1984 was nothing !

Remember , what George Orville predicted in his book , " 1984 " ?

No matter where you go , the BIG BROTHER ( the Establishment ) will be watching you - and will know exactly, what you are doing / saying , through ubiquitous CCTV cameras

This prediction is gradually being realized in a few cities of the World -  with still , a long way to go

Times of India ( 18 Aug 2016 ) carries a news report which says that Govt may introduce radio tags , iris scans for prisoners

Acting advocate general ( Maharashtra ) , Rohit Deo told a division bench of High Court :

"  The State government is examining the feasibility and legality of fixing RFID chips in the bodies of prisoners to track them by GPS if they are released on parole or furlough "

USA Food and Drugs Administration has approved the use of RFID chips in humans and it is widely practiced in US prisons

Today's Hindustan Times , carries following snippet :

" Scientists have developed a way of communication that may allow brain implants and contact lenses to talk to smart phones

A contact lens for instance, could monitor diabetics' blood sugar level and send notifications when the level drops "

What can you expect next ?

A RFID / GPS enabled permanent tattoo ( temporary ones are already available ! ) , fixed on hand , at birth for each child , to replace :

#    Aadhar  Number

#    PAN Number

#    Passport ....etc  ?

But of course , such a draconian , privacy-violating , reform is unlikely to be initiated by ANY government or passed as an ACT by any legislature ! There would be a popular revolt and that government will lose next election !

But what is holding up NDA government from discarding old / paper-based currency notes of Rs 500 / 1,000 and replace these with new / plastic-based notes , embedded with RFID micro-sensors ( thinner than human hair )  ?

BENEFITS :

#  This REFORM will permanently eliminate CORRUPTION and BLACK MONEY from our society , because each such

   

     note ( and any pre-determined accumulation ) , will continuously announce its GPS location and get tracked  !

#   This reform does NOT require passing of any Bill in Parliament

#   If coupled with a Amnesty Scheme for investment of all existing BLACK MONEY into Infrastructure SPVs (

     without any questions being asked or any penal action ) , this innovation can bring into the MAIN STREAM

     ECONOMY , Rs 100 Lakh*Crore , within 6 months ! ( Black Economy is 70 % of our GDP of Rs 140 lakh*crore )

   

    

#   This will dramatically raise GST collection by an amount of Rs 18 lakh*crore ( since Rs 100 lakh*crore

     of Black Money will get used legally for buying of either GOODS/ SERVICES, somewhere in the main stream

     economy , attracting GST @ 18 % rate )  

    

     This windfall will get equally shared by the Centre and the States , and help reduce  govt borrowings

     For this reason it will become the MOST POPULAR REFORM  ever , not only among ordinary citizens but

     also among all States , irrespective of which political party they belong to  !

By sending emails to NDA ministers , I have been advocating this for last two years and have not given up hope !

I am sure , if introduced , India will show to the entire World Economy , an example of Social Justice / Equity !

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24  Aug  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

HORN OK ?

No doubt , you have seen these words painted behind many trucks in India

But Transport Minister , Shri Gadkari says : HORN  NOT  OK  !

Times of India ( 17 Aug 2916 ) carries a news report titled :

"  Gadkari wants to silence horns "

It goes on to quote Shri Gadkari :

"  Honking and using pressure horns is a big menace on our roads. Only rules and regulations can't address this problem . We need a change in behavior and mindset of drivers "

Last week Shri Gadkari  introduced a bill which will impose on the erring ( honking ) drivers , a fine of Rs 1,000/-

A repeat offence will attract a penalty of Rs 2,000/-

Shri Gadkari added :

" The central law will create an enabling framework for the enforcement agencies to use these provisions for reining in violations

The enforcement agencies must also do their job with sincerity and must not use these provisions for making a quick buck "

Apparently Shri Gadkari is all too aware how this law will get abused !

And prey , in a traffic of hundreds of vehicles passing any road-crossing every minute , how will the policeman on duty decide " WHO honked ? "

Will not , on-the-road arguments / disputes ( Where is the proof that I honked ? ) end up in " It is your word against mine " ? And bring the traffic to a halt ?

Shri Gadkari thought of automatic toll plazas , where each passing car would be embedded with an RFID chip

Even as the car slows down just slightly for CCTV cameras to read the Car Number and transmit it to a Central Server , the toll amount gets deducted automatically from the prepaid RFID chip !

No need for a human attendant to collect payment , no waiting in a queue , no arguments !

Why can he not just mandate all car / truck manufacturers to pre-install a RFID based SCADA chip in their vehicles which will flash the car number of the honking car, on the Mobile Phone of the nearest policeman ?

No arguments !

And instant / automatic penalty deduction thru Mobile Wallet details , embedded in that SCADA chip !

( Some of these data will need to be entered into the chip by the Vehicle Dealer at the time of sale )

But then nothing stops Shri Gadkari to tell the vehicle manufacturers :

"  What we need is a TRANSPORT REVOLUTION

   To bring that about , each SCADA chip must get hard-coded with full details about that vehicle , such as :

   *  Type of Engine ( Petrol / Diesel / Electric etc ) with CC / KW capacity and Engine Number

   *  Make / Model / Year of manufacture / Sitting Capacity etc

   *  Anything else that you ( the Manufacturers ) can think up of , which will ultimately lead to sharing of

      AUTONOMOUS CARS / BIKES  and help reduce individual/personal ownership. for a vastly underutilized asset "

   This will enable the Transport Ministry to " Acquire " a variety of Data , to keep track of the following

   dynamically,

   *  No of vehicles on our roads at any time / any place ( Traffic Density ) and their direction / velocity for better

       traffic control . Delivered through a Mobile App ( called, DIVERT ? ), this will help motorists in commuting

   *  Amount of Emission Gases being injected into the atmosphere by all the vehicles and each vehicle .

      Every time any vehicle fails to meet BHARAT VI emission standard , its Vehicle No will flash on the Mobile

     Screen of the nearest Policeman , who will pull it aside and immobilize it till set right !

   *  Which vehicle got involved in an accident , when , how , where and may be , even " why " !

   *  Which vehicle honked when / where

I am sure , readers will come up with a list of other benefits

  

Much easier than trying to change ,

#    Mindsets of drivers

#    Temptation of trying to make a quick buck

For a change , instead of following, can we think of leading the World ?

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23  Aug  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

Wanted : 10 Lakh Teachers

Times of India ( 21 Aug 2016 ) , carries a news report titled :

"  Nearly 10 lakh teachers posts vacant : HRD Ministry "

It goes on to say :

Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development ,  Shri Mahendra Nath Pandey  said on saturday ,

" There are 8-10 lakh posts of teachers lying vacant in educational institutions , even as the government is taking initiatives to clear the backlog and is also inviting suggestions to update the Education Policy , which has not been revised since 1976

Though there is an acute shortage of teachers , it has been created due to a backlog of posts lying vacant over years 

In our country, the education policy is not properly implemented as it was first made in 1962 and revised in 1976 . However , no government  took initiative to revise it in all these years "

When Shri Pandey talks about  " No government .... " , I presume , he includes the current NDA government , as well !

He must be congratulated for being so open and frank !

May be he came to read my following suggestion , emailed to Smt Smriti Iraniji , more than 2 years back

There is a lesson to be learned in the fact that , recently against 3,000 vacancies of " Safai Kamdar ( sweepers ) , in UP , some 7 lakh persons applied ( including thousands of graduates / post graduates )

When India produces some  35 Lakh graduates  EACH YEAR  , why are they not applying for those 10 lakh vacant posts of teachers ?

Hopefully, Shri Pandey will find a answer in my email (which did get a computer generated acknowledgement ! )

He may also want to read  :

*  State  of the  Republic......    (http://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2014/03/state-of-republic.html )

*  Challenge  of Education ...... (  http://hcpreports.blogspot.com/2016/01/challenge-of-education.html  )

*  Dr  BabaSaheb Ambedkar  University...... (http://hcpreports.blogspot.com/2016/01/dr-babasaheb-ambedkar-university.html )

*  Enrollment  of Girls ....(http://hcpreports.blogspot.com/2014/04/enrolment-of-girls-compared-with-boys.html )

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Tuesday, 17 June 2014

Is  Smriti Iraniji  listening ?

Apparently , no one ( or very few ) want to get into teaching

This is obvious from the number of faculty vacancies in  AICTE  approved institutions , as shown below :

          Faculty…………………………………… Teachers Required…….  % age Vacancy

·                  Applied Arts & Crafts……………………….  2,678…………………….. 56

·                  Architecture and Town Planning………11,762…………………….. 51

·                  Engineering & Technology……………..5,29,543……………………..28

·                  Hotel Mgmt & Catering………………………..3245……………………… 43

·                  Management……………………………………….61,610……………………..27

·                  MCA…………………………………………………..  26,714……………………. 15

·                  Pharmacy…………………………………………….31,421……………………. 20

Why such a poor state of affairs  ?

According to leading Educationists , some of the reasons are  :

·                  Poor salaries in teaching profession

·                  Stringent Quality Norms

·                  Archaic Service Conditions

·                  Little scope to earn thru consultancy

·                  Very little Industry-Interaction / Internship

·                  Poor Research facilities

Even as Smritiji starts up a dialogue among the Stakeholders ( Students / Teachers / Educationists / Administrators etc ) , in respect of formulation of a NEW EDUCATION POLICY ,  she would do well to frame an ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE ( Yes / No : True / False : Multiple Choice ) and upload it on her Web site for people to participate in thousands

What is wrong with our current state of Education and what needs to be done to fix it , can only emerge from such a  REFERUNDUM

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22  Aug  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

A Rickshaw by any other Name ?

Not according to The Road Transport and Highways Ministry !

They have just issued the following " Guidelines " ( to State Transport Authorities ) , in respect of E-Rickshaws :

#  Speed Limit / Carrying Capacity / Body Specifications

The Road Ministry is also in the process of finalizing the Safety Norms for these " Battery Operated " light vehicles , while allowing them to operate under the Motor Vehicles Act , even as some 4 million E-Rickshaws are already operating in the country !

I suppose , the Ministry will come up with different sets of " Guidelines " for Rickshaws whose prime movers ( the driving force ) are :

#  Ethanol ( I believe , Diesel / Kerosene Engine based rickshaws , are covered by Petrol Engine based rickshaws )

#  Hydrogen based hi-breed Engines ( coupled with Petrol / Kerosene / Diesel / Electric engines )

#  Compressed Air powered Engine / Methane gas powered Engines

#  Other prime movers that I cannot think of right now !

Now , we are all familiar with Human-Power driven rickshaws ( basically a bicycle pedaled by a human and having a comfortable seat at the back for two passengers )

If the front wheel of such an H-Rickshaw ( H for " Human Engine " ? ) were to be replaced by  GeoOrbital  Front Wheel , then it will be some kind of a hi-breed between H and E  !  A H/E - Rickshaw  ?

GeoOrbital  ( www.Geoo.com ) front wheel has a built-in battery , giving a range of 50 miles , with a bit of pedaling

And it will dramatically reduce the effort required by the peddler , while enabling him to earn more ( and with less effort ) by making many more passenger-trips in a working day !

Instead of worrying about , yet another set of " Guidelines " for H/E-Rickshaws , it would be nice if the Road Ministry were to come out with a ,

POLICY  STATEMENT  for  H/E - Rickshaws , which reads :

"  All those unemployed who wish to wish to become Self Employed through owning / operating , a H/E-Rickshaw , will get interest free MUDRA loans for the purchase of such hi-breed vehicles , whose front wheel is a GeoOrbital wheel "

BENEFITS :

#  Huge potential for creating millions of Self Employed

#  Minimum Capital Investment ( probably less than a Motor Bike )

#  H/E-Rickshaws can be , even turned into " Rickshaw Share Taxi " Scheme , enabling a small family of 3 , to

    ride such a rickshaw within a city , by picking it up from one " Parking " place and leave it at another !

   { Husband will get that much needed exercise and improve his health ! )

#  By equipping HE-Rickshaws with GPS enabled Digi-Met(Digital Meter),fare can be paid thru Mobile Wallet (NFC )

#  Traffic congestion and Vehicular pollution will reduce dramatically !

#  Dependence on fossil fuels will reduce

Had Shri Akhilesh Yadav , CM- UP , offered all those 7 lakh UNEMPLOYED who recently applied against 3000 vacancies of " Safai Kamdar " ( Sweepers ) in Kanpur , a hi-breed H/E-Rickshaw , ( of course ,  Free of Cost ! ) , then , he would have guaranteed himself , a re-election in the forthcoming State elections , while claiming credit for achieving the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan, by 2017 ( against the Road Ministry target of 6 million electric vehicles on roads , by 2020 ) !

May be , Shri Nitin Gadkariji would want to seize the opportunity that Shri Yadav , missed !

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21  Aug  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs  

 

  

Medical Council goes MAD-ical ?

And I am glad , that one Institution has grasped the benefits of going MAD !

Read the following news report from Times of India ( 20 Aug 2016 ) , before reading my blog that follows ( emailed to all Ministers in Central Government ) :

NEW DELHI: In an attempt to bring in more transparency and put a check on ghost faculties in medical colleges, Medical Council of India announced a digitization initiative on Friday for tracking real-time daily attendance of faculties in medical colleges across the country .

Under the digital mission mode project (DMMP), the medical education regulator plans to monitor attendance of faculty members in about 439 medical colleges through a biometric system.

The regulator also plans to issue electronic radio frequency identification (RFID) registration card to doctors for their documentation which will enable them to practice across the country by registering once with MCI.

"The most remarkable thing of this project is monitoring of attendance of faculty through a biometric system and a unique identification for each and every medical practitioner across the country . There have been issues of fake and ghost faculty in many medical colleges," MCI president Jayshree Mehta said.

The digitization project, apart from enabling online submission of applications for opening of new medical colleges or seat enhancement, will create a national database of faculty in medical colleges which will be linked with their Aadhar Card and have biometric verification.

According to Mehta, the total project involving a real-time medical register, issuing of IDs and other tasks under this project has a budgetary allocation of Rs 45 crore and will be completed in the next six months.

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Wednesday, 1 June 2016

 

From BAD to MAD

BAD   =   Biometric Attendance Device

MAD   =   Mobile Attendance Device

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Most people think the greatest contribution of Bill Gates ( onetime CEO of Microsoft ) was " MS Operating System "

I think , it was his book " Business @ the Speed of Thought "

Current CEO of Microsoft is a PIO named Satya Nadela

What is his contribution ?

What he said during his talk in Delhi on 30 May , called ,

" Tech for Good , Ideas for India " :

 He cited the example of how NASA scientists were not able to see the Rover move on Mars but the holographic output of the Rover is right there in their office.

Nadella also met two young developers, one of them a 17-year-old who has figured out how to take data from NASA , conflate it with other information and see the spread of algae in Bay of Bengal. “Here’s a student who is taking information that is available, bringing it together—he wanted to have a real impact right here in terms of how we managed our climate,” he said.

Nadella wrapped up by summing Microsoft’s mission in India.

" It is about really celebrating the technologies that you all in India create. In fact, I want us to be the platform creators that foster the ingenuity of what is happening in India,” he said.

Here is my idea of a technology that we need to create for a better India :

Today Employee Attendance Systems in India work at three levels as follows :

#   Entirely Manual

     Attendance Register and Wage/Salary payment in cash or by Cheque

#   Partly Automated

     Punch cards or Bio-metric recording of attendance but manual calculation

     of wages / salaries and payment by cash or cheque

#   Fully Automated

     Bio-metric Attendance Devices ( BAD ) , integrated with a home-grown or

     bought-out Salary Payment Software , running on a local Server.

     Salary payments could be by cheques or thru Electronic Transfer to

     concerned employee's bank account

Once in a while , if a company has several establishments within a city , those local servers are connected to a Central Server , doing all processing

In a rare case ( although , I am not aware of any ) , it may be that all the local servers of all the establishments of a company , all over the country , are networked with its central computer in its head-quarter

Now imagine this :

#  All smart phones to evolve as Bio-metric Attendance Devices , with built-in

    Bio-metric Recorders , GPS , a mobile attendance App ( called MAD ? )

#  App to have 2 buttons ( Green = IN  /  Red = OUT )

#  Employee to touch IN upon reaching his work-station and touch OUT ,

    while leaving work place , at the end of work-shift . That's all  !

#  Being GPS enabled , buttons will get activated ONLY when the employee

    has reached the work place ( not while he is on his way ! )

#  All 100 million establishments in India ( factories / offices / shops / clinics

    NGOs / Govt Depts ) to ensure that the MAD app is installed on the smart

    phone of each employee , when he joins

   

#  All of these smart phones to be connected ( IoT ? ) , with the Servers of ,

    *  Labour Ministries ( Central and States )

    *  HRD Ministry ( Central )

    *  Skills Development Ministry / NSDC

    *  Finance Ministries ( Central + States )

    *  NITI Aayog

    *  Income Tax Department

    *  Any other server that you may want to

#   MAD app is integrated with a STANDARD / COMMON , software system

     for computing daily wages / monthly salaries of ALL the persons working

     in those 100 million establishments ( whether they are casual /

     contractual  / trainee / apprentice / probationer / permanent / retained

#   As each person joins in any of these establishments , data re  that

     person must be inputted by the Employer into the App , such as :

   

     *  Name / Contact Details / DOB / Aadhar Card No / Employee Number

         ( Each unique Employee Number will be auto-generated by the

         common Salary Payment Software , running on IT Dept Server )

     *   Employee's Jandhan Yojana Bank Account Number for salary EC

     *   Employer's Jandhan bank account / Unique Employer Number

     *   Payment Mode ( Hourly / Daily / Monthly Rated , wages / salaries )

     *   Leave provisions / PF rate / TDS rate / Allowances / Reimbursements

     *   Any other relevant data ( either about employee of for employer )

WHAT  ARE  THE  ADVANTAGES  ?

#   For employees , no need to file a separate annual Income Tax Return

#   Direct deposit of PF / TDS amounts into bank accounts of Govt Depts

#   Direct Benefit Transfer ( DBT ) to every Employer for Stipend Subsidy ,

     based on number of total trainees / apprentices employed

#   Total number of employees in India ( category / region / industry )

#   Employment Density ( Industry wise / Region wise / Skill wise etc )

#   Net Employment Growth Rate ( weekly - monthly / Industry-wise )

#   Co-relation with no of persons graduating at various levels

#   Data about those Unemployed ( " Graduating " less " Employed " )

#   Overtime Statistics ( Use / Abuse )

#   Work-hour Analysis ( Ave hours / week - month )

#   Wage / Salary Rates ( Rs per hour ) - Industry wise / Region wise

     ( of great interest to Foreign Investors looking to bring down

       manufacturing costs , by outsourcing to India / manufacturing in India )

#   Compliance with labour laws / tax laws / Apprentice Act etc

#   Job Market Forecasts through BIG DATA ANALYTIC ( region / industry )

#   Demographic  Profiles of employees  ( Rural to Urban migration )

#   Per Capita Income Growth for persons using MAD app  ( MOM / YOY )

#   Changing composition between Blue Collar and White Collar employees

Then there could be many other benefits not envisaged now

Here is an opportunity for :

 *  Manufacturers of Smart Phones

     To shrink stationary / bulky / common , bio-metric devices to mobile /

     small / personalized / hand-held devices

    { Remember ?  

If you don't make yourself obsolete , someone else will  }

*  Tech Start Ups

     To come up with the Mobile App ( MAD ) / Technology Platform

*  NDA Government

    To implement what Shri Narendra Modiji said on 15 July 2015 :

   "  If China is like a manufacturing factory of the World , India should

    become the human resource capital of the World .

   That should be our target and we should lay emphasis on that . 

   We should have a futuristic vision and prepare plans for the next ten years "

  

   MAD  could well be an important element  of  that  " JAM PLAN "  !

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21  Aug  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs