How to convert Temporary into Permanent ?

Following are headlines from past few day’s news-papers . At this moment, these are just temporary measures aimed to contain the spread of Corona Virus.

Will we go back to our old ways ( of doing things / conducting our lives ) , as soon as the threat recedes ?

Do some of these ( temporary steps ) need urgent POLICY FRAMEWORKS, to convert them into long-term BEHAVIORAL / LIFE-STYLE /  ATTITUDINAL CHANGES , which will reduce Global Warming / Climate Changes /  Pollution ?

If YES , then WHAT policy frameworks ?

[ Of course, not each and every recent step, needs long-term policy ]

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Change  :  Boost  to  E-Commerce

Ø  Digital payments get a boost amidst virus scare

Ø  E-comm players, QSR chains step up the game for safe online deliveries

Policy Framework :

Missing the Woods for the Tree ?

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Change :  Work from Home  (  WFH  )

Ø  School teachers get a break, allowed to work from home

Ø  Corporate walk the extra mile on 50 % staff order

Ø  Private firms ready for work from home and shutdown : Health Minister

Ø  Teachers who do not have supervision duty can work from home : Circular

Ø  Haryana asks Cos in Gurgaon to let Staff work from home

Ø  25K Auto Employees to Work From Home

Ø  Will start checks at private companies in 2 days : BMC chief

Ø  Work from Home doesn’t work for manufacturing, services sector

Policy Framework :

Opportunity in Adversity ?

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Change :  Less Travel  /  Less Traffic

Ø  76 long distance trains cancelled

Ø  Ban on 3 nations, international flights nixed

Ø  Will have to stop trains if people don’t avoid travel : CM

Ø  Ask people to avoid travel, refund tickets

Ø  App taxi fares touch rock bottom as demand falls 50 %

Ø  55 % decline in international passengers CSMIA

Policy Framework :

Transport : an Integrated Logistic Plan ?

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Change :  Less Physical Shopping / Get Together / Temple Visits

Ø  Philippines shuts all markets

Ø  Close shops if you can : BMC to owners

Ø  Gurugram closes malls, lunges , bars

Ø  Weddings postponed ; Banquet owners told to limit crowds

Ø  Stores to be shut on alternate days

Ø  Will reduce number of devotees, not possible to shut down mosques

Ø  Consumers scramble to stock up food items

Policy Framework :

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Change :  More Testing

Ø  India must scale up testing : WHO official

Ø  UP warns of jail term for those who skip tests

Ø  India orders 1 million probes for testing from Germany

Ø  Utilizing testing capacity the key

Ø  ICMR says No Evidence of Community Transmission

Ø  BMC Chief : Increasing number of lab tests is biggest challenge

Ø  Centre scales up kits and labs, but not tests

Ø  54,000 under community surveillance in country : Vardhan

Ø  Undetected cases may fuel spread with many trying to flee screening

Ø  8 new testing facilities planned; 3 to start today

Ø  Handkerchiefs, cotton masks can’t protect you

Ø  Community transmission may have already started : Experts

Ø  Don’t wait for symptoms; just test : Public Health Foundation of India

Policy Framework :

Marriage of Technologies to contain Corona ? Yes !

Corona Virus Testing Capacity

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Change : Less Eating Out

Ø  City Pubs, bars closed, some eateries may shut

Ø  Restaurants across the Country may down shutters from today

Ø  Die another day : Restaurants down shutters

Policy Framework :

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Change  :   More e-Governance / State Surveillance

Ø  State Govt to run with minimum staff : CM

Ø  To track virus, Israel may tap secret phone data trove

Policy Framework :

E - Governance ?

AGENDA FOR REFORMS

 

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Change  :  Flexible HR Policy

Ø  Go-Air begins “leave without pay “for staff

Ø  Secretariat vacant as staff take leave as precaution

Ø  Companies plan Special Leave for Self-Quarantined

Ø  GoAir tells staff to take leave without pay

Ø  Companies introduce Special Leave to ensure isolated Staff get pay

Ø  India Inc heading for a 6-day week : study

Ø  Some job interviews go online, others put off

Ø  Corona virus outbreak could destroy up to 25 M jobs : ILO

Ø  With no contracts, casual workers may be worst hit

Policy Framework :

National Jobs Policy : Treasure Hunt

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Change  :  More communication through Social Media

Ø  Why you shouldn’t trust those viral remedies on social media

Ø  Prayers, discourse move online

Policy Framework :

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Change :  Greater urgency to reviving Economy

Ø  Trump seeks $ 850 billion more to boost virus-hit economy

Ø  France  ready to nationalize big firms in radical response to virus response

Ø  Govt : Economy vulnerable to coronavirus-led slowdown

Ø  Covid hits Highway Monetization plan

Ø  Draw up a new Economic Plan [ HT Editorial ]

Ø  Where is the vaccine for the economy ? [ HT- R Srinivasan ]

Policy Framework :

Foundation of Economy

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Change  :  More Online Education – Training - Skilling

Ø  Amid virus outbreak, edtech platforms set up special solutions for students

Ø  Army suspends war games, conferences and training

Policy Framework :

Organizing the Unorganized

 

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Related Reading :

What urban India can do to offset risks of Covid - 19

[  Shri Amitabh Kant / Smt Richa Rashmi ]

Extract :

Ø  In today’s world, the growth of medical science and digital infrastructure can be leveraged to successfully fight the spread of Covid-19

Ø  City governments play a crucial role in…… safeguarding the ecosystem through more connected networks of digital and economic infrastructure

Ø  As part of an intensive drive, the Pathanamthitta district administration has come up with a system, with a GPS-supported system to track those quarantined in the district in order to restrict stray movement.

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19  March  2020

hcp@RecruitGuru.com

Corona Virus Testing Capacity

Context :

GoM calls for closing down most public places  

Highlights :

Ø  Tests conducted till date of those who are SYMPTOMATIC …………9,100  [ in past 4 weeks ? ]

Ø  Test probes being imported for DIAGNOSTIC testing ………………………… 1,000,000 ( 1 million )

Ø  Currently MoHFW is NOT even testing everyone who is SYMPTOMATIC

But WHO will you select to administer those 1 Million probes ? [ not questioning about the number of labs / technicians and time required to administer these imported probes !  ]

Obviously those who are SYMPTOMATIC

What is that FIRST symptom ?

Raised BODY TEMPERATURE  ( - currently being detected by a hand-held THERMAL sensor , pointed at forehead of a person )

Most certainly , we must not  WASTE those 1 million probes , by testing persons who DO NOT have high body temperature

From among India’s 1370 MILLION citizen, we must , FIRST identify precisely those 1 MILLION ,who are running high body temperature !

There is no way we can sort out those 1 Million ( out of 1370 million ), using hand-held sensors !

Not even in next 10 YEARS !

And , if we cannot IDENTIFY ( quickly – accurately – cheaply ) those 1 Million within next 10 WEEKS , we are bound to reach “ STAGE THREE “ of community transmission !

The only way out is to ask our scientists to implement :

 Marriage of Technologies to contain Corona ? Yes ! 

I urge the following LEADERS , to consider my above-mentioned suggestion :

Ø  Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State, MoHFW  [ moshealth.akc@gov.in ]

Ø  Shri Lav Agarwal , Joint Secretary, MoHFW  [  alav@ias.nic.in ]

Ø  Shri R Gangakhedkar, ICMR  [ rgangakhedkar.hq@icmr.gov.in / gangakhedkar.r@icmr.nic.in ]

Ø  Shri Ravi Singhal, Gen Sec, AIOCD  [ aiocd@vsnl.net / aiocd@aiocd.com ]

With regards,

Hemen Parekh / www.hemenparekh.in

17 March 2020

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Marriage of Technologies to contain Corona ? Yes !

To make this “ happen “, just  “ imagine “ this :

Ø   For decades , militaries around the world have been using ‘ Night Vision Binoculars “ to detect enemies from a long distance , using “ Thermal Imaging “ technology

Ø  For a couple of years now, governments ( mostly, police departments ) around the world have been using CCTV cameras located all over a city, to catch suspected persons, using “ Facial Recognition “ technology

I imagine that , one day soon, some tech Startup [ or ” L&T Smart World and Communications “ which was responsible for installation of the first 10,000 CCTV in Hyderabad ], will find a way to combine both these technologies so that those ubiquitous CCTV cameras will catch, not only the facial images of thousands of citizen walking on the roads but also measure the Body Temperature of the persons ( as being done currently , using a small hand-held device at airports )

Then send out “ Corona Catch Team Volunteers [ CCTV ] “ to the residence of the person found to be running high temperature !


[ Facial Recognition Tech would connect with Master Database of Citizen, comprising Name / Aadhar No / Contact Details / Addresses etc ]

I believe. Telengana would be the world-pioneer to pull this off

Here is why :

In Telangana, the eyes have it: How the state is redefining data-driven governance

Extract :

Ø  In six months, the command and control building will be ready. One lakh cameras will be processed in under a minute.

If you got out for work, by the time you are back 50 cameras can spot you. Every

inch of the state will be under police radar.

If a crime happens anywhere, there will be information immediately

     

Ø  One of the large towers.., would house the Telangana Police’s state Technology Centre and Data Centres. One entire wing, with a centralized hub of sorts, where the police could access an initial six lakh CCTV cameras, which could potentially rise to ten lakh by the end of 2020.

Ø  A simple back of the envelope calculation would suggest that Hyderabad (which has 40% of the population of Telangana — 3.52 million people) would have one camera for every 46-47 citizens. But this is not where it ends.

Hyderabad, as part of its safe and smart city project, has also deployed an,

     “integrated traffic management system”, 

which uses surveillance cameras and

Internet of Things-enabled sensors to detect traffic violations and streamline

everyday traffic in key junctions of the city.

Ø  Today, Telangana police officials claim a 40% reduction in crime rate across the state, with heinous crimes like chain-snatching reducing 98% from 2014. From an investigation point of view, these officials add, that 99% of suspects are nabbed “within 24 hours of the crime,”

     At the back-end, the technology it uses includes,

      #   Artificial intelligence,

      #   Deep tech and machine learning

      #   Computer vision

      #   Geospatial analysis

      #   IT process automation.

Collectively, it is referred to as Augmented Intelligence. This is basically AI with

Human at the centre

   

Ø  A proprietary AI algorithm, which uses machine learning (image recognition), helps you solve things faster

Ø  Last Thursday, at the facial recognition unit at Command and Control Centre of the Hyderabad police, an operator zooms into a “ hit ” ( a successful match ) he just received — an accused walking out of the Secunderabad railway station, was matched with a database of mugshots of known criminals the police already had, with an accuracy of near 95%. It is all in real-time.

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Dear Shri S N Subramaniam

[ MD , L&T  / sns@lntecc.com ]

Ø  If any organization can do this, L&T is the one

Ø  Consider doing this , less as a Business Opportunity , and more as a Social Responsibility – in order to save India from Corona Virus ravaging the world

Ø  When ( - and not “if “) successful, this marriage of technologies, will be copied by all governments around the world

Ø  This will become the MOST POWERFUL “ Disease Detection Network “ ( not confined to detection of only Corona Virus but all kinds of diseases which raise body temperature ) that the world has ever seen

 Ø  Even those who are vehemently opposing CAA-NPR-NRC etc., will welcome this surveillance ! 

With regards

,

H C Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com

16  March  2020