contracts can only be given to women sansthas, self 

help groups.’’

In the past, the apex court has slammed the state for favouring big contractors

 through self help groups. A lot would depend on how the proposal is finalised 

and how the tender is drafted to award these contracts.

“Our experience with the THR tender is that the state government is keen on

 pushing women self help groups out in the name of hygiene. That’s why they

 have insisted on a fully automated machinery to prepare such food packets.

The hot cooked meal segment has a much larger scope with annual tenders 

worth over thousands of crores. If the concept shifts to these premixes, then

 similar tenders will be issued and the same five to six firms will get the biggest 

chunk of the contracts,’’ said a women self help group member and activist, who

 did not wish to be quoted.

She said that nearly one lakh self-help groups were involved in preparing of 

such meals, who did not stand a chance to continue if the government insisted 

on extrusion technology (fully automated process) and having in-house 

laboratories as in the case of THR contracts.

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I suppose everyone wants to support / encourage self help groups of women

But you have to only visit the kitchens of these groups to convince yourself of

 the terrible hygienic conditions under which the mid-day meals get cooked !

Maharashtra State just does not have the number of Inspectors to inspect 

 88,272  AanganWadis  !

We are talking of health of 86.31 lakh children in Maharashtra alone !

All over the country , there must be SEVERAL  CRORE children covered under ICDS scheme

It would benefit all the States - and the Centre - to consider my suggestion for

 a 

COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION of malnutrition among children thru

 implementation of Mobile App "  BANMALI " , described below :

SAVING   1.2 MILLION   KIDS

{    http://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/06/saving-12-million-kids.html  }

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16  Sept  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

Consenting is Complicated

Following is a gist of a news report that appeared in MINT ( 10 Sept 2016 ) :

Government announces plan to digitize academic records

“ All educational institutions, including universities, will implement the scheme. It will be hugely beneficial for students,” the ( HRD ) minister said.

Degrees, diplomas, mark sheets, migration certificate, skill certificate, etc., will be digitized and put in the national academic depository ( NAD ).

Higher education secretary said the depository will share students’ information with anyone—like an employer or background screening firms—only after getting consent from a student. But companies have been complaining about frauds in job applications, including academic frauds, and because of the lack of a national system that can help them verify academic records online by paying a nominal fee.

The NAD will authenticate records, eliminate the menace of fake and forged awards without flouting privacy.

The ministry is looking to tag the academic records with the Aadhaar number to facilitate verification, e-KYC and retrieval.

While educational institutions will be registering the students data online, students can themselves log in to the NAD and put their previous academic records by linking their Aadhaar number and fulfilling an e-KYC. "

Without doubt , an excellent initiative

Issues to be considered :

#   How exactly will a jobseeker " give consent " to a prospective Employer , to take a look at his Mark Sheets / Certificates etc  deposited online ( previous academic record ) ?

#   Will employer ( to whom jobseeker has applied for a job ) , get to access " Current Academic Record " of the applicant , without needing his " Consent " ?

#  How will these " previous academic record " ,  get  " certified as true "  ?

Suggested Procedure :

#  After registering and uploading his " previous academic record " in NAD , person uploading will need to click on a button ( VERIFY ) , against the Name of the College / University / Institution who he claims , has issued that Certificate

An E mail alert will go out to that Institution to login and verify ( either as " TRUE " or as " FALSE " )

#  When so verified ( by the concerned Institution ) , the concerned person will get an e mail alert ( either way )

#  Thereafter , student can access this NAD web page on his mobile ( through a Mobile App ? ) and show it to the prospective Employer , across the table , during interview

May be he can SMS / E mail that page to the Employer

OTHER  RELATED  ISSUES :

If a person has applied for a job ( by sending an email resume ) , should that not , constitute his " Automatic and Implied Consent " to the Employer to " Access " his academic record online on NAD web site ?  I think so

In that case , the job-applicant can just include in his Resume , a link to the relevant web page of NAD site , which the recruiter can click . This will prove very convenient for overseas recruiters

But what about " Public at large " being able to " access " ( without needing any explicit consent ) , the educational qualifications of ( say ) :

#   Candidates contesting all kinds of elections ( Lok Sabha / State Assemblies / Municipalities / Panchayats )

#   Government Officers ( persons holding office of profit )

#   Current Ministers / MPs / MLAs / Corporators  / generally , all Public servants

#   Consultants ( Doctors / Lawyers / Engineers etc )

The list can be quite long  !

And finally , what about persons who just won't upload their educational records ?

What can / should be done to " motivate " them to upload ? ( since this is NOT mandatory )

Can they be prevented from freely accessing such records of others , UNLESS they have uploaded themselves ? 

By requiring to " log in " into NAD web site , using User ID / Password , which is issued  ONLY AFTER  they have uploaded their own records ? 

( I mean , their PAST records , since Universities / Edu Institutions are mandated for the FUTURE records of everyone )

Question :

Is a person's Educational Record , his own PRIVATE PROPERTY , or it ought to be something in PUBLIC DOMAIN ?

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16  Sept  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

SUN is THE SOLUTION

A team of German scientists have developed a device to convert Solar Energy into Hydrogen gas ( a cheap / abundant / clean fuel ), through electrolysis of water

Following are the details :

" This is one of the big advantages of the new design, which enables the two main components to be optimized separately: the photovoltaic part that produces electricity from solar energy and the electrochemical part that uses this electricity for water splitting.

The Jülich researchers have patented this concept, which can be flexibly applied for all types of thin-film photovoltaic technology and for various types of electrolyser.

" For the first time, we are working towards a market launch", says Becker. " We have created the basis to make this reality."

 Explore further: Solar-powered hydrogen production with improved efficiency

More information: Bugra Turan et al, Upscaling of integrated photoelectrochemical water-splitting devices to large areas, Nature Communications (2016). DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS12681 

Journal reference: Nature Communications  Provided by: Forschungszentrum Juelich 

Source: http://phys.org/news/2016-09-artificial-photosynthesis-photoelectrochemical.html#jCp

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HOW  CAN  INDIA  TAKE  ADVANTAGE  OF  THIS  BREAK-THROUGH  ?

#  LOCAL  STORAGE

    As it is , Shri Piyush Goyal ( Minister for Energy ) is pushing for achieving 100 GW of Solar Power generation ,  

    by 2022 . Most of this will get fed into the State / National Grid but quite a lot will need highly efficient / high

    power storage density , LOCAL storage devices ( Batteries ) , which are still a far cry

    The SYSTEM developed by Julich researchers , could solve this problem

#  FUEL  FOR  VILLAGE  WOMEN

    All over India , rooftop Solar Water Heaters  are getting installed . These can be modified to produce Hydrogen

    gas , for use as a clean / non-polluting fuel for KITCHEN Stoves ! This could spell an end to burning of WOOD in

    " Chulhas " in our villages , improving the health of village women and saving of jungles

#  ALTERNATE  TO  ELECTRIC  CARS  ?

A couple of months back, Shri Piyush Goyal announced intention to replace India's current petrol / diesel vehicles with Electric vehicles , by 2030

Now , consider this :

*   India boasts of 200 million vehicles today ( all Petrol / Diesel driven )

*   We add some 10 million new vehicles each year

*   Road Transport Ministry proposes to remove from the roads, some 28 million vehicles which are 10 year old

*  In past 3 years  ( 2012-13 to 2015-16 ) , the total number of vehicles on Indian roads has gone up

    from 172 million to 186 million ( some 4.5 million per year ! )

*  There are just NO charging stations for Electric Cars ! And without which , no car manufacturer will go whole-

    hog into manufacture of Electric Vehicles ( who will buy , if he cannot re-charge in 5 minutes ? )

    And no one is coming forward to set up such Electric Charging Stations , if he gets 3 cars per day to charge !

   A classical " Chicken First or Egg First ? " situation !

But most Petrol Station owners would be happy to install a Julich Device on the rooftop of his station , if it sells

for less than Rs 5 lakhs ! That would enable him to " recharge " hydrogen fuel driven vehicles , while continuing to

service Petrol / Diesel vehicles !  Of course , he has no shortage of water !

This arrangement can permit a gradual change-over from Petrol / Diesel driven vehicles to non-polluting Hydrogen-

Fuel driven vehicles , since switch-over to a Hydrogen-Fuel Combustion Engine is much easier for Vehicle

Manufacturers  as compared to changing over to Electric Vehicles

I hope either Shri Gadkari or Shri Goyal will send an email to Julich researcher , Becker , inviting him to set up his

first manufacturing facility in India

He would , if the " Invite " is accompanied by a promise to exempt this company from Corporate Income Tax for

the next 10 years  !

And no need to be apologetic for an honest decision taken in the sole interest of the country - media attacks notwithstanding  !

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14  Sept  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

Shall We Follow or Lead ?

Hindustan Times ( 13 Sept 2016 ) carries a news report titled :

"  Britain's pound gets new plastic avatar "

It goes on to read :

" It can survive a splash of Claret, a flick of cigar ash, the nip of a bulldog, and even a spin in the washing machine - Britain’s first plastic currency goes into circulation from Tuesday in the hope that it is cleaner, safer and stronger than the current cotton-paper generation of banknotes.

Of the four denominations - 5, 10, 20 and 50 pounds - the first to be introduced in polymer form is the fiver

The 10 and 20-pound notes will be issued in 2017 and 2020 . There are currently no plans to replace the 50-pound note with a polymer version, the Bank of England said.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney said:

“ Polymer marks a major innovation. It is cleaner, safer, and stronger. It is resistant to dirt and moisture, so the note won’t wear out as quickly as the current fivers but will stay in good condition for longer.

It is stronger than paper and can better withstand being repeatedly folded into wallets or scrunched up inside pockets.

Polymer notes are also better for the environment...

Importantly, using polymer means we can incorporate better security features. It allows for see-through panels, coloured foils, detailed metallic images, and a new advance: tactile features 

 ”

Why is Britain in no great hurry to introduce PLASTIC notes for pound 50 and 100 denominations ?

Because , Britain does not have to worry about someone carrying a MILION POUNDS in 100 pound currency notes ( its highest denomination ) in a small brief-case ! That would weigh 11 kg .

( - as against 1.1 kg for carrying a MILLION RUPEES in Rs 1000 currency notes ! )

Now you know why everyone in India , wants to continue with Rs 500 / 1000 currency notes . No chance to discontinue !

But we can still eliminate the scourge of BLACK MONEY / CORRUPTION , while retaining those notes !

WHAT SHOULD  INDIA  DO ?

As I have repeatedly recommended over the past year :

*  Discontinue paper-based currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000

*  Introduce plastic currency notes of Rs 500 / 1,000 which are embedded with RFID micro-sensors

*  Assign to each such note, a IP V 6.0 address , linked to its unique note number ( Internet of Things ? )

*  Set up a IT-enabled Technology Platform which will constantly monitor any accumulation of Rs 500 / 1000

    RFID embedded notes in excess of Rs ONE CRORE within an area of ONE square meter ( eg: Bank Locker )

*  Plot the density of these notes in real time across streets / cities / states ( Currency Map of India )

*  Track the bulk movement of high denomination notes across the country ( especially during election times )

All other measures to curb BLACK MONEY / CORRUPTION are only an eye-wash ! May be a lack of Political Will ?

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13  Sept  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs