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, 27 April 2022

SUIIC : “ Your Unique Identity “ Platform - about to be born ?

 


 

Context :

Blockchain-based digital ID platform being built by group of research bodies  /  ET  /  27 April 2022

Extract :

Imagine not having to fill up a single know-your-customer (KYC) form before

 opening any bank or demat account or even for receiving money directly from the

 government in your digital wallet.


In the future, all your data could be stored on a blockchain-based platform and

you could pick and choose exactly which data you want to part with for any entity to

 avail its financial services.


Fourteen researchers from three apex institutions of the country – the Institute for

 Development and Research in Banking Technology ( IDRBT ), IIT – Hyderabad and

 IIT – Bhilai are building the next generation Digital Identity platform , an Aadhar

 2.0 of sorts. Supported by the RBI Innovation Hub , it will enable innovation in

 India’s financial space


These institutions have received a funding of Rs 23 Cr from Ministry of Electronics

 and Information Technology


D Janakiram, [ djram@idrbt.ac.in ] director of country’s apex banking technology

 research organization IDRBT, explained that a key component will be a machine-

learning based  VIDEO  AUTHENTICATION  TOOL



“ Once this  PLATFORM  gets evolved,  I think it is going to become  the basis for an

AUTO POWERED , 24x7 available SYSTEM for you to just finish your KYC

 requirement at any given point of time “, Janakiram said



“ You may be able to interact with this PLATFORM through multiple modes such as

 PHONE or ATM kiosk , where you show all your documents ON VIDEO and it then

 gets STORED in the SYSTEM “ , he said



He pointed out that if a bank or any other entity requires KYC , they can interact

 with the SYSTEM based on the customer’s consent


 Once this PLATFORM is built, he said it will fuel financial innovation a the SYSTEM

 can have a provision of a WALLET where the government can directly transfer

 money


He said that in Aadhar the biometric data collected acts as an IDENTITY PROOF of

 the citizen but when it comes to availing certain financial services, just Aadhar is

 not enough. There could be more documents that could be required as part of the

 KYC process



The SYSYEM will serve as a ONE STOP SOLUTION for KYC requirements for ALL

 FINANCIAL SERVICE requirements


The new PLATFORM is expected to be ready for transfer to financial institutions in

 around two years, he added


 

 

MY  TAKE :

 

Thank you, Shri Ashwini Vaishnawji – Shri Rajeev Chandrasekharji  ( MeITY ) :

 

The  UNIQUE  DIGITAL  IDENTITY   platform that you have asked these

 Institutions to develop ,has the potential to be adopted all over the World

 

 I am glad that this PLATFORM, will incorporate most of the suggestions made in my

 following e-mail :


Ø  I am One , I will become Many……………….  [ 06 Jan 2020 ]

 

Extract :

Following is my suggestion :

 

   #  Central Govt to launch a online portal called,

                    www.SUIIC.gov.in  (  Single Unified Identity for Indian Citizen )

 

       #   By appropriately enacted Law, Central Govt will order all CARD ISSUING

            AGENCIES to upload their “ Card Related Databases “ onto SUIIC web server

            and continue to do so DAILY for new additions to their databases

              

             

  #   SUIIC will use AI - Machine Learning- Big Data Analytics etc., to merge /

       collate all kinds of structured  / unstructured databases pertaining to all kinds

       of Cards / unique IDENTIFIERS, issued by any entity,to  any citizen

       

       These will include Mobile Service Providers and E Mail ID providers

 

 

         #    This exercise will lead to creation of UNIQUE PROFILE for each citizen, and

                named :

               YUP  ( Your Unique Profile )

           YUP  ( with unique serial number ) will be that SINGLE CARD which

                      replaces all CARDS

  

         #   YUP will also be the name of a Mobile App supported by SUIIC web server

 

         #   Any citizen can download the YUP ( absolutely VOLUNTARY ), open it on his

              smartphoneenter his mobile number / E Mail ID and take a SELFIE of

              his own FACE

 

           #   The Mobile App will automatically and instantly, upload the FACE IMAGE

                onto SUIIC database and the matching YUP of that person

                 

           #    SUIIC will embed into the FACE PHOTO, all data of all the CARDS ever

                 issued to that person ( using STEGANOGRAPHY ), and send it back to the

                 owner’s mobile phone

             

          #   Just under the FACE PHOTO, there will be a DROP LIST of all the Cards

                / Identifiers which have been embedded. Touching any item, will reveal

                the actual Physical Card embedded. Touching any item, will reveal the

                actual Physical Card

 

        #    This will enable that citizen to EDIT his personal data online and click

              SUBMIT

               

   #    ANYTIME REQUIRED IN FUTURE, THAT CITIZEN CAN SHOW

         THAT YUP PHOTO TO ANY PARTY

             

        #   There will be no compulsion for any citizen to use YUP . He may continue

             using his Physical Cards, if he so  desires

             

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

This is a very broad “ CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK “ – and certainly not

comprehensive by any standard

 
Eg :

Going beyond merging / aggregating / unifyingall existing physical

 cards belonging to a person, what about :


  #   Enabling him to use YUP to create ( for the first time ), an altogether

       different card ?

           

       #   Enabling a person to create a new Voter Card, upon attaining the age of 18 ?

 

I urge Shri Ravi Shankar Prasadji to get this examined by some eminent

technologists

 

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  28  April 2022

 


Related Readings :


Ø  Morphing of DigiLocker : Caterpillar to Butterfly ?.......... [ 17 Mar 2022 ]


Ø  DigiLocker = Single Unified Identity for Indian Citizen ? …[ 06 Mar 2022 ]


Ø  How many NATIONAL databases of Indian Citizen ?......... [ 03 July 2021 ]


Ø  Digital Locker Project…………………………………………………………..[ 23 May 2015 ]


Ø  Universal Payments ID : How about Unique Personal ID ?. [ 06 Apr 2021 ]

 

Ø  Thank You, Piyushbhai………………………………………………………… [ 22 Dec 2021 ]

 

Ø  Thank You, Shri Saurabh Garg ………………………………… [  18 Dec 2021 ]

 

Ø  One Small Step …………………………………………………….[ 10 Jan 2020 ]

 

Ø  Tamil Nadu : # 1 on “ Ease of Living “ Index ?.................. [ 13 Feb 2020 ]

 

 

CC:

 

djram@idrbt.ac.in

anil@iith.ac.in

 

gian@iith.ac.in

 

director@iith.ac.in

 

pro@iith.ac.in

 

director@iitbhilai.ac.in

 

 

 

Tuesday, 26 April 2022

Is Gadkariji having second thoughts ?

 


 

Context :

How Ethanol could be a solution to Sugarcane Farmers’ woes   /  Business Line  /  27 April 2022


Extract :

Ø  Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari set the alarm bells ringing recently when he said that sugarcane farmers will be left with no other option than to commit suicide if the sugar industry fails to divert sugarcane for ethanol production. The words may sound shocking, but diversion of sugarcane in to ethanol production could be a win-win for both farmers as well as for the energy security of the country. 

Ø  “ The sugar industry will collapse if the same amount of sugarcane and sugar is produced next year “. Gadkari warned

Ø  Diversion of Sugar to Ethanol

 

 

2019 - 20

2020-21

2021-22

2022-23(E )

Ethanol procured / targeted  (  in crore litre )

173

296

440

550

 

 

 

 

 

All India average blending ( in % )

5

8.1

10

12

 

 

 

 

 

Sugar equivalent diverted ( in lakh tonnes )

8

21

34

50

 

MY TAKE :


Ø  Without doubt, there seems to be “ Over-Production “ of sugarcane , depressing cane prices

Ø  But prices can be kept remunerative if that “ Over-production “ is converted to Ethanol

Ø  Blending petrol with ethanol also helps in reducing bad emissions and lowering air pollution

Ø  But, sugarcane crop requires huge amount of water, mostly drawn as ground water

Ø  This would lead to water shortage for other crops / industry use / drinking purpose

Ø  With ground water levels going ever deeper, water famine is a near certainty !

 

What could / should be done ?

Ø  Reduce intake of sugar in daily food intake ( through education and steep price rise )

Ø  Reduce Petrol vehicles and quickly change-over to Electric Vehicles, thereby reducing petrol demand

Ø  Reduce ethanol blending – thereby reducing ethanol production / sugarcane diversion

 

Of course, what I suggest  :

Ø  May seem impractical – even whimsical and certainly “ politically incorrect “

Ø  In short-term, inflict miseries to sugarcane farmers ( can we find other ways to compensate them ? )

Ø  Is certainly, a “ long term “ solution – and must be incorporated in our AGRI POLICY

 

I am no expert on farming / agriculture . I have based my above-stated

suggestions as a follow-up to my following 5 YEAR old e-mail to the Cabinet

Ministers :


Ø  Not a straightforward Answer !.................  [ 03 March 2017 ]


Extract :

 

While it is true that a few countries have been experimenting with blending of bio-

fuels with petrol , experts have raised serious concerns re its impact on a

 country’s eco-system


I reproduce below , a few such concerns listed in book “ CLEAN DISRUPTION “

 by Tony Seba { pg 201-210 }: { https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=Kxryv2XrnqM }


·         It takes 13,676 gallons of water to produce a single gallon of biodiesel from

          soybeans


·         It takes 1700 gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol .


          Assuming a 30 gallon gasoline tank in a SUV, we calculate 51,000 gallons of

         water for the corn ethanol fill up ( Prof David Pimentel of Cornell University )

         

·         Each time someone fills up an SUV with corn Ethanol, he or she uses as much

          water as the average American residential user consumes in 16 months !


          

·         IBM’s “ Carbon Disclosure Project “ provides following data to generate 1

          MWh of energy :


            #  Solar PV and wind use negligible amount of water : 0.1 litre or less

                than half a cup


           #  Biofuels use an astonishing 1.78 million times more water than Solar to

               generate the same amount of energy !

       

        

·         All the water for drinking , agricultural irrigation , power plants and factories

          that 2.5 billion people in CHINA and INDIA need per YEAR , is roughly equal to

          the water biofuels require to produce two days’  worth of energy in USA !

          

          

·         According to WaterFootprint, 19,924 gallons of water are needed to

          produce ONE gallon of biodiesel from jatropha

 

          

·         Sugarcane , one of the biofuel industry’s “ success stories “ , converts t

          just 0.38 percent of sunlight into biomass .

          In the end, the solar-to-ethanol conversion ratio for sugarcane is just 

         0.13 percent , according to “Scientific American “

         

         

·         The average Solar Panel is 123 TIMES more efficient in converting sunshine

          into usable energy


·         Concentrating photovoltaic { CPV } can turn about 40 percent of the sunshine

          into electricity, which makes it THREE HUNDRED TIMES more efficient than

          sugarcane ethanol biofuel

 

          

·         SOLAR IS ANYWHERE FROM 123 TO 550 TIMES MORE EFFICIENT THAN BIO-

          FUELS

 

·         SOLAR CHP ( COMBINED HEAT AND POWER ) CAN CONVERT SUNSHINE 550

          TIMES MORE EFFICIENTLY THAN SUGARCANE CAN

 

          

Dear Shri Gadkariji :

 

Research by reputed scientific organizations all over the World , project a Water

 Stress situation of unprecedented proportions in India, within the next 10 years


 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225386996_Sustainable_Development_of_Water_Resources_in_India


Last year’s “ Water Wars “ of Latur ( Maharashtra ) will get replicated in many

parts of our country , in next 20 weeks !  And every year thereafter !


http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/tamil-nadu-andhra-karnataka-droughts-the-looming-water-crisis-in-south-india/story-HuRpL6p0cA7paSUpIDITCP.html }


Production of biofuel on the massive scale envisaged in the new policy, will only

further push down the already deep water tables and accelerate the droughts /

famines


IN LIGHT OF THE ARGUMENTS LISTED ABOVE , I REQUEST A RE-CONSIDERATION OF THE PROPOSED POLICY

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

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  27 April 2022