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

Wednesday, 5 May 2021

Getting Pro-active when pushed by Pandemic ?

 


 

For years now, I have been advocating refocusing on SELF-EMPLOYMENT rather than on trying to create PAID JOBS ( whether in Private Sector or in Public Sector )

There is simply no way, we can create every year, 12 MILLION new / additional jobs

Now comes the following news :

Over Half of Formal Employees became Temps in ’20 : Study    /   Eco Times / 06 May

Extract :

Ø  Amid more curbs and local lockdowns to contain the spread of Covid-19, a new report shows that more than half of permanent salaried workers — or formal workers — moved to informal work by the end of last year.

Ø  as much as 34 % of formal workers had moved to Self- Employment , while 8.5 % had shifted to temporarily salaried roles and 9.8 % to Casual or Daily Wage workers

Ø  The report showed that the poorest of the workers have taken the worst hit, with an additional 230 million people slipping below the national minimum wage line of Rs 375 per day, during last year’s lockdown. This translates into an increase in poverty by 15 % in rural areas and nearly 20 % in urban areas

Ø  The poorest 20 % lost nearly all their income due to unemployment during the lockdown, while the top 20 % lost a little less than a quarter

Ø  More than 46 % of women lost jobs during the lockdown and did not get back into employment, while this figure was 7 % for men

Ø  A third of workers in the 15-24 age group failed to recover employment even by December 2020. This figure was lower at 6 % in the 25-44 age group

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The above-mentioned report should be read in conjunction with following report :

China is the World’s Manufacturing Superpower   /    Statista.com

China………………….28.7  %

USA…………………… 16.8  %

Japan…………………..  7.5  %

Germany…………….. 5.3  %

India……………………. 3.1  %

S. Korea……………..   3.0  %

Italy……………………….2.1  %

France…………………   1.9  %

UK……………………….   1.8  %

Indonesia…………….   1.6  %

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

 MY TAKE :


Dear Shri Narendrabhai,


One does not need to be an ORACLE to visualize the following

Nor do my suggestions fall under ROCKET SCIENCE

But one thing is indisputable:  “ LUCK only happens when PREPAREDNESS meets CIRCUMSTANCES  “ .

I urge you to enable our countrymen ( and women ) to be prepared when the THIRD WAVE hits our shores

Ø  As per experts, matters ( economic recovery-wise / employment-wise ) are going to get WORSE

Ø  Quite likely, formal jobs already eaten away by Covid, are never going to return

Ø  At world-level, it is “ Every Country for itself ( Dog eat dog ) “ . WTO is dying a slow death

Ø  At a country-level , each Government which fails to protect / create jobs, is getting thrown out

Ø  Whether for a Country or for an ordinary citizen, only “ the fittest will survive “

Ø  The only way to make our poor millions “ fittest “, is to unshackle them from govt compliances and get out of their  way to earn their living by getting SELF EMPLOYED, doing ANYTHING as long as it does not harm other citizen or the Environment, as detailed at :

  A NEW ECONOMIC ORDER ? aka " Start Up Act - 2015 "…………….[ 12 Sept 2015 ]

 

  " BACK FACTORY " OF THE WORLD ? ……………………………………………[ 09 Sept 2015 ]

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  06 April 2021

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

RELATED  READINGS  :

Why China Is "The World's Factory"

Is China still the factory of the world?   /  Financial Express -  21 april 2021

Extract :

Ø  Can India take advantage of the ‘perfect storm’ in terms of confluence of circumstance on the global stage, as also the proactive-ness of policy at home to make ‘ Made in India ’ happen?

 

  Permission to create jobs ?  …………………………………………………[ 14 Mar 2020 ]

 

 India BPO Promotion Scheme :  [  IBPS  ]  V  2.0  ………..     [ 11 April 2018 ]

 

  Will Holograms beat H1B Visa Ban ?                                  [ 31 Jan 2017 ]

 

 Wormholes Across the World ?                                           [ 03 Mar 2017 ]

 

 Thank You , Prakashbhai ( Javadekarji )                              [ 03 Apr 2019 ]

 

 

Tuesday, 4 May 2021

A Day without a New Covid App ?

 


 

Every day, we come to know about some Mobile App

Here are news reports from tody’s news papers :

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

Ø  Aarogya Setu App to display Vax Status soon    /  Eco Times

The government is working on a feature where a blue tick will appear against their names once people take one dose of the vaccine. If they have taken both the doses, then two blue ticks will be displayed.

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Ø  Coders script ways to beat vaccination queues  /  Business Line

        Not able to get a vaccination appointment? Or, managed to get one only to find the hospital has run out of vaccines? A host of Indian coders, who found themselves in a similar situation, have managed to get around it by cracking the code on the Cowin website

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

Only last week, Facebook came out with :

Facebook Launches In-App Vaccine Tracker In India

The vaccine tracker tool will allow users to find the nearest vaccine centres and their hours of operation as shared by the Union Health Ministry.

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A day later this was announced :

COVID-19: Technology, Information & Information Technology

 

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

 

A few months back, following was reported :

Artificial intelligence model detects asymptomatic Covid-19 infections through cellphone-recorded coughs  / MIT News

Results might provide a convenient screening tool for people who may not suspect they are infected.

 

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

As you can see from the following, it is a field-day for Covid tracking devices :

Singapore to make travellers wear electronic tags to enforce quarantine 

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

 

Then there are Apps ( or soon will be ) for following :

Ø  Detect mildly asymptomatic persons , needing home quarantine

Ø  Detect severely infected persons needing home-isolation

Ø  Persons needing hospital bed with Oxygen / ventilator / ICU

Ø  Persons needing Vaccines

Ø  Persons needing REMDESIVIR

Ø  Persons belonging to a particular Age Group

Ø  Persons with Co-morbidity

And Apps for finding / quickly locating :

Ø  PIN code wise, Hospitals / Covid Care Centres / Vaccination Centres / Nursing Homes / Path Labs / Family Doctors / Ward-boy Supply Agencies

Ø  Medicine Stores carrying stocks of Remdesivir

Ø  Operators of Cryogenic Tanker Fleets

Ø   Oxygen Cylinder Suppliers / Oxygen Plants.. (  the list goes on )



IS ANYTHING LEFT OUT ?


Yes !

What I suggested in my following earlier blog / e-mail to Cabinet Ministers / NITI Aayog :


Ø  Aarogya Setu : Good Beginning / Long Way to Go…………[ 18 April 2020 ]

 

Extract :

 Solution :

 

          Ø     Status of ALL the persons tested ( whether found positive or negative

                   ) , must be compiled in a central database ( 24x7 )

                

              Ø     Arogya Setu , on its own , will access / retrieve / sync with central

                     database every hour and download Mobile Numbers of ALL those who

                     tested positive

   

               

              Ø     As soon as I am within 2 meters of any of these ( positive ) Mobile

                     phone, my phone will start getting a signal and start beeping !

                

                Just imagine, in a crowd, hundreds of phones start beeping

 

 

                Enough to scare even the bravest !

 

            Ø      My suggestion will prevent thousands of persons crowding near free

                    Ration Shops/Vegetable markets


                       Technological solution for “Social Distancing “

 

With regards,

 

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  05 May 2021

 

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

RELATED  READINGS :

Ø   Apple and Google Could Be Better at Tracking the Coronavirus Than a Government  

Ø  Ramesh Raskar's MIT Team Builds App That Tells If Someone's Infected With COVID-19 Near You   

             (    raskar@media.mit.ed  /  https://privatekit.mit.edu/   )

Ø  Social Distancing Systems ……………………………………[ 13 May 2020 ]

Ø  CRY , Beloved Country…………………………………………..[ 15 Apr 2020 ]

Ø  Aarogya Setu : Ayushmaan Bhavah :…………………..[ 22 Apr 2020 ]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, 30 April 2021

Can we predict, next attack of COVID ( Where ? When ? Who ? )

 


 

 

Yes, says following eminent Scientists :

 

Shri Gagandeep Kang………………gkang@cmvellore.ac.in

Shri T Jacob John…………………… vlr_tjjohn@sancharnet.in 

Smt Jyotsna Dhawan……………. jdhawan@ccmb.res.in / jdhawan@instem.res.in

Shri Partha Majumder…………....ppm1@nibmg.ac.in  /  ppm@isical.ac.in

 

Context :

Scientists appeal to PM Modi to make Covid-19 data public   /   BL – 29 April 2021

Extract :

Ø  A section of scientists in the country, on Thursday, impressed upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the need to make public the Covid-19 data that is being gathered by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) since last year

Ø  “The ICMR database is inaccessible to anyone outside of the government and perhaps also to many within the government. Most scientists – including several identified by DST (Department of Science and Technology) and NITI Aayog to develop new prediction models for India – do not have access to these data,” said the scientists who signed the appeal.

Ø  A number of Indian scientists, who have been directly and indirectly working towards enhancing our understanding of the novel coronavirus, are signatories to the appeal. They include noted vaccine scientist Gagandeep Kang, renowned clinical virologist T Jacob John, Jyotsana Dhawan, and human geneticist and former president of Indian Academy of Science, Partha Majumder.

Ø  They said access to clinical data (with appropriate safeguards for maintaining patient privacy) is required for analysis and predictions, and for estimating the requirements for oxygen, medical supplies, ventilators, ICU beds.

Ø  The scientists pointed out that only detailed analysis of large-scale granular epidemiologist data available with ICMR can help understand the geographical variability in patterns of spread of the infection due to local conditions.

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

Dear Dr Harshvardhanji,

 

I urge you to accede to this request of our Scientists. In my several e-mails, I have made an appeal for compilation, analysis of such data for our entire population ( including those who are unaffected by Covid infection so far )


In my following last e-mail :

Dr Harshvardhanji, please listen to Shri Chandrasekharji ……[ 21 April 2021 ]


I asked :

How can we go about that business of PREDICTIVE ANALYSIS ?


And went on to repeat my following earlier suggestion :

“ By compiling / capturing following DATA about each and every Indian citizen ( affected or so far not affected , by COVID   ( source :   Vaccine : a Case of Missing Data     /    09 April 2021 )

 

 As to the data itself, I suggested :

“ But, if meticulously compiled and centrally processed ( with help of Artificial Intelligence ), following data, compiled uniformly at source, could determine those “ VACCINATION  PRIORITIES “ :


 [ A ]   PERSONAL  DATA

                 Name / Birthdate ( for Age ) / Gendre / Contact Details / Aadhar number

       [ B ]   LOCATION  DATA

                Permanent Address / Current Address ( State – Jilla – City – locality ) /

                Red Zone / Containment

[ C ]   FAMILY  DATA

                Details of Parents / Siblings

     [ D ]   HEALTH  HISTORY

               Details of recent illnesses - morbidity / Medicines given ( including for

              Covid treatment ) / Hospitals where treated / Names & License Number of

              Doctor who treated

                                    

      [ E ]   ETHNIC  DATA

                Race / Religion  / Language ( Mother tongue )

       [ F ]   EDUCATIONAL  DATA

                Graduate – Under Graduate – Illiterate etc

      [ G ]    EMPLOYMENT  DATA

                Employed – Unemployed – Self employed

      [ H ]    INCOME  DATA

                Monthly Income (to determine whether RICH–MIDDLE CLASS–POOR )


WORD OF CAUTION :


As it is, we are having major problems with wide-spread reports ( which include my own experience ), of NON-FUNCTIONING / MAL-FUNCTIONING of Covid App and COWIN portal


This is despite it being a Single - Unified – Centralized – Structured platform , to be followed uniformly / identically, by every person who wants to get vaccinated , from any part of India and from a Govt vaccination Centre or a Private Hospital – Nursing Home or a Work Place of Business / Industry , and in course of time, even by a family doctor visiting the homes of bedridden people


Today’s news report reads as follows :

“ Maharashtra CM writes to the Centre demanding de-centralization of the CoWin registration App “    


 If this request is granted, similar requests will follow from many other States – and CHAOS will follow, with each State Registration Apps, collecting different data , which cannot be aggregated !


Then, we can forget about Data Analysis and Prediction !


With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  01  May  2021   

 

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

Copy to following ICMR Scientists :

Balram Bhargava…………. secy-dg@icmr.gov.in

Amit Prakash Sharma……amitps.nimr@icmr.gov.in

Arun Kumar Sharma………a.sharma@icmr.gov.in

Ashwani Kumar…………….. director.vcrc@icmr.gov.in

C Padmapriyadarsini  ……padmapriyadarsinic@nirt.res.in

Debprasad Chattopadhyay……director.nitm.bg@gmail.com

Dr Prabha Desikan……….prabhadesikan@yahoo.com

Dr. Aparup Das…………….director@nirth.res.in

Geetanjali Sachdeva………….sachdevag@nirrh.res.in

Hemalatha Rajkumar………….rhemalatha.nin@icmr.gov.in

Kamalesh Sarkar……………. kamalesh.sarkar@icmr.gov.in

Kanwar Narain…………….knarain.rmrcne@gov.in

Krishna Pandey…………….pandey.krishna@icmr.gov.in

M Vishnu Vardhana Rao…..nims.director@icmr.gov.in

Manisha Madkaikar…………madkaikar.manisha@gov.in

Manoj V Murhekar…………director.nie@icmr.gov.in

P Vijayachari……………..vijayachari.p@icmr.gov.in

Prashant Mathur………….director@ncdirindia.org

Priya Abraham……………priya.abraham@icmr.gov.in

Rajnarayan Ramshankar Tiwari……….tiwari.rr@gov.in

Rajni Kant……………….kantr.hq@icmr.gov.in

Samiran Panda…………..samiranpanda.hq@icmr.gov.in

Sanghamitra Pati………..dir.rmrcb@icmr.gov.in

Shalini Singh……………..director.nicpr@icmr.gov.in

Shanta Dutta……………shanta.niced@icmr.gov.in

Shripad A. Patil…………directorjalma@gmail.com

Usha Agrawal………….ushakaggarwal.nip@gov.in

 

.

 

 

 

Tuesday, 27 April 2021

Who will win ?

 


 

 

When current second wave of COVID has run its course, who would have won ?

Ø  Humans going out for work ( to earn a livelihood ) , even risking Covid infection ?

Ø  Humans having a strong personal belief in “ salvaging the next life “ ( by taking a dip in Holy Ganga ) , even at the risk of losing current life ?

Ø  Humans “ brain-washed “ into thinking that voting in election is a higher priority than saving  family members ?

None !

One cannot escape a sad feeling that the winners will be :

Ø  Those who committed  “ Sins of Omission “ ( failure to take positive action to prevent bad things from happening )

May be it was this “ Sin of Omission “ that made Madras High Court to say :

 Madras high court blames Election Commission for surge in Covid cases   /  HT  / 27 April

Extract :

Ø  The Madras high court on Monday observed that the Election Commission of India (ECI) was responsible for the second wave in the country and that its officials should probably be tried on murder charges for allowing political parties to hold massive rallies without following Covid-19 norms

Ø  In its order copy released later in the day, the court had toned down its observations against the election body as the statement on murder charges wasn’t part of the written order

 

May be Madras HC realized that EC officials could not be tried for their “ Sins of Omission “, in the absence of :

Ø  Needed : a Service Liability Act…………………………. [ 12 June 2019 ]

 

Where I have prepared a brief list of such “ Acts of Omissions “ – and suggested a framework for such an Act

I invite readers to add to this list through their comments ( post on this blog or send to  hcp@RecruitGuru.com )

Question :

While understanding the reason for dropping out the mention to try the officials of Election Commission, from its written order, could HC have done something positive ?

For Example :

Without doubt the Hon Judges of HC realize the boundaries of their power being limited to “ interpret “ the existing laws ( Of course, there have been numerous judgements / court observations / directives / guidance , of JUDICIAL ACTIVISM ) 

I suppose Hon Judges realized that EC was constitutionally bound ( under  REPRESENTATION of PEOPLEs Act ) to announce / hold elections within 6 months of the expiry of the term of a State Legislative Assembly

But,

Ø  I presume, under a NATIONAL HEALTH EMERGENCY ( of the type prevailing in India for past 14 months ), the President of India has the power to suspend the Representation of People Act, for ( say ) 1 – 2 years

If there is no constitutional provision for this, I believe we should suitably amend our constitution

 

Ø  Election Commissioner reports to the President of India

Ø  High Court could have , in their formal written order, ‘ directed “ the Election Commissioner to send a formal request to the President to suspend the Act for 2 years

This would enabled EC to postpone the State Elections

In the meantime, I urge members of the Supreme Court Bar association to prepare a draft BILL for the SERVICE LIABILITY BILL and send it to our Law Minister, Shri Ravishankar Prasadji

 

Dear Shri Prasadji,

If there ever was a time for LEGISLATIVE  ACTIVISM , it is NOW

It is time to start treating “ Sins of Omission “ on par with “ Sins of Commission “

It is time to declare a National Health Emergency and suspend ALL occasions ( political or religious ) where millions gather to spread infections

Vaccinating our entire population twice ( 2 dozes ) could well take 2 years

It is still not too late to prevent acceleration of deaths due to Covid through all means

This is a WAR of the kind that mankind has not seen in the past

Far more frightening is to be told by eminent scientists from around the World that Covid-type pandemics must be expected to descend on the mankind ( and especially poor countries like India badly affected by ill-effects of CLIMATE CHANGE ), every few years

Our laws must keep pace with these changes

I am 88 years old and may not be around long enough to see the next pandemic strike

But it is time to think about the future of our children and grand-children

I am not out to spread any FEAR among our citizen – even if unintentional  

But should you think so, I offer my apologies in advance

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

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  27 April 2021