Times Reaffirms

Times of India reaffirms what I wrote some 3 YEARS back

This is what I wrote :

GrowingFaster Than China ?   [  21  June  2015  ]

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2015/06/growing-faster-than-china.html

There is no denying that India has made a lot of progress on the economic front during past 12 months , under structural reforms undertaken by the NDA government

But when Economists and leading Rating Agencies talk of " India's economy is growing at a rate , faster than China's " , some clarifications become necessary

Just look at the following comparison between China and India :

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

Parameter       /        China       /         India

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

Population     /    1.36 billion      /      1.25   billion

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

GDP              /  $ 9.24 Trillion   /     $  1.88  Trillion

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

Life Expectancy  /   75.35 years    /    66.46  years

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

Area            /  9.57 million Sq Km  /   2.97 million Sq Km

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

Per Capita GDP    /    $  6,807     /     $ 1,498 

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

GDP Increase   / @ 7% = $ 647 Billion /  @ 8% = $ 150 Billion 

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

Now , of course , it is entirely possible for India's absolute GDP increase to overtake China's absolute GDP increase , if

>    China's growth-rate keeps declining ( > 6  % >          5     % > 4 % > 3 % .... )

      and ,

>    India's growth-rate keeps accelerating ( > 9 %          > 10 % > 11 % ......... )


Except that you don't have to be an Economist to guess that no such thing will ever happen  !


It is not that I love NDA less

It is just that I love enlightenment more  !

And here is what Times of India wrote on  16  March  2018  :

The China Comparison: It’s foolish to compare apples and oranges

https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/talkingturkey/the-china-comparison-its-foolish-to-compare-apples-and-oranges/ 

17  March  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

Clean Power ? #SolarPower #RooftopSolar

For the moment at least, that is a “ contradiction in terms “

The utility electricity sector in India has one National Grid with an installed capacity of 334.40 GW as on 31 January 2018.

Renewable power plants constituted 32.2% of total installed capacity. Of this , Solar is just about 20 GW – mostly in the form of large land based ( 50 MW + ) installations

So , most of the power that we produce today , is “ dirty / polluting “

Sure , we have set a target to achieve 100 GW of Solar by 2022 – mostly in land based projects

We might even succeed in reaching 40 % of total installed capacity by way of solar by 2022 , by which time , most of the current coal-based power plant would be operating at the PLF ( Plant Load Factor ) of under 50 % and would find it impossible to survive without a massive government subsidy ( meaning , “ more taxes “ for citizens ! )

To totally get rid of dirty coal-based power plants , might take us to 2050

Till that time, there is no getting away from “ dirty power “ – and the associated NPAs of lakhs of crores of rupees ! ( - a perpetual re-capitalization of banks, using tax money ? )

But whether a coal-based power plant or a land based solar plant, both require certain infrastructure for delivering that power to homes / offices  /  factories

To better understand that “ infrastructure “ , look at the full page advt brought out by Ministry of Power in today’s news papers

It reads :

INTEGRATED  POWER  DEVELOPMENT  SCHEME  ( IPDS  )

Providing RELIABLE and  QUALITY power supply to cities

·         So far Rs 28,405 Crore sanctioned

·         Strengthening of DISTRIBUTION NETWORK in over 3600 towns

·         All towns to be IT Enabled for AUTOMATED MEASUREMENT of SYSTEM LOSSES

·         1100 SUBSTATIONS being added

·         1365 additional POWER TRANSFORMERS for Capacity Enhancement

·         55,318 km of HT–LT TRANSMISSION LINES being added to provide quality power

·         72,014 Km of AERIAL / UNDERGROUND CABLES for uninterrupted power supply

Look at the words highlighted in BOLD / RED

If we were to go all out and enable citizens to install ROOF TOP solar plants , then none of those highlighted things would be required !

Each residential building will produce / store and consume its OWN power , without having to depend upon DISCOMS

No need for metering /  transformers / substations / cables / transmission lines !

No need for DISCOM to maintain the infrastructure ! or worry about thefts ! or sign Power Purchase Agreements – and then worry about rescinding !

Now , recognizing that it is just not possible to switch-over to ROOF  TOP  SOLAR , overnight, we must appreciate what the government is doing ( ref : above advt )

But what I fail to understand is :

Why is govt not going all out to encourage ROOF TOP SOLAR ?

I urge the Policy Makers to read :

SolarRoofs ?  Why not ?   [  06  Feb  2018  ]

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2018/02/solar-roofs-why-not.html

For roof top installations , currently govt gives 30 % subsidy

Change this as follows :

#   30 % by way of subsidy

#   70 % by way of interest free loan , repayable over 10 years

Why not save all the funds required for the above-mentioned infrastructure and use for the interest free loans / subsidy for Solar Roof Tops  ?

16  March  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

One to One translation ?

As it happens quite often, when a Management decides to “ go digital / computerize “ existing manual systems , it ends up simply translating existing manual processes and convert these into ZEROes and ONEs  !

No one says :

We may not get another opportunity to simplify and increase the productivity of the process, for another 5 / 10 / 20 years

So why not “ re-think “ the very objective of the current manual process and “ re-design “ it in such a way that it serves many more purposes ?

Can we “ re-design “ it in a manner that it yields far greater “ insights “ into our operations ?

A recent example ( of such “ one-to-one “ thinking ) is the introduction of a biometric attendance system in BMC ( Bombay Municipal Corporation )

A Times of India report

( BMC catches 30K latecomers with new system / 15 March ) ,

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/bmc-catches-30k-latecomers-with-new-system/articleshow/63306964.cms

reads :

The civic administration said resistance to the system was no excuse as they have only made the MANUAL muster ELECTRONIC

Following are other news reports on the same subject :

DNA ( 08 March )

After salary cut, civic body to train staff on biometric system

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-after-salary-cut-civic-body-to-train-staff-on-biometric-system-2591687

DNA  (  22  Sept  2017 )

Thanks to biometric attendance, 1,200 civic staffers face pay cut

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-thanks-to-biometric-attendance-1200-civic-staffers-face-pay-cut-2547492

What can be a “ re-designed “ attendance system ?

In my blog ( From BAD toMAD / 01 June 2016 ) , I had proposed following :

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/06/from-bad-to-mad.html

 

 

*  All smart phones to evolve as Bio-metric Attendance Devices , with built-in

    Bio-metric Recorders , GPS , a mobile attendance App ( called MAD ? )

*  App to have 2 buttons ( Green = IN  /  Red = OUT )

*  Employee to touch IN upon reaching his work-station and touch OUT ,

    while leaving work place , at the end of work-shift . That's all  !

*  Being GPS enabled , buttons will get activated ONLY when the employee

    has reached the work place ( not while he is on his way ! )

 

But imagine if the government could motivate / cajole / coerce, all the establishment in the country to implement  MAD ( Mobile Attendance Device  ) , over a period of next 5 years

If that happens, we would get following “ insights “ into our economy :

*   For employees , no need to file a separate annual Income Tax Return

*   Direct deposit of PF / TDS amounts into bank accounts of Govt Depts

*   Direct Benefit Transfer ( DBT ) to every Employer for Stipend Subsidy ,

     based on number of total trainees / apprentices employed

*   Total number of employees in India ( category / region / industry )

*   Employment Density ( Industry wise / Region wise / Skill wise etc )

*   Net Employment Growth Rate ( weekly - monthly / Industry-wise )

*   Co-relation with no of persons graduating at various levels

*   Data about those Unemployed ( " Graduating " less " Employed " )

*   Overtime Statistics ( Use / Abuse )

*   Work-hour Analysis ( Ave hours / week - month )

*   Wage / Salary Rates ( Rs per hour ) - Industry wise / Region wise

     ( of great interest to Foreign Investors looking to bring down

       manufacturing costs , by outsourcing to India / manufacturing in India )

*   Compliance with labour laws / tax laws / Apprentice Act etc

*   Job Market Forecasts through BIG DATA ANALYTIC ( region / industry )

*   Demographic  Profiles of employees  ( Rural to Urban migration )

*   Per Capita Income Growth for persons using MAD app  ( MOM / YOY )

*   Changing composition between Blue Collar and White Collar employees

Agree , BMC may not have got all of the above-listed “ insights “ , by introducing MAD , but it would have succeeded in convincing the government ( to begin with , Maharashtra Government ) , to extend MAD to other public establishments

It is still , not too late  !

For those with lingering doubts , please look up :

From BAD toMAD  [  01  June  2016  ]

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/06/from-bad-to-mad.html

 

16  March  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs