Crypto : Corruption : Corona : China

At one time, I was opposed to Crypto-Currencies ( eg : BitCoin ) because of its potential for money laundering / corruption etc . 

That made me write following blogs / emails to our Cabinet Ministers :

 In the Eyes of the Beholder ? ………………………………………[ 06 Aug 2017 ]

Virtual Currency ? Time to get Real  …………………………….[ 17 Aug 2017 ]

One  More  Reason ………………………………………………………..[ 22 Nov 2017 ]

What is holding back ?  ………………………………………………….[ 06 Dec 2017 ]

Bursting Bitcoin Bubble ? ……………………………………………….[ 10 Dec 2017 ]

Bitcoin : Illegal in India  …………………………………………………[ 02 Jan 2018 ]

 

Then by early 2019, I learned about Facebook’s plan to dominate the e-Commerce of entire world through launch of its own / proprietary ( non- Sovereign ) Crypto Currency called LIBRA

 

That made me write / send following e-mails :

LIBRA : The coming battle of Currencies ?  …………………[ 29 June 2019 ]

LIBRA : Am I the only one worried ?  …………………………..[ 05 July 2019 ]

Who is afraid of the Big Bad Wolf ( aka LIBRA ) ?........ [ 07 July 2019 ]

Latest word on LIBRA : though not the last word………….[ 10 July 2019]

 

Then came the following news that made me re-think and consider, the POSITIVE aspects of a Crypto-Currency , if it were to be :

 

Ø  Backed and regulated by Government of India / RBI

Ø  The ONLY crypto-currency of India ( no other  “ private minting “ by anyone )

Ø  Totally replaces CASH [ paper currency notes ] from our economy ( full digitization ),

 

Will China Reign Supreme ?   …………………………………………..[ 15 Oct 2019 ]

Elephant Bonds vs Dragon Bonds …………………………………….[ 04 Nov 2019 ]

 

Then, when I read the following news, I felt elated :

India’s Draft National Strategy On Blockchain Calls For Official Cryptocurrency[28/01/2020 ]

 

And sent following email to Cabinet Ministers :

Time to Un-Block the Blockchain Technology  …………………..[ 30 Jan 2020 ]

 

Then came following depressing news :

With a law, India plans lasting ban on cryptos  ………………….[ 12 June 2020 ]

Extract :

Ø  The panel, headed by former finance secretary Subhash Garg, had, in its report, advocated a ban on all forms of private virtual currencies, though it asked the RBI and the government to look at introduction of an official virtual currency

What will convince RBI / Government to issue OFFICIAL VIRTUAL CURRENCY ?

Here is a brief ( non-comprehensive ) suggestion for proposed Law :

Ø  While banning Private Crypto, introduce IndiaBit ( Govt Virtual Currency )

Ø  With some effective date , withdraw all Paper Currency ( forget coins )

Ø  Minimum denomination will still be called a RUPEE ( easy to convert from paper to digital )

Ø  As of a date , bank balances in everyone’s bank account gets converted to IndiaBits

Ø  Set time limit within which people can deposit their paper currency into banks for instant conversion into IndiaBits

Ø  After set date, paper currencies held by anyone ( individual or any legal entity such as a Company ), loses all value and become illegal for any sell / purchase transaction

Ø  All future financial transactions ( sell / buy of any goods or services ) can only be through mobile-app based DIGITAL transactions

Ø  Since all transactions will become DIGITAL , Govt would have full / life-time LOG of each citizen’s “ Sale or Purchase “ [ Who bought What , When , from Whom , at What price , Where etc ] .

Ø  Here is why automatic compilation of such CONSUMPTION DATA for the entire economy, will be a GAME CHANGER :

          Economic data will help policy  ……………………………… 16 June 2020

Extract :

Ø  What were household incomes before the coronavirus pandemic? Were they enough to meet consumption needs? Were rich households more debt-ridden than their poor counterparts? Which parts of the country are likely to suffer from interruption of remittances due to reverse migration?

Ø  The latest available consumption expenditure survey dates back to 2011-12.

Ø  With no credible official data about the economy, policymakers will be groping in the dark. This will also prevent an informed public debate.

Ø  For example, the Reserve Bank of India could work with banks and payment companies to provide a geographical map of remittance flows before the pandemic. Phone companies should be asked to share information on SIM card movement patterns to give an estimate of reverse migration.

    Making Goods and Services Tax input credit chains public could give an insight into

   value chain linkages and potential interruptions due to the lockdown. But, to begin

   with, the government should release the National Sample Survey Office’s 2017-

   18 Consumption Expenditure Survey, which it had hastily scrapped last year. This is

   literally a click away.

Dear Smt Nirmala Sitharamanji / Shri RaviShankar Prasadji / Shri Piyush Goyalji,

I have no clue as to what mechanism could be used ( Inter-Currency Exchange Rate ) for payment for Imports and remittances for Exports , if – and when – we introduce IndiaBit

But if IndiaBit can ,

#  To begin with bring out all BLACK MONEY ( stashed away as paper currency notes )

     and deploy the same into mainstream economy for productive purposes , and

#  Put a Full Stop to any future generation of Black Money ,

-      then my proposal deserves a debate

With regards,

Hemen Parekh

hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  June 18, 2020

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Covid : a later day Shikhandi ?

In Mahabharata , we learned :

Arjun was simply unable to defend himself against the volley of arrows , coming from Pitamah Bhishm

There was hardly any question of being able to defend his army and his brothers

Realizing that Arjun was no match for the archery of Bhishm, Lord Krishna advised him :

“ Arjun , hide behind Shikhandi – then shoot your arrows to Bhishm.

Shikhandi belongs to third gendre and Bhishm will never shoot arrows which may hurt Shikhandi “

When Arjun followed Krishna’s advice, Bhishm lay down his bow and stopped shooting arrows

For the rest of the story  , read Mahabharat ( or watch TV Serial )

In today’s later-day version, China seems to have found its own Shikhandi in the form of Corona

With a difference

Whereas Arjun was fighting for his rightful “ share “ in the Hastinapur kingdom , China has “ exported “ Corona the Shikhandi “, all over the world , to weaken from within, the economies of these countries !

China has succeeded in getting countries to divert all their resources for fighting this “ invisible enemy “ – even as that “ visible enemy “ China, secretly mounts following kinds of attacks , with some “ feeble “ resistance  :

Ø  Attacking Indian soldiers and killing 20 , as reported in media this morning

Ø  Attacking the democratic set-up in Hong Kong

Ø  Crushing the voice of peace-loving people of Tibet

Ø  Sabotaging the parliament of Nepal

Ø  Taking over a major port in Sri Lanka

Ø  Posting thousands of its workers in Pak-Occupied-Kashmir , under pretext of OBOR

Ø  Constructing artificial islands in South China Sea for putting up Military bases

Ø  Repeatedly threatening to “ annexe  “ Taiwan

Ø  Giving all out support to North Korea to threaten whole world with its Nukes

Ø  Taking possession of a strategic port near Karachi – Pakistan

Ø  Buying out most of the mineral mines, all over Africa

Ø  Waging trade wars with most countries of the World by dumping its products

This list is, by no means, comprehensive ! Hardly a day begins without some Chinese attack on yet another front !

A few western countries have come together and formed some sort of a United Front to thwart the Chinese ambition of Global Domination

With yesterday’s attack on its soldiers, India may be tempted to join such a Front

Within the next few days, country after country , will come forward to condemn the Chinese attack on India and express their “ support “ for India

Question is :

Not that we should even think of it, but, in case of an all-out ( or even a limited ) war with China , how many of these “ supporters “ will be willing to send their own armies to join the Indian army at the border to fight the Chinese ?

Short Answer :

None

Of course , most of these countries ( notably, USA – Russia – France – UK – Germany ), will offer to “ Sell “ to India, all kinds of tanks – rockets – fighter planes – missiles etc., on easy Credit Terms  !

By keeping India and China at “ daggers drawn “, and thereby selling billions of dollars’ worth of weapons, these western countries can revive their own Covid-ravaged sagging economies and provide millions with jobs they have lost !

They have no love lost for starving migrant Indian workers !

Leaving aside any boycott of the Chinese Goods, none of these western countries will allow India-China skirmishes to come in the way of “ exporting “ their own goods to China ( or India )

Forget all talk of FREE TRADE and GLOBALIZATION and MULTI–LATERAL trade agreements ( and, may be WTO ? )

In this “ Dog eat Dog “ world , it simply boil downs to :  Each on his own and Each for himself  :

In a World-wide global Trade War, there are neither any permanent friends nor any permanent enemies

Hey !

We cannot even trust that “ Enemy of Enemy “ as a Friend  !

So , what is the way forward  ?

Ø  World has to learn to live with China- whose existence cannot be wished away

Ø  Notwithstanding this “reality of life “, world must unite to do away with political or economic domination of any one country ( eg : USA – Russia – China ) or any block of countries ( Eg; NATO – CENTO – EU etc )

Ø  Even as poor countries struggle to provide a single meal to its starving people ( over 1 billion ), rich countries would have to accept a lower “ Standard of Living “ ( 1 % GDP for 10 years ? )

Ø  10 % of the people of the World, just cannot be allowed to own 90 % of world’s wealth. Political – Economic and Legal solutions will have to be put in place whereby, by 2030, there is a much more “ Equitable Distribution “ of world’s wealth .

Ø  By 2030, 40 % of the people must own 80 % of the World’s wealth , with the remaining 60 % of people owning the balance 20 %  of the wealth

Ø  There will have to be some UPPER LIMIT on the wealth of a person or a country

Ø  Despite such lofty / desirable goals  having been aired in the past, neither Capitalism , nor Communism nor Socialism , have been successful in reducing this “ Inequity “ between the few extreme RICH and the billions of extreme POOR

Ø  As far as the choice of a system of POLITICAL GOVERNANCE is concerned, let there be a debate whether multi-party democratic pluralism , should be tried 

Those keen to engage in such a debate, may want to look up :

Boycott Chinese Products ? A Game Two can play  ………………………………..[ 09 June 2020 ]

Dear Shri Modiji,

No one knows it better than yourself that this is NOT a ZERO-SUM game, where one party wins and the other party loses

The only sensible thing is to “ Keep Talking “ , keeping in mind

Nash Equilibrium ?   ……………………………………….[ 20 Sept 2017 ]

With regards,

Hemen Parekh

hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /   17  June  2020

From Concept to Creation

All over the World, countries are struggling to accelerate the Covid testing of its citizen

India is no exception . Today’s news speak about doubling the rate of testing in Delhi within the next 2 days – then tripling it over next few days

This will help but there are 1370 million of us . Who to test and who to leave out ?

   

That made me send following e-mails to Cabinet Ministers :

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

Marriage of Technologies to contain Corona ? Yes !  ………………………………[  15  March  2020  ]

Extract :

Ø  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

Ø  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 )

Ø  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 ]

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

Remotely measuring Body Temperature   ……………………………………………………[ 27 March 2020 ]

 

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

 

Sankalp – Sanyanm – Shastra   …………………………………………………………………..[ 20 March 2020 ]

Extract :

 

     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 ]

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

Congratulations, Shivansh Sethi / Ankita Sain  …………………………………………..[ 11 Apr 2020 ]

Extract :

 

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.

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

Central Railway Authorities must be congratulated for taking the initiative to implement my suggestion

Here is how they have done it :

Mumbai: AI based cameras installed at CSMT, LTT to screen passengers

Extract :

Ø  Presently all passengers boarding Mail/Express trains at CSM and LTT are being scanned by FebriEye at the entrance point for higher temperature before going inside the platform for boarding

Ø  FebriEye is an AI based thermal screening system for real time and automated , non-intrusive monitoring to ensure that a person entering doesn’t have a  high fever

Ø  Sutar said, "FebriEye thermal cameras can cover large areas which means it can detect the temperature of multiple people entering at once at a premise and record temperature automatically while passengers keep on moving  

Ø  FebriEye is equipped with ‘Black Body’, a constant temperature source that ensures accuracy in temperature readings of up to 0.3 degree Celcius ( + / -  )

Ø  FebriEye uses heat sensors that can record heat generated by the body of a person or an object to create a 2D Image with differing temperature levels. When passengers pass before the cameras, anyone with temperature above the set  range, will be seen in a different colour pattern than the rest , on the computer screen connected to the camera

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

I suppose , it will be only a matter of few months before all authorities responsible for passenger transport, will implement FebriEye devices on their vehicles ( Trains – Metros – Buses – Ferries – Airlines etc )

There is high probability that authorities in charge of managing other types of Public Places ( Shops – Malls – Offices – Theatres – Function Halls – Sports Complexes etc ), will follow suit

Nothing should stop Municipalities to install thousands of such devices ( like present-day CCTV cameras ) on footpaths in every city !

There is no faster / automatic method of identifying who needs to be administered a Covid Test 

Dear Amitbhai Shah :

In today’s all-party meeting, you said :

“…………coronavirus testing will be made available to everyone in the national capital.

We will have to increase COVID-19 testing in Delhi by adopting new solutions," 

[ source : Bury differences, join hands to battle COVID-19 in Delhi: Amit Shah at all-party meet  ]

This is that NEW SOLUTION

With regards,

Hemen Parekh

hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  15  June  2020