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

Saturday, 19 October 2019

Exam Malpractices ? No More !





For decades now, cheating in exams by students, was a well-known feature, all over India


This process was often assisted by the exam supervisors and overlooked by administrators of those thousands of exam centers


Following are some of the cheating methods employed by the students :


Ø  Writing down answers on palms of hands / legs


Ø  Carrying on body, carefully concealed pieces of papers


Ø  Getting friends to throw into the exam halls, answer papers


Ø  Looking up the writing from the answer-book of students sitting next


Ø  Wearing tiny ear plugs into which answers can be broadcast



With arrival of IoT  ( Internet of Things ), catching cheating students , is going to be ever-more difficult


Ask :


How long before the following items in that exam hall, carry RFID embedded micro-sensors, ( with electric power drawn from air ! ), which can receive and transmit all kinds of data (text – images – voice ) , through the walls of the halls ?



Ø  Water Coolers


Ø  Mobile phones ( already banned in exam halls )


Ø  Smart Watches


Ø  Smart Ball Pens


Ø  AR-VR augmented Eye Glasses


Ø  Pendants and other jewelry


Ø  Smart Clothes ( with button cameras )


Ø  Smart Shoes


Ø  Tooth Implants


Ø  Tatoos printed on hidden body parts


Ø  Walking Sticks / Wheel Chairs ( for challenged )




 This list is only limited by your imagination !


And applies equally, not only to the students but also to the exam supervisors !


Not counting tables / chairs / fans / drawing boards and walls of the exam hall – all IoT enabled !



All capable of receiving / broadcasting data !



Does all of these mean that , as far as cheating in exams is concerned, things will only get worse ?



May be


But, If bad people can use technology for bad purposes, then it also enables good people to use it for good purposes !


For example :


TCS iON , a unit of Tata Consultancy Services, plans to deploy this technology for eliminating cheating  !



HERE  IS  HOW :

Ø  Launching its Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) driven Command Centre in Chennai, which will monitor in real time, 6000 of its examination venues, across the country


OBJECTIVE :

Ø  Fair conduct of exams with transparency of the exam operations


       METHODOLOGY :



Ø  Monitor the exam process through a set of 150 parameters


Ø  Prevent, predict and post incidents as alerts for efficient management of the exam


Ø  Track movement and devices carried by every candidate at any exam centre, via a live CCTV feed


Ø  Predict the readiness of the Centre based on past incidents and the current live feed of events in the exam centre


Ø  Issue alerts about any malpractice attempts based on the learnings from the malpractice patterns of the past


Ø  Track the readiness of all the devices being used for conducting the exam, by leveraging TCS’s IoT  framework



Ø  Issue proactive automated directions for any observations that warrant immediate action through instant alerts against anomalies like exam interruptions. Unusual behavior on server or candidate system and the performance of the devices being used for the exam process




It is possible that the administrators of Bhagath PU College ( Haveri-Karnataka ), never heard of TCS iON innovation for preventing cheatings in exams



They ordered all students appearing for first year science exam, “ to wear cardboard cartons on their heads “ – to prevent sideways glance !




Cannot believe ? 



Read :
  
Karnataka: College students made to wear cardboard boxes at exams



Although, the news report does not spell out, I suppose that :



Ø   Students appearing at TCS examination centers, do so on a computer screen


Ø  No two students have the same questions in their exam papers and for each student, the exam paper is instantaneously / randomly generated on the fly, from a vast data bank of questions of similar “ Degree of Difficulty “



Ø  There is a time limit for solving the online paper


Ø  As soon as the time gets over, the SCORE [ result ] is flashed on the screen, along with a rejection letter or an ( provisional ) “ Appointment Letter “ – which, the selected student must “ accept “ online and immediately


In India, hardly a week passes without millions of students appearing in exams being conducted by schools / colleges / Institutes / Prof Bodies / Exam Boards etc


Then there is Railway Board conducting paper-based written exams in thousands of exam centers, all over India, for millions of job-aspirants


Ditto with Indian Association of Bankers


And each of these is susceptible for cheating / paper-leaking / heartburning and injustice to bright students


Lakhs of crores of rupees and billions of man-hours and millions of tons of papers are wasted


All of this wastage of National Resources can be saved, if only Shri Prakash Javadekarji, requests TCS



Ø    To share its technology platform to the entire Education Industry , for FREE


Ø    To modify the National Career Service Portal [ www.nsc.gov.in  ]to become Online Jobs Fair








With regards,


Hemen Parekh


hcp@RecruitGuru.com    


Tuesday, 15 October 2019

Will China Reign Supreme ?







Extract :

China is set to introduce its own digital currency - one that could allow the Government and the Central Bank to see what people spend on  ..


Far from the libertarian ideals of cryptocurrencies, whose anonymity allows users to buy and sell without leaving a digital trail, China's mooted e-cash system will be tightly regulated, experts say, and run by the People's Bank of China, the Central Bank


The country where social credit systems and facial recognition cameras are becoming wide-spread, a new Chinese cryptocurrency could allow the govt to more closely monitor the actions of its population

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


Only 2 years back , China had banned Crypto-currency exchanges and banned initial coin offering !


Now we see the reason :


When it come to Crypto-currency, the Chinese Govt just do NOT want any competition from any private party  . It wants its 1.4 billion citizens , to :


#  Stop using paper currency altogether

#  Switch over to its monopolistic crypto-currency for all purchases of GOODS and
    SERVICES ( no matter, how small and from whom )


In a nutshell, data on life-time purchases of everyone ( from cradle to grave ! )



For those who do not wish to sit down and make a list of thousands of GOODS / SERVICES they need throughout the day , here is a small sample :



#  Street-side Vendors / Kirana Shops / Misc Shops / Malls / Garments / Jewelry etc



#  Doctors / Hospitals / Drug Stores / Labs / Gyms /


#  Rickshaws / Taxis / Trains / Planes / Boats / any type of rented vehicles


#  Domestic Servants / Paper Vendors / Milk Vendors / Dhobi / Florists



#  Plumber / Carpenter / Electrician / House Cleaners / Masons




#  Yoga Teacher / Physio-therapists / Massagers / Beauticians


   
This list can run into thousands


And the Chinese Govt wants its citizens to throw away ( most likely convert ) their paper currency into its Centrally Issued Crypto-currency – may be by end of 2020




{  A far superior version of our very own De-Monetization , which increased corruption ! }




Have no doubt that this switch-over to Crypto-currency will start with the Chinese Companies / businesses , by end 2019




They must “receive “ and make all “ payments “, only through Crypto-currency  !





[  As I have pleaded earlier with our own Central Government, ALL businesses, ( no matter how
   big or small ), must raise ALL their bills / invoices , only through a CENTRAL GOVT
   PAYMENT PORTAL . Just no paper bills !


   And no need to file any GST RETURNS by any business since software of PAYMENT
   PORTAL will take care of that automatically ! Biggest grievance against GST will be
   eliminated ! ]




Chinese Companies must pay their workers / employees , only through Crypto-currency  !



All bank related account-keeping will be in Crypto-currency - [  Block-Chain Technology ? ] – whether Corporate Accounts or savings/current accounts of individual citizens



There will be no “ forgery “ , nor any unaccounted / tax-evaded “ BLACK MONEY “ !




May be this would eliminate the use of CASH in purchase of , difficult to detect “ physical assets such as LAND / GOLD / PROPERTY




May be, this revolution could reduce / eliminate CORRUPTION ( which is based on cash )




The Chinese Govt has already mandated that all smart phones sold / manufactured in China , must be based on Beidou Navigation System




Now Beidou is boasting of “ positioning accuracy “ of just 1 meter ( 3 feet )…… which can be improved to a few centimeters with augmentation systems



That fulfills the requirement of : Tracking mobile phones of every passenger in a vehicle !



And each of this mobile will come factory pre-installed with the Chinese Crypto-Currency Mobile App for making  , B2B / B2C,  DIGITAL PAYMENTS and Interbank Transfers !



QED :



-      Even as we keep ourselves busy trying to run down political parties  ?


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

Hemen Parekh

hcp@RecruitGuru.com

Sunday, 13 October 2019

A Railway Revolution ?




A  Railway  Revolution ?




Yes, Indian Railways are on their way to enable anyone to know, at any time, the precise position ( location ) of any train in India. Much like mobile app " Flight-aware " for airplanes


Here is the news :

Indian Railways is linking its trains to an ISRO satellite. How will it use 1.4 crore daily updates?  


    

Apart from knowing exact location and speed of trains, this ISRO-aided system will help in future planning.



Indian Railways is linking its trains to a satellite network of ISRO to collect 1.4 crore daily real-time updates on " location " and " speed ".




Congratulations , Shri Mukesh Nigamji,

[ MD, Centre for Railway Information Systems /  mukesh.nigam@cris.org  ]



With help of GAGAN [ GPS aided GEO Augmented Navigation ], you have managed to position every 30 seconds, some 20,000 passenger trains , starting from 7349 stations ! 


No mean achievement this !


Can this technology be extrapolated to track movements in REAL TIME, positions ( locations ) of 230 million vehicles plying on roads of India ?



And, if it can, what benefits could be expected ?


This is the crux of my following proposal :

{ source :Transport : an Integrated Logistic Plan ?


  

Parameter
GAGAN RTIS geo positioning of trains{ Real Time Information System }
My proposal for  a Trans-Tax system for all vehicles in India based on ISRO’s NaviC
Objective
Real Time control of train movements / improve punctuality and send emergency alerts
Reducing traffic-caused pollution thru dis-incentivizing fossil fuel vehicles by automatically computing “ Harm Quotient “ of each vehicle and imposing a Trans-Tax on hourly basis
Coverage
6,000 Locos ( 12,000 by year end )
230 million vehicles ( incl new )
Technology
Sensors mounted inside/outside locos will capture and relay data re location / speed / arrival-departure time / unscheduled stops etc , every 30 seconds to control room using GAGAN-RTIS

SIM of RTIS device will work on Airtel and Vodafone network but, in remote areas, it can relay data even without mobile connectivity

Device uses GAGAN to transmit data
RFID based sensors will be factory installed ( for new vehicles ) or retro-fitted. These will relay to NaviC, vehicle’s location every 10 minutes , in addition to data such as :
#  Energy Source ( fossil / EV etc )
#  Ownership ( private / public )
#  Purpose ( people vs freight )
#  Age of vehicle
#  Type of vehicle ( 2-3-4 wheel )
#   Capacity
#   Where plying
#   When ( time ) plying
#   Parked or moving ….etc
Communication
In case of emergency, driver can talk to the Control Room
Smart Phone of person driving the vehicle will receive SMS from NaviC re impending immobilization of the vehicle, in case lacking sufficient balance in vehicle’s bank account to pay tax
Cost of RTIS device
Rs  2  lakh per loco
May be a few thousand rupees !
How will RTIS help ?
It will enable Control Room operator to :
#   Halt or allow a train to move
#   Grant a block for track repair
#   Check unscheduled stoppages
#   Get accurate / instant location data
My suggestion will :

# transfer the motivation for pollution control to the vehicle-owners 

#  encourage use of EVs and new vehicles 

#  eliminate need for subsidizing buyers or manufacturers 

#  earn hourly revenue

# encourage use of Public Transport




Dear Shri Gadkariji,


This is your opportunity to save millions of Indian Citizens from dying a premature death due to emission pollution vehicles


RTIS / CRIS have proved that my proposal is entirely feasible and can be implemented within one year


with regards,

hemen parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com



References :

Pigovian Tax for Polluters ?