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

Wednesday, 30 January 2019

Congratulations , Shri GopuKumarji




Following is the email that I just sent to Shri GopuKumarji ( CECRI )


 –  with copies to Cabinet Ministers / NITI Aayog / PM-EAC / PM-STIAC etc

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


Dear Shri GopuKumarji,


Just came across the following news report in today’s Business Line :

Govt-owned electrochemical lab cracks sodium-ion cell tech  

 

It reads :

 

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

 

CECRI…..will be ready to license technology for the mass production of Sodium Ion cells, if things go as planned .

 

The production could be a  big pep to Electric mobility because sodium-ion batteries cost a tenth of the conventional lithium ion batteries

 

 

Sodium, available in abundance in sea water, has long been a preferred option, but the metal is also tricky to handle due to its reactive nature.

 

 

The difficulty has not deterred scientists at CECRI from trying, who have already developed the technology for making lithium-ion cells and have offered to it to the industry.

 

 

 

Congratulations to your entire team on this “ game changing “ breakthrough – especially considering that ,

 

#  India has no deposits of Lithium and must spend heavily to import it from Bolivia-China etc

 

#  Extracting Sodium from our abundant supply of sea water is not an issue

 

 

 

I take the liberty to endorse this email to our :

 

 

Cabinet Ministers

 

NITI  aayog

 

Members of PM’s Economic Advisory Council

 

Members of PM’s Scientific , Technology and Innovation Council

 

Trade Associations ……..etc

 

 

I urge the Central Government to take the following steps URGENTLY :

 

 

#   Without waiting for the next Republic Day , announce award of Bharat Ratna to CECRI team

 

 

#   Authorize CECRI to transfer this technology , FREE of any cost , to companies ( Foreign or Indian ) which set up

     manufacturing  plants ( under a SPV , exclusively for this purpose  ) in India . These licensees shall be

     prohibited from transferring this technology to any other Company anywhere

 

 

#   No GST on Sodium-ion cells produced by these licensees , nor payment of any Corporate Income Tax for 10 years

     for these Licensees

 

     If for any reason , it is not possible to exempt the entire income from Corporate Income tax , then , at

     least the income derived from exports of sodium-ion cells , should be exempted

 

 

I appreciate that it is too late to incorporate these announcements in tomorrow’s Union Budget


But , nothing stops the Government to make these announcements NEXT WEEK – or at least before the Election Code of Conduct kicks in by next month !


With regards – and admiration ,


Hemen  Parekh

From: Hemen Parekh [mailto:hcp@recruitguru.com]

Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2018 6:14 PM


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


Subject: RE: Lithium - Ion Cells

Dear Shri GopuKumarji,


Following might be of interest to you

Regards,

Hemen

These fragile, futuristic batteries run longer with a little oil

A new design could help solve a problem that has long troubled aluminum-air power cells





Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2018 2:57 PM


To: Hemen Parekh


Subject: Re: Lithium - Ion Cells


Dear Mr Parekh,

      Thanks for your mail and I am to say that at present CECRI does not work on Al/air. However, we did this work in 1985 to 1995 and gave up due to various reasons. 

       I have also seen the PHINERGY news and also the video and looks interesting.


Best Regards




On 08/28/18 11:19 AM, Hemen Parekh <hcp@recruitguru.com> wrote:




Dear Shri Gopukumarji,


I read with interest following news report :




Where you say :

If mass-produced, cells made with CECRI’s technology can be sold cheaper than those imported from China


Article also talks about development efforts going on , in respect of :


Sodium-ion cells

Lithium-Air , Lithium Titanium Oxide and Sodium Air , cells


In this context , no doubt , you might be aware that Ashok Leyland has tied up with an Israeli Company , PHINERGY , for development of Metal Air battery made of Aluminium


Is CERCI working on this ?


In this context , you might want to look up :

EV juice from Alu-Air Battery ?  [  16  Jan  2018  ]

Ashok Leyland is not waiting !  [  17  Jan  2018  ]     

Holy Grail for Electric Vehicles  [  17  Feb  2018  ]

Ashok Leyland : On the double  [  01  April  2018  ] 

 

With regards,


Hemen  Parekh  /  Mumbai




--
Prof.Dr. S.Gopukumar


Senior Principal Scientist & Professor (AcSIR),


National Coordinator- Innovative Solutions for Solar Energy Research (TAPSUN),


Electro-Chemical Energy Systems Division,


CSIR -Central Electro-Chemical Research Institute,


Karaikudi - 630 006, TamilNadu, India


Tel : +91-4565-241424
Mobile : +91-9443135901


=====================================
31  Jan  2019
Rsvp :  hcp@RecruitGuru.com


Tuesday, 29 January 2019

Innovation Nation ?




A few days back , I blogged :


Weave  a  Wondrous  Web  [ W3 ]      ( 20 Jan  2019 )




Then saw following news report in today’s Economic Times :




Extract :

Government Norm re Exclusivity :

The norms specify that any e-commerce marketplace entity will not MANDATE any seller to sell any product exclusively on its platform


Marketplace Innovation :

·          ……….while they can’t mandate exclusivity , the brands can still be exclusive to them as they are free to adopt their channel and sales strategy


·          A rewording of the pacts that the companies have entered into with the marketplaces or the sellers would be required to make it clear the brands are exclusive to the platform as part of their sales strategy and the market place has no role in it


·          As part of this, Flipkart has already replaced the phrase ( #Only on Flipkart  ) for the exclusive brands or products prominently displayed on its marketplace with ( # Just Here )


·          Amazon, too , has started to downplay the “ Amazon Exclusive “ tag displayed for the exclusive brands or models on its marketplace


·          All these changes are to ensure the onus of exclusivity lies on the brand rather than the marketplace



Government Norm re Inventory :


Inventory of a vendor will be deemed to be controlled by e-commerce marketplace entity if more than 25 % of purchases of such vendor are from the marketplace entity or its group companies


Marketplace  Innovation :

·          An executive said Flipkart has informed exclusive partners that it will appoint multiple sellers for these brands instead of one, as is done now, to comply with the 25 % clause . Flipkart executives will also distance themselves from the planning of sales strategy for these brands


·          Amazon has already started such a process where it distances itself from any sales promotion planning of the brands . All such activities are now done by the seller team

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


As Americans would say :    You ain’t seen nothing so far 


In my above-mentioned blog ( sent as email to Cabinet Ministers – NITI Aayog – DIPP etc ) , I wrote :

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

It is simply impossible to structure a “ E Commerce  Policy “ which can address 39.92 million permutations / combinations of all the variables of E Commerce “ Business Structures “ and “ Business Processes “  !


So , how will the E Commerce game  get played out  ?


I imagined one possible “ permutation “ as follows :


             *        Holding Company  and  Subsidiary company Reliance Retail Ltd ( RRL )


·            A “ Cooperative “ of 4 million Kirana Shops ( ala AMUL ) – KIRIL



·            Cooperative holding “ non-transferable / non-voting “ shares in RRL


·            Holding Company giving loans to Kirana Shops to buy shares of KIRIL



·            Manufacturers of Consumer Goods launching “ E Com Platform 


·            4 million Kirana shops listing their inventory on this “ E Com Platform “



And here are some “ legit “ ways to overcome those hurdles placed by DIPP :



·         Instead of E Com platforms offering discounts , Banks / Credit Card Companies / Mobile Wallet companies etc to offer “ Discounts “


·         Logistics / Delivery companies to offer “ FREE DELIVERY 


·         Manufacturers to make “ Exchange Offers 


·         Instead of calling it “ Cash Back “ , just say “ 50 % off “ or “ Today’s Price 



I choose to envision the following :


·         “ E Commerce is as elusive as an molecule of Air “ , that travels freely around the Earth – and unstoppable by national boundaries or un-implementable laws ?

Neither its Origin , nor its Destination will be apparent !



·         Someday soon , everything will be displayed and sold “ Online “



·         The only sensible ways is to treat “ E Commerce “ as a “ Traditional Commerce without bothering to define its “Business Structures” and “ Business Processes” ?



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


But then world over , government officers are :


·          Trained to “ re-act “ to a situation rather than address it “ pro-actively “


·          Punished if a “ bold / out-of-the-box / honest “ decision proves wrong in hindsight !


Given this background, technological and business innovations of E Commerce platforms ( Foreign or Domestic ) , will keep 2 steps ahead of the government regulations !


References :
3 Laws of E - Commerce        [  04  Dec  2017  ]

Mukesh has the last laugh !    [  31  Dec  2018  ]



=====================================================================
30  Jan  2019

Rsvp :  hcp@RecruitGuru.com

Sunday, 27 January 2019

Gadkariji : did I hear you right ?





Today’s DNA carries following news report :





Extract :
"There is another specialty about these aspirations. People like leaders who show dreams, but if these aspirations are not fulfilled, then the people teach them a lesson ( janata uski pitai karti hai ).

Hence, only show dreams that can be fulfilled," said Gadkari, in what is being interpreted as a slant remark aimed at PM Modi.
==================================================
Dear Shri Gadkariji,

Coming from you ( - a stalwart of BJP and its one time President ) , this statement is welcome
All the more , since you were a member of the BJP’s Manifesto drafting committee in 2014 , which incorporated following promises :
==================================================================

*  
Elimination of  Black Money  

   
*  Special Courts to stop Hoarding / Black-Marketing


*  Set-up a Price-Stabilization Fund


*  Develop Labour-intensive Manufacturing   


*  Empowering Youth for Self-Employment   


*  Transforming Employment Exchanges to Career Centers


*  Eliminating Corruption thru E-Governance   


*  Rationalization / Simplification of Tax-Regime  


*  Insulate Intelligence Agencies from political intervention   


*  Strengthening Physical Infrastructure  


*  Expediting work on Freight and Industrial Corridors


*  Setting up Gas-Grids  


*  Optical Fiber Network up to the village level

   
*  Quadrilateral project for Bullet Trains       


*  Establishment of National  " E - Library "     


*  Implementation of National Education Policy


*  Evolving further the PPP model to PPPP model  


*  Building 100 Mega-Cities
  
=================================================================

Then of course, I am sure that you are aware of what the Election Commission has said in the past , viz :

On 22 Feb 2014 , following Supreme Court directives , the Election Commission , revised , " Model Code of Conduct " , containing guidelines on what kind of poll promises , political parties can incorporate in their poll manifestos

GUIDELINES

*   Parties shall make only those promises which are possible to be fulfilled



*   It is expected that manifestos also reflect the rationale for the promises
     and broadly indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirements for it



*   Party in power shall stop advertizing for publicity of achievements


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



Also allow me to quote the Supreme Court directive :



However, political parties should avoid making those promises which are likely to vitiate the purity of the election process or exert undue influence on the voters in exercising their franchise.

In the interest of transparency, level playing field and credibility of promises, it is expected that manifestos also reflect the rationale for the promises and broadly indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirements for it.

Trust of voters should be sought only on those promises which are possible to be fulfilled.

=================================================================
28  Jan  2019
Rsvp :  hcp@RecruitGuru.com