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, 9 March 2017

World Government ? Let us begin with a World Military



Leading News papers ( 10 March 2017 ) carries following news report :




“ World govt may save humanity from doom


LONDON: The aggressive instincts of humans, coupled with the fast pace of growth in technology may destroy us all by nuclear or biological war, renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking has warned, adding that only a 'world government' may prevent this impending doom.

Despite the problems of mass species extinction, global warming and the threat of artificial intelligence, Hawking remains optimistic about the future of humanity. He said that he looked back on his life with gratitude and towards the years to come with cautious hope.

However, he is worried that humans may not have the skills as a species to stay alive. If humanity is to survive to see the future, then we might need to form a world government, Hawking said.

"We need to be quicker to identify such threats and act before they get out of control. This might mean some form of world government. But that might become a tyranny," said Hawking.

"All this may sound a bit doom-laden but I am an optimist. I think the human race will rise to meet these challenges," he said.

"Since civilisation began, aggression has been useful in as much as it has definite survival advantages," he said. "It is hard-wired into our genes by Darwinian evolution. Now, however, technology has advanced at such a pace that this aggression may destroy us all by nuclear or biological war," he added.

"We need to control this inherited instinct by our logic and reason," Hawking was quoted as saying by 'The Times'. He argued that there were new challenges too - among them environmental problems and his concern that artificial intelligence could supplant humans. Hawking had earlier warned that the creation of powerful artificial intelligence may turn out to be "the worst thing ever to happen to humanity" despite its potential benefits.



This raises the question :

Despite possessing the basic frame work of a “ World Government “ , why has 71 year old United Nations , repeatedly failed to enforce its dozens of “ Resolutions “ in curbing / controlling terrorism , around the World ?

My following earlier blog may provide an answer :




17  Nov  2015

From Inter-Pol to Inter-Mil ?


Over the past 100 years, countries of the World have instituted quite a few organizations to deal with international issues . These include :


*    United Nations ( earlier, League of Nations ) and its various arms

*    World Bank

*    International Monetary Fund  (  IMF  )

*    World Trade Organization  ( WTO - earlier , UNCTAD )

*    International Court of Justice - Hague

*    Atomic Inspection Agency

*    Environment Protection Agency

and ,

*   International Police ( Inter-Pol )


During the past decade, the World is facing another major international threat to civilization


It is " Terrorism "


" Terrorism " is characterized as follows :

*     Distinct from

       #     Internal conflicts / civil wars , within a nation's boundaries

       #     Localized commotions / disobedience / militancy , within a country

       #     Breakdown of " Law and Order " situations , inside a country

       #     Country's citizens trying to overthrow an oppressive dictatorship / 
              military rule

*    Spread across international borders

*    Unrelated to any geographical / territorial disputes between countries

*    Hiding under fundamentalist ideologies that disregard human rights

*    Trying to overthrow democratically elected legitimate popular governments

*    Killing innocent citizens

*    Poisoning the minds of Youth with hatred for certain peace-loving / non-             violent religions or philosophies
      
*    Recruiting children / women as shields against reprisals by legitimate
      authorities

*    Glorifying suicidal attacks while bombing peaceful gathering of people

*    Aided and abated by black money / arms , from sympathizers everywhere


Of course , this is not a comprehensive definition of " Terrorism " , but it is good enough for UN to adopt it right away

And it is high time , UN forms, along the lines of Inter-Pol ,

Inter- Mil  ( International Military )

And lay down clear and unambiguous rules under which :

*   Any country affected by terrorism, can seek intervention / help from Inter-Mil ,

OR

*   UN itself may take suo moto cognizance of such terrorism anywhere in the World

 And

     not only confined to the territory of a Member Country ) , and act on its own
     to press Inter-Mil into service , to eliminate terrorists and their supporters


    SUCH UNILATERAL ACTION ON PART OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL , WILL NOT REQUIRE ANY " INVITATION /
    PERMISSION " FROM COUNTRIES AFFECTED , NOR CAN SUCH SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION BE VETOED


I request the readers to " Like / Share / Re-tweet / Forward " this message to policy-makers / opinion-makers , all over the World


10  March  2017



Wednesday, 8 March 2017

Need for a Relook ?



Economic Times ( 09 March 2017 ) carries following news report :



Centre to Pay Rent for Poor in 100 Cities


The government would launch the new rental housing policy with the rental vouchers for below poverty line ( BPL ) families


Aimed directly at the URBAN POOR and helping the MIGRANT POPULATION, the scheme would involve :


·         Distribution of Rent Vouchers by URBAN LOCAL BODIES


·         The TENANT would give these vouchers to the LANDOWNER


·         In turn, the LANDOWNER would be able to redeem them at any CITIZEN SERVICE BUREAU


·         If the rent is higher than the value of the rent voucher, the tenant would pay the difference in CASH to the landowner


·         The VALUE of the rent voucher would be determined by the URBAN LOCAL BODY ( Municipal Corporation ? ), on the basis of CLASS or SIZE of the dwelling unit and the PREVALENT RENT in the city


A senior official of “ HOUSING AND URBAN POVERTY ALLEVIATION MINISTRY “ told ET :


“ The Rental Voucher Scheme is being looked at as a means to complement the Prime Minister’s Housing for All Scheme “

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Following are the reasons why the proposed scheme needs a relook :


NUMBER OF AGENCIES INVOLVED in IMPLEMENTATION :

·         The Ministry concerned

·         Urban Local Bodies ( Municipal Corporations of 100 Smart Cities )

·         Citizen Service Bureaus ( - also 100 ? )

·         Landowners ( Lakhs ? )

·         Voucher Recipients  ( 35 % of Urban Household who live in rented homes )



    SCOPE FOR CORRUPTION :

     There will be a lot of ambiguity / discretion , ( leading to corruption ) while deciding :


·         CLASS / SIZE of dwelling units ( city area wise )


·         Prevalent Rents ( in each area of each of those 100 cities )


·         Who is “ Below Poverty Line “ ?


·         Who is a “ MIGRANT “ resident – and for how long ? Who will certify ? In a city like Mumbai , some 500 families arrive DAILY from all over India , to make Mumbai , their new home !


·         Who will “ check and certify “ that the claimant ( voucher recipient ) is actually living at the dwelling unit declared ? How much grease money will they demand ?




·         Landowners will simply be unable to “ redeem “ those Rent Vouchers without bribing the concerned persons at the CITIZEN SERVICE BUREAU !


·         Unscrupulous nexus between TENANT and LANDOWNER could give rise to BENAMI users ( those ABOVE official Poverty Line ) – as currently RAMPANT in most houses ( flats ) sold by State Housing Corporations , all over India !



And finally ,


·         WHO will determine ( - and HOW ? ) , that XYZ tenant , who was POOR last year , has come up ABOVE the Poverty Line , this year – and become ineligible ?

Will this ( scheme ) not “ incentivize “ a person to want to continue to remain below Poverty Line , for as long as he can ?



·         Why should the scheme ignore RURAL POOR ?



Dear Shri Venkiah Naidu-ji :


I urge you to take a close  RELOOK  at this scheme , before announcing !


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09  March  2017


www.hemenparekh.in / blogs          

Tuesday, 7 March 2017

A Roof Over Every Head ?



Following are the targets for constructing  “ AFFORDABLE HOUSES “  :
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TARGETS :

#   Maharashtra  /  1.1 Million  /  2015 - 20  /  602 per day

#   Gujarat         /  5  Million   /  2013 - 18   /   2,740 per day

#   Centre         /   20  Million  /  2015 - 22  /  7,827  per day

These targets were set 2 years ago ( 4 years ago in case of Gujarat )

No one knows how many actually got constructed in past 2 years

My guess : Not more than 5 % of the pro-rata targets !

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WHY  ?

·         Lack of political will / Vested interests / Losing scope for bribes   

·         Lack of latest technology

·         Honest officers shying away from taking bold decisions for fear of getting one’s head chopped off by CVC / PAC / CBI / JPC / you name it !

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


WHAT LATEST  TECHNOLOGY ?


Constructing houses using 3 D Printing Technology

In case you missed, DNA ( 07 March 2017 ) carried following news :

“ 3 D  printed house takes a day to build , lasts 175 years “

The structure , which cost just over Rs 6 lakh to construct, was printed using concrete ink at the build site

One of the best recent examples of this is an entire 3 D printed home recently erected in Russia . Local technology company Apis Cor { http://apis-cor.com/ }  printed a 400 sq ft ( 37 sq mt ) home from scratch, using an on-site mobile printer , in just 24 hours

The main components of the house , including the walls and structural foundations, were printed using a concrete mixture. Other pieces like the windows and internal furnishings were added later on, as was a new coat of paint to the exterior of the house

All told, the total construction cost of the house added up to $ 10,134 ( approx. Rs 6,76,550 )

The house features a hallway, bedroom , living room , and kitchen

According to the company, it can last up to 175 years



HOW  TO  GO  ABOUT  ?

Read my following earlier blogs / emails :


·         Building  Castles in  the  Air  ? ( 25  July  2015  )


·         A  Dream House  by  2020  ? (  01  Sept  2015  )


·         A Quantum Jumpof 50 Million Houses ?  ( 13  Feb  2016 )


·         A  3 D printed  Office  ( 27  May  2016  )


·         A  Good Policy :  Devil  is in  details  ( 10  Dec  2016  )


·         Future  Home is  Here  ( 02  March  2017 )


IMPLICATIONS  :

If  targets  have to be met ( even by 2025 ) , there does not seem to be any viable alternative , other than 3D printing of houses


Without doubt , adoption of 3D printing technology is bound to have major implications for the following aspects of our Construction Industry :

·         At Rs 308 billion , it contributes 5 % of our GDP

·         It garners 40 % of India’s “ Development Investment “

·         It employs ( directly + indirectly ) , some 35 million persons ( 16 % of our working population ) – including 23 million persons employed in our Brick Kilns ( which will disappear with the arrival of Concrete Ink )

·         There are 500 companies manufacturing Construction Machinery ( who will need to “ re-invent “ themselves ! )



 NOW  IMAGINE  THIS :

Only a few weeks back , Elon Musk ( Tesla ) , unveiled “ Solar Roof Tiles “ , to replace normal roof tiles on buildings

These tiles incorporate Solar PV cells and will generate enough electricity for the building

No other maintenance required other than occasional wash !

And Tesla’s POWERWALL battery pack will store the electricity produced during the day , for use at night !

I imagine that one day soon , Elon will team up with Apis Cor ( Russia ) and WinSun ( China ) , to make that 3D printer lay down Solar Roof Tiles , automatically ,as the final layer !



08  March  2018








Caterpillar Morphing into Butterfly ?




But then , a caterpillar has no choice !

It is simply ordained – a matter of evolution – a matter of survival !


A case in point :

Hindustan Times ( 08 March 2017 ) carries following news report :

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“ Now , use your Aadhar card to make payments “


The government launched on Tuesday an Aadhaar card-linked payments system that will allow customers to ditch their debit and credit cards and pay using fingerprints.
Aadhaar Pay, a new Android-based smartphone app, will also eliminate the fee charged by private card companies such as MasterCard and Visa. The app is available on Google Play Store.
Merchants must download the app on smartphones connected to a biometric reader. A customer has to enter her Aadhaar number in the app and select a bank for payment. Biometric scans are used as passwords.
This is the government’s latest move to encourage people to go cashless. The app was first announced by finance minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech in February. The government targets 25 billion digital transactions on various new payments platforms in 2017-18.
The government issued one billion Aadhaar cards till April 2016, the latest year for which data is available. At least 400 million of these are linked to bank accounts, and the government hopes to link the rest by the end of this month.
Aadhaar Pay has been developed by IDFC Bank in collaboration with several government organisations, including the agency that controls Aadhar cards.
“Basic banking services will come to those who do not have even basic mobile phones,” he said.
The State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank will launch their merchant platforms for Aadhaar Pay in the coming weeks.
The app has some limitations, though.
It works only where there is internet connection, unlike debit or credit card machines which can work on telephone lines. Plus, the app can’t be used to transfer funds or get immediate information on refunds.



But the metamorphosis will be complete when AEPS ( Aadhar Enabled Payment System ) , enables crores of illiterate rural Indians to effect “ Payment Transactions “ , using just their


·          IRIS ( looking into the camera of the Merchant’s Smartphone )

·          FINGER ( touching the screen of that phone;no separate reader attachment )

·          SPEAKING ( into that phone )



To know how this is inevitable , read my earlier blog / email :


Simplicity– the Ultimate Mobile Wallet ? “ ( 13  Feb  2017  )





ONLY  THIS  WILL  DECIDE  WHICH  MOBILE  WALLET  WILL  SURVIVE  !



08  March  2017