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 3 November 2017

Aadhar Type Identity for Businesses ?



Times of India ( 18 Sept ) carried following news report :




Govt plans to make PAN , the biz Aadhar for Cos , NGOs “


“ The ministry had discussed various options including development of an Aadhar type identity for businesses, an idea which was also discussed with the Information Technology Ministry . But it has now opted for PAN .


A few years ago , the government had decided to treat PAN as the unique identification number for businesses , instead of generating multiple numbers for Provident Fund, tax and labour-law related compliances “


=======================================================


Read this with the following that Shri Amitabh Kant ( CEO – NITI Aayog ) wrote in Times of India ( 02 Nov ) :





How to Break Into The Top 50


What does India need to do improve its position in these parameters and break into the top 50 in the next two years? 


Despite important reforms in starting a business India continues to be ranked poorly because other countries have reformed faster.


India's rank can benefit from further integrating registration processes into a single form by converging GST with PAN-TAN registration, integrating EPFO and ESIC and also shops and establishment registration processes.


It also needs business process re-engineering to reduce the propensity to inspect by switching to real time registration and a culture of risk-based verifications


This requires cutting layers of bureaucracy .

 



I have no doubt that , India can “ break into the TOP 50 “ , if businesses do not need to register repeatedly and obtain umpteen REGISTRATION  NUMBERS , listed in my following blog



Tuesday, 11 July 2017


GSTIN on Sign Boards ? How about other 16 ?


Business Line ( 11 July ) carries following report :




Businesses must display GSTIN on sign boards



Traders and businesses will have to display the GST registration number on their business sign boards and the registration certificate in their premises.


 “Every taxable person is required to display his GSTIN number on name board or sign board of business and is also required to display his registration certificate in business premises so that a citizen can easily find out whether a person is registered or not,” a tax official said.


The Goods and Services Taxpayer Identification Number (GSTIN) is a 15-digit number which taxpayers get after registering with the GST network portal.



Just wait till those other concerned “ Government Authorities “ enact laws that require you to display on your business sign board , following numbers as well !


#   Corporate Identity Number...........................................   ( 21 digits )

#   Tax-payer Identification Number for commercial taxes......  ( 11 digits )

#   Service Tax Number...... ( Alpha-Numeric ) ....................  (  15 digits )

#   Permanent Account Number - PAN  ( Alpha-Numeric )........ (  10 digits )

#   Central Excise Number..................................... ( PAN + 2 Characters )

#   Provident Fund Number .................( Alpha-Numeric )...... (  11 digits  )

#   Profession Tax Registration Certificate ( Numeric )...............  ( 9 digits )

#   Profession tax Enrollment Certificate    ( Numeric ).............    ( 9 digits )

#   Income tax Deduction/Calculation Number ( Alpha-Numeric ) ( 10 digits )

#   ESIC Number ( Numeric )................................................  ( 17 digits )

#   Labour Department Registration(State specific alphanumeric) (13 digits )

#   Importer-Exporter Code  ( Numeric )................................. ( 10 digits )

#   Shops/Establishment Reg Number ( alphanumeric )............  ( 20 digits )

#   Contract Labour Registration ( alphanumeric ).................. ( 15+ digits )

#   Labour Welfare Board ( Numeric ).....................................   ( 5 digits )

#   Higher Court Case Number ( Alphanumeric ).....................   ( 12 digits )


Dear Shri  Jaitleyji :

I urge you to consider :

An Aadhar  for  Corpotates  (  12  May  2016  )



03  Nov  2017


Thursday 2 November 2017

Anomaly by Oversight ?



Surely , it cannot be by design !


I am talking of GST rate of 28 % on imported Lithium-ion batteries required for electric vehicles , whereas GST rate on finished EV is fixed @ 12 % !


Consider this “ anomaly “ in the following background :


·         Li-ion batteries make up almost 50 % of the Selling Price of a EV . This means , the battery cost in those 10,000 Electric Cars which EESL ordered last month on TATA / M&M , for Rs 11 lakh each , would be approx. Rs 5.5 lakh !


·         If GST on these imported batteries was reduced to 12 % , the cost of manufacture of EV , would come down by Rs 0.70 lakh .


·         Then @ 12 GST on finished car , price to EESL could have come down by another Rs 8,000 per car , taking the total saving to EESL of Rs 78,000 per car


·         According to one report , EESL plans to purchase some 5.5 lakh Electric Cars over the next 3 years to replace the entire current fleet of Government  . You can calculate the savings !


·         It is another matter that “ Purchasing “ is in itself , a BAD idea !  I have pleaded with EESL to “ Lease “ these cars ( from the manufacturers ) and save thousands of crores of rupees  !


     Read :    To Buyor not to Buy ?  [ 11  Oct  2017  ]

    https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/10/to-buy-or-not-to-buy.html

 


·         It seems , the Government / EESl are “ considering “ the option of buying these cars ( and lakhs of electric rickshaws ) , WITHOUT Li-ion Batteries , in order to bring down the initial investment . Government is hoping that private parties will invest into huge inventory of such batteries and get into “ Battery Swapping “ business ( - hopefully , to offset the absence of battery charging stations ) .

With a GST of 28 % on bare batteries , this battery swapping business is unlikely to take off !


I do hope the next meeting of GST Council expected to be held on 10th Oct , would reduce the GST rate on Li-ion Batteries to 12 %


Oversight can always be overcome !



03  Oct  2017


   

Wednesday 1 November 2017

Says Prez : Make judgements easier to understand



A news report in DNA ( 29 Oct ) quotes President Shri Kovind as follows:


“ High courts deliver judgements in English , but we are a country of diverse languages. The litigant may not be conversant in English, and the finer points of the judgement may escape him / her .


The litigating parties will thus be dependent on the lawyer or another person, to translate the judgement . This can add to time and cost “




Very true


This observation equally applies to the arguments / cross examinations / interrogations , as a case plays out in the court


Now , we all know that big prestigious conferences ( including UNO and our own Lok Sabha ) have human translators who translate a speech in a number of languages , even as it gets delivered


Listeners put on head phones and select the language of their choice


But soon this will become obsolete !


Already Google Translate ( and translation software being offered by Foreign / Indian companies ), can translate in a number of Indian languages . All you have to do is to download the App on your Smart Phone and insert the ear plugs !


Then , apart from Smart Phones , there are  numerous stand-alone devices which too , translate a word spoken in one language by a speaker , to the language of the listener  - instantaneously too !


All of these hardware and software are improving by the day and covering more and more languages


May be Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad ( Law Minister ) would like to throw this challenge to Sundar Pichai ( CEO , Google ) , who , I am sure , would be happy to accept it !  He is already doing this on his Mobile Wallet App , “ Tez


Just provide him with a database of ONE MILLION high court judgement delivered over the last 10 years ( in English )


He will subject these to BIG DATA / Artificial Intellegence / Machine Learning / Neural Network etc ( I have run out of jargon words ! ) and may even prepare judgements in advance for approval by the Judge !


But if we don’t trust Google , we can always turn to  Liv.ai    


02  Nov 2017



Can a PIL be a PILL ?



Meaning :
 
Can a Public Interest Litigation ( PIL ) become the MAGIC CAPSULE ( PILL ) to permanently rid our country of the menace of BLACK MONEY  ?


Some years back , someone filed a PIL in the Supreme Court to instruct the Central Government to appoint a SIT ( Special Investigation Team ) to look into the matter of the BLACK MONEY



SC admitted that PIL and in 2011 , asked the government to appoint a SIT


For many years , UPA government did nothing


Then on 23 May 2014 , Supreme Court, granted one week’s time to the Centre to set up an SIT, to monitor all black money cases as per its direction.


In its very first Cabinet meeting ( 26 May 2014 ? ) , the new NDA government appointed a SIT , headed by Justice M B Shah



 “ SIT will prepare a comprehensive action plan including the creation of necessary institutional structure that can enable the country to fight a battle against generation of unaccounted money,” the terms of reference for the SIT said.

The SIT, according to the terms of reference ,
“ shall report to the court and shall inform the court about all the major developments, by filing periodic status reports from time to time, and for this purpose, the Union of India shall accord all the necessary financial material, legal, diplomatic resources both inside and outside the country to the SIT ”.

It is quite possible that the following MAJOR DEVELOPMENT , escaped the notice of the SIT :

TO CRACK DOWN ON THE MENACE OF BLACK MONEY , AUSTRALIA HAS DECIDED TO EMBED HI-TECH NANO CHIPS IN ITS CURRENCY NOTES OF $ 50 / $ 100

{ Our SIT = Australia’s “ Federal Government’s Black Economy Task Force “ }


But is it possible that the SIT follows up with our own scientists to evaluate the feasibility of my following suggestion ?


NETWORKOF CURRENCY NOTES ?  [  03  Nov  2015  ]



Or , would SIT want to wait till someone files a fresh PIL in the Supreme Court , based on my following blog / email ?




02  Nov  2017




#SolarPower

I  have  a  Dream…….



At “ The March on Washington “ ( 1963 ) , Rev Martin Luther King , said :

“ I have a dream today ... I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight…… “


Rev King was talking about “ Equality of humans amidst diversity of Caste – Creed – Religions “


In 2017 , I have the following dream :

“ Everyone around the World will have unlimited FREE solar power for peaceful purposes “


After 54 years , Rev King’s dream is yet to be realized
But , the rate at which the technology is moving , it seems possible that my dream could well get realized in 10 years – provided governments around the World have the political will !


To know how this can be realized , read :

UnlimitedPower : and round the clock ?  [  29  July  2016  ]




Sun :Our Soul ( A New SOS )  [  03  Jan  2017  ]


https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/01/sun-our-soul-new-sos.html

 


It is a matter of great satisfaction that , this is also the dream of Shri Narendra Modiji , who has initiated and hosted , the  INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ALLIANCE ,

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Solar_Alliance ,

 

whose objectives coincide with my above-mentioned blogs ( sent as emails to NDA Ministers / Policy Makers )

 

And following are recent news reports which show that the World is moving in this direction

 

https://futurism.com/wind-power-set-a-new-renewable-energy-record-in-europe-last-week/

 

On October 28, wind power sources from 28 countries in the European Union (EU) set a new record: they provided 24.6% of total electricityenough to power 197 million European households.

 

Offshore wind energy is now cheaper than nuclear energy in the UK, and countries across Europe receive significant portions of energy from wind.

 

Denmark regularly gets more than 100 percent of its energy from wind (and hit 109% last weekend), while wind frequently provides Germany more than half of its electricity.

 

Additionally, Scotland recently made news in opening the first floating wind farm, which should provide power to 10,000 homes.

 

https://sputniknews.com/science/201710301058663493-denmark-longest-cable/

 

A 750-kilometer-long power cable stretching from Denmark to the UK has been approved by Denmark's Energy and Climate Minister Lars Christian Lilleholt.

 

The cable is expected to become the world's longest and has already whetted Denmark's appetite for becoming a MAJOR POWER EXPORTER.

 

"Strong power connections abroad are essential to small nations like Denmark. We will have the opportunity to sell our surplus green energy on a larger market," Lars Christian Lilleholt said, as quoted by the Danish news outlet Copenhagen Post, lauding the country's prowess in using renewable energy sources.

 

"Meanwhile, we will get a larger supply of energy to Denmark when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining.

 

Strong energy links to our neighbors contribute to more affordable and reliable power for our consumers and to keep the value of wind power up," he said, adding that electricity may become "the new bacon" for the Nordic country's economy, known for its agricultural exports.

 

Now consider the following :

 


·         In 2016 , countries of the World , spend $ 1.7 trillion in purchase of arms ( military hardware )

 

·         A one MW solar power plant requires capital of $ 1 million


 

·         So , a one GW plant would cost , $ 1,000 million ( ie : $ 1 billion )

 

·         In the amount that the World spends on arms each year , we could put up 1700 GW of Solar power plants !


 

·         Diverting funds from arms purchase to installation of solar power will eliminate poverty from the World

 

·         With reduction of poverty and rising standard of living for the poorest of the World , militancy / conflict / terrorism , will disappear



 


02  Nov  2017

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