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Thursday 7 January 2016

Lessons from History ?

Courtesan of King Canute tried to flatter him by saying :

" Sire ! Tide will stop rolling in , if only you order it to do so "

King Canute was a wise man and knew that laws of Nature cannot be countered , even by a King

To drive home this point , he sat on a chair on the sea-shore and ordered the tide to stop

Sure enough , tide chose to ignore his wishes and wet his feet ! Courtesan hid their faces !

Some people in India are refusing to learn their lesson from what is happening all around the World as far as E - Commerce is concerned

They are asking the King ( fill in the name ! ) , to stop E Commerce in:

* Multi-Brand Retail

* Local Kirana shops

* Medicines ( E Pharmacies )

* Transport ( Uber / Ola / Car Pooling / Aggregation )

* Buyer / Seller online platforms for a multitude of services

* Anything where current vested interests feel threatened

Not realizing that the following powerful forces ( working for E Commerce ) , are unstoppable :

* 13 million Retailers of the country ( includes Kirana shops ) want to sell " More and Farther "

They want to be able to sell beyond 1 Km of their physical location ( their current limitation )

Only way they can compete with their " Neighboring Store ", is to sell " On line "

Since most cannot afford to set up their own web sites , they will join Amazon / Snapdeal / Flipkart etc

* Already some 100 companies have launched Mobile Wallets . Before long , every bank / ISP / MSP / NBFC / Trade Association / Hotel Chain / FMCG manufacturers etc , will launch its own Wallets

* Soon traffic in cities will become so bad that it will render " Outdoor Shopping " impossible . People will prefer to shop everything on-line

* Internet broadband will reach every nook and corner of India , making E Com web sites accessible to millions of rural people

* By 2020 , every Indian will have a Smart Phone connected to internet 24*7

* And by 2020 , at least some refrigerators will start replenishing on their own, by

placing orders on most competitive online E Com web sites !

Internet of Things ( IoT )

* Around the same time , Google / Amazon / eBay etc will start their own " Drone

based " deliveries in 2 hours !

* Not to be outdone , many online E Com platforms ( web sites ) will come forward

and install in your kitchen , a 3D printer , through which , they will deliver any

product that your refrigerator wants replenished !

* Holograms will enable you to try out in the comfort of your homes , any item of

personal wear ! So , why trudge to a physical store ?

Hiding your head in the sand is no way to avoid the incoming storm !

Writing is on the Wall ! Those who refuse to swim with the current are bound to sink !

I am no Nostradamus but you may still want to look up my forecasts on,

www.hemenparekh.in / Blogs

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hemen parekh

08 Jan 2016
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Wednesday 6 January 2016

Second Class Citizens ?

If you live in any city other than Delhi , you are a second class citizen !

At least , the Supreme Court of India seems to think so !

What else can explain its deep concern for the health of Delhi-ites , while choosing to overlook the fact that Diesel Vehicle Pollution is equally damaging the lungs of the lesser beings, living in dozens of other cities ?

Or does SC think that pollution related situation in these other cities has yet not reached a level of alarm ?

Or that time is not yet " ripe " for it to concern itself with future of the children of people living in these other cities ?

Is it possible that SC is waiting for some citizens of these lesser cities to file a PIL ?

May be SC thinks its "Judicial Activism" does not legitimately extend beyond the NCR ?

I fondly believe ( even now ) that for the Common Man of this country , SC is the only real " Maa - Baap " which steps in whenever the Government Officers / MLAs / MPs , fail to take timely decisions to protect the health of its Citizens , everywhere

I still very much believe that SC has , time and again , proved that it is the Court of Last Resort

I hope SC has read in papers ,the figures of AQI ( Air Quality Index ) in other cities

In any case , I hope that , on its own , SC will take SUO MOTO cognizance of this blog and treat it as a PIL to enlarge its recent orders to cover the rest of India !

A WORD OF CAUTION :

If Hon Judges of the Supreme Court were to read the rest of my blogs at ,

www.hemenparekh.in ,

they may take SUO MOTO cognizance of many and keep aside PILs from Prashant Bhushan / Subramanian Swami !

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hemen parekh

07 Jan 2015

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Tuesday 5 January 2016

Fear of Being Ridiculed ?

Many a great ideas have remained unexpressed due to fear of being ridiculed

But there have been notable exceptions

Idea whose time may not have come but that did not prevent its proponent to speak up - even at the risk of being ridiculed

IDEA :

Abolish Personal Income tax in order to solve the twin problems of black money and corruption , for ever

BRAVE HEARTS :

Nani Palkhiwala

Ram Jethamalani

Subramanyam Swamy

When scions of business / industry meet Shri Arun Jaitleyji today , to give their suggestions in respect of Corporate Income Tax provisions in the forthcoming Union Budget , will any of them have the courage to advocate :

* Abolition of Personal Income Tax ( Revenue loss of Rs 2.5 lakh*Crores )

* Reducing Corporate Tax rates with rise in no of employees ( Incentivize Job-Creation )

* 10 % of GST collection to get credited in PPF accounts of the Buyer of Goods / Services

* GST rate increase (in coming years) to be no more than 5 % of CPI rise in previous year

* No questions ( as to the Source ) for cash deposited in Jan Dhan Bank Accounts ( Permanent Unlimited Amnesty )

* FD Interest / Dividends from Infra Bonds / SPVs to be credited to Jan Dhan A/cs

* Introduction of 2 % Bank Transaction Tax ( Revenue gain of Rs 15 Lakh*Crores )

* Announcement of " Start Up Act / 2015 " ( read hemenparekh.in / Blogs )

* Introduction of Rs 500/1000 currency notes with embedded RFID / unique IP Address

I hope those Business Leaders / Industrialists will take courage from the fact that , initially , all ideas get ridiculed which are aimed at ,

* Upsetting the existing Social Order

* Threatening the vested interests

* Destroying the cozy comfort

* Democratizing the Economic Powers

Then a time comes when those very ideas are appreciated and , later, even admired !

Please , do not miss your " Tryst with the Destiny " !

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hemen parekh

06 Jan 2016

( Source : hemenparekh.in / blogs )

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Monday 4 January 2016

AUTONOMOUS TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Dear Ms Smriti Irani - ji ,

I read news-report saying HRD Ministry is in process of preparing proposal for setting up of 10 autonomous technological universities , as :

CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE

Some 30 years ago , I was a key member of a Committee set up by Maharashtra Government for preparing a similar report for setting up :

Dr. BabaSaheb Ambedkar Technological University

If desired , I would be happy to send to you , a photo-copy of that report

IMPORTANT :

The report contains 60 pages of UNIVERSITY DRAFT BILL

Index of Contents is shown below

hemen parekh

www.hemenparekh.in / Do read " Agenda for Reforms "

Marol , Mumbai , India

hcp@RecruitGuru.com

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INDEX OF CONTENTS :

# ACADEMIC SYSTEM

* Engineering Disciplines and Intake

* Curriculum

* Industry Institute Interaction

* Admission and Course Structure

* Examination and Evaluation

* Degree / Diploma Recognition

* Academic Audit

# ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM

* Autonomy

* Management

* Recruitment Procedure

* Emoluments and Service Conditions

* Teachers' Performance Evaluation

* Teacher Education & Development

* Effective Working Days

* Grievance Procedure

* Manpower

* Grants and Budgets

* Tuition Fees

# MASTER DEVELOPMENT PLAN

# INFRASTRUCTURE

* Land

* External

* Internal

# LEGAL SYSTEM

# THE PERT NETWORK

# ANNEXURES

* References

* Modular System of Education

* Annual Academic Audit

* Draft Bill

* Organization Chart

* Career Profile

* Teachers' Performance Evaluation

* Manpower requirement

* Recurring Expenditure Estimates

* Master Development Plan

* Survey Nos of Land to be acquired

* PERT Network

* Equipment List

* Detailed Syllabii of Courses

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Sunday 3 January 2016

A HALF-WAY HOUSE ?

On 02 Jan 2016 , Maharashtra CM , Shri Fadnavis released , " Construction Permit Guidelines Manual ", incorporating following reforms :

* No of approvals.......... Down from 119 to 58

* Time required............ Down from 365 days to 60 days

* Approval Layers...........From multiple stages to single stage

* Scrutiny Stages........... From multiple levels to only 2 parts

* Process..................... Parallel instead of serial

* Payments.................. From 89 stages to 1 stage / online

* Certifications............. From BMC to self certification ( for certain services )

From BMC to Consultants ( for certain services )

Congratulations , Shri Fadnavis-ji . No doubt , a good beginning

But treat this as a half way house

This won't help you to build those 5 lakh houses by 2020 !

Only implementation of my following blog that I sent to you on 5th Nov 2015 , will :

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SELF CERTIFICATION FOR BUILDERS ?

In Hindustan Times ( Oct 29 ) , Moushumi Das Gupta writes :

Govt to streamline rules for Construction Projects

Currently , a builder requires as many as 34 kinds of permits from two dozen Ministries, before starting construction

This process takes up to 3 years

Now, Central Govt has initiated a process to streamline the approvals required to ensure that builders get all the construction permits within 60 days

Eg:

* Built up Area............. Environment Ministry

* Height Restriction...... .Civil Aviation Ministry

Cabinet Secretary has directed all the Ministries to come out with notifications by end Dec 2015

The Centre has decided to empower Municipalities to grant all construction related approvals , based on these notifications

One would be able to get all approvals from under one roof , which in this case , would be the Municipal Corporation's office

Although a very laudable initiative , I believe there is tremendous scope to further streamline and digitize this approval process, in the nature of

E-Delivery of Services to Construction Industry

Here is how :

* All builders / developers must register on Municipal Web sites and obtain

unique BUILDER REGISTRATION NUMBER

* Builders must fill in online, on web site of concerned Municipality, a form :

BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATION

* Building Permit Application Form will have a STANDARD FORMAT , into

which applicant will need to submit exhaustive details re the project

This will include detailed Floor Plans and Structural Drawings , along with

names / contact details of Architects / Structural Engineers etc

The FORM will require slab-casting dates for each slab and the final

completion date when builder will apply for Occupation Certificate

* The Form will have a section called

SELF CERTIFICATION / DECLARATION

Builder would be required to tick YES / NO against each item as shown :

Does your proposed Building / Structure / Project , satisfy the criteria /

notifications / regulations , issued by the concerned Ministries in respect

of :

# Built-up Area........... ( YES ) / ( NO )

# Height Restriction

# Fire Fighting

# Water Harvesting

# Roof-top Solar Power

# Effluent Treatment

# Garbage Disposal

# Earthquake Resistant Structural Design..............etc

Clicking on each item will reveal the relevant " Notification / Regulation " issued by the concerned Ministry

To make the process absolutely fool-proof , the form will insist on an " Electronic Signature " of the applicant

DECLARATION / UNDERTAKING :

" I declare that I have read each and every notification / regulation , listed in respect of items mentioned above

I further declare that I explicitly agree to abide by these regulations

I am aware that Occupation Certificate will not be granted if my completed project is found to be in violation of any of these notifications / regulations

I will not allow any person / entity to occupy any part of this premises , until and unless , Municipality issues to me , the Occupation Certificate

If Municipality finds any violations , I agree to rectify the same before applying for a fresh Occupation Certificate

If Municipality is not in a position to issue Occupation Certificate due to any

violations which simply cannot be rectified , then I will demolish the said building / project / structure on my own and before such demolition , refund with interest , payments collected from the buyers

The plot of land is free from any encumbrances / litigations

I am not in default of any loans taken from any bank / individuals

I will not accept any payment in cash , nor make cash payments

I absolve the Municipal Corporation of any liability arising out of non completion of my project

I agree that my Building Permit Application and my Registration Application details , be made accessible to public on your web site , along with full details of my past / current projects and full details of my balance sheet / bank borrowings "

GRANT OF APPROVALS BY MINISTRIES :

As soon as the builder submits the online BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATION , it automatically and instantly , appears on the web sites of ALL the concerned Ministries

The concerned officer of each Ministry , makes APPROVED / REJECTED entries in the application form , from the backend

If rejected , he will provide the reasons

Ministry officers are required to carry out this entry , within 24 hours

As soon as an officer of any Ministry makes entry and SUBMITS , the application forms on web sites of ALL Ministries and web site of the concerned Municipality , get updated simultaneously and instantly , making for MIRROR IMAGES at all times

As soon as any entry is made , a copy gets emailed to the applicant builder

Any " editing " of the application form by the builder , will start the entire process , all over

Applicant builder will be obliged to display the latest emailed form at the site

The database so created on web sites of ALL Ministries - and concerned Municipality - will be searchable State-wise / City-wise

CHANGES IN RELEVANT LAWS :

To speed up any litigation between the parties concerned ( Builder / Buyers / Central & State Govts / Municipality / Bankers etc ) , existing laws may be changed

IMPORTANT :

Every application must be in the open domain and visible to anyone , online and transparently

There should be provision for any visitor of the web site to report any abuse / violation of regulations or any objection to the proposed construction

ADVANTAGES :

If such SELF CERTIFICATION process is implemented , it should be possible for India to beat Singapore , where getting 11 approval takes only 26 days !

It would be ZERO days in our case !

Now couple this with abolition of Corporate Income Tax for Construction Industry for the next 10 years and witness a MIRACLE

Then only it would become possible for achieving the following targets set by different States / Centre , under HOUSING FOR ALL:

* Maharashtra........... 5 lakh ( By 2020 )

* Gujarat................... 50 lakh ( 2013 - 2018 )

* Centre.................... 220 lakh ( by 2022 )

Also imagine :

* Employment it would generate

* FDI it would bring in

* Our rank in EASE OF DOING BUSINESS

Need of the hour is :

* Come out of " Analysis Paralysis "

* Get rid of historical baggage

* Break free from the legacy of the past

* Think " Out of Box "

* Take risk without worrying about possible failure

* Make Course-Corrections , as you learn what mistakes got made

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hemen parekh

04 Jan 2016

www.hemenparekh.in>Blogs

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Make Yourself Heard

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