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

Friday 6 May 2016

Ignoring History ?



History teaches us that people don't like sudden / abrupt / big changes , whether these affect them socially , politically /  economically or , even emotionally


Changes that happen slowly / gradually / minimally , over a period of time , are much more palatable / acceptable and get assimilated into the psyche without causing a trauma


But then , if such gradual changes fail to take place - or get caused over a long period of time , by people responsible - then it becomes imperative to introduce sudden / big changes even at the risk of inviting anger of the people affected


Here is just one example of what happened / is happening , and what could have been done over a long period , to avoid anger / demonstrations / militancy / strife / human misery :


#   Could we have ensured timely completion of construction of
dams / irrigation canals / interlinking of rivers etc to ensure that areas needing water got it and drought / flooding got avoided ?

If so , could we have avoided delivering water in trains and tankers ?

Could we have dug thousands of small ponds / reservoirs in each and every village to retain water and thereby raise ground water level ?


Just ask what our MPs and MLAs could have done over the past 65 years , to avoid / eliminate following problems :


*   Ever growing demand for " Quota / Reservation "

*   NPAs threatening bankruptcy of banks

*   Impending closure of PSUs , making losses for 40 years

*   Cheap Chinese imports flooding our markets / causing job-
     losses

*   Effluents from chemical plants / tanneries and sewage ,
    turning all of our rivers into gutters

*   Pollution from fossil fuel power stations / construction / diesel
     vehicles , making our air , un-breathable

*   Reckless iron ore mining turning our forests into waste-land

*   Wrong taxation policies encouraging people to evade taxes
     and generate BLACK MONEY

*   License / Permit Raj , leading to bribes and corruption

*   Layers upon layers of government employees ( 32 lakh ),
     resulting in denial of each and every civil service

*   Outdated - and complicated - judicial processes , coupled with
     insufficient number of judges,  ensuring non-delivery of
     justice ( with 30 million pending cases - which will take 300
     years to clear ! )

*   60 million people dying every year thru cigarette smoking


I can go on and on !


It is not too late to draw up a 10 year  ACTION PLAN for solving each of the above-mentioned problem and commit to making just 10 % improvement per year


Better late than never  !

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www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

07  May  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   
   


     

Well Begun is Half Done



Following news report appeared in today's Hindustan Times :

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NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies) has inked a partnership agreement with social networking site Facebook to build a 'product design initiative’ in the country.

This nation-wide initiative by NASSCOM is aimed at offering focused programmes to build awareness around product design, training on design tools, design lab, awards, design sprints and mentorship.

This will be a flagship programme of the NASSCOM Product Council.
This will aim at supporting over 500 product start-ups on product design.

It will also focus on training over 5,000 product designers in the next two years.

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Here is my suggestion ( sent to DIPP / ASSOCHAM / FICCI / CII / NASSCOM etc, in Sept 2015 ) :

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 Role of MakeinIndia web site


    >  On its web site , list 5000 products that we currently import ( with
        annual import bill / sources / ave landed cost etc )

    >  Invite 1000 leading manufacturing companies of India , to make
        online selection of minimum of 5 items each, for preparing DPR
        ( Detailed Project Reports ) .

         Freely visible online database of who selected which items
        will avoid duplication
         

         

 Role  of  Manufacturing Companies

    >  Prepare and submit to Ministry of Commerce, at least 5 DPR  by
        Dec 2016 . More the merrier ! Earlier the better !

    >  Each report must carry , name of at least one bank which has
        accepted that as a " Bankable Report " , eligible for funding

    >  Train at least 100 fresh engineering graduates in various
         manufacturing related functions under GET ( Graduate Engineer
         Training ) Scheme  , each year



*   Role of Ministry of Commerce

   >  Publish DPRs on its web site for free downloading


 Role of  Income Tax Department

   >  Give 200 % tax deduction to existing manufacturing units for 2
       years , for employing fresh engineering graduates on their rolls ,
       under :

      " Graduate Engineers Training Subsidy Act - 2015 "
        ( to be enacted )

      This will motivate manufacturing units to impart manufacturing
      related experience to fresh engineering graduates before they
      venture to set up own  MSME factories
     
  >  Admit expenses incurred by manufacturing units for preparation of
      DPR ,under their CSR obligation ( 2 % of ave net profit for 5 years )

  >  Exempt all GET Start Ups ( registered on eBiz web site ) from
      paying Corporate Income Tax for first 10 years of working
     

  >  Exempt all GET Start Ups from GST payment ,  for 10 years



*   Role of Fresh Engineering Graduates


  >  Get GET Training Certificate from employer companies

  >  Download DPR from Commerce Ministry web site

  >  Apply for funding to banks , attaching DPR and GET Certificate

  >  Upon receiving Approval Intimation from bank , apply for various
      permissions on eBiz web site , quoting Bank Approval Number



 Role of ASSOCHAM / FICCI / CII etc

 >  Encourage their manufacturing member firms to take on the
     task of preparation of DPRs and follow up

>   Publish DPR reports on their web sites for free downloading

>   Constitute State-wise " Hand-holding Teams " of retired
     executives having " Manufacturing " experience , to guide the
     local GET applicants in obtaining all permissions from various
     State Authorities



 Role of eBiz web site

  >  To make available in public domain , all investment related
       applications , and progress status of each


 Role of State Governments

  >  To keep track of those eBiz investment applications where
       the State is the proposed manufacturing location

  >   Pro-actively reach out to such applicants for expediting their
       proposals


All of the above need not / must not take months to materialize !



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www.hemenparekh.in  /  blogs


07   May   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 ) :


    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   


Wednesday 4 May 2016

Long Way to Go ?



Most of us listened to the debate in Rajya Sabha yesterday , re Augusta Scam


One thing emerged , time and again , viz:


Tender Specifications got " tailor made " to suit Augusta and to rule out all competition


Now , after coming into power in May 2014 , NDA government has taken a few steps to eliminate such " built-in biases " from the tendering process and make it transparent


While appreciating that " Negotiation Process " ( after receipt of the offers ), cannot be carried out publicly , I believe , there is still , a long way go  to improve the tendering process , as per my following suggestion , sent to Shri Narendra Modiji , on 06 Nov 2014 ( as email and hard copy ) :

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SCAMS   ARE   AVOIDABLE   !

( blog date : 21 April 2014 )


Early this week , Supreme Court held that , CAG ( Comptroller and Auditor General ) has the right - and obligation - to conduct an audit of telecoms



WHY  ?



>   Spectrum is a natural resource that belongs to the nation


>   Private telecom companies have a revenue-sharing agreement with the
      Central Government , for allowing them to " exploit " this natural
      - and national - resource



WHAT  ELSE  ?



>  This logic should also hold good for all private companies , who are
    allowed to exploit India's NATURAL / NATIONAL resources , to create
    materials / energy


    Here is a partial list :


    *  Fossil Fuels ( Oil / Gas / Coal )

    *  Minerals

    *  Sea-bed Nodules

    *  River Waters

    *  Wind

    *  Tides

    *  Sunlight

    *  Sea Water

    *  Jungles / Trees

    *  Earth's Magnetism

    *  Electromagnetic Waves

    *  Gravitational Force.....etc



HOW  ?



*  Tendering process must be public / transparent / equitable

*  Tender terms must be open for scrutiny/comment  by public

*  All resource-exploitation licenses must follow auction route

*  Eligibility Criteria must be pre-defined / publicized in advance

*  Licenses should be valid for pre-defined fixed period

*  Licenses cannot be renewed / extended

*  Concerned States must have a share in profit-sharing etc

*  Profit - sharing formula must be part of tenders

*  Any failure / delay on part of the Licensee Company to implement the
   Contract , will require return / surrender of the natural resource
   concerned , to the Central Government, with appropriate penalties

*  Natural Resource involved , cannot be hypothecated to banks / financial
    institutions to raise loans


*  Shares of the licensee companies cannot be traded in open market or

     pledged , without prior permission from Central Government

*   CAG Audit will be mandatory and reports must be published

*   Tendering / Auctioning / Licensing must not be handled by any Govt
     Department . A separate statutory authority should be created for this

*   To encourage early / fast implementations of Exploitation Licenses , there
     will be no Corporate Income Tax for the Licensee Companies

*   Each license will be given only to a SPV , created for this purpose

*   Cost-escalation leading to any Selling Price Escalations would be pre-
     defined



IN   HIND-SIGHT



*   Had we followed the above-mentioned process , perhaps , we could have
     avoided several scams of recent past and KG-D6 type  disputes


*   We could have also avoided ,

     #   Arbitrary price escalations

     #   Inflation

     #   Private profiteering

     #   Costly litigations

     #   Policy and Decision Paralysis

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www.hemenparekh.in  /  blogs


05  May  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 ) :


    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