A Grand Challenge ?

Some 20 days back , PM Shri Modi threw a challenge

[  https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/pm-modi-seeks-tech-ideas-to-break-into-top-50-of-doing-business-ranking/articleshow/66705578.cms  ]

Extract :

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched a grand challenge to further improve India’s position in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking to the top 50 by using cutting-edge technology to reform government processes. 

At a meeting with top industry honchos and policymakers to discuss the ease of doing business ranking, in which India jumped to 77th position this year, Modi sought input based on areas such as

·         Artificial Intelligence,

·         Internet of Things,

·         Big Data Analytics ,  and

·         Block-Chain

to streamline and speed up processes to improve overall business environment in the country. 

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I urge IIMs -  IITs -  ISBs – Institutes offering courses in Transport / Traffic Managements etc to rise to the occasion and develop a technology platform to implement :

Transport : an Integrated Logistic Plan ?

Here is what Prof Tom Davidoff  [ Associate professor - UBC Sauder School of Business  ] wrote to me about my concept outlined above :

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Hemen

Thank you for this note.

What you propose sounds like an integrated Pigouvian approach to transport pricing, which I agree would be great.

Regards,

Tom  [ Davidoff, Thomas thomas.davidoff@sauder.ubc.ca  ]

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In India , when the smart phones have nearly obsoleted the land lines , we are in the process of installing thousands of CCTV cameras on the roads to monitor vehicular traffic

Question :

With our very own NaviC satellite capable of tracking each vehicle on the roads of India , can we not bypass the CCTV technology ?

For that matter , how long before NaviC obsoletes the RADARS at our airport ATC towers to track , not only each plane but thousands of DRONES , in real time ?

If Shri Nitin Gadkariji agrees to giving a grant of ( say ) Rs 10 crores , I am sure one of the Institutes mentioned below , would develop such a platform in 6 months !

But it is also possible that some Professor in one of the institutes may not wait for such a grant and guide this as a “ student project “  !

List of Institutes / Professional Bodies :

nfo@iutindia.org	[  Institute of Urban Transport – India  ]
director.iritm@gmail.com	[  Director – IRTS ]
ctm@irte.com	[  Institute of Road Traffic Education  ]
mobility@itdp.org	[   Institute of Transportation & Development Policy  ]
asianinstitute.del@gmail.com	[  Asian  Institute of  Transport  Development  ]
director@cirtindia.com	[  Central  Institute  of  Road   Transport   ]
director@cirtindia.com	[   Chartered Institute of  Logistic  Transport  ]
irttprincipal@yahoo.com	[  Institute of Road and Transport Technology  ]
info@iilschennai.com	[  Indian Institute of Logistics  ]
jaspal.singh@uitp.org	[  Institute of Transport Economics  ]
academic@nid.edu	[  National   Institute  of  Design  -  Ahmedabad  ]
jeeadv@iitb.ac.in	[  IIT   -  Bombay   ]

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08   Dec  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

3 years to cover 32 Km ?

How many more years ( or Lok Sabha elections ) will it take to cover 3200 Km  ?

CONTEXT :

Ahemedabad based cardiologist Dr Tejas Patel , performed remote angioplasty on a patient from a distance of 32 km , what is claimed to be , “ the World’s first in-human telerobotic coronary intervention “

Sources :

Seated 32 km away, city doctor fixes woman's heart 

BRAVO: Gujarat Doctor Performs World’s 1st Robotic Angioplasty 30 km away from patient ]

WHAT DR PATEL SAID :

“  Today, the patient was 32 km away . Tomorrow , using the same technology , it will be possible for expert hands to operate on patients anywhere in the State, country and World

This has the power to transform coronary interventions in practice and beyond . Surgeons can cater to patients from anywhere if they are at a facility with a cath lab, a robotic arm and a reliable internet connection

Cardiovascular diseases, including stroke , are the number one cause of death worldwide , resulting in nearly 18 million mortalities per year

The application of telerobotics in India has the potential to impact a significant number of lives by providing access to care that may not otherwise have been possible

The success paves the way for large-scale , long-distance telerobotic platforms across the globe “

SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PIONEERING STEP :

The cost of a coronary angioplasty around the world are as follows ( in US $  ) :

Poland   ………………  3,950

India      ……………… 6,523

Spain   ………………   12,312

UAE    ………………    13,027

Israel  ……………….   13,500

Germany  …………… 17,000

Australia  ……………  22,000

UK  …………………..   25,000

USA   ………………..   30,000

[ source : https://www.medigo.com/blog/medigo-guides/coronary-angioplasty-cost-guide/ ]

FAST BACKWARD TO  09  SEPT  2015 :

In my email to Cabinet Ministers , here is what I wrote :

We depend upon you to bring the jobs to India - jobs such as ,

  *   Operating Machinery in Factories abroad

  *   Controlling Air Traffic at Airports around the World

  *   Operating upon patients in Hospitals , all over the World

  *   Teaching students in Schools , in remote Africa

  *   Any job that currently requires immediate presence of a worker

[ source : " BACK FACTORY " OF THE WORLD ?  ]

NEEDED  :  A  RELIABLE INTERNET CONNECTION

GSAT-11 is expected to bring far greater speeds (16 Gbps of it, no less) to meet the growing data demands of Indian telecom subscribers. It is also expected to bridge the communication gap between the country's urban and rural population. Large parts of rural areas still remain untouched by the scope of commercial telecom today — something GSAT-11 is designed to address.

Under Digital India's BharatNet project, GSAT-11 will boost access to voice and video streaming in most, if not all, of rural India, ISRO said.

“With India moving fast towards implementing ‘Smart Villages and Cities’, they can be efficiently linked through a large communication satellite,” K Sivan, chairman of ISRO, said in a curtain raiser.

WHAT IS HOLDING BACK INDIA FROM BECOMING “ BACK FACTORY TO THE WORLD “  ?

Could it be that BJP is waiting to get 400 + seats in Lok Sabha in 2019 elections , in order to usher this REFORM that can catapult India to a $ 5 TRILLION economy by 2022 ?

If so , we must provide BJP with such an absolute majority ( both , in Lok Sabha and in Rajya Sabha ) that this reform gets approved in ONE DAY

  

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07  Dec  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

Pandora’s Box ?

Wikipedia defines it as follows :

In modern times an idiom has grown from it , meaning

·          “  Any source of great and unexpected troubles  ",^[2]   ,  or alternatively

·          "  A present which seems valuable but which in reality is a curse  "

Could Maharashtra Chief Minister, Shri Devendra Fadnavis have opened a Pandora’s Box by granting reservation quota of 16 % to the Maratha community ?

Could he have, possibly NOT EXPECTED the following  ?

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Maharashtra: Stand for Maratha reservation creates domino effect 

The state government's decision to grant reservations to Marathas has led to a domino effect. Similar demands have been made by other social groups like Brahmins, Dhangars, Banjaras, Bhoi, Ramoshis, Wadars seeking fresh categorisation as backwards or a change in their category

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Citing Marathas, Hardik Patel revives Patidar quota demand, corners Congress, BJP  

 

Patidar OBC quota stir leader Hardik Patel on Wednesday put the ball in the court of the opposition Congress to introduce a private member’s bill seeking reservations in the Gujarat assembly in the wake of the reservation granted to Maratha community in Maharashtra.

 “If the BJP in Maharashtra can grant reservations to Marathas through a bill, why can’t the same can be done by the same party in Gujarat? And like the Shiv Sena and the NCP supported the bill in Maharashtra, the BJP and Congress too should support each other over a similar bill for Gujarat,” Patel said.

.

Both Dhanani and Patel said Gujarat should follow the example of the Maharashtra bill, which was based on a survey of non-reserved classes conducted by a backward class commission. Both the leaders also maintained that not just the Patidars, but all non-reserved communities should be included in the same.

For the first time in over two decades, the agitation left the BJP unsure about unflinching support of influential Patidar community, which comprise 12% of the six million population of Gujarat.

And with demand of private member bill from the Congress, just before the 2019 Lok Sabha election he has been trying to hit both the Congress and the BJP with one stone.

“If the Congress has love for us, it will support our demand. And, if the BJP will not support the Congress’s bill, it will make their intention clear,” Patel said.

After leading agitations which were frowned upon because of their violent nature, Hardik Patel’s latest argument based on the Maratha quotas in Maharashtra, is being seen as legal and legitimate.

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And today’s Hindustan Times carries following headline :

“  86 % Marathas literate, how can they be educationally backward ?

16 % QUOTA  /  OBC groups term findings in ATR , bill contradictory and unrealistic

Pleas against quota to be heard on Monday  “

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And , I am sure , none of the persons / parties mentioned in these news , have read :

Divide Quota ? To rule Raj ? 

Imagine the

·         great and unexpected troubles 

·         A present which is a curse  ,

when they get to read that  !

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06  Dec  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

Divide Quota ? To rule Raj ?

Yesterday , Maharashtra Assembly passed ( unanimously ) a bill providing a quota of 16 % to the MARATHA community

Under a new category called , “  Socially Backwards “

That raised the total of quotas to 68 % ( including earlier 52 % okayed by the Supreme Court )

Not content with the “ Vote Gathering Impact “ of this “ Reform “ , Shri Fadnavis said :

Open to quota for backward Muslims: Devendra Fadnavis     

After Marathas, Brahmins in Maharashtra seek reservation

What with 2019 elections looming large , it is only a matter of time before,

#   Gujarat tries to be one-up and grants 20 % quota to the PATIDARs

#   Haryana betters Gujarat by allotting 25 % quota to the JATs

If the States can compete with each other for improving their respective ranks on “ Ease of doing Business “ , then why not let them compete on “ Please of getting Votes “ ?

Of course , that would mean that soon , we would have BACKWARD communities cornering 100 % quotas – leaving nothing for FORWARD communities  !

To overcome this “ Tyranny of Arithmetic “ , I suggest following “ Skullduggery of Social Statistics “

Let us introduce a NEW category with another 100 % quotas for “ FORWARD COMMUNITIES “ , under which to allot :

·         15 %  to  “  Socially Forward “ communities of   Parsis and Punjabis

·         15 %  to  “  Economically Forward “ communities of Marwaris and Gujaratis

·         15 %  to  “  Educationally Forward  “ communities of Marathis and Keralites

·         15 %  to  “  Culturally Forward “ communities of Bengalis and Biharis

·         15 %  to  “  Religiously  Forward “ communities of  Ayodhyawasis and Babri-Niwasis

·         25 %  to  “  Politically  Forward “  communities of  Kashmiris and Naxalites

Now , my above suggestion on  % age  distribution of quotas among “ FORWARD COMMUNITIES  “ category , must not make those lose hearts who are still uncovered !

Being the world-class experts at “ SOCIALLY DIVISIVE NOMENCLATURES “ , we have invented terminologies such as :

#    UMG  [ Upper  Middle  Class ]

#    LMG   [ Lower  Middle  Class ]

#    HNI  [  High Net Worth Individuals , aka “ Stinking Rich “  ]

#    BPL  [  Below Poverty Line  ]

#    EWS  [  Economically Weaker Sections  ]

#    MIG  [  Middle Income Group  ]

#    LIG   [  Low Income Group  ]

#    Creamy  Layer  …………. Etc

Given the political ingenuity of our Netas , I am certain that they will figure out dozens of methods to circumvent the Supreme Court dictate and succeed in ( may be ) granting 20 – 25 % reservation quota to any minority / majority group , bold enough to ask for it !

Why can’t we have 1600 % quotas to satisfy everyone ?

After all , it was we Indians who invented the concept of ZERO  !

So , let us add as many ZEROs as we want  !

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03  Dec  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

Congratulations , Shri Ramesh Abhishekji

Congratulations , Shri Ramesh Abhishekji 

[ Secretary – DIPP  /  secy-ipp@nic.in  ]

Reason ?

For declaring that :

“  We have to be competitive. For this, we need to upgrade our technology, LOWER COSTS , improve LOGISTICS and SKILL our labour

The industrial policy will bring all things together and will come out with recommendations on what needs to be done.”

[ source : Govt aims to ease biggest hurdle for factories with new policy  ]   

As you observed rightly , to be able to compete with hundred plus countries of the World in the export market , we must make India , a LOW  COST  ECONOMY

And , as others catch up with us , make it a LOWER COST  !

With regard to the specific measures that the Government need to incorporate in its ( about to be released ) , INDUSTRY POLICY , I urge you to consider various suggestions which I have emailed to you over the past 2 / 3 years

For your ready reference , these are listed at :

Foundation of Economy                        [  03  Nov  2018  ] 

And , as far as lowering the cost of LOGISTICS ( from current 14 % of GDP to world average of 8 % of GDP ) , I urge you to consider my suggestions at :

Transport : an Integrated Logistic Plan ?

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01   Dec  2018

       www.hemenparekh.in / blogs