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, 24 June 2021

Congratulations, Shri Lokesh Chandraji

 Congratulations, Shri Lokesh Chandraji

( General Manager – BEST – Mumbai / gm@bestundertaking.com / Tel - 91-22-      22873961 / 22873962)

 

WHAT FOR ?

For implementing ( though partially ) my 5 YEAR old suggestions in following earlier e-mail :

Ø  PUBLIC TRANSPORT AS A SOLUTION ? ………………[ 15 Feb 2016 ]


I hope, BEST will become a BENCH-MARK for the city-transport systems all over the country by implementing the rest of my suggestions

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  25 June 2021

 

Extract from above-mentioned blog / e-mail :

 

SUGGESTIONS   :

  

*   Gradually change over to air conditioned buses

 

*   Do not allow standee passengers ( this will require adding many more buses )

 

*   Introduction of BRTS ( Bus Rapid Transit System )

 

*   Bus Arrival Time Indicators ( linked with GPS in all buses ) at all bus stops

 

*   A tablet type digital device fitted behind each seat , where passenger to touch

    his destination on route map displayed .

      

*   Passenger will also touch his smart phone to the device which will transfer the

     fare amount to the bus operator, through a mobile wallet . 

 

     No need for a conductor - as practiced in many foreign countries ! 

 

   *  This will tell the driver, at which stops, which passengers are getting off and

       seat/s are falling vacant

 

   *  If bus is already FULL and no passenger is getting off at the next bus stop,

       then driver will not halt the bus ,since he cannot accommodate any standee

       passenger

 

    *  If a passenger is supposed to get off at , say XYZ stop , digital device will

       flash a signal / ring a bell , a few minutes before reaching the stop

 

    *  The Bus Arrival Time Indicator, at the stop will also display the " No of

         Vacant Seats " in this bus

  

    *  This ( No of Vacant Seats ) sign will also appear prominently on the bus

        itself as it pulls into the halt

 

    *  It is equally easy to introduce such an integrated traffic management

         system in Inter-City buses as well

 

    *   Entire intra-city bus traffic will be monitored and controlled from the Central

        Traffic Control Station of the City traffic department , much in the same

         way ATC control air traffic or railways control train traffic

 

     *  It is just a question of extending an existing ( but slightly modified )

         technology to city traffic

 

    *   As far as density of traffic on various roads is concerned , mobile apps are

         already available

 

    *   Based on the situation, Central Traffic Control will order additional buses to

         be injected on any particular route , at any given time

 

   

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


IMPLEMENTATION ( as reported in today’s News Paper ) :


Coming soon: LED indicators with ‘ETA of buses’ at 400 stops     /  TNN     /  25 June 2021


Extract :


Ø  BEST announced on Thursday it has begun work to install LED  indicators to provide the Expected Time of Arrival ( ETA ), of buses at 400 bus stops across the island city and the suburbs

Ø  “ We have already started work on LED indicators at bus stops in South Mumbai , starting with Mantralaya and also Afghan Church and Navy Nagar “ , said BEST General Manager, Lokesh Chandra.

Ø  He said this was part of the Passenger Information System ( PIS ) project being funded by BMC.

Ø  Under PIS, BEST will provide commuters with an App- which it launched some months ago ( miBEST ) – to check for the next arriving bus at the stop. “ If there is an indicator, we don’t mind waiting for the second bus “ said a woman commutator who works in a bank

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

RELATED  READINGS :


Ø  BEST getting BETTER ? ………………………………………………….[ 20 Aug 2017 ]

 

Ø  Thank You , Shri Bagde …………………………………………………..[ 27 Feb 2019 ]

 

Ø  Tracking BEST Buses through Mobile ? …………………………..[ 31 Jan 2021 ]

 

 

Ø  A Trail-Blazing Urban Transport ? …………………………………….[ 22 Sept 2017 ]


      Extract :

            On  12th Sept , Shri S R Jadhav ( Traffic Manager – Planning & Control )

            sent to me following email :

             From: transport@bestundertaking.com  

             Sent: 12 September 2017 14:58

             To: Hemen Parekh

             Subject: re: fw: A COMPREHENSIVE BEST SOLUTION

            Sir,

          This refers to your letter dated 21.08.2017 addressed to the General

          Manager, BEST Undertaking

          At the outset, we thank you for providing suggestions in connection with

          BEST bus operation

         The BEST Undertaking is in the process of developing App for BEST buses.

         Besides, we are also planning to install GPS on buses to get Real Time

         Information for updated Passengers Information System

         

        In connection with this, we have also noted your suggestion for Bus Route

        Indicator at bus stops

        We would also like to inform you that MMRDA is carrying out study

        for 'Dedicated Bus Lane' on major corridor

        of  Mumbai

       Yours faithfully,

       ( S.R. Jadhav),  Traffic Manager,  (Planning & Control)

      

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

CC:

 

A Million Thanks, Shri Prasadji

 


 

WHAT FOR ?

For implementing my following 5 YEAR old suggestion :

Ø  How About Virtual Call Centers ? ………………….[ 04 Oct 2016 ]

 

SUGGESTION :

 

Dear Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad-ji :

 

Why give a subsidy to a prospective " OWNER " of a Call Centre ?

 

Why not give it directly ( DBT / Direct Benefit Transfer ) to those youngsters ?

 

Of course, this subsidy transfer should take place, only AFTER , the Call Centre Owner , certifies that it has entered into a " Contractual Retainer-ship " with a particular youngster

  

I would request you to consider the following aspects of my suggestion :

  

*  No new building premises needed

  

*  All technologies for a VPN, are existing / well proven  / reasonably priced / easy

   to implement quickly

  

*  MSPs / ISPs and your own Ministry are pushing internet connections to every

    corner of India

 

 *  Moving from " Ownership of Assets " to " Assets as Service " scenario ( ala

    Uber-Ola-Airbnb etc )

  

*  Moving from " Employment " to " Self Employment " with direct transfer of

    subsidy to beneficiary

 

 *  Has the potential to raise India's share in global BPO business from current 36

     % to 50 % in one year

 

 *  Can earn billions of dollars in foreign exchange

 

 *  It would become a LIVING PROOF that DIGITAL INDIA can help our un-

     employed graduates to earn a living

 

 *  Google  /  Microsoft  / Facebook , would be happy to help since " Next Billion "

    is their topmost agenda

 

In an age where the " Fast and Furious " are out to overtake the " Slow and Steady " , the meek are unlikely to inherit the earth !

  

 [ AND  THEN  I WENT ON TO DESCRIBE MY SUGGESTION AS FOLLOWS ] :

 

In today's totally interconnected World , why should it be necessary for housing 10 / 20 / 50 persons in ONE place, under ONE roof, for collaborating on execution of COMMON tasks ?

 

I am sure, in any given ONE square km of a small town, there are 50 unemployed - and quite possibly, GRADUATE - youngsters, who would be more than happy to " work from home "

  

They will be happy to set aside, in their homes, a 5 feet by 5 feet space, as a " Home Work Station "

 

Now, that subsidy of " Rs 1 lakh per seat " that the IT Ministry has promised , is quite sufficient to set up a :

  

VIRTUAL  CALL  CENTER ,

 

by connecting those 50 youngsters through a , VPN ( VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK )

  

And since these youngsters are working from their homes , they can be asked to work in 3 shifts of 8 hours each , providing " Round the Clock " service to customers !

 

If Uber-Ola are adding 5,000 " Ride Sharing Taxies " EVERY MONTH , by providing lease finance to the drivers or even buying the cars themselves and giving to these drivers , then what is holding back the IT Ministry to follow their suit and enable 5,000 youngsters to become Self Employed " , each month ? or even 50,000 ?

 

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

IMPLEMENTATION :

Today’s News Papers carry following reports :


Govt frees BPOs as global rivals rise  /  TOI – 24 June

Extract :

Ø  The move allows companies to share work, take domestic and international assignments on the same infrastructure

Ø  Will give Indian IT sector the option of remote working

Ø  The IT-BPM industry is estimated to have generated $ 38.5 Billion in 2020-21

Ø  OSPs provide application, IT-enabled, call centre or any kind of outsourcing services using telecom resources

Ø  The Govt expects the liberalized norms will give further impetus to the industry

Ø  The liberalized norm take away the restrictions on Data Interconnectivity between BPO centres, opening up prospects of easily building scale

    The norms have also been substantially eased for REMOTE CALL CENTRE AGENTS, who can work from any location to connect with customers, using ANY TECHNOLOGY, including broadband over wirelines or WIRELESS


     Govt liberalises norms for voice BPO industry  /  HT  /  24 June

   Extract :

Ø  The Centre on Wednesday removed distinctions between local and foreign business process outsourcing (BPO) units providing voice-related services and relaxed norms on storing and sharing data, aiming to attract more BPOs to India.


Ø  The new norms allow a BPO centre with common telecom resources to serve customers located worldwide, including India. This allows interconnectivity between all kinds of other service providers (OSPs), which allows firms more flexibility in terms of resource management.


Ø  The government also allowed BPOs to use EPABX exchanges located anywhere in the world to route their calls. OSPs that aren’t using EPABX services from telecom service providers will also be able to locate EPABXs at third-party data centres in India.

 

Ø  Union IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad termed the changes “revolutionary”.

    Ø  “We’ve issued a guideline today that’s very extensively liberalizing guideline

        other service providers’ guidelines. This is revolutionary in nature that’ll

       make India a very favourable destination for expansion of voice-related BPO

       centres,” Prasad said.

 


Ø  The government on Wednesday liberalised the guidelines on Other Service Providers (OSPs), under which there will be no restrictions on data interconnectivity between OSP centres of the same company or a group company or any unrelated company.

Ø  This will also mean there will be no distinction between domestic and international domestic OSPs. A business process outsourcing (BPO) centre with common telecom resources will now be able to serve customers located worldwide, including in India.

Ø  "We have today extensively liberalised OSP guidelines...this revolutionary step will make India a global nation for BPOs," Minister for Communications and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad, told reporters here.

Ø  Prasad said India’s BPO industry was one of the largest in the world. Today, India’s IT-BPM industry stands at $37.6 billion (2019-20) or Rs.2.8 lakh crore, giving job opportunities to lakhs of youths.

Ø  Further it has the potential for double digit growth, reaching up to $55.5 billion (around Rs. 3.9 lakh crore) by 2025.



RELATED  READINGS :

    ( 1 ) CREATING JOBS USING BROADBAND ! …………………   [ 23 April 2009 ]


( 2 ) IF YOU CAN OUTSOURCE, SO CAN I ! …………………………….[ 06 Dec 2010 ]

 

( 3 ) BACK TO THE FUTURE -2050 AD? ……………………………………[ 15 May 2012 ]

 

( 4 ) An Unprecedented Opportunity ………………………………………..[ 04 Jan 2014 ]

 

( 5 ) If Mohamed cannot go to Mountain ………………………………….[ 26 July 2015 ]

 

( 6 ) " BACK FACTORY " OF THE WORLD ?                             [ 09 Sept 2015 ]

             Today’s announcement will lead to this

 

( 7 ) A NEW ECONOMIC ORDER ? aka " Start Up Act - 2015 " 

      [ 12  Sept  2015 ]

 

( 8 ) DIGITAL INDIA ? ………………………………………………………………..[ 01 Nov 2015 ]

 

( 9 ) One Day , Everything will Sell Online !............................[ 29 Mar 2016 ]

 

( 10 ) Vishal's Vision  ………………………………………………………………… [ 15 April 2016 ]

 

( 11 ) Share - Your - Soul / Outsourcing Unlimited  ……………  24  July  2016  ] 

 

( 12 ) How About Virtual Call Centers ?                                    [ 04 Oct 2016 ]

 

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

 

( 14 ) Can Indian IT Re-invent itself ? ………………………………………..[ 03 Feb 2017 ]

 

( 15 ) Wormholes Across the World ?                                    [ 03 March 2017 ]

 

        ( 16 ) A  Welcome  Initiative   ………………………………………………  [ 08 April 2018 ]

 

       ( 17 )  India BPO Promotion Scheme  11:  [  IBPS  ]  V  2.0

                 [ 11 April 2018  ]

                 Repeat request to Shri Prasadji

 

       ( 18 )  Video Interviewing ………………………………………………………. [ 12 May 2018 ]

 

( 19 ) National Digital Communications Policy ………………………….[ 22 June 2018 ]

 

( 20 ) Justice delayed is Justice Denied   …………………………………..[ 12 Sept 2018 ]

 

( 21 ) Congrats , Shri Shivang Luthraji,  ……………………………………[ 22 Sept 2018 ]

 

( 22 ) Contract for the Web ………………………………………………………… [ 06 Nov 2018 ]

 

( 23 ) Peter’s WEB 3.0 …………………………………………………………………[ 09 Dec 2018 ]

 

( 24 ) Betting on BPOs ? ……………………………………………………………..[ 19 Dec 2018 ]

 

( 25 ) Astonishing Estonia ……………………………………………………………[ 28 Dec 2018 ]

 

( 26 ) Opportunity in Adversity ? …………………………………………….. [ 13 Mar 2020 ]

 

     ( 27 )  One Person Company [ OPC ] – A welcome FIRST step.  [ 15 Feb 2021 ]