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

Tuesday, 12 September 2017

Gadkariji is Angry



Gadkariji ,  what makes you so angry  ?



Media is full of reports of what you said to industry executives at the annual convention of SIAM , a few days back :


“ I am not going to ask you . I will bulldoze it , - Petrol-diesel banana walo ka band baajaa bajaanaa hai “


I am an ardent admire of your politeness / determination / perseverance , but this display of anger , even took me by surprise !


Could it be something about our Auto Industry that only you know – and we don’t ?


Or , could it be your frustration with the many layers of government bureaucracy , which has not allowed you to release that eagerly awaited “ Road-Map for switch-over to the Electric Transport by 2030 “ ?


Or , could it be that your frustration relates to the speed with which China is going about this matter , as per following report in Economic Times ( 11 sept ) :


#    China would gradually withdraw financial subsidies for fossil-fuel based auto sector


#    Under the latest proposal , 8 % 0f automakers’ sales would have to be battery electric or plug-in hybrid models by next year


#    This has to rise to 10 % in 2019 and 12 % in 2020 , but the rules would not be enforced until 2019, a year later than initially planned


#    It has set goals for electric and plug-in hybrid cars to make up at least a fifth of auto sales by 2025


#    China’s auto market , the World’s largest, grew to 28 million vehicles in 2016 and will likely climb 5 % in 2017 to 29.4 million vehicles


    

Even though you are an impatient man ( - a very desirable virtue for a Minister ) , I hope that this cabinet note , when it gets approved , fully addresses the following complex issues :

================================

A  ….. Time Frame for Change-Over

        {  Chinese are implementing what I suggested in my email of 27 March 2016  }

==============================


  B……   Disposal of existing petrol / diesel vehicles


               My 15 month old suggestion at :

              Retiring  Old Vehicles  :  Gadkari Style  [  30  May  2016  ]


==============================================


C……   Infrastructure of Charging Stations , all over

          the country


          {  Not required  ?  Yes please , if you will
              just give ISRO a chance !  }


================================




D……   Financing of E-cars


================================



E……   Incentives for E-Car Manufacturers / Car                 Buyers


================================



F……   General / Global Incentives


================================


In my following blog ( sent as email to NDA Ministers 17 months ago ) , I have made some very specific suggestions on the above-mentioned issues, which , I hope , will find a place in your Cabinet note :


PIYUSH  PLAN  [  27  March  2016  ]



  

It seems the Chinese found time to read my blog and adopted most of my suggestions in their PLAN , with minor changes ! May be they also read ,


An  Electric Future  ?  [  17  Aug  2017  ]




================================================




Then there are following other issues, which too need to be addressed sharply in that Road Map . My own suggested solutions in respect of these , has been emailed to you earlier :
=================================

PROBLEM …….

Hybrid  or  Full  Electric  ?



SOLUTION ……..

Nota Straight Forward Answer [ 03  March  2017  ]


 

Wasted  Grains  [ 09  Sept  2011  ]



=================================

PROBLEM

Employment ( especially 1.5 million jobs in MSME component manufacturers )


SOLUTION…..

What  will Drivers  do  ?  [  30  Sept  2016  ]


 

A  Union of  Vehicle  Owners ?  [  03  Aug  2017  ]







=================================

PROBLEM…… 

Clean Power for Charging Stations (not simply transferring pollution to fossil fuel plants )



SOLUTION

Not  a Day  too  Soon  [  09  March  2017  ]

  


Coal  Story : Missing  Points  [  17  April  2017  ]




=================================

PROBLEM……

Li-ion Battery / Power Train /  Internet-Connected Vehicles /  BS 3-4-6 progression
Technology Licensing  /  Local  Manufacture  /  Phased Manufacturing Program



SOLUTION……

ELON;  hesitation can hurt  [  03  July  2017  ]


  

Is  it NOW  or  NEVER ?  [ 23  June  2017  ]


 

Enable  Elon to  Catalyse  [  15  June  2017  ]


  

The  Missing Link  [  05  June  2017  ]


 

Time  to get  Charged – Up  ?  [  27  May  2017  ]


     

From  Elon to  ION  [  11  May  2017  ]


 
 
Not  Tough at  all  !  [ 08  May  2017  ]


 



 



 

More  than one  Solution  [  28  April  2017  ]



BEST  out of a BAD  Bargain  [  29  March  2017  ]



Shri  Raoteji has  a  vision  [  23  March  2017  ]



Internet  of Vehicles ( IoV  )   [  04  March  2017  ]


  

Welcome  , Elon  Musk  !  [  10  Feb  2017  ]


  

A  Living Room  on the  Go  ?  [  17  June  2017   ]


 

Will  TESLA follow  Apple  ?   [  23  May  2017  ]


 

Look  before you  leap  [  22  May  2017  ]




Piyush  Goyal is  a  Visionary  [  19  March  2017  ]


================================================

 PROBLEM …….

 Public Transport / Ride Share Taxies / Two-wheeler Taxies



SOLUTION…..


A  Rickshaw by  Any Other  Name  [ 20  Aug  2016  ]


  

Cheaper  to call a  Cab  ?  [  14  Aug  2017  ]


 

Remembering  King Canute  [  17  July  2017  ]


  

UrbanTransport Policy  [  09  June  2017  ]


  

Nameof the Game : Co-operation [ 23  Sept  2016  ]


 

Best  getting Better  ?  [ 20  Aug  2017  ]




Revolutionizing  Transport ?  [  14  July  2017  ]


  

Kaali-  Peeli  : Wake  Up   [  03  Oct  2016  ]


    

Tablets  in Taxies  ?  [  16  May  2016  ]




=================================

PROBLEM ……

Insufficient  Parking  Spaces on Public Roads



SOLUTION ……

Who  says Impossible  ?  [  31  May  2017  ]


   




 

A  Knee-jerk Approach  ?  [  22  Dec  2016  ]


   

Leveraging  NaviC   [ 30  May  2017  ]




=================================

PROBLEM…….

Discouraging Car Ownership / Encouraging Car Leasing



SOLUTION…….

EESL:  Lease cars , do not Buy  [ 16  Aug  2017  ]




Whydon’t they park in their flats ?  [  01  Sept  2017  ]


  

OneCar per  Family  ?  [  27  Sept  2016  ]




=================================

PROBLEM…….

Bicycles to replace Cars 



SOLUTION…….

ASensible Solution [  03  Sept  2017  ]

A Radical Radial Revolution !  [  18  Aug  2016  ]


https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/08/a-radical-radial-revolution.html



 





PROBLEM……

Making  Cars , Smart / Safe / Social (  Opportunity of a life-time , riding on E Cars  !  )



SOLUTION…..

SmartCars , Safe Cars , Social Cars ?  [  31  Aug  2017  ]





Dear Gadkariji :


I am sure you must have received similar suggestions from many others , including from members of SIAM / ACMA


You might have even incorporated some of these in your proposed “ ROAD MAP


But , just like De-Monetization / GST , and River  Inter-linking , what you have proposed for switch-over to E – Vehicles , is simply UN-PRECEDENTED  !



It is quite possible that your  “ Out of Box “ thinking , will , even get ridiculed by those whose approach is similar to Ostrich hiding its face in the sand to ride out the storm !


Hence , I urge you to display the same pragmatism / realism, which NDA government showed in DeMo / GST roll out and , based on feedback received from the Auto Industry over the next few months , carry out the necessary COURSE  CORRECTION and keep modifying that ROAD MAP



I have no doubt , members of SIAM / ACMA will not hold back their feedback





13  Sept  2017







    

Friday, 8 September 2017

Good : But not Great !



Economic Times ( 08 Sept ) carries a report titled :




“ Rail Minister Goyal Reviews Safety Issues “



Minister issued following directions to the officials :


·         Remove all 4,000 unmanned railway level crossings within a year


·         Stop manufacture of unsafe ICF coaches and instead go for safer LHB coaches


·         All track replacements should be given priority and the rails earmarked for constructing new lines should be diverted to stretches which are prone to accidents and where replacement is due


·         Expedite the procurement of new rails on a large scale


·         Install anti-fog LED lights in locomotives





Without doubt these measures will improve the railway’s safety record


But , far from enough !


To save 15,000 lives every year , I urge Shri Goyal to challenge our scientists to implement my following suggestion :






ACase of Misplaced Priority ? 

 

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-case-of-misplaced-priority.html

 

 

A Prabhu– on – Earth ? 

 

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/08/a-prabhu-on-earth.html

 

 

08  Sept  2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

 






Tuesday, 5 September 2017

BHIM : the Omnipresent ?



Business Line ( 05 Sept ) carries a news report titled :




“  Soon , you could be paying taxes via your smartphone “



Centre to facilitate payment of levies through UPI , digital wallet , net banking


The Central Board of Direct Taxes is working on a new app and portal called “ My Pay “ that would facilitate managing all tax-related issues as well as payments through options apart from credit and debit cards and internet banking





Indeed , this is THE way to go !



But , why not enable paying GST , simply by making mobile wallet payments ( small transactions for “ across – the – counter “ day to day purchases ) , voice activated , as described in BHIM V 4.0 at :



BHIM : theUnstoppable [  14  April  2017  ]





06  Sept  2017



Monday, 4 September 2017

Clash of RTI vs RTP



RTI   =   ( Citizen’s ) Right  to  Information

RTP  =    ( Government’s ) Right to Privacy



Yesterday , PM Shri Modiji reshuffled his cabinet  by :


·         inducting 9 new faces ( considered to have “ potential for performance “ )


·         getting rid of 7 old faces ( considered to have “ poor performance “ )


·         promoting 4 old faces ( appraised as having “ good performance “ )


·         laterally transferred Suresh Prabhu ( believed to have suffered “ bad luck “ )



Understandably , we will never get to see their “ Score Cards “ ( Privacy ? )




But here is my guess as to how these ministers got their performance evaluated


Possibly , Shri Modiji fixed for them SPECIFIC  MEASURABLE  ACHIEMENT  TARGETS , at the beginning of their tenures , as suggested in my following blog ( sent as email on 06 DEC  2014 ) , and got some outside / impartial THIRD PARTY to evaluate their ACTUAL ACHIEVEMENTS :




06  Dec  2014

BUDGETING     BY    OBJECTIVES


Dear Shri Jaitley ,


Come Feb 2015 and you will present your Budget in Lok Sabha


You will allocate thousands of crores of rupees to different ministries , for spending during 2015-16


You may even increase / decrease their allocations based on , to what extent ( % ) did they manage to actually " spend " their current year's allocations


The one and only emphasis is on " spending " !


As usual , no MP will ask :


"  But , what exactly did the Minister concerned achieve by spending this money  ?


What physical / measureable targets did the Minister succeed in reaching / exceeding , with that money  ?  Where / What are the  OUTPUTS  ?


Why is it that no targets were set in advance, before the start of the year ?


How come , Minister was allowed to shoot first and then draw concentric circles around the hole afterwards ( at the end of the year ) , to claim BULL'S EYE  ?  "


In private sector , shareholders / bankers do not hesitate to sack the CMD / MD / CEO , if he fails to deliver on promised profit


Then , why are Ministers allowed to retain their posts ( - or even get kicked upstairs ! ), despite failing to deliver  ?



Dear Shri Jaitley :


MPs should know that YOU cannot answer these questions , simply because , at the time of the Budget Exercise , no physical OUTPUTS  got fixed for each Minister


What did get fixed , were only EXPENDITURE TARGETS  !


Simply because MPs passed the Budget without fixing targets such as following for 31 March 2015 :

=================================


*  Finance Minister

   #   GDP ..... 6 % ............ [ 10 % improvement  ]

   #   CAD.......( -  ) 5 % .....[  20 % improvement ]

=================================

*  Commerce Minister

   #   Exports........ $ 350 Billion  ....  [ 10 % improvement   ]

   #   FDI..............$    50 Billion...... [  20 % improvement  ]

=================================

*   Railway Minister

    #   Lengths of Tracks...... 125,000 Km.....      [  Up by 10 %  ]

    #   No of Passenger Trains / day..... 10,000... [ Up by 10 %   ]

=================================

*   Health Minister

   #   Chronic Hunger and Hunger Related Deaths
         8 Million / year .................................... [  Down by 20 %  ]

   #   Under-nourished people..... 200 million..... [ Down by 10 %  ]

=================================

*   Social Welfare Minister

    #    Dowery Deaths / year....... 8,000...... ......[  Down by 10 %  ]

    #    People without Toilets........ 500 Million....  [ Down by  20 % ]

=================================

*   Agriculture Minister

    #    Farmers Suicide/ year..... .. 14,000...............  [ Down by 20 %  ]

    #    Food Grain rotting / year..... 5 Million tons.....  [ Down by 20 %   ]

=================================

So on and so forth for each Minister



Some caution / suggestions :


*    Ignore the numbers given above. I could be factually wrong


*    Focus on the concept of " Management by Objectives "


*    Overcome the fear of " failure to meet the targets ".


*    Overcome the fear of " being ridiculed " !


*    Don't chop off the neck that dares to stick out  !


*    Only failure is , not fixing the targets  !


*    Actual vs Targeted achievements must be measured , on an on-going
      basis , by totally independent THIRD PARTY agencies



      Ministers / Finance Minister and these Agencies , must agree in
      advance , how the agencies will go about " measuring " the Actual
      Achievements

     

      The method of measurement must be transparent and well publicized
      in advance


      Agencies shall have no role in fixing of Annual Targets


      That is best done by the PRIME MINISTER - the CEO , MakeInIndia



*    There must be at least 10 performance parameters for each Minister



*    Parameters themselves could be selected / prioritized , based on an
      ONLINE PUBLIC SURVEY / OPINION POLL , from Govt web site


*    If conducting such an ONLINE POLL for the forthcoming budget is
      too late , same could be done on a printed form , by current MPs /
      MLAs / Rajya Sabha Members


*    Results of the SURVEY / POLL , must be published


==================================================================





There is no way to find out whether PM had actually set for his ministers , any


QUANTIFIABLE  TARGETS or not



But the citizens have only themselves to blame for failing to come out with a , citizen’s


   CHARTER  OF  DEMANDS  [  COD  ] ,


clearly laying down TARGETS  expected to be achieved by each and every Minister , till 2019 elections



Now , don’t expect political parties in OPPOSITION to frame such a COD



They are still hoping (against hope ? ) – to come back into power in 2019 , and do not want to say / do , any foolish things to come back to haunt them !



It is the duty of organizations such as CII – FICCI – ASSOCHAM – ADR ( Association for Democratic Reforms ) , and various THINK TANKS , to initiate this process







05  Sept  2017