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, 19 November 2020

Congratulations , Shri R K Singhji

 

Congratulations , Shri R K Singhji

(  Minister – MNRE )

 

Context :

MNRE proposes scheme for development of wind-solar hybrid parks  (  Business Line / 19 Nov )

Highlights / Extracts :

Ø  Name of Scheme

             'Development of Wind Parks /Wind-solar Hybrid Parks

Ø  “ Plug and Play “ solution

Wind Energy Park will provide a plug and play solution ( availability of land, transmission, necessary infrastructure and necessary approvals ) to the investors for installing wind / wind-solar power projects

Ø  Sites

Sits have been identified across seven states – Tamil Nadu / Andhra Pradesh / Karnataka / Telangana / Gujarat / Rajasthan / Madhya Pradesh

Ø  Who will select Park developers ?

The State Government would designate park developer who would undertake the development of park including DPR preparation, land, transmission infrastructure etc

Ø  Potential

For a capacity of 53,495 MW ( 53.5 GW ) - @ 5 MW per sq km

Ø  Prescribed Capacity of each park

500 MW and more. In special circumstances, smaller parks may be allowed . In any case, the capacity of each park shall not be less than 50 MW.

Ø  Who can invest in a park ?

Park developers may also be allowed to “ pool “ small investor into the single park

Ø  MNRE’s Financial assistance to the developer

#   For preparation of DPR       > Rs 25 lakh per park  

#   For park development cost > “ Rs 20 lakh / MW “  or  “ 30 % of development cost “,

     whichever is lower

 

Ø  Interstate Transfer of power

      If the power generated in the park (full or partial) is exported to other state, then the state

      government or its designated agency will be entitled for a facilitation charge @ 5 paisa per unit

     of electricity exported to other state from project developer

 

Ø  Comments to be sent by >  28 Nov. 2020  (  to Shri Rahul Rawat - rahul.mnre@gov.in )

 

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

For details, see :  https://mnre.gov.in/img/documents/uploads/file_f-1605265655087.PDF  /  13 NOV 2020

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

Only 3 weeks ago , I sent following e-mail to Cabinet Ministers :

A Tale of Two States …………………………………………….[ 28 Oct 2020 ]

-       Where I suggested as follows :

 

Broad / conceptual frame-work :

#    Introduce “ Co-operative Farming of Solar Power / CFSP “ { call it a kind of “ Contract Farming “ }

      ( incorporate this into just released FARM LAWS to encourage setting-up of “ Solar Power

       Farmers Cooperative Society “, along the lines of “ Dairy Farmers’  AMUL Milk Cooperative Society “)

#    Under CFSP, provide 30 % Capital Cost Subsidy to companies setting up large ( > 500 MW ) Solar

       Farms in remote areas

      ( eg : desert areas of Kutch – Spiti – Lahul – Ladakh etc , which have a potential to generate

       315 GW of Solar power )

           Read : https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2018/08/from-ladakh-with-love-and-sun-shine.html

#    1 MW of ( grid ) solar will need 100,000 sq ft of solar panels ( 1 KW will need 100 sq ft )

#    The estimated cost of 1 MW solar power plant is approx. Rs 4 - 6 crore.

#    That works out to approx. Rs 400 - 600 / sq ft of Capital cost for Solar panels

#    Solar Farm company can “ Sell “ ownership rights of solar panels to individuals in modules of 1000 sq ft,

      (costing Rs 4- 6 lakh per module )

      These rights can be sold / transferred to any buyer, only with prior permission of the Solar Farm Company

      Concerned

 #   Each module ( of 1,000 sq ft ) will generate 10 KW of power, which Company will feed into a NATIONAL

      GRID ( free ) .

#    Each such Co-operative Company can reserve / own by itself, 30 % of Solar Panels for generating power

      for sale in free market   

#    My nearest DISCOM will supply me those 10 KW, free of cost ( ie: deduct from my monthly usage ) . Any

      excess over my actual consumption, to be credited to my account

#    Depending upon my usage / need , I as an individual CO-OPERATIVE OWNER , can “ buy “ any number

      of STANDARD MODULES, and from any number of Cooperative Farming companies or other Co-op Owners

#    This set-up will require NATIONAL SOLAR EXCHANGE in which ALL discoms will be mandated to become

      members

 

Dear Shri R K Singhji,

 ..as of October 15, 2019, only 1,826 MW capacity has reportedly been installed, which means that the achievement is only 11.50 per cent 

 If we want to achieve 40 GW of Rooftop Solar by 2022, we need to think “ Out of Box “

 I urge you to consider my suggestion ( - no doubt with suitable modifications )

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

Dear Shri Rahul Rawatji  (  MNRE /  rahul.mnre@gov.in ),

Your “ Office Memorandum “ dated 13 Nov.,  reads :   for stakeholders' consultation

As a member of a Housing Society of 10 members, each of whom would like to install a “ Rooftop Solar of 20 KW “ ( a total of 200 KW needing 20,000 sq ft of terrace area – against availability of mere 2,000 sq ft ),  I am a stakeholder !

Apart from many other issues , non-availability of TERRACE AREA , sufficient enough to install solar panels that can take care of the power requirements of all the flat-owners of multi-story buildings in our cities, is the main reason why SOLAR ROOFTOP has failed to take off in a big way

My suggestion overcomes this limitation by enabling citizen of metros to “ own “ solar panels installed 500 Km away from their homes

I request you to forward this e-mail to all the rest for eliciting comments on my proposal

With regards,

 

Hemen Parekh

hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  20 Nov 2020

 

 Related Readings :

Hybrid tech, new wave of reforms will help India transition to renewable energy, say experts   ( 20 Nov 2020 )

This blog e-mailed to :

secretarygeneral@indianwindpower.com  /  ad.delhi@indianwindpower.com  {  IWTMA  }

iwpahq@windpro.org / secretary.general@windpro.org / iwpa.rsc@gmail.com / iwpacno@windpro.co.in { IWPA }

manish@inwea.org  { Indian Wind Energy Association – IWEA }

ps@appindia.org.in / akhurana369@appindia.org.in / girish.deveshwar@appindia.org.in  { APP }

rajnath-pc@nic.in  { Rajnath Ram , Adviser Energy – NITI }

Vipul.tuli@sembcorp.com  { Vipul Tuli , MD, Sembcorp India }

Alok.nanda@ge.com / Ananda@shiftcomm.com  {  Alok Nanda, CEO , GE Technology Centre }

Ashish.khanna@tatapower.com  { Ashish Khanna, President -Renewable , TATA Power }

Vinay.rustagi@bridgetoindia.com  { Vinay Rustagi , MD , Bridge to India }

chair@nic.in / ps.mhaske@nic.in  {  Chairman, CEA  }

secy-power@nic.in  {  Secretary, Ministry of Power  }

secy@cercind.gov.in  { Secretary , CERC  }

 

     

 

 

Wednesday, 18 November 2020

Hurry / do not Hesitate

 


 

Context :

Information Technology Act could soon regulate digital streaming and news portals   [ ET – 19 Nov ] 


Extract :

 

Ø  The discussions to introduce new provisions are aimed at regulating technology aspects such as,

 

                   #  Collection of Users’ metadata ( which refers to BULK

                       DEMOGRAPHIC and other DATA that firms collect about their 

                       users ) , as well as

                      

                    #  The algorithms that define how CONTENT is SERVED UP to 

                         individual consumers

 

Ø  Officials said that a SEPARATE FRAMEWORK to regulate the underlying technology solutions that power digital news and entertainment is required as “ algorithms play an important role in how news aggregators and other platforms curate their feeds and how PLATFORMS USE the METADATA they collect of their Users

 

Ø  This an include users’ PERSONAL DATA such as,

 

#   Age

#   Educational Qualifications

#   Choice of Content

#   Time spent viewing it or reading it

 

Ø  All these aspects of METADATA along with the algorithms will come under the IT Act, while the content part will be governed by the I&B ministry

 

Ø  While MeitY retains control over policies on algorithms , metadata, personal data or non-personal data, the I&B ministry will have legislative control over content-related issues of all online news and entertainment platforms

 

 

Ø  …. Social Media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter along with Google which offers curated news, could come under the preview of the new regulations

 

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


I hope this is only the first step towards evolving that separate FRAME WORK


 

For over 3 years, I have been pleading with MeitY to implement a Frame Work, which is not so much about “ regulating the underlying technology “ , but more about “ compensating the USERS “ of the Social Media platforms , for using / selling the PERSONAL DATA of its users – and making tons of money


 

It is high time these platforms are forced to pay to its users , for the data they compile and sell


 

I was pleading with MeitY for amending the pending Personal Data Protection Bill , to enable / enforce such payments to users ( - estimated at Rs 30,000 per month to each Indian User )

 

 

Dear Shri Ravishankar Prasadji,

 

 

I believe you want to implement my suggestion which will assure a fair compensation to 400 million users

 

It is unimportant whether this gets implemented by ,

 

#  Amendment of IT Act , or

 

#  Modification of Personal Data Protection Bill , or

 

#  Introduction of a new Act [ “ Compensation for Usage of Personal

     Information and Data ( CUPID ) Act ]


In this context, you might want to look up how China is tackling this issue :


Draft rules aim to curb monopolistic behavior of internet platforms

 

For your ready reference, I reproduce below, links to my earlier e – mails on this subject :

 

 Digital Dividend from Demographic Data [ 4 D ]…………………..... [ 14 Feb 2019 ]

 

 SARAL Single  Authentic  Registration for Anywhere  Login )…[ 10 Feb 2019 ]

 

 

With regards,

 

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  19 Nov 2020

 

 

Related Readings :

 

      GAFA ( aka Monopoly V 2.0 ? ) ………………………………………[ 30 Sept 2020 ]

      A Greed-Ship named Facebook ………………………………………[ 21 Sept 2020 ]

      Time for the Next Step …………………………………………………….[ 15 Sept 2020 ]

     Only Answer : a Statutory Warning…………………………………..[ 10 Nov 2018 ]

 

 

    

Tuesday, 17 November 2020

Social Security for Unorganized Labour

 


 

Context :

Unorganised labour to get social security soon  ( Business Line / 16 Nov 2020 )

Extract :

Ø  The draft norms say worker will be required to register with AADHAR on a SELF DECLARATION basis, on the SPECIFIC portal

 

Ø  Based on the registration, a unique REGISTRATION NUMBER will be generated

 

Ø  This registration will be MANDATORY to get benefits under the Social Security Scheme

 

Ø  The unorganized worker , or any category or sub-category of unorganized worker, shall be required to UPDATE their particulars such as “  Current Address “ and “ Occupation “ , from TIME –to-TIME

 

Ø  In the absence of such UPDATION, any unorganized worker may not remain eligible to avail such benefits of the social security schemes

 

Ø  The code prescribes schemes for social welfare relating to ;

#   Life and Disability cover

#   Accident Insurance

#   Health and Maternity Benefits

#   Old Age Protection

#   Creche ( and other benefits to be added from time to time )

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

Nearly 2 YEARS ago , I sent following e-mail to our Cabinet Ministers / MPs-MLAs / NITI Aayog :

Organizing the Unorganized ………………………[ 04 Feb 2019 ]

-       Where I briefly defined the roles to be played by :

 

Ø  Ministry of Labor

Ø  Ministry of Electronics and IT

Ø  Ministry of MSME

Ø  Ministry of Skills Development

Ø  Ministry of Commerce

Ø  Role of MSME

Ø  Role of the Workers

 

For “ Ministry of Electronics and IT “, I envisaged following role :

 

Ø  Direct each of the 1.2 million operators of 3 lakh CSC [ Customer Service Centers ] to visit 50 nearby MSME and guide / help , both the workers and the MSME employer , to enroll the workers on www.MaanDhan.gov.in , by filling in the REGISTRATION FORM with the following data about each worker :

    #  Name / Contact Details / DOB / Aadhar Card No / Employee Number

       ( Each unique Employee Number will be auto-generated by a common Salary Payment Software , running

         on Web site Server )

   #  Employee's Jandhan Yojana Bank Account Number for salary transfer ( DBT )

  #   Employer's Jandhan bank account / Unique Employer Number

      (  Employers will be mandated to effect the salary payments , only through digital bank transfer and never

        through CASH )

   #  Employee Category ( Hourly-rated / Daily-rated / Monthly-rated )

  #   Payment Frequency ( Daily – Fortnightly – Monthly )

  #   Leave provisions / PF rate / TDS rate / Allowances / Reimbursements

  #  Any other relevant data ( either about employee or of employer )

Each CSC operator will be assigned 50 MSME so as to cover all 60 million MSME within one year

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

Dear Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwarji (  Minister of Labour ) :

[  molegangwar@yahoo.com  /  santosh.gangwar.bareilly@gmail.com ]


Congratulations for releasing these draft rules for “ Code on Social Security “ for workers in the Unorganized Sector , in which you have incorporated some of the suggestions made in my above-mentioned e-mail


However , I urge you to consider my following ( e-mailed ) suggestion , which will, with ONE STROKE , fully INTEGRATE,

 

Ø  All the 4 Labour Codes ( Wages / Industrial Relations / Social Security / Occupational Safety , Health and Working Conditions )

 

Ø  All types of Workers ( Unorganized – Organized – Contractual – Part Time – Gig – may be even Domestic Workers – and potentially even SELF EMPLOYED )

 

And through such creation of a “ Single Master Dynamic / Auto-Generated Database “ of our 480 million workers ( Organized + Unorganized ), it will enable framing of future policies in respect of INDUSTRY – TRADE – COMMERCE – TAXATION ( Corporate and Personal ) – MINIMUM WAGES etc


There will be no more need for conducting “ Quarterly – Annual Employment Surveys “ of a tiny fraction ( not even 1 % ) of our workers

 

      #     From BAD to MAD …………………………….[ 01 June 2016 ]

      #    MAD goes to Mandi ……………………………[ 02  Jan  2020 ]

 

I urge you not to miss this opportunity of a life-time  

 

With regards,

 

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  18  Nov  2020

 

 

 

 

 

  

Monday, 16 November 2020

Musk may not care

 


 

But Indian industrialists ( Mukesh – Mittal – Munjal – Maini ) are certainly worried about their factory workers to :

Ø  Produce a Domicile Certificate before getting a job

Ø  May be even having to produce a “ WORK PERMIT “ ( ala H1-B Visa ? ) from the States concerned

     

Context :

How other States may replicate Haryana’s New bill reserving 75 % jobs for locals in private sector

Extract :

Ø  Haryana

#  Every employer to employ 75 % local candidates in posts where wages

     are not over Rs 50,000 / month

         #  Employers can claim exemption if sufficient local candidates with skills

             are not available

Ø  Andhra Pradesh

#  Industries, factories, PPP projects to ensure 75 % employment to local

     candidates

#  If qualified lcal candidates are not available, industry must train locals in 

     3 years

Ø  Karnataka

#  In September, government said it will issue directive to recruit locals in

     Group C & D ( clerical ) jobs in PSUs; says “natives “must be given

     priority in private sector too

Ø  Uttarakhand

#  CM directs industry department to formulate a proposal to ensure that 70

     % of jobs in state’s industries will go to local

 

Karnataka keeps law on job quota for locals at bay

Extract :

Ø  Although the Constitutional validity of such laws remain challenged in court, Haryana's move has revived the debate in Karnataka where this has been tried before

 

Ø  "Under such a law, special permission should be sought from the government if a company has less than 75% local employees. This leads to a lot of logistical complications, as it is not necessary that all expertise required to run a firm or a factory is available locally “

 

Ø  "Though reasonable restrictions to provide up to 50% reservation is fine, a higher limit is against the well-being of a company, which should be empowered to make its own appointments,"

 

Ø  Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan, who heads the IT/BT department, concurred and said companies would prefer states with fewer regulations of this kind. He even called it 'retrograde'. 

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

WHY WOULD ELON MUSK NOT CARE ?

 

( A )   He has his plate full

Ø  He has no compulsion to put up his 5th Gigafactory in India .

 

Ø  After his first factory in Freemont ( USA ) , he broke ground for his 2nd factory in Shanghai ( China ) in 2018 and started assembly within ONE YEAR ! This factory is expected to deliver 250,000 cars in 2020 !

 

Ø  His 3rd factory in Berlin is under construction and expected to start production by end 2021

 

Ø  His 4th factory in Austin ( USA ) is also under construction and will start production by 2022

 

 

( B )   He has other options for his next factory 

Ø  He has no compulsion to put up his 5th Gigafactory in India. For his 5th factory , he is looking at Singapore / Vietnam / Indonesia

 

( C )  As compared with any auto factory of the world, Tesla needs far fewer Man-hours / unit, to produce a car

Ø  All of his factories are highly automated with specialized ROBOTS and require very few human workers

  

( D )  Following Wright’s Law , Tesla’s labour requirement is dropping by 15-20 %

         with each doubling of cumulative units produced

         

  Refer :

Y=axb

Wright’s Law Formula

Y = cumulative average time (or cost) per unit
X = cumulative number of units produced
a = time (or cost) required to produce 1st unit
b = slope of the function

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lKRL7Hghfk

Now , consider the following :

Ø  By March 2020 , Tesla rolled out its first MILLIONTH ( cumulative ) car

 

Ø  By Dec 2020 , Tesla would have capacity to produce 650,000 cars / year ( between California and China factories )

 

Ø  Hence , by middle of 2022 , it would have produced ( cumulative ), 2 MILLION cars and dropped its “ labour requirement “ by another 20 % from current level

 

Ø  With coming on stream of Berlin and Austin factories ( by Dec 2021 ? ) , Tesla could conceivably achieve a cumulative production of 4 million car by Dec 2024 – once again dropping its “ labour requirement “ by yet another 20 % !

 

 

If Tesla puts up a plant in India in 2024 , chances are , it may not need more than a few hundred highly qualified engineers ( all drawing a salary of Rs 1 lakh / month ? ) for maintenance of its highly automated robotic plant !

If Tesla could already offer FSD ( Full Self Driving ) cars ( without a human driver ) – and that too on complicated roads / turns / traffic signals / unpredictable drivers of other cars etc., then there is good reason to believe that it could easily operate its future streamlined manufacturing / assembly lines, with hardly a human around !

By that time, the way our States are getting busy with their hollow / populist “ carrots “, it is conceivable that I may need to obtain a TOURIST VISA to travel from Mumbai to Mangalore !

We have earlier heard :  Man proposes , God disposes

Now I am hearing : 

Centre proposes ( to multinationals to shift their manufacturing plants from China to India ) , States are disposing !

Is there any State Chief Minister, courageous enough to say :

“ Hey, Elon :

Put up your plant in my state, as long as all of your employees are INDIANS “

 

With regards,

Hemen parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com /  17 Nov 2020

 

 

Related Readings :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Model_3

https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-cancels-35000-model-3-car?mc_eid=a96c428172&mc_cid=4cffed8629

https://futurism.com/graphene-batteries-gamechanger

Luck does not happen !...........................[ 04 Nov 2020 ]