Blog

Sunday 3 April 2016

Burden of School Bags

A recent survey of 4569 students in Mumbai found :

* 31 % of those surveyed, carried schoolbags weighing more than the prescribed limit ( not more than 10% of child's own weight )

This issue has so much agitated everyone that even the Mumbai High Court keeps asking the Government :

" What are you doing about this ? How and when , do you expect to solve this problem ? "

A news report in Times of India ( 02 April , 2016 ) quotes Shri B B Chavan , Deputy Director of Education , as follows :

" Schools can't do much if parents continue to send fancy bags, heavy tiffin boxes and water bottles and tuition books "

Sure , parents can help reduce their child's burden

But , so can progressive / forward thinking / innovative schools !

Immediate answer that comes to mind is : Use of Internet

I believe , HRD Ministry has launched a project under which , all text books will get uploaded on its web site , which any student can access freely , at any time , on his / her tablet

Simultaneously , in the last 2 / 3 years , dozens of portals have come up , which provide educational content of all kinds ( text books / quizzes / test papers / assessments etc ) , online , for a reasonable annual subscription

But the problem is :

* Very few schools have a Wi-Fi hot spot

I suppose , it will take a few years before all schools get internet connection

Interim solution :

* Schools to make available to students ( of each standard ) , tablets

having on-board storage memory of 64 GB ( no need for internet ! )

* Each tablet to be pre-loaded with scanned copies of text books

* Icons on home page to show the " Subject Name " of text book

* Tablets to be distributed at the beginning of each academic session

* Students to be allowed to carry the tablets home and use for homework

* Students to return the tablets at the end of each session

* Tablets can be given to the next batch of students for reuse

* Students should have option to " pay and buy " the tablet , in which case

School Administration will load it with required text books, free of charge

Alternatively, students can buy their choice of tablet from market

* It will be the responsibility of school management to ensure that the

all tablets are always pre-loaded with the " Prescribed " text books

When schools are charging annual school-fees of Rs 30,000 / - to Rs 100,000 /- , surely they can afford to invest in tablets costing Rs 10,000/- !

Of course , poor children , attending Municipal Schools will benefit most since they cannot afford to buy own tablets or pay high fees

And since there is no internet access from these tablets , school managements do not have to worry about students accessing " In-appropriate Content " and waste their time on Facebook / Youtube etc !

I am sure, some schools here and many schools abroad , have already implemented this idea , which must have occurred to millions, earlier !

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www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

04 April 2016

Saturday 2 April 2016

Ambiguity is Bad !

Where ?

* Health Ministry wants warning images on cigarette packs to cover 85% of the surface , against earlier rule of 40%

* A Parliamentary Committee had recommended 50 %

Reaction :

* From friday ( 01 April 2016 ) , all cigarette factories have shut down in protest ,

According to Tobacco Institute of India , this will cause,

# Daily revenue loss of Rs 350 Crores

# Threatening livelihood of 45.7 million people dependent on the Industry

# Increase in trade in illegal cigarettes ( which already causes an annual

revenue loss of Rs 9,000 cr to the exchequer )

What should Government do ?

Negotiate with the Industry and reach Agreement , using my suggestion as under :

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Source : my blog dt 18 Aug 2013

Going Up in Smoke ?

Yesterday , Times of India reported :

India's tobacco industry supports 38 million people ( 380 lakhs )

Every year , some 6 million ( 60 lakh ) people die in India thru use of tobacco ( mostly cigarettes )

Of these , some 6 lakh die by inhaling smoke of other cigarette smokers

So what can we do to save these 60 lakh ?

Immediately close down entire tobacco industry ?

And jeopardize the lives of 380 lakh ?

Obviously , we cannot adopt a mutually exclusive solution !

We must find a solution that , not only saves those 60 lakh but also continue to provide livelihood to 380 lakhs

That cannot be done in one - or even five - years , but it is entirely possible to solve this problem over , 20 years , as follows :

* Thru appropriate legislation , phase out tobacco industry by 2033

* Immediately stop expansion of existing units

* Do not allow new units to come up

* Place a recruitment freeze in tobacco industry - no fresh hiring at any level

* No replacement for retiring employees , after 2018

* Provide incentives to industry to redeploy capital / manpower in alternate industries - especially those industries with large scope for creation of new jobs

* Give generous tax-breaks to industry to remain profitable , even as they wind-up operations

* Provide incentives to put up new-industry projects in less industrialized regions

* Provide incentives for re-training existing workers in new skills in demand by others

* Subsidize Voluntary Retirement Schemes of industry

This is just a partial list . I am sure , if there is political will , experts will come up with many more viable suggestions

Hint :

If Shri Piyush Goyal can plan on banning all petrol / diesel driven vehicles on roads from 2030 , then banning cigarettes from 2036 , ought to be a " Child's Play " !

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hemenparekh.in / blogs

03 April 2016

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Make Yourself Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

( Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :

narendramodi1234@gmail.com; 38ashokroad@gmail.com;ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in; jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in;piyush.goyal@gov.in;nitin.gadkari@nic.in; spprabhu1@rediffmail.com;bandaru@sansad.nic.in;smritizirani@nic.in;nsitharaman@nic.in; ravis@sansad.nic.in;sureshprabhu@irctc.co.in;prakash.j@sansad.nic.in;secy-ipp@nic.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; shaktikanta.das@nic.in; rsecy@nic.in; adhia1981@gmail.com; ceo-niti@nic.in; atul-chaturvedi@nic.in; uma.bharati@sansad.nic.in; d.pradhan@sansad.nic.in; rprudy.office@gmail.com; rudypr@rediffmail.com; eam@mea.gov.in; mosvks@mea.gov.in; mvnaidu@sansad.nic.in; mnaqvi@sansad.nic.in; rao.inderjit@sansad.nic.in; mljoffice@gov.in; sadananda.gowda@sansad.nic.in; ministerminority@gov.in; najmah@sansad.nic.in; minister-ca@nic.in; ramvilas.paswan@sansad.nic.in; gandhim@sansad.nic.in; akumar-alpha@sansad.nic.in; jpnadda@sansad.nic.in; hm.moca@nic.in; geete@sansad.nic.in; simratbadal@yahoo.com; ns.tomar@nic.in; rmsingh@sansad.nic.in; tc.gehlot@sansad.nic.in; dr.harshvardhan@sansad.nic.in

Thursday 31 March 2016

One day Polling is Possible

DNA ( 31 March 2016 ) reports :

" Prime Minister Narendra Modi has mooted a proposal to hold simultaneous elections to Panchayats , State Assemblies and Parliament across the country

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel , Public Grievances , Law and Justice had in December , recommended holding simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections to reduce expenditure and frequent disruption of normal life "

Not only it is possible to do this ( in ONE DAY ) but it has the potential to bring about Electoral Reforms of far reaching beneficial impact

Following is the suggestion that I sent to Shri Narendra Modiji on 06 Nov 2014 :

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VotesApp

( from my blog dated 18 Dec 2012 )

* An Android app which can be downloaded from Google Play / Android Zoom / GetJar and the official web site of Election Commission of India

* It will be pre-loaded on 220 million Aakash tablets which Govt of India plans to distribute to students

* It will also be pre-loaded on those Smart phones ( to be called, “ Dharati “ ? ), which Govt of India plans to distribute free to 400 million “ poor “ Indians , before 2014 National elections

* All tablet / smart phone manufacturers will be encouraged to pre-load VotesApp

* Using this app , a voter can register at Election Commission web site, where he will enter the same data which he has submitted for his Aadhar card, including Aadhar card number (Unique Identification No)

* All of these details will be verified by Aadhar database

* Obviously , those who have not obtained their Aadhar card , will not be able to use VotesApp . They will need to visit nearest polling booth

* Upon correct verification , Aadhar Database will permanently link the person’s Aadhar number with the mobile number from which registration is done, and issue a Password

* An under aged person will not be allowed to register

* A person will be able to vote only from that mobile number

* After login on first screen, user will be asked to select one option from,

# Panchayat Election

# Municipal Election

# State Assembly Election

# Lok-Sabha Election

* Upon selection, user will be presented with the list of candidates contesting , from which , he can select only one by ticking a check-box.

There will be also a choice , labeled “ None “ ( NOTA )

* A long press on a candidate’s name will display details of his declared assets as also his criminal record

* After ticking / selecting a candidate, voter will click on “ VOTE “ button, whereupon his vote gets registered and VotesApp gets de-activated

* Once a voter registers on Election Commission web site , he cannot go to a polling booth and vote physically

* In less than one year , Govt of India will recover the cost of 220 million Aakash tablets and 400 million” Dharati “ smart phones , through this customized / personalized / shrinking of EVMs ( Electronic Voting Machines ) to a hand-held device.

And imagine the millions of man-hours saved !

* And the beauty is , no one can capture this booth , or conduct exit polls !

What will “ experts “ discuss on TV channels ?

* What next ? Election Commission “licensing “ this App to other countries ?

HOW WILL IT HELP ?

* No need for 930,000 polling booths / EVMs / Ink / Papers etc

Every voter's own mobile becomes a miniature EVM !

Any registered Voter can vote from anywhere in the World !

* Nor any need to deploy 1,100,000 people to conduct the polls

* No need for millions of Police / Military personnel

* No need for months of advance preparations, across entire country

* Voting can be completed in just ONE day - instead of over 6 weeks -
and results can be declared next day !

* Voting could be 95 % or more !

* No worry for booth-capture

* No bogus voting ( Bio-metric ID from built-in camera )

* No duplicate voting ( Self-destruct after single usage )

* No worry for any terrorist attacks

* Enormous saving of time for Voters

* No need to declare a public holiday - costing thousands of crores
worth of production

* Central Government will save, at least , Rs 2,000 Crores .

* For the Central Government , a potential to earn Rs 20,000 crores , by

enabling 15 million Indian businesses to advertise to 814 million voters

thru this mobile VotesApp , sharply targeting by Gender / Age / Marital

Status / City / Street / Education / Income Tax paid / Employed or

Jobless ..etc

* No need for Central Government to stop taking even routine decisions

( due to Model Code of Conduct )

If a tiny country like Estonia ( population 1.6 million ) can elect its Members of Parliament thru a VotesApp type mobile App , why can't we ?

Already 900+ million Indians have mobiles - all of which , will soon become Smart Phones

As far as designing / developing of VotesApp is concerned , it is NOT a Rocket Science

Any IT / E-Comm Start Up , should be able to develop VotesApp in 3 months

Can you think of a better way for " E-delivery of Service " ?

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www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

01 April 2016

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Make Yourself Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

( Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :

From Waste to Wealth ?

On 29 March 2016 , the Environ Ministry ( Central Government ) notified ,

" The Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules "

On this occasion , environment minister , Shri Javadekar said :

* It is an initiative to tackle effectively the issue of pollution. Without any rules, it is dumped in open spaces , drains, rivers, forest areas, landfills and roadside

The basis of our new rules is recover , recycle and reuse

We can make tiles , pipes from it

Segregating construction and demolition waste and depositing it to the collection centres for processing will now be the responsibility of every waste generator "

Dear Shri Javadekarji :

Your initiative to reuse construction / demolition waste has the potential to solve the problem of constructing 50 million " affordable homes " by 2020

And , I think , the Chinese firm WinSun Design Decoration Company, should be made an EQUITY partner in a SPV to construct these homes

Here is why :

# On 29 March 2014 , WinSun constructed 10 , 3D printed houses ( 200 sq meter each) in Shanghai, each costing $ 4,800 (approx Rs 3 lakh)

# On 17 July 2015 , using its 3D printing technology , WinSun built a 2 storey villa , in just 3 HOURS !

# WinSun holds 98 patents for CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

# For 3D printing of houses , WinSun , mostly uses recycled construction materials

# 3D HOUSE PRINTING TECHNOLOGY saves :

* 30% -60 % of building materials

* 70 % of production time

* 80 % of construction cost

# Egypt Government has placed on WinSun , an order for supplying 20,000 pre-fabricated , 3D printed houses

# In Egypt , WinSun will establish 12 Dream Factories ( to build pre-fabricated houses ) , within 2 years

These factories will mostly use DESERT SAND as its main construction material , which was found ideal for 3D printing of houses

# In next 3 years , WinSun will set up ( in JV with local parties ) , similar factories in 20 countries , including Saudi Arabia , UAE , Qatar , Mexico , S. Korea , Russia , Morocco , Tunisia , and USA

With the current slowdown in economies around the world and in the Chinese economy in particular , I think WinSun should be more than happy to invest in India

What Fox Conn is doing to transform the Electronic Industry in India , I believe , WinSun can do for the Construction Industry

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www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

01 April 2016

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

Make Yourself Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

( Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :

Long Term or Short Term ?

As per media reports , Vijay Mallya has offered to repay Rs 4000 cr of debt by Sept . I presume he would offer to repay the balance at some unspecified date

Supreme Court has asked RBI and the lending banks to come back in a week with their response to Mallya's offer

In a normal course , such restructuring of a loan would be a routine affair, without anyone in public paying any attention

But these are not " normal " times !

Which bank would dare to be criticized for " being soft / being in collusion " , after Prime Minister's public announcement two days back that :

" We will ensure that every rupee of loan is recovered . We will not let the rich rob the poor and get away "

Apparently , PM wants the lending banks to,

* Go beyond the symptoms and uncover the true nature of the disease

* Stop worrying about immediate write-offs and focus on future health

* Ensure that their soft approach does not set a bad precedent to others

* Surgically cut the diseased limb to ensure that Cancer does not spread

* Send a loud and clear message to,

# 72 companies which have failed to service debt ( Rs 5.53 lakh*crore )

for two years

# 40 companies which have failed to service debt ( Rs 2.94 lakh*crore )

for three years

I can understand why RBI does not want Supreme Court to reveal the names of companies in default , who have loan outstanding of over Rs 500 Cr . RBI feels that this may have " adverse impact " for business

But what about " adverse impact " for the public , using whose tax money , 29 Public Sector Banks , quietly wrote-off , Rs 1.14 lakh*crore of bad debt between 2013 and 2015 ?

And the " adverse impact " on Central exchequer by re-capitalizing of these banks , using taxes paid by you and me ?

Shri Arun Jaitley says :

Amount of re-capitalization will be linked to the speed with which these banks manage to recover their NPAs

I hope , he has also told all banks , in unmistakable words :

" You will neither restructure these existing loans to the defaulters nor make any further advances to

# these defaulting companies, or

# its associate companies , or

# directors of these companies ( personal loans )

# relatives of these directors ( personal loans )

# persons who are sureties for these defaulters

You will launch court cases against such defaulters for repossessing their properties and wherever there are cases of " cheque bounces " , you will obtain from the courts , " Non Bail-able Warrants " against such directors

You will share with the public at large , full details of the defaulters online

You ( bank directors ) will not be paid any salary till you recover these loans

If you fail to recover in 24 months , you will get a sack ! "

Dear Shri Jaitleyji :

If anything that I have said above sounds too harsh to you , just hang on the wall across your table , a photo of any of those thousands of farmers who are committing suicides , every year because rains failed and they could not repay their bank loans !

Right below that photo , dynamically display statistics of :

* Number of farmers who committed suicide in past 24 hours .............

* Cumulative no of Farmer suicides , so far , this year.........................

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www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

01 April 2016

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

Make Yourself Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

( Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :