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

Monday 12 December 2011

JUDICIAL PRODUCTIVITY

12 Dec 2011

JUDICIAL  PRODUCTIVITY

If figures published in DNA [ 29, Nov. 2011 ] are any indication, there is a perceptible improvement in India’s judicial system.
Here are those facts :

·             During 5 year period ending Dec 31, 2011(?)
·             No of new cases filed……… ………… 111.60  million
·             No of cases disposed off……………..107.70 million
·             No of cases pending………………………..3.79 million

Assuming that the courts worked for an average of 200 days / year, ( ie: 1000 days in 5 years ), this translates to disposal of nearly 107,700 cases per day !
So , each of those 12,600 judges disposed off ( on an average ), 8.5 cases daily

While admitting 8.85 cases every day !

A total of 17.3 cases in a 4 hour period ! That is some productivity !

Of course ,with the arrival of e-governance, it is anybody’s guess what would happen when 120 million citizens having internet connections can lodge a corruption related complaint against 12 million Government servants , on Lokpal’s web site

With regards


HEMEN  PAREKH

Friday 9 December 2011

Corruption rises in India ?


Just when you thought that there was no room for corruption to rise any more , Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index shows, India has fallen by 8 places !

Here are corruption indices of various countries ( as reported in Economic Times / 02,Dec.2011 ) :

      [  Score:   0 = Highly Corrupt,        10 = Very Clean         ]

Ø  New Zealand………………………                     9.5

Ø  Denmark……………………………. 9.4

Ø  Finland………………………………9.4

Ø  Sweden………………………………9.3

Ø  Singapore………………………..      9.2

Ø  China…………………………………3.6

Ø  Sri Lanka……………………………..3.3

Ø  India………………………………… 3.1

Ø  Bangladesh……………………….     .2.7

Ø  Pakistan……………………………    2.5

Ø  Uzbekistan…………………………   1.6

Ø  Afghanistan……………………..       1.5

Ø  Myanmar…………………………… 1.5

Ø  N Korea……………………………. 1.0

Ø  Somalia………………………………1.0


Now you know why Team Anna wants a strong  LokPal  Bill, covering even those 57 lakh, Class “ C “ government employees
Do we hear Standing Committee saying :
“ Oh, but perceptions can be deceptive ! “

With regards

hemen  parekh

Tuesday 6 December 2011

WHO IS AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD WOLF ?

6 Dec 2011

WHO  IS  AFRAID  OF  THE  BIG  BAD  WOLF  ?

If and when , Wal-Mart , Carrefour , Tesco arrive in India , who will be afraid of them ?

Certainly not all of the 50 million small retailers

There are many amongst them who are thoroughly transparent , honest and have a very high standard of business practices.

In fact , no foreign Super mart can even match their personalized service to their customers

The retailers who are afraid are the ones who engage in one or more of the following un-ethical practices :
·      Selling fake / duplicate goods

·      Selling sub-standard goods

·      Selling goods at a price higher than the M.R.P

·      Cheating on correct weights

·      Selling goods without bills / cash memos

·      Selling expired goods

·      Not subscribing to “ Packaged Commodities Act “

·      Not subscribing to “ Weights and Measures Act “

·      Selling same item at different prices, especially to poor illiterate customers

·      Refusing to accept genuine “ Returns “

·      Selling drugs without prescriptions

·      Passing off misspelled, poor quality “ Substitutes “

·      Selling PDS items for poor in black market

They are afraid because they will have to give up their un-ethical ways of making a fast buck by cheating their unsuspecting customers

As a customer , I support FDI in retail

But I will continue to patronize my honest corner grocery store !

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH

Monday 5 December 2011

Can someone please enlighten ?

FDI in retail will be allowed in only 53 cities – each with a population of 100,000 or more

Even if we assume that the average population of these 53 cities , is 2.5 million, it could add-up to approx 120 million people

That is just 10 % of India’s population of 1210 million

It is unlikely that more than 10 % of these 120 million people will shop at Wal-Mart , Carrefour, Tesco etc

That is 12 million people – no more than 1 % of India’s population !

And how many Super marts will foreign retailers open in those 53 cities ?

9/10 in each of these 53 cities ? – for a total of 500 ?

But , as per recent newspaper reports , we have 50 million small retailers in our country

That means, one Super mart must compete against 100,000 local retailers !

Is that a grave danger to the local retailers – having 99 % of the market share ?

Unless someone claims that those 1 % of the population make 50 % of the total purchases in the country !

If I am wrong , please enlighten


With regards

hemen parekh  /   05  Dec   2011

Friday 2 December 2011

George Osborne : villain or hero ?



Recently, British Chancellor of Exchequers, George Osborne announced many measures to pull the British economy out of depression. Among others, these measures included :

Ø Starting 2013,  1 % cap on Public Sector pay for 2 years, once the current two-year pay freeze ends

Ø Plans to raise the state pension age from 66 to 67 would be brought forward by 8 years to 2026

Ø 1 billion pound scheme to subsidize work placements for the young unemployed


Despite these measures, unemployment is expected to rise from 8.2 % this year to 8.7 % next year
Job losses in public sector would nearly double to 710,000 , compared to earlier estimate of 400,000

Questions to be debated :

Ø If British Govt can impose a pay freeze for 4 years in Public sector, should British private sector follow suit ?

Ø To keep wage-costs under control, should employers be allowed to hire temporary / contractual staff on a fixed salary for , say , 2 years ?

Ø Will that encourage employers to hire more people ?

Ø Can inflation be better controlled thru a pay freeze ( less money in people’s pockets ), rather than thru hikes in interest rates ?

Ø Since salaries / wages are a major input-cost, can such freeze hold the production costs constant ?

Ø Will pay freeze lead to a “ low cost “ economy , making British products much more competitive internationally ?

Ø If this “experiment “ is successful, can it possibly lay the foundation of a National Wage Policy which pegs maximum annual wage-increase percentages  to 90 % of the rise in the Consumer Price Index of the preceding year, for both, the private and the public sector employees ? Can such mechanism , set in motion , a “ Virtuous Circle “ ?

Ø Can such a policy automatically control inflation without haphazard / half-cooked external interventions by Central Banks ?

Only history will decide whether George Osborne was a villain or a hero !

With regards

hemen  parekh

Tuesday 29 November 2011

USE BLACK MONEY FOR EDUCATION ? WHY NOT ?

29 Nov 2011

USE  BLACK  MONEY  FOR  EDUCATION ?  WHY NOT  ?

E & Y and FICCI came out with a report :

“ Private Sector participation in Higher Education , 2011 “

Here are its findings , as reported in DNA ( 25 Nov 2011 ) :

·        Over 52 % students of India are studying in private higher educational institutes

·        14 million students are enrolled in 31,000 higher educational institutions across India

·        Central Govt targets to enroll 40 million students in higher education , by 2020

This will require :

·     25 million additional seats

·     Investment of Rs.10 lakh crores

·        Central Govt expects that 50 % of this investment ( ie : Rs. 5 lakh crores ) would come from private sector

Ground reality :

·        Govt will never find its share of Rs 5 lakh crores

·        Private sector can – and will – find the entire sum of Rs 10 lakh crore, if sufficiently “ incentivized “

What Incentives ?

·        Allow investing of black monies [ thru SPVs ], in higher education of only girls – especially girls from SC / ST / OBC / Dalit communities  

·        No questions asked as to the source

·        Tax-free income for 5 years

Outcome ?

·        India will overtake the entire world in creation of “ Intellectual Property “ and in creation of jobs

I hope , someone forwards this to Kapil Sibal / Pranab Mukherjee / Soniaji Gandhi / Behen Mayawatiji / Mamta Didi / Jayalalithaji etc

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH