Congratulations, Shri Pawan Kumar Agarwal

 Congratulations, Shri Pawan Kumar Agarwal

 Consumer affairs secretary [ Secy-ca@nic.in  ]

          

 Context :

          Covid-19: 'Suraksha Stores' to meet daily needs on anvil  /     PTI | Updated: Apr 12, 2020, 15:20 IST

Extract :

 

Ø  Ahead of extending restrictions on the mobility of goods and persons, the government plans to set up a chain of 20 lakh retail shops called “ Suraksha Stores “ across India, which will provide daily ESSENTIALS to citizen, while maintaining stringent safety norms

Ø  The government will rope in private firms to implement this plan which seeks to ensure that proper protocol is followed in the entire SUPPLY CHAIN , right from manufacturing units to Retail Outlets

Ø  Consumer affairs secretary Pawan Kumar Agarwal has held at least one round of discussions with FMCG companies to implement this ambitious plan through PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

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

Dear Shri Agarwalji,

I am sure Govt does not plan to set up brand NEW stores but only rope in existing retail shops

Of course, converting existing 20 lakh ( 2 million ) stores into “ Suraksha Stores “ is certainly, a very ambitious plan

But, considering that there are 120 lakh ( 12 million ) retail stores in India, anything less would prove insufficient

   PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP [ 3P ] is the only      way to achieve this goal . 

  It will enable to, someday, convert all 120 lakh       stores into “ Suraksha Stores “

      

 As far as “ Proper Protocol “ is concerned, I suggest following :

Ø  Sanitizing product packages before these leave the “ factory gates “

Ø  Repeat sanitizing before these packages leave “ Wholesale Warehouse / Fulfillment Centre  gates “

Ø  Repeat sanitizing before Retail Store workers handover the packages to customers

Ø  Installation of “ Disinfecting Chambers “ at entry of each Retail Store

Of course, the ideal situation would be to deliver ordered essentials to the homes of the buyers – thereby ensuring that citizen do not come out and crowd the stores . That would be the best SURAKSHA  !

      

This is how that “ Suraksha Protocol “ will work ( as described in my following email ) :

      [  source :  “ India Post “ morph to “ India Retail “    /    12 April  2020   ]

 

 How will this work ?

Ø    Citizen will place online orders ( using Reliance Retail- RR - mobile App ) for essential items

Ø    RR will transmit this order ( giving full details including item wise prices and buyer address / mobile no ) to :

        

                 #   A Kirana shop ( Kirana shop owner’s Mobile ) , nearest to buyer’s home ( - could

     

                      be more than one shop , if all ordered items are  not available in one shop )

                #   A post office branch nearest to buyer’s home ( on a postman’s mobile )

Ø    RR will transmit ( on Buyer’s mobile App ), details of the concerned Kirana shop and the concerned Postman, indicating approx. “ Time of Delivery “

Ø    Postman will visit the concerned Kirana Shop , pick-up the items and deliver to customer

Ø    Every,

              #   “ Pick-up Transaction “  ( between postman and Kirana Shop ),  and

              #   “ Delivery Transaction “ ( between postman and customer ) ,

             will get automatically recorded when respective Mobile Phones are made to touch

             each other ( using BlueTooth / NFC and BlockChain technology ) and

            #    Customer’s bank account will get debited ,

            #    Kirana shop’s bank account will get credited

Ø  Concerned Post Office will get credited with 2 %  commission ( on purchase value ) , out of which, it will pass on half to the postman concerned, if the delivery gets made within 6 hours of order placement . This will act as a Monetary Incentive for the postman concerned

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

Dear Shri Agarwalji,

In the above-mentioned example, I have cited  RELIANCE RETAIL TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM , for the reason that , it has , in its EcoSystem, some 25 lakh Kirana stores and plans to tie-up with 12 million Kirana shops by 2023   

 

But , I suppose the government would want all the   TEN MAJOR RETAIL CHAINS   to join , what we may call :

ERDA =  Essential  Retail  Delivery  Association

In this case, ERDA should launch its own Technology Platform / Web Portal / Mobile App, to cover supplies from all

   

And following is a partial list of data which the Commerce Ministry’s central server will compile from usage of MOBILE-APP BASED HOME DELIVERY from 120 lakh retail shops , by 300 million families :

Ø  Building up a very COMPREHENSIVE  DATA  BASE of all purchases comprising :

#    WHO       (  the buyers )

#    WHAT     ( the products )

#    WHEN     (  Day-Month-Year  )

#    WHERE   (  the Retail Store concerned )

#    AT          (  Price paid )

#    CPI         ( Consumer Price Index/ Inflation  )

#    AVERAGE (  Monthly – Annual Purchase Bill

                        for essentials )

#    TRENDS   (  Regional Preferences of various

                        brands )

#    SUPPLY    (  Manufacturer wise )

This apart, there are other following advantages :

#    Boost to Digital Payments / Decrease in Cash

      payments

#    Dramatic reduction in traffic and consequent

      parking problems

#    Reduced pollution /  Cleaner Air

Related Reading :

>        Local kirana shops business flourish amid lockdown

Ø  Retailers want govt to bring back migrant workers to augment supply chain

Ø  Essential supplies severely impacted in hotspots

Ø  Flipkart, Tata Consumer Products partners to supply essential products

Ø  Tata Starbucks to launch drive-through, home deliveries

Ø  RAI ( Retailers Association of India ) urges against panic-buying, assures enough food stock

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

Dear Shri Piyush Goyalji / Shri RaviShankar Prasadji,

In short term , “ Suraksha Stores “ is our immediate solution for continuation of  “ Social Distancing “

In long term, ERDA could be the foundation of our “ Social Re-awakening “

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  13  April  2020  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com

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

“ India Post “ morph to “ India Retail “

“ India Post “ morph to “ India Retail “

Context :

Under phased lifting of lockdown from 14^th , I believe , governments ( Central + States ) , will allow following stores / shops to keep open ( may be for only a few hours of the day ) :

Ø  Veg vendors ( individual roadside ) – Veg Markets  – Milk – Grocery ( Kirana ) – Processed Food  shops etc [ items essential for day-to-day survival ]

What can we expect ?

Ø  Millions of people running out of their homes to buy these essentials

Ø  Total flouting of “ Social Distancing “ rule , which has , so far worked for India like a miracle

Ø  Thousands of migrant workers might rush back from villages to their city work-places

Consequences ?

Ø  Rapid spreading of Covid-19, taking us into Stage 3 / Stage 4 [ Community transmission ]

What must be done to prevent people from going out to buy essentials ?

Ø  Deliver essentials at the gates of their buildings. If Mohamed cannot go to mountain, let mountain go to Mohamed. Enable these shops to deliver items to their customers

Are they not doing so already ?

Ø  Yes, to a very limited extent – may be up to 10 % of their sale.  90 % of their sale is across-the-counter, to people thronging inside their shops , in close proximity of one another

Ø  With their migrant workers gone to villages, they will not be able to home-deliver even that 10 %

What  has all this to do with India Post ?  How does it come in the picture ?

Ø  India Post has 155,015 post offices and 433,177 employees ( of which , I assume , 4 lakh are postmen )

Ø  Following are the traditional businesses of India Post :

#    Delivering mail (post)

#    Remitting money by money orders

#    Accepting deposits under Small Savings Schemes,

#    Providing life insurance cover under Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal

      Life

      Insurance (RPLI)

#    Providing retail services like bill collection, sale of forms, etc

#    Old age pension payments

#    Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme    

      (MGNREGS) wage disbursement.

What are you trying to suggest ? That IP’s 4 lakh postmen double-up as Delivery Boys , to deliver essential items to the door-steps of citizen ?

Ø  You got the idea !

     These 4 lakh postmen already know ( by heart ) , home addresses of ALL of our

    1300 Million citizen – including people living in thatched huts on remote mountains

    and dry deserts . 

These postmen have , in course of their job , visited EACH house ,

    several times . They are the IDEAL DELIVERY PERSONS , anywhere in the entire

    world !

But, I saw postings in LinkedIn by Shri RaviShankar Prasadji ( Minister – MeITY ) that the postmen are already delivering essential items to homes !

Ø  True , but miniscule . More of a photo-op for a lone postman !

So, what is your suggestion ?

Ø  Rope in all 4 lakh postmen for home-delivery of essential items

Ø  Organize this a project called “ India Deliver “ ( ala “ India Post “ )

Ø  India Post to tie up ( Public Private Partnership ) with Reliance Retail , which has , in its EcoSystem, some 25 lakh Kirana stores and plans to tie-up with 12 million Kirana shops by 2023   

 How will this work ?

Ø  Citizen will place online orders ( using Reliance Retail- RR - mobile App ) for essential items

Ø  RR will transmit this order ( giving full details including item wise prices and buyer address / mobile no ) to :

#   A Kirana shop ( Kirana shop owner’s Mobile ) , nearest to buyer’s home ( - could

     be more than one shop , if all ordered items are  not available in one shop )

          #   A post office branch nearest to buyer’s home ( on a postman’s mobile )

Ø  RR will transmit ( on Buyer’s mobile App ), details of the concerned Kirana shop and the concerned Postman, indicating approx. “ Time of Delivery “

Ø  Postman will visit the concerned Kirana Shop , pick-up the items and deliver to customer

Ø  Every,

     # “ Pick-up Transaction “  ( between postman and Kirana Shop ),  and

     # “ Delivery Transaction “ ( between postman and customer ) ,

    will get automatically recorded when respective Mobile Phones are made to touch

    each other ( using BlueTooth / NFC and BlockChain technology ) and

    #  Customer’s bank account will get debited ,

    #  Kirana shop’s bank account will get credited

Ø  Concerned Post Office will get credited with 2 %  commission ( on purchase value ) , out of which, it will pass on half to the postman concerned, if the delivery gets made within 6 hours of order placement . This will act as a Monetary Incentive for the postman concerned

How many home-deliveries can a postman make in a working day ?

Ø  Assuming that  all the 3 parties ( Customer – Kirana Shop – Post Office branch ) are located within a radius of 1 Km. , I suppose a postman can make 4 deliveries / hour ( 32 / day )

Ø  IAMAI writes :

“ E-commerce services are the only means to ensure social distancing while still maintaining economic operations in the country.

For every one e-commerce delivery person, the country can help 350 people avoid a trip to a physical retail outlet daily.

Therefore, a fully functional e-commerce delivery chain is the best means to ensure social distancing and ensuring a restricted congregation of the population"

What Next ?

Ø  Over the past few years, services rendered by India Post are being taken over by Private sector . This competition is causing huge losses to India Post

Ø  India Post cannot shut down , rendering 4.4 lakh persons jobless

Ø  India Post must ask itself : What business are we in ? Then re-invent itself

Ø  India Post will have no takers should govt decide to privatize it

Ø  To justify its existence , only solution is what  I have suggested above

Ø  I urge Shri RaviShankar Prasadji / Shri Piyush Goyalji to consider my suggestion – if not for survival of India Post, then for containing Corona spread

     This is a golden opportunity ( Silver lining to a Dark cloud )

     With regards,

     Hemen Parekh

     12  April  2020

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

Congratulations, Shivansh Sethi / Ankita Sain

 
[ Shivansh.sethi@hotmail.com / info@aiotize.com / shivansh@aiotize.com  ]

[ M = 78,37,74,44,84 / 97,63,00,00,88 ]

What for ?

For their breakthrough innovation in remotely identifying persons running high body temperature ( one of the first symptoms of Corona virus ) , using a drone

Explain a little more :

Here is a write-up from their web site [ https://www.aiotize.com/ > Contact ] :

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

Using our Ai powered drones with thermal cameras & sensors, crowd scanning for potential carriers would be a great value add.

These cameras provide the real-time heat signatures of the subjects to the backend which is programmed to apply thermal sensing analytics to the heat signature.

If the temperature of any subject is beyond the threshold it would raise a flag to the authorities or healthcare units nearby.

In current scenarios & the difficult times, Aiotize pledges to help those who are fighting to eradicate the outbreak with its innovation & technology.

It is our moral duty to give back to the society which has raised us when we started our mission.

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

Is there a Video to show how exactly this works ?

Of course . Here is that Video ( on Facebook / 07 April, 2020 ) :

https://www.facebook.com/aiotize/videos/vb.202009170672198/2679474478816453/?type=2&theater

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

Why are you excited about this ?

Three weeks earlier, in my email ( 15 March 2020 ), to the Cabinet ministers , I wrote :

[  Source :  Marriage of Technologies to contain Corona ? Yes !  ]

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

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

     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 ]

 

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

Did you give up after sending this email ?

No Sir !

These are my follow-up emails :

Ø  Corona Virus Testing Capacity                            [ 16 March 2020 ]

Ø  Sankalp – Sanyanm – Shastra                            [ 20 March 2020 ]

Extract from this mail :

          Remotely detecting every citizen running high body temperature

Thermal Imaging software embedded into roadside CCTV cameras  ( with Infrared Night Vision ) all over the cities / towns ( or embedded into cameras mounted on Drones ) +  embedded Facial Recognition Software +  Software to link each captured face with Aadhar Database ( photo + Biometric ) of all citizen

          This combination of hardware and software, will instantly “ identify / detect “any

          citizen running a high temperature ( as soon as his face is visible on CCTV / Drone

          based camera ) and,

         Send him SMS on his mobile to go for VIRUS TEST at the nearest test lab ( giving

 

        address of that lab ). No need for any separate “authorization “ from anyone . And

  

        no payment of testing fees ( Govt to DBT to private labs , upon uploading of TEST

        RESULTS on Govt Health Portal )

      Send SMS to the concerned lab , giving full details of the person

     Send SMS to all other concerned Government Authorities / Health Portals

    Repeated “ face image capture “ by different cameras at different times and

    different locations, will track the journey of such an individual . This path will show

    up on the Dashboard of the CENTRAL CONTROL CENTRE for COVID [ 4C ]

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

How many DRONES ( mounted with thermal sensing cameras ) will be required ?

In 2011, we had 7935 Cities / Towns ( all class ) . May be 10,000 by now

Let us assume that, on average, we need 100 drones to monitor each town ( with only 50 drones being active at any given time – rest having their batteries being charged )

Hence we need 10 lakh drones ( 1 MILLION )

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

How much would such a DRONE ARMY cost ?

If mass-produced, I assume such a drone can be procured by the Central Government for Rs 20,000 each ( Rate Contract for all manufacturers / suppliers – whether Indian or Foreign / with STANDARDIZED working specifications )

That works out to Rs 20,000 million = Rs 2,000 crore ( affordable )

A far better arrangement would be for the Central Government to get these on a LEASE RENTAL , with payment ( rental fee ) , linked to :

Ø  Hours of flying , or even better,

Ø  Numbers of “ Person Images “ captured / relayed to National Health Vault database server, irrespective of whether capture was “ Normal “ or “ High “ temperature

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

Are there enough domestic Drone Manufacturers ?

There are at least 50 drone manufacturers ( StartUps ) in India

I suppose, each can produce / deliver, 1000 drones / month = 50,000 drones / month

Hence 10 lakh may take 20 months

Since such a prolonged delivery period is unacceptable , foreign imports are inevitable

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

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

What do you suggest as the NEXT STEP ?

I urge Dr HarshVardhanji and Shri RaviShankar Prasadji , to urgently call the office bearers of :

Drone Federation of India

T : +91 981 999 5473
E: info@dronefederation.in

To chalk out a TIME BOUND delivery schedule

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

With regards,

Hemen Parekh

11 April 2020