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

Monday, 16 September 2019

Realization ? Yes but Gradual and Grudgingly ?





Following news appeared today :



Just like ride-hailing apps Ola and Uber, private car owners can soon provide carpooling service.


Highlights :


#  The draft guidelines propose to limit the maximum number of rides taken per day to four


#   The carpooling concept would be based on no profit, no loss model and a service
     provider will only be able to recover the input cost


#   Carpooling by private vehicle owners will be allowed only through mobile apps.


#   Aggregators will need to ensure that KYC – or, the process of verifying the identity of a
     client – for both the vehicle owner and the riders is complete


#   The vehicle owner will have to declare trip details before the start of a trip.


#    With a massive push to Shared Mobility, the government aims to decongest roads by
      bringing down the huge numbers of cars plying on road. The move would also reduce
      pollution levels.


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


Gradual and grudging because 2 years ago, Transport Ministry was opposed to the car-pooling idea , as reported under :


Transport ministry opposes NITI Aayog's plan to let taxi aggregators rope in private cars

 

 

The ministry is of the view that commercial vehicles are registered as such and there is no provision to allow private cars to run as app-based taxis.


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

Except that the proposed guidelines , instead  of  encouraging car pooling, seems to be designed to kill this idea !



Who – and how – will  track  / ensure,  4 rides per day ?



What is the “ INPUT COST “ ( for hundreds of variants of cars ) and who will decide the same ?



How will Govt decide that car pooling remains “ No profit “ business ? 



And which car owner wants to go  through  all the  stringent restrictions / stipulations, for a “ No Profit “ business ?



How will you stop car pooling which is done offline ?     Happens even now !



Every ride may have different “ riders “ for each ride . Is e-KYC possible ?



Declare “ trip details “ BEFORE  start of EACH trip ?  To whom and how ?
     

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


If the Transport Ministry is really keen to,


Ø    Push shared mobility

Ø    Decongest roads


Ø    Reduce pollution,



then , it should seriously consider implementing,

Transport : an Integrated Logistic Plan ?



But, I get a feeling that the Transport Ministry is trapped in the King Canute syndrome !


Remembering King Canute !  [  17  July  2017  ]

 

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

17  Sept  2019

Rsvp :  hcp@RecruitGuru.com



Sunday, 15 September 2019

Back to square one ?





Following news appeared in today’s Times of India :

In a few years, we’ll be making petrol from air




Burning petrol and diesel made from carbon dioxide present in the air does not cause global warming


If only we could suck carbon dioxide out of the air like plants, and turn it into useful things — like petrol, plastics and concrete — the spectre of global warming would go away.


 Scientists have long toyed with the idea of ‘direct air capture (DAC)’, but now it has become a viable technology, says Peter H Diamandis, founder of the XPrize Foundation.



Extract from Times of India news report :


“ In the coming 10 years, sourcing carbon out of the air will become more cost-effective than carbon sourced from the ground ( oil ).


By 2030, the carbon capture and utilization [ CCU ] industry is expected to reach $ 800 billion


While experts say DAC can compete with petroleum once the cost of carbon extraction dips below $ 100 per ton, one startup is already claiming $ 94 per ton , while another promises to do it at $ 50 per ton on large scale “

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

Read technical narration at :


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I suppose the very powerful OIL LOBBY [ OPEC ], will realize the threat and may even consider getting into the DAC game themselves , to render Startup competition, irrelevant !



After all, no startup ( or the VCs backing it ), can match the resources (funds )  of Oil Companies



The Oil companies do not want to become obsolete !



And that is the REAL DANGER



Carbon extracted from air will be converted into petrol  by Oil companies, using giant CONVERTERS ( instead of Crackers / Refiners )



Then marketed through the network of same petrol pumps , that exist today



And all existing petrol vehicles can fill up their tanks with this AIR-PETROL ( - expect the Oil companies to brand this as CLEAN PETROL  ! )



And all of these vehicles will continue to release CO / CO2 / Nitrous Oxide  emissions , as now !



Back to square one ?



Remember, this is not the same as extracting Water from thin Air – even in very dry areas, as described in :


Water above our heads [ 29  March 2019 ]




=====================================================================================
15  Sept  2019
Rsvp :  hcp@RecruitGuru.com


Wednesday, 4 September 2019

Disruption : The New Survival Strategy





Context :




Highlights :


#   Launched on Sept 05, 2016


#   Subscriber base of more than 340 million / second largest in the world

#  To serve the under-penetrated SME market / large enterprises and bringing in IoT
    applications. RJio is the only company with a complete portfolio from devices to cloud


#  In the past 3 years, RJio had entered into a series of partnerships for its digital
    initiatives, with following firms, for a cumulative investment of $ 1226 million :


Ø  Shopsense Retail Technologies ( Fynd )

Ø  Haptik Infotech ( Haptik )


Ø  Grab a Grub Services  ( Grab )

Ø  C-Square  ( Pharma Retail Solutions )


Ø  SankhyaSutra Labs

Ø  Surajya Services  (  “ Easygov “ )


Ø  Reverie Language Technologies ( Indian language translations )

Ø  NEWJ


Ø  Hathway

Ø  Den


Ø  Radysys

Ø  Individual Learning (  Embibe  )


Ø  Saavn

Ø  KaiOS Technologies  ( KTI   )


Ø  Eros International PLC

Ø  Infibeam


Ø  Balaji Telefilms

Ø  Netradyne Inc



#  RJio is also setting up a pan-India Edge Computing and Content Distribution network, as
    it readies to bring the Internet of Things ( IoT ), home broadband, enterprise broadband
    and broadband for SMEs.


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


Here is what I envisaged 2 years back ( re: disruptions likely to be caused by Reliance ) :


What Business Are You In ? …………………………………………………..[  22  July  2017  ]



Extract from my blog :

It is high time for the giants of  Telecom Industry  to ask of themselves :

WHAT  BUSINESS  ARE  WE  IN  ?



Are we in the business of  “ MOBILE  TELEPHONY “  or are we in the business

of  “ MOBILE  ENTERTAINMENT “ ?



Then , after 5 years , what business should we be in ?



Should we continue to remain in   “ MOBILE  ENTERTAINMENT  or should we consider

ourselves in the business of “ MOBILE  SOLUTIONS “  for ANY / EVERY problem faced by a

user ?



And should we continue our “ Backward  Integration “  into the  ENTERTAINMENT

INDUSTRY  or should we  integrate with Start Ups  in  HEALTH-CARE / EDUCATION /

EMPLOYMENT  ?



The writing is on the Wall – for professional executives who can read !


In another blog   [  Disruption : The Inevitable / 08 July 2018 ], I prepared the following

partial list of Industries which have been disrupted :



Extract :


What will this do to 1 Gbps  JioGigaFibre announced by Reliance just 3 days back ?


Short answer  :  Disrupt


“ What / Who”  else is in the process of getting “ disrupted “ or about to get disrupted – even if difficult to perceive as such  ?




Current Industry )   getting disrupted by   ( New Comers )


*    Coal based Power Plants      >  Solar  Power  Plants

*    Banking Industry                >  FinTech Mobile Apps

*    Airlines  / Railways             >  Hyperloops   >   Holo-portation

*    Petrol –Diesel Cars             >  Electric Cars

*    Paper-based Newspapers    >  Walls of homes

*    Electric Transmission Lines  >  Roof Top Solar Panels

*    Mobile Phones                    >  Wear-ables  ( tattoos – glasses – watches etc )

*    Humans Effort                    >  Robots

*   Supply Chain  Delivery         >  Drones

*   Car  Ownership                    >  Autonomous  Ride Sharing

*   Manual Stock Trading           >  Algorithm-based trading 

*   Black  Money                       >  Currency notes embedded with RFID sensors 

*   Fiat based Currencies           >  Crypto Currencies 

*   Lithium-ion Car Batteries      >  Metal Air ( Alu ) Batteries   

*   Job Portals                           >   Google  Job  Search 

*   Battery Charging Stations     >   Piezo-Electric Generating roads 

*   Data Protection Law ( Draft )>    Privacy is Dead

*   Construction Industry          >     3 D Printed Houses

*   Telecom / ISPs                    >     Powerline Broadband  with  Li  Fi 




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

05  Sept  2019

Rsvp :  hcp@RecruitGuru.com


Monday, 2 September 2019

Coal scam case: Court acquits ex-coal secretary HC Gupta

03 Sept 2019 News : Coal scam case: Court acquits ex-coal secretary HC Gupta Special Judge Bharat Parashar said the CBI “miserably failed” to prove the charges against the accused Gupta. Read more at: //https://lnkd.in/fnq88-Q ================================= Whereas, this order will bring relief to Shri Gupta, it is unlikely to motivate honest babus to take out-of-box decisions , with a sense of urgency in matters of national importance Only method to end Policy Paralysis is : Wiser after hashtag2gScam ? [ 21 Dec 2017 ] https://lnkd.in/fj6GbUa

MeitY seeks views on non-personal data

03 Sept 2019 News : MeitY seeks views on non-personal data Government may also leave it to ministries to define what data should come under policy. Read more at: //https://lnkd.in/fq3Fyds =================================== What data, one Ministry may consider " Non-personal ", another Ministry could well treat as " Personal " ! Even for a given Ministry, over a period of time, with rapidly changing technology, that " Non Personal " could become " Personal " , and vice-versa ! To get a clear idea of the ever-changing and dynamic NATURE of DATA , read : Data becomes an Air Molecule : Free to travel anywhere https://lnkd.in/fNR6Sre =============================== hashtagtechnology

BEST app will have destination alarm, 200 bus stops to get LED scrolls soon

03 Sept 2019 News : BEST app will have destination alarm, 200 bus stops to get LED scrolls soon Read more at: https://lnkd.in/fDUN-_n Highlights : # Real Time Data for commuters # Smart Bus Stops # Each bus to have GPS to track its speed and location # Indicators to display next stop # e-ticket sales to alert control centre of passenger traffic # Frequency will vary based on traffic speed and passenger load # If there's rush at a stop, depot will release more services on the route # The Command Control Centre , which will have : > Video wall will give live position of buses > Movement of bus will be seen on screen, location will be known via GPS > If driver is found speeding, command centre will instruct him to slow down > Centre will alert drivers about traffic jams so that diversions can be made ===================================== Congratulation, BEST - for implementing most ( but not ALL ) of my suggestions sent through following E Mail : PUBLIC TRANSPORT AS A SOLUTION ? [ 15 feb 2016 ] https://lnkd.in/fJBMmWP ===================

Under NREGA, workers to get Rs 250 daily allowance for skill training

03 sept 2019 News : Under NREGA, workers to get Rs 250 daily allowance for skill training Read more at: //https://lnkd.in/fimYxBJ ========================== This is a very welcome step In my blog ( 20 Jan 2017 ) , I had suggested a monthly stipend of only Rs 1,000 pm ! This is way better ! Details at : Universal Basic Income https://lnkd.in/frt7N87 =========================== hashtaglivelihood

Sunday, 1 September 2019

There is a debate raging on how to REVIVE the ECONOMY

01 Sept 2019 Of late, there is a debate raging on how to REVIVE the ECONOMY , which has been slowing down for the past 4 quarters Having been a Manufacturing Engineering for over 30 years, I know how difficult it is to " accelerate " factory processes , even in the face of a huge unmet market demand for your products It takes , months and years to build up capacities , even if FUNDS ( easily available Bank Loans ? ), are no problem So , is there a way forward to accelerate the ECONOMY ? Yes, if only our Netas , do not hesitate to take some OUT-OF-BOX decisions , mentioned here : MYBLOGEPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM Towards Nasscom 2.0