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, 7 November 2017

#Solarcar #Electriccar

Who  Will  Win  this  Race  ?



Many countries are racing to replace petrol / diesel vehicles with Electric Vehicles


Here are the target dates ( for change-over ) set :

·         UK………………. 2040

·         Scotland…….. 2032

·         France………..  2040

·         Norway……….  2025

·         Austria……….   2025

·         Netherlands.   2030

·         China……….     2030

·         Finland…….     2030

·         India……….      2030


As of now , it seems China is far ahead of the rest and looks like the Winner


But do not be surprised if the race is won by the DUTCH and the GERMAN


Reason ?


Their car manufacturers are asking themselves :


What business are we in ?


Are we into a business for manufacture of :

·         Petrol / Diesel cars  ?

·         Hybrid Fuel Cell cars  ?

·         Electric Cars with big Lithium-ion Batteries  ?


Or ,

·         Cars powered by roof-mounted Solar Panels, needing very small Li-ion batteries and no need for any Battery-Charging stations , on the roads ?


Cars capable of “ Self Charging “ while standing or running under the Sun or capable of recharging ( at night ) from domestic electric outlets ?



No doubt , you have read the story of the “ The Tortoise and The Hare  “  !


To me , the DUTCH and the GERMAN look like the proverbial tortoise !



Their FAMILY SEDANS ( capable of carrying 4-5 persons ) , won the Australian Solar Challenge , solely powered by the roof mounted Solar Panels , needing NO EXTERNAL RE-CHARGING  of their small batteries , along 3000 km route !



No need for any EXTERNAL BATTERY CHARGING STATION , what-so-ever  !








All this is happening while ,


·         our own “ ROAD-MAP for ELECTRIC VEHICLES [ named “ EV Eco-System “ ] is getting ready for the past 2 years !


·         EESL is ordering Battery Charging devices and about to come out with a tender for 5.5 LAKH “ Electric Cars “ ( why not “ Cars with Solar Roof Tops  “ ? )


·         Government and Private Sector Indian Car Manufacturers are rushing headlong to set up TESLA type Giga-Factories to manufacture Li-ion batteries


·         Auto part ( component ) manufacturers are pouring millions of rupees to expand capacity to meet rapidly rising demand / sale of petrol / diesel cars





Is following too difficult to grasp ?



·         Li-ion batteries are imported and cost  Rs 5 lakh for car selling at Rs 10 lakh


·         “ Solar Roof Top Car “ will need a very small Li-ion battery costing Rs 2 lakh


·         That will reduce Solar Car price to 70 % of  equivalent petrol / diesel car !


·         With Solar Roof top cars , no need for Battery Charging Stations where a standard “ Electric Car Battery “ would need 5 hours to re-charge ! This is the biggest resistance for demand for EV






·         If public can buy a Solar Car at 70 % of the price of a petrol car and need no charging station and it costs no more than Re 1 / km to drive , then there will be no need to incentivize , either the Car Manufacturers or the buying public with any subsidy !



·         ISRO has already developed a Roof Top Solar Panel mounted car . I am sure ISRO will be happy to offer this technology for FREE to any Indian party


I do hope that, whenever it gets released,  the “ EV Road Map “ follows this strategy to enable India to win this race !




08  Nov  2011


www.hemenparekh.in / blogs 

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

And here is what " WordPress " Editor said :


Admin liked your post on hcparekh



They thought Give a Chance to ISRO was pretty awesome.
You should go see what they're up to. Maybe you'll like their blog as much as they liked yours!

Monday, 6 November 2017

Artificial Intelligence or Natural Stupidity ?





Do we need to be afraid of AI gone berserk ?


Or , will Natural Stupidity kill us first  ?


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


[ Source : Times of India ( 04 Nov ) ]


In an interview with “ Wired “ magazine , a few days back , World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking said :



“  I fear that AI may replace humans altogether


If people design computer viruses, someone will design AI that improves and replicates itself


This will be a new form of life that outperforms humans



Earlier this year , he called for  technology to be controlled in order to prevent it from destroying the human race and said , humans needed  to find a way to identify potential threats quickly before they had a chance escalate and endanger civilization




[ Source : Eco Times ( 06 Nov )  ]


Turkey's has opened the first human-like robots factory in the central Anatolian province of Konya.


The AkinRobotics Factory, established by AkinSoft software company, has started mass production of humanoid robotics, AkinSoft Board Chairman Ozgur Akin announced at the inauguration ceremony, Xinhua news agency reported.


"Ada GH5, the new generation of human-robots, will be programmed for use at shopping malls, theatres, airports, hospitals, and even at homes," Akin was quoted as saying by state-run Anadolu Agency.


THE ROBOTS ARE ABLE TO PROCESS WHAT THEY HEAR, SPEAK, SMELL AND CAN USE THE INTERNET.


AkinSoft launched robotics laboratories in 2009 and started model production in 2011 after a series of research and development activities.

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[ Source : Subscription E mail from Peter Diamandis  peter@diamandis.com  / 06 Nov ]


Technology will help us define and actualize human freedoms.

The third dangerous idea from my conversation with Ray ( Kurzweil ) is about how technology will enhance our humanity, not detract from it.

You may have heard critics complain that technology is making us less human, and increasingly disconnected.

Ray and I share a slightly different viewpoint: that technology enables us to tap into the very essence of what it means to be human.

“I don’t think humans even have to be biological,” explained Ray. “I think humans are the species that changes who we are.”

Ray argues that this began when humans developed the earliest technologies -- fire and stone tools. These tools gave people new capabilities, and became extensions of our physical bodies.

At its base level, technology is the means by which we change our environment, and change ourselves. This will continue, even as the technologies themselves evolve.

“People say, ‘Well, do I really want to become part machine?’ You're not even going to notice it,” says Ray, “because it's going to be a sensible thing to do at each point.”

Today, we take medicine to fight disease and maintain good health, and would likely consider it irresponsible if someone refused to take a proven, life-saving medicine.

In the future, this will still happen -- except the medicine might have nanobots that can target disease, or will also improve your memory so you can recall things more easily.

And because this new medicine works so well for so many, public perception will change. Eventually, it will become the norm… as ubiquitous as penicillin and ibuprofen are today.

In this way, ingesting nano-robots, uploading your brain to the cloud, and using devices like smart contact lenses can help humans become, well, better at being human.

Ray sums it up: “We are the species that changes who we are, to become smarter and more profound, more beautiful, more creative, more musical, funnier, sexier.”



And , as far as Stephen Hawking’s wish :


“ to find a way to identify potential threats quickly before they had a chance escalate and endanger civilization “ ,



I have sent to him , my following suggestion :


FastForward to Future  [  20  Oct  2016  ]



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

But, instead of ARTIFICIAL INTELIGENCE, destroying the humans in some distant future , what is far more likely is that the human-race will destroy itself by its very own NATURAL STUPIDITY  !


Just look around you and count the number of persons dying prematurely due to :


·         Toxic Chemicals polluting Rivers

·         Coal based Power Plants polluting Air

·         Traffic Noise Polluting environment

·         Lack of Hygiene causing Preventable Diseases

·         Tobacco-induced Cancer

·         Drugs-induced Depressions

·         Global Warming causing Heat-waves / Floods / destruction of Glaciers

·         Plastic waste killing Marine Life


·         Destruction of Mangroves causing Floods

·         Construction / Mining destroying Forests

·         Hunger for Power causing Civil Wars

·         Intolerance causing Militancy / Ethnic Cleansing

·         Wars ( in the name of Religions ?  ) killing millions

·         Alcohol induced fatal Road / Rail Accidents

·         Poverty causing Starvation – Malnutrition ( root of most problems )

·         Indebtedness causing Farmers Suicides



·         Dowry Deaths – Murders – Rapes


This is not a complete list !



And I am not counting deaths due to so-called “ Natural Disasters “ ( more often than not , caused by human folly or greed ! )



Just ask a 2 year old starving child in Yemen – Myanmar – Syria – Libya – Central Africa – India  ( or any place of your choice ) :


“ Are you worried about AI killing you , 10 years from now ? “



She will reply :



“ No !  I am dying right NOW  !




07  Nov  2017


Sunday, 5 November 2017

Integrity Index



Business Line ( 04 Nov ) carries following news report :




“ Vigilance panel to roll out Integrity Index “


The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) expects to roll out the “integrity index” that is being worked out with IIM-Ahmedabad by January next year, on a pilot basis, Chief Vigilance Commissioner KV Chowdary said here today.


Chowdary, said the Commission is suggesting the investigating agencies to use online systems to collect data from banks, Income Tax department and Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), among others.



MEASURE OF EFFICIENCY

“Integrity Index is to measure what kind of robust process each organisation has and how they are implemented. It is a kind of measure of efficiency and also the performance outcome of the organisation vis-a-vis its services.



PERCEPTION INDEX

“It is not corruption index. It is the perception index on how people perceive the organisation. That hopefully we will be able to do some time by December or January,” Chowdary told reporters.


According to him, the index will initially be calculated for 25 organisations, of various categories such as government departments and PSUs and bodies like Medical Council of India and later extended to all other organisations.



“These sources are tapped and one nodal agency in each department is identified to supply data (to the investigating agency),” he said about the new initiatives suggested by the CVC in corruption and disproportionate assets cases.




Dear Shri Chowdaryji :



Congratulations on an overdue initiative !



I believe , following will help you to “ advance “ your efforts :


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

E - Governance?  [  03  April  2014  ]

 

Break-downthe Silos !  [  16  Sept  2017  ]


 

AGENDAFOR REFORMS   [  01  Oct  2015  ]


 

ISIN  > <  U SIN   [  18  Aug  2013  ]


http://www.hemenparekh.in/2013/08/i-sin-sin-that-could-be-name-of-android.html#.WgAOvmiCzcc

 

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

06  Nov  2017

www,hemenparekh.in / blogs

 




#Aadhar-the-Irreversible

An  Electronic  Amalgam  ?



In high-school , we learned that , certain ( not all ) , finely ground metal powders  :


·         When mixed and stirred , form a “ MIXTURE “ , which permits those metals to be “ separated “ by mechanical methods


·         Same powders when thoroughly mixed and heated beyond their melting temperatures , create an “ ALLOY “ , which cannot be separated mechanically



This observation is true of BITS of MATTER



Does it hold good for BYTES of DIGITAL DATA ?



To me , it seems so  !


I am tempted to call this phenomenon ,

ELECTRONIC  AMALGAM  !



Take the case of Aadhar , which is our BIO-METRIC DATA ( captured as BYTES )



Over the past 3 years ( - and especially after De-Monetization ) , Aadhar has been alloyed  inextricably with the following other BYTES of DIGITAL DATA , to form an ELECTRONIC AMALGAM  :


·         130 DBT Schemes

·         Bank Accounts

·         Mobile Wallets

·         Ration Cards

·         Credit-Debit Cards

·         PAN Cards

·         Driving Licenses

·         Income Tax Payments / GST Payments

·         E Commerce Apps

·         Voter ID Cards ( soon ? )

·         Online Purchase of Train ( - and other transport ) services

·         Registration on most web sites / all Messaging Apps / Social Media

·         Passport / Travel Documents

·         Appearing for Online Exams / Tests


·         Altogether firmly linked with ,

#     50 crore SIM cards

#     54 crore Bank Accounts seeded with Aadhar

#     118.64 crore Indians who used it for authentication nearly 1217 crore times

#     19 crore Jan Dhan bank accounts used Aadhar for identification

#     9.54 crore MGNREGA workers have used Aadhar to receive wages in accounts

#     1.48 crore pensioners have linked Aadhar to bank accounts

#     1.36 crore Indians got passport based on Aadhar

#     Due to Aadhar linkage, 11.35 lakh duplicate PAN got detected / deactivated


   
List keeps growing by the day !



Therefore , I am not surprised that 2 days back , Supreme Court refused to grant a stay to petitioners for Aadhar Act legitimacy and  linking with Bank Accounts / Mobile Nos



It referred the matter to the 5 Judge Constitutional Bench , formed for this purpose , which will decide by end November



I would be surprised if that Constitutional Bench were to decide :


·         Aadhar Act is “ Un-Constitutional “ and must be struck down



That would be like discovering some, hitherto unknown method of separation / dis-entanglement / dismembering  / destruction , of  an ELECTRONIC  AMALGAM ,


 - a task of erasing trillions of petabytes of 0s and 1s , from millions of computers from all over the World – remotely and without the permissions of those Computer Owners !


The chaos that is bound to ensue, will make us forget the pains of DEMONETIZATION and GST , combined !



We have many examples of “ Un-implementable Laws 


Striking down Aadhar Act will be an example of “ Un-enforceable Judgement “ !



Such a “ discovery “ would merit a Nobel Prize ( - in “ Virtual Unreality “ category ? )


I have no doubt , the Hon Judges of the Supreme Court have heard about :

The Law of Un-intended Consequences




06  Nov  2017