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

Friday, 7 May 2021

Supreme Court : Seriously ?

 


 

Context :

Coronavirus | Supply 700 MT oxygen to Delhi every day, we mean business: SC tells Centre  /  HINDU – 07 May

Extract :

Ø  The Supreme Court on Friday underlined the obligation of the Centre to comply with the order to supply 700 MT of oxygen to Delhi “every day”, saying “we mean business”.


Ø  “We did not mean that you supply 700 MT on one day. We meant you do it every day until we further examine the modalities. Please do not drive us to a situation where we have to be firm and take the coercive way. It is 700 MT every day, every single day,” Justice Chandrachud emphasised.


Ø  Mr. Mehta said he would convey the court’s observations to the authorities concerned during the day.

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

But what is likely to happen, if the concerned Officers of the Central Government “ fail “ to implement the instructions / orders , of the Supreme Court ?

How will the SC conclude whether those officers “ failed “ due to a,

Ø   Lack of willingness / necessary efforts / foresight /  advance planning ,  OR

Ø  Lack of resources at their disposal ,  OR

Ø  Lack of authority to take necessary action , OR

Ø  Lack of clarity on WHO precisely is to take the necessary actions  ?


In such a confusing situation where clarity is totally lacking as to WHO ( which individual officer ) is responsible for the failure , will SC conclude :  THE BUCK STOPS AT THE TOP ?


And issue a “ Contempt of the Court “ notice to the Union Health Minister / Union Industries Minister / PM ?


I hope the Supreme Court is aware of the Management Mantra :

Never give a threat unless you have a resolve and the necessary power to implement it


Because, if you keep issuing EMPTY THREATS, again and again, but never act upon any, then soon, people will stop taking you seriously !

 

For example :

Ø  Legislation or No legislation ! ………………………………………[ 06 Nov 2019 ]

 

Ø  Smog : Supreme Court flays Govt inaction ; summons 4 Chief Secretaries   

Extract :

Ø  We have to make government responsible for this,” the bench said and asked, “Why can’t government machinery stop stubble burning?”

Ø  Coming down heavily on State governments, the top court said that if they don’t bother about people, they have no right to be in power.

Ø  We expect more from a democratic government of the country to deal with issue of stubble burning and curb pollution,” the bench said, adding that “it is a question of life and death of crores of people. We have to make government responsible for this

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Rest is history ! A Brief History of Judicial Activism ?

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  07  May  2021

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RELATED  READINGS :

 

Ø  Judicial Activism ? …………………………..[ 10 July 2013 ]

Ø  Second Class Citizens ? …………………..[ 07 Jan 2015 ]

 

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Ø  Delhi in Doldrums ?........................[ 16 Nov 2015 ]

 

              Extract :

               #     Is this " concern " for only Delhi pollution , because the SC judges

                      have to travel on Delhi roads an breathe that polluted air ?

 

              #    Is that a Supreme Court of India or of Delhi ?

 

              #    In the eyes of SC , are citizens of Mumbai / Chennai / Kolkata,

                    lesser  citizens  ?

                    Will someone file a IL in Supreme Court for the poor people of " rest

                    of India "  ?

 

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

Ø  SOLOMON HAS SPOKEN ………………….[ 03 Feb 2016 ]

Ø  Not that I love Caesar less ! ……………[ 17 May 2016 ]

Ø  Who will win ?.............................. [ 27 April 2021 ]

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, 6 May 2021

Copy that Mumbai Model, ( Municipal ) Commissioners

 


 

 

Context :

Examine 'Mumbai Model', learn from it: Supreme Court to Centre on Delhi oxygen crisis  /  MINT – 05 April

Extract :

Ø  The Supreme Court on Wednesday recommended that the Centre should look to Mumbai and take note from the Bombay Municipal Corporation as the civic body had done a good job in managing oxygen supplies.


Ø  "Bombay Municipal Corporation has done some remarkable work and not disrespecting Delhi but we can maybe see what was done by BMC. Maharashtra is also an oxygen supply state," Justice Chandrachud said.


Ø  The top court also asked the Centre to maintain transparency on the ongoing oxygen supply crisis in Delhi and keep citizens informed.

Ø  The Delhi HC had on Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to the government as to why contempt should not be initiated against it for failing to comply with the order on supply of oxygen to the Capital for treating Covid-19 patients.

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

Mumbai: Cash-strapped BMC to shell out Rs 1.6 crore to rent e-cars for 8 years | Mumbai News 

Extract :

Ø  At a time when the BMC is dealing with an acute scarcity of funds and has needed to dip into its reserves, it plans to spend Rs 1.6 crore on renting model new electrical automobiles for its civic leaders. As an alternative of shopping for new e-cars, the BMC has determined to hire these for a interval of eight years.
By renting the autos for eight years, the BMC will find yourself paying round Rs 32 lakh per automobile—greater than double the market worth of around Rs 14 lakh for every car .

 

Ø  Civic officers mentioned the BMC will find itself paying Rs 27,000 to Rs 37,000 per thirty days per automobile.

 

Ø   The BMC is renting the automobiles from Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL)

 

Ø  Raja mentioned he wouldn’t wish to get a brand new electrical car at a time when the BMC is in a nasty monetary state. “Our automobiles are nearly 10 years outdated and sometimes break down however this proposal ought to be deferred. The BMC isn’t in a monetary place to go for fancy automobiles. The BMC has already spent some huge cash on Covid and such fancy electrical automobiles should not be purchased,” Raja mentioned.

 

Ø  RTI activist Anil Galgali too mentioned the BMC should not spend cash on electrical automobiles when it’s dealing with a crunch. “The BMC should not purchase fancy automobiles proper now at double the market worth on hire. Paying double the market worth and taking automobiles on hire doesn’t make sense. There ought to be an austerity drive by BMC leaders,” Galgali mentioned.

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

MY  TAKE  :

Ø  I am presuming that BMC has taken these 5 e-Cars on WET LEASE ( including maintenance + battery re-charge cost + driver’s salary etc., to be borne by EESL )

Ø  Economy Calculations :

LEASE RENT :

#  Rs 1.6 cr ( Rs 160 lakh ) for 8 years = Rs 20 lakh / year ( for 5 cars ) =

    Rs 4 lakh / year / car

 

             OWNERSHIP COST ( if purchased outright instead of leasing ) :

            #   Purchase Price            =   Rs  14 lakh  / car



            #   Interest Cost @ 15 %  =   Rs   2.1 lakh / year

            #   Depreciation @ 10 %   =   Rs   1.4 lakh / year

            #   Maint ( spares ) @ 5 %=   Rs   0.7 lakh / year

            #   Driver’s Salary              =  Rs   3.0 lakh / year 

                                                               ( Rs 25,000/ month incl. benefits )

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

                Sub – Total                     =  Rs   7.2 Lakh / year / car   

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

Thank God, BMC decided to WET-LEASE , electric cars and not BUY petrol cars


If these were outright PURCHASED, petrol cars, then petrol itself would have cost another Rs 10 / Km ( @ Rs 100 / Litre and car-mileage at 10 km / litre )


If that PETROL car was to run 2,000 km / month, that would add up to 24,000 km / year


That would add another Rs 2.4 Lakh / year !


WET-LEASING of e-cars must not be on payment of “ lease rent “ on any TIME-PERIOD basis ( eg: a MONTH )


It must be based on ACTUAL KM RUN by each car


If , for whatever reason ( incl. driver absenteeism – spare unavailability – no nearby battery charging station etc ), the car stops , the LEASE-RENT METER also stops !


This will force the party leasing out ( in this case, EESL ), itself  to set up hundreds of Battery Charging Stations ( one every 5 Km ? ), all over the city to ensure that the e-cars never run out of juice !  

 

Dear Hon Supreme Court,


I urge you to “ RECOMMEND “ to Municipal Commissioners all over the country that , besides in case of handling COVID, in case of LEASING of e-Cars too, they follow the MUMBAI MODEL


With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@recruitGuru.com  /  07 April 2021

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

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

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 :

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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

 

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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 ]