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

Sunday, 7 July 2019

Who is afraid of the Big Bad Wolf ( aka LIBRA ) ?



Apparently , a lot of bankers , financial institutions , legislative assemblies / parliaments / congress / senate / Reserve Banks of various countries , etc etc



And here I was , wondering :


  How come no one in India has, so  far uttered a single cautionary word against LIBRA ?

 


  Why this conspiracy of a deafening silence ? “




May be they may not have read :

LIBRA : Am I the only one worried ?  …………………………..[  05  July  2019  ]

LIBRA : The coming battle of Currencies ?   …………………[  29  June  2019  ]

 

Forget my own ( novice like ) views in the above-mentioned emails

 

I urge our Policy Makers to read following articles by knowledgeable persons :

     

Facebook's cryptocurrency plan draws ECB's ire on regulation

Facebook’s plan for a digital currency called Libra has policy makers scrambling.



Highlights :


Financial regulators must act fast to prepare for the push by US tech giants such as Facebook into the financial system, according to European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure 


“It’s out of the question to allow them to develop in a regulatory void for their financial service activities, because it’s just too dangerous,” Coeure said on Sunday in Aix-en-Provence in southern France.


We have to move more quickly than we've been able to do up until now.” 


Facebook’s plan for a digital currency called Libra has policy makers scrambling. The UK’s three main financial regulators are working together on how best to respond
 

The plan has also drawn fire in Washington, with more than 30 groups influential with Democrats demanding a halt to the project to deal with the “profound questions” it raises.


David Marcus, the executive leading Facebook’s Libra and blockchain efforts, will testify before Congress this month on the initiative. 


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


Then, our Policy Makers may want to read :

Facebook Libra Backlash on Many Fronts


Highlights :


#    The obvious problem with Facebook is most global users don’t trust it with their private
      data, so how could they trust it with their financial data in the future ?



#  French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Libra shouldn’t be allowed to become a
    sovereign currency, while a
    German member of the European Parliament said Facebook could become a “shadow
    bank”, according to LinkedIn



#  By trying to bank the unbanked and vulnerable in developing countries, Facebook’s Libra
     could be a kind of shadow banking  



#  By using a stablecoin to incentivize Advertising consumption, Facebook’s Libra could
    endanger how the future of the internet is monetized.



#  By increasing convenience for token investments and token economy utilization,
    Facebook’s Libra could replace reliance on fiat currencies, which could have


    dangerous impacts on the global economy, i.e. in some countries that are inflation prone
    Libra could disrupt fiat systems, leading to negative economic impacts



#  If widespread adoption occurs, Facebook’s Libra’s cryptocurrency could be part of a
    master-plan by some for a global digital currency



#  Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency will face privacy and money laundering
    concerns that will be imperfectly regulated and nearly impossible to moderate properly.



#  The Libra Association could become too powerful in influencing how consumers do
    payments by forming a monopolistic shadow council on how digital currency adoption
    and payment standards globally evolve in the token economy.




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

Also do read :



Facebook’s New Competition: The U.S. Dollar


The company’s new cryptocurrency is designed to blow up the global financial system



Highlights :



#  Previous reporting has suggested that the Indian WhatsApp users, who will be able to use
   the cryptocurrency for no- or low-fee money transfers, and Facebook has apparently, and
   uncharacteristically, been wooing regulators  and  central bankers around the world to
   smooth the coin’s landing



   [  Madam Sitharamanji ,  please  watch  out  what  seems to be happening – secretly ? ]




#  How, precisely, users will exchange Libra for physical currency remains to be seen,
    though the most likely option is that Facebook partners with a cryptocurrency exchange,
   and the Information reports that there are plans for “physical terminals similar to ATMs.”







#  Facebook wants to enter, and own, the cross-border payments market.


    If it is indeed launching in India, it’s not as part of a test run but because nearly $80  



    With more than 200 million Indian WhatsApp users already, the company is well-
    positioned to make its apps , and its currency, the method of choice for international
    money transfers to Indiaand, eventually, the world


    {  Game Plan revealed  !  Indian Policy Makers,  please note !  }  



   

#   Facebook reportedly won’t charge transaction fees for peer-to-peer payments. That’s a
     very bad way to make money, but, as Facebook knows well, it’s a very good way to
     entice new users into your network, and, in turn, to convince stores, restaurants, and
     other businesses to set up to accept Globaclcoin in payment


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


Madam Sitharamanji :



If pitched NOW ( in the manner of “ take it or leave it “, I am sure, Facebook will agree to sign and implement :


Digital Dividend from Demographic Data [ 4 D ] 

 

It is simply a question of :

 

#   turning an opponent’s own strength to conquer him  









#  This is the medium-term plan for Libra:


     To compete not just with money-transfer businesses but with credit-card companies
     using cross-border payments as the beachhead for all payments everywhere



     You receive a no-fee Libra payment from an expat family member, and then use that
     Libra to pay back a friend, who in turn uses the Libra to pay for a Chicken Maharaja Mac
     at the local McDonald’s


     .

     

#  Like any megaplatform, Facebook wants to be infrastructure: a service so important to
    daily life that most people have no choice but to use it. But Facebook in 2019 is
    increasingly easy for Americans and Europeans to quit without particular consequence, in
    a way that Google, say, isn’t.



#  Once you’ve got a usable digital currency, why would you want to “get into” other
    currencies? I use dollars every day, but don’t spend a lot of time buying up euro and yen



#  But if you think Facebook is powerful now, just wait until it’s, essentially, the global
    federal reserve, overseeing a global currency over which it has not just monetary control
    but a visible, mineable record of every transaction made.


    Maybe Globalcoin would have been the right name after all.

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

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


08  July  2019

Rsvp :  hcp@RecruitGuru.com










 


Saturday, 6 July 2019

EV Policy of Norway : Worth emulating




The European nation has had an EV policy in place since the early 90s


And what is that policy worth emulating ?   Following are the highlights of this news report :


#  The most important part of the EV policy is a car tax system that promotes zero emission cars.


If you buy a new car in Norway, there is a higher tax for polluting cars based on the emissions that they make.

There is zero tax for zero-emission cars.

Electric vehicles are comparatively cheaper or their price is at par with gasoline or diesel.

Toll is free and parking is at 50% of standard costs.

Industry experts opine that it is a win-win game.

"Car dealers and manufacturers are benefitted by the long term policy. They can invest without risk. This makes Norway the leading market in the world for EV cars. It reduces fuel emissions and brings down pollution in the city," said Petter Haugneland, Assistant Secretary General, Norwegian Electric Vehicles Association.


#   Norway is a power surplus country with a 100% renewable hydro-electricity grid. EV owners were satisfied and happy as electricity cost was low. The tax system just promoted it and made it affordable.

#  If a vehicle is charged at home, it costs a Norwegian 1 Norwegian Krone or Rs 7.96 for One Kilowatt hour . Norwegians charge their cars when they are working or at night


#  "I rent electric cars because they are cheaper than petrol cars, plus the additional incentives such as no toll charges, parking, etc," said Sahoo, Marketing Manager, Cambi, Norway.



#  EV owners were satisfied and happy as electricity cost was low. The tax system just promoted it and made it affordable


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

This , real life example should convince our Policy Makers re the validity of the suggestions contained in my following earlier emails :


Mobility on the Move - Finally   

 

FAME II > FAME III > FAME IV 

 

National Clean Air Tax ? – a Pigovian tax ?  

 

Transport : an Integrated Logistic Plan ?  

 

Missing piece of Jigsaw Puzzle ?   

 

Crossing the Seven Seas [ 7 C ]     

 

Rename it , “ Vehicle Recycle Policy “   

 

25,000 New Petrol Pumps ? Why ? 

 

#ISRO #NaviC #India #TransportRevolution

 

Buy or Lease ?  

 

Thank  You  ,  Chief  !

 

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

 

07  July  2019

 

Rsvp :  hcp@RecruitGuru.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




Friday, 5 July 2019

LIBRA : Am I the only one worried ?





Till last week ,   I thought so when I sent following email to  Cabinet Ministers :


LIBRA : The coming battle of Currencies ?




Apparently, some other, very knowledgeable persons too seem to be worried with potential implications of Libra on :



#  Other crypto-currencies


#  fiat currencies issued by Reserve Banks of various countries


#  Thousands of mobile payment wallets issued by Banks – E Com web sites – Mobile apps
    launched by umpteen FINTECH companies




For details of these potential implications, read :



Libra is a Quasi-Fiat Digital Currency    /   Libra currently looks more like a fiat currency than a cryptocurrency     


Those who do not have time to read this entire article, here are the highlights :



# ….token economy that would bypass a lot of regulation and banking solutions to introduce
   a whole new kind of financial services convenience.



#   Libra Globalcoin resembles more the launching of a digital bank with a digital currency
    than anything related to cryptocurrencies or Bitcoin.



#  To even make the comparison is really dumbed down for mass adoption. Facebook wants
    to use Bitcoin hype for its own profit.



#  The reality is then that Facebook’s Libra could be an on-ramp for the death and dead end
    of crypto



#  In other words, it looks like a blockchain, but it’s not a real blockchain. In the same vein
   as EOS or Ripple. It’s the same scam as Tron, just smarter in that the Libra coin is
   tethered to a fiat basket.



#  It’s not truly decentralized. It’s not truly open, as the ledger of transactions will be
    accessible to Libra Association founding members exclusively.



#  Libra can pretend and be packaged to be whatever it wants to gain mainstream adoption



    (  Following the adage : “ If you can’t lick them , then join them “ : , I had. In my earlier mail , suggested to negotiate with Facebook to get it to agree to implement :

Digital Dividend from Demographic Data [ 4 D ] 



#  Facebook can thus ‘move fast and break things’ all over again, more or less with a clean
   slate.



#  The Libra Association will work with a list of authorized resellers. It creates a barrier to
   entry and transforms the Libra Association into a regulatory body for the Libra ecosystem



#  Small financial institutions will have no choice but to work with an authorized reseller if
   their clients want to get paid back in Libra, for instance. All the founding members become
   a sort of Visa or Mastercard for the 21st century



#  This is how you begin a dynasty that leads to a global digital currency that has no nation
   or state, but belongs to the entire world. Facebook will own it, literally.




#  Facebook or other companies will have to set up servers, will have to run the software,
   will have to validate transactions. Facebook will have all our chat and Libra coin data.



#  Libra could become an instant hit and power many of the peer-to-peer and even business-
    to-customer transactions. It could also launch the biggest unregulated shadow digital
    bank the world has ever seen. Out with the old and in with the new



#  Given the current nature of the Libra Association, there’s a chance that Libra becomes a
   quasi-sovereign currency in Venezuela, Argentina, Turkey or South Africabut it would be
   controlled by private companies that don’t care about monetary policies.

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


Dear  Shri  Ravi  Shankar Prasadji  /  Madam Nirmala  Sitharamanji  :



Even as you are fully occupied with sorting out hundreds of questions in connection with yesterday’s budget, I once again urge you to :



Ø   turn this “ Libra Threat “ ( from Facebook ),

 
Ø   into  a “ Liberating Opportunity “ ( for 310 million users of Facebook ), by telling Facebook ( in as blunt a manner as possible ) :



  If you wish to operate in India , you  must sign / implement :

Digital Dividend from Demographic Data [ 4 D ]  


Some 67 years ago, Bapu gave an ultimatum to the British Empire , : Quit India :


May our National Goals ( $ 5 trillion economy ) give you the courage to tell Facebook :   Sign up or Quit

========================================
=====
06  July  2019
Rsvp : hcp@RecruitGuru.com