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

Thursday, 21 May 2020

Mothballing Mega-Projects ?




During her recent press briefings , Smt Sitaramanji announced an ECONOMY  STIMULUS  PACKAGE of Rs 20.97 lakh*crore



But , it would be incorrect to call it an ECONOMY STIMULUS PACKAGE , since allocation for “ job-generating “ INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS , was only Rs 1.4 lakh crore !  

Rest was more in the nature of a RELIEF to individuals by way of CASH and some support to businesses to avoid winding up


When asked by a journalist , how Government plans to raise funds for this ambitious outlay , Smt Sitharamanji said :


“ We are borrowing – we will continue to borrow from the market “  [ approximate words ]


Obviously, she could not say : 

“ We will tax the rich taxpayers , some more “


My guess is that , out of the total of Rs 6 lakh*crore of PERSONAL INCOME TAX revenue , those Super Rich , probably contribute no more than Rs 1 lakh*crore !


Raising their tax-rate by 100 % , would fetch , may be an additional , Rs 1 lakh*crore !


Peanuts compared to the funds required for the following ( mostly, incomplete ? ) mega-projects :


Ø  Mumbai – Nagpur  Super Expressway ……………………………………. Rs   46,000   crore

Ø  Ahmedabad – Mumbai Bullet Train    …………………………………….. Rs  108,000  crore

Ø  Shri Shivaji Maharaj Statue  ……………………………………………………  Rs       3,644  crore

Ø  Mumbai Trans Harbour Link …………………………………………………… Rs    14, 262  crore

Ø  Amaravati Capital City ( Andhra ) ……………………………………………  Rs  109,000  crore

Ø  GIF-Tec City ( Gujarat )  …………………………………………………………..  Rs  140,000  crore

Ø  Navi-Mumbai International Airport ( NAMI ) ………………………….. Rs  112,000  crore

Ø  Delhi – Mumbai Trade Corridor  ……………………………………………… Rs  630,000  crore

Ø  Central Vista Project ( Delhi )  …………………………………………………. Rs     20,000  crore

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Ø  TOTAL   …………………………………………………………………………………… 
Rs  21.90  Lakh*Crore

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And this is only a partial list . For a better understanding of what we are facing, read :

Ø  Centre resolves 615 infrastructure projects worth Rs 22.35 trillion   …………………[  24 June 2019  ]

Ø  Infra funding requirement pegged at 111 lakh crore during 2020-25  ……………..[  29 April  2020  ]


This must be looked in the following context :


Ø  If our expected GDP was $ 2.9 trillion ( $ 2920 billion ) for 20-21 , that would work out to  $ 8 billion ( Rs 56,000 cr  ), PER DAY


Ø  Hence , in past 58 days of lockdown , our GDP has lost $ 464 billion ( Rs 32.48 Lakh*Crore )


Both, the Centre and the States, are spending huge amount of funds for fighting Corona crisis

Their reserves have depleted, treasuries are hitting rock bottom. The end of this crisis is not in sight !


One thing is crystal clear. Capital Spending on Infrastructure Projects would have to be suspended


With dwindling revenues from taxes ( direct + indirect ),  States – and Centre – will not have , even enough money for Revenue Expenditure ( salaries etc )

And if there are no Infra Projects, how will economy revive ? How will jobs get generated ?

Not through MGNREGA

During her press brief , talking about MGNREGA, Smt Sitharamanji said :

Ø  Additional allocation of Rs 40,000 cr , will generate 300 crore MAN-DAYS of work

Ø  Therefore, earlier / original allocation of Rs 60,000 cr , could provide 450 crore MAN-DAYS

Ø  A total allocation of Rs 101,000 cr giving , 750 cr MAN-DAYS

Ø  Now , MGNREGA promises 100 Man-days / year / to Rural – Unskilled – Unemployed

Ø  Hence, this works out to providing work to 7.5 crore workers only ( in rural areas )


 Will Centre approach World Bank – IMF – Asian Development Bank etc for Rs 111 lakh*crore ?


With dozens of poor countries approaching these institutions for funds, India cannot expect much help from them

Whatever is given, will carry stringent conditions ( for “ Ease of Doing Business “ reforms ?  ) – besides untenable “interest rates  / repayment terms “


If there ever was a time to put BLACK MONEY to productive use – to revive Economy and generate jobs ,  that time is NOW !


To undo the ravages of the TINY VIRUS , what we need is an ELEPHANT !


To be precise , ELEPHANT BONDS ( modified as suggested by me ), as outlined in :


Congratulations, Shri Surjit Bhallaji,   ………………………………….[ 31 Oct 2019 ]


Dear Madam Sitharamanji,


Times of extreme calamity demand “ unorthodox and out-of-the-box “ solutions


Reducing Repo Rate from 4.4 % to 4.0 % ( as announced a few minutes back by RBI Governor , Shri Shaktikant Das ),  is no more than applying a BAND-AID to a likely fatal wound !


If you announce ELEPHANT BONDS right now, no one will misunderstand


No one ( including Experts / Economists / Opposition leaders ) will criticize your announcement because none of them have anything better to offer !


With regards,

Hemen Parekh

hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  22  May  2020

Wednesday, 20 May 2020

Tele-Medicine / Tele-Health : a COVID gift ?




FOLLOWING IS MY PAST TAKE ON THIS SUBJECT :
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Digital Delivery of Drugs                                                                 [ 11 Oct 2015 ]


Extract :
WHO ( which doctor ) , prescribed  WHAT drug ( drug name ) made by WHO (
name of drug manufacturer ) , to WHOM  (patient name ) , and WHY ( disease
diagnosis ) , and WHEN ( date ) and sold by WHICH ( drug store )

=====================================================================================
Modicare : A Game Changer                                                        [ 01 Feb 2018 ]


Extract
 :
Medicalchain, on the other hand, uses blockchain technology to store and share health records securely, allowing for easy and safe transfer of information between providers and patients.

=====================================================================================
Healthcare : The Unfolding Story                                                   [ 19  June  2018 ]

Extract :

Using such massive data base, can BIG DATA / Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning ,
figure out what " Customized healthcare Medical treatment Supplementary diet "
should be " prescribed " for each human on this earth ?

=====================================================================================
Will “ Ayushman Bharat “ listen ?                                                          [ 14  Nov  2018 ]

Extract :

When that happens , expect the AI to do the following :

        #    Guide your family doctor to prescribe the best-suited medicine for each member of
              Your family

#    Recommend some “ preventive “ medicines before a disease manifests itself !

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Health Data Vault                                                                        [ 16 June 2019 ]

Extract :
 All the Health Data of all 50 crore beneficiaries to be stored on a Central Server for BIG DATA analysis , in order to “ Predict “ WHO might become susceptible to WHICH ailment and WHEN  

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

Corona Patient Case Histories : a Fragmented Database  ………….. [  30  March  2020  ]



Extract :

There is urgent need to STANDARDIZE the following :

[ A ]…… Patient Data Form

[ B ] ….. Laboratory

[ C ] ….. Authorities

[ D ]  …. Quarantine


Ideally , all of the above-mentioned data must be filled in ONLINE ( from a desktop or from a Mobile App to be launched by Central Ministry of Health and Family Welfare – Dr Harsh Vardhanji ) by the laboratory concerned


All data will flow into a SINGLE , CENTRAL DATA-BASE of  Health History of Indian Citizen

This database should be made accessible as follows :


      Ø   Specified “ Health-care  Authorities “ in an anonymized / aggregated manner

      Ø   Specified “ Doctors / Labs “ , with names of only those patients who were treated by them ( including Family
            Doctor )


A “ standardization / uniformity / protocol “ of the type described above will help in making available to Healthcare Authorities,

COMPUTERISED  DECISION  MAKING SUPPORT

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


CURRENT  STATE  OF  ART  ,  WORLD-WIDE :




Extract :

Ø  CONNECTED MEDICAL DEVICES


       A doctor’s inability to listen to my heart during a virtual visit might be solved if I have my own digital stethoscope, an item that’s widely available now. The doctor might even be able to watch me take my own blood pressure during the virtual visit to make sure I do it right, then read the results I upload

.
These kinds of connected medical devices are already here.


The diabetes management company One Drop sells a kit and app for measuring blood sugar levels and reporting the data to a doctor or other caregiver.


AliveCor’s Kardia device creates a medical-grade EKG that can detect atrial fibrillation, bradycardia, or tachycardia in 30 seconds, with some help from the company’s AI algorithms.


A quick search finds FDA-approved connected otoscopes, which help physicians look inside your ear, as well as numerous blood pressure monitors, wearable blood glucose monitors, and many other connected health gadgets.


Telemedicine platforms often review these devices and integrate with the ones they prefer.


Ø  REMOTE HEALTHCARE KITS


Telemedicine appointments where patients at home transmit diagnostic data to a caregiver is just one scenario. Many schools, workplaces, and remote clinics have someone with medical training on staff who can conduct diagnostic tests and pass them on to a remote doctor.


Ø  APPS, APPS, APPS


There’s also a growing wave of digital health apps that rely on smartphone features to collect diagnostic data.

The Australian company ResApp Health makes a number of apps that use a smartphone to record and transmit the recording of a cough.

Tel Aviv-based Healthy.io makes an app that uses the smartphone’s camera to measure aspects of a patient’s urine.

Researchers at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) developed a tablet app that uses computer vision to recognize early signs of Alzheimer’s in the eye of the user


Ø  BEYOND THE “WEALTHY AND WELL


But in the future, a digital health integration with a pharmacy system might inform a doctor if a patient has failed to fill a prescription.


Modern smartwatches have gradually added data-collecting sensors that could be potentially useful to caregivers

“When those devices detect that something is going the wrong way, the clinician shows up on your phone within a matter of a minute and says,

 ‘Hey, we just detected that you have an arrhythmia, and this is what we’re going to do about it,'” Tong says.


Personal health monitoring may have started with wrist wearables, but there is a growing list of options. 

In the future, we’ll very likely see things like hearing aids that also listen to heart rhythms, finger rings that monitor skin temperature and other vitals, and clothing with built-in sensors for monitoring body temperature, heart rate, and other metrics


A NEW APPROACH, WITH AI


As wearables generate more precise measurements, we’ll likely see more startups that specialize in receiving, analyzing, and presenting the data to caregivers via a dashboard.


Their software products might even integrate biometrics data with other patient information from the electronic health record, then apply AI to the data set to look for patterns.


Insights from this analysis might trigger a proactive video call to a patient’s phone before they realize something’s wrong.


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


The rise of telemedicine: How COVID-19 is fundamentally changing healthcare for all of us  [  31  March  2020  ]


Extract :

In this moment, consumers are experiencing telemedicine and discovering the ease by which they can receive quality care; providers are overcoming their concerns; and payers are aligning reimbursement so that physicians can actually get compensated for the work that they do.


Given the acceleration of telemedicine in this moment, this shift will take hold and fundamentally transform healthcare for all of us


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

Influence of Telemedicine In the US and Its Impact In India                                                           [  22  April  2020  ]


Extract :

In the light of the novel coronavirus pandemic, MoHFW has issued guidelines for telemedicine services/projects in collaboration with Board of Governors (BoGs), Medical Council of India and the NITI Aayog

Another advantage is that telemedicine will allow people from all over the country to access necessary healthcare without leaving their homes or breaking quarantine conditions


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Dear Dr HarshVardhanji,



        In July 2019,  your ministry unveiled an ambitious plan to introduce interoperable electronic health records ( EHR ) , based on consent which will enable all citizens to access their health records within 5 clicks

       The plan is part of the  National Digital Health Blueprint  unveiled by the Health Ministry

       The key objectives include,

       #   establishing and managing the core digital health data and the infrastructure required for its seamless exchange

       #  creating a system of personal health records based on international standards, which is easily accessible to
           citizens and service providers based on citizen-consent  


       It also aims to use it for health data analytics and medical research

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

      The need for this plan was seen by you , some 10 months back

      Corona crisis has lent an URGENCY to implement it


With regards,

Hemen  Parekh

hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /   21  May  2020