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

Tuesday 28 November 2017

#GoogleIndia #PrivacyLaw #DataProtection

Just  Ask  Google  !




Dear Members of Srikrishna Committee ( on Data Protection Law ) :



It is safe to assume that all of you carry a GPS enabled smart phone and synced it with your E Mail / SMS


Most likely , you have also installed WhatsApp / Skype or FaceTime / Play Store / Weather App Google Map /  Street View /  Calendar / Clock / Calculator etc


Without doubt , your smart phone is installed with a Mobile Wallet App ( most likely, BHIM , linked with your Aadhar ID and your Bank Account )


You may have a UBER or OLA , taxi-hailing App , which would have captured every trip you undertook ( from WHERE to WHERE )


Now the agenda / date / time and venue of this meeting which you are attending right now was , without doubt , conveyed to you using some “ Messaging Service “ , over your phone


So , Google ( or Apple or Samsung ) knows , WHO you are , WHERE you are and WHAT you are discussing  right now – and with WHOM !

  
And if the Convener of the meeting ordered some food ( for serving after the meeting ) , using some APP on his smart phone , then Google also knows what you are eating !


And if the MINUTES of that meeting is sent for your OK over email , Google knows that as well  !


No doubt , each one of you, at some time or other , must have conducted a Google  Search by entering your own name in its search bar to know what Google knows about you


But those Search Results won’t tell you that Google also knows the following things about YOU :



·         Who I am ( name )


·         Where and when, I was born / who were my parents


·         Where I grew up / where I live currently


·         Do I live in a rented place or in an owned flat


·         What Schools / Colleges I attended ( - and degrees I acquired )


·         What Companies I worked for and salaries I got


·         How I travel to work ( own vehicle or public transport )


·         Where I go for my holidays / what books I read


·         Who I married and who are my children ( - and how many )


·         If divorced , how much alimony I pay and to whom


·         Where I invest my money ( Banks – Funds – Equity etc )


·         How much I have borrowed from whom and for how long


·         My Credit ranking  ( including my spending history / card wise – wallet wise )


·         What are my eating ( food ) preferences and the restaurants I visit


·         What I do for entertainment ( Music / Movies / Videos )


·         What clothes I wear and how often do I buy


·         Who are my friends and how often I phone / text them / meet them


·         What ailments I suffer from and what medicines I take


·         What minor offences ( traffic ) or crimes that I have committed


·         What elections I have contested ( won and lost )


·         Who are my doctors / lawyers / brokers / agents etc


·         What web sites I visit and how often and for how long


·         What do I search on the Net / What RSS feeds I subscribe to


·         What TV channels I watch and Radio Stations that I listen to


·         Every photo of mine ever taken ( selfie or otherwise )



·         Every phone call that I ever made or received



·         Every Email / Text message that I ever sent or received


·         Every blog / comment that I ever posted on the Web



·         Every face-to-face communication that I engaged in


Readers are requested to forward this to the following members of the Committee :


        Justice B N Srikrishna…………………………bnsrikrishna@gmail.com


·         Smt Aruna Sundarrajan………………………secy-dot@nic.in


·         Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey…………………. ceo@uidai.gov.in


·         Dr Ajay Kumar……………………………. ajay@deity.gov.in / akumar@del2.vsnl.net.in


·         Prof. Rajat Moona……………………………. moona@iitk.ac.in


·         Dr Gulshan Rai………………………………..  grai@deity.gov.in


·         Prof. Rishikesha Krishnan………………   director@iimidr.ac.in


·         Dr Arghya Sengupta………………………   arghya.sengupta@gmail.com




29  Nov  2017


Monday 27 November 2017

#DataProtection #SrikrishnaCommittee

7  Pillars  of  Data  Protection  Law


Times of India ( 28 / Nov ) carries following news :


“ The 7 Pillars of Data Protection Law , according to Srikrishna Committee “

These are :

·         A firm and legal framework

·         Technology Agnosticism

·         Data Minimization

·         Informed and meaningful Consent

·         Accountability of Data Controller

·         Penalties for Wrongful Processing

·         Enforcement of Data Protection Framework



The white paper put out by the Committee , inviting suggestions from public , notes :


“ Biggest challenge in regulating emerging technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, lies in the fact that they may operate outside the framework of traditional privacy principles .


The advent of the Internet of Things also poses a challenge to the degree of anonymity that can be achieved


New devices capture data in forms which are unique . an example is that of a person’s gait being uniquely identified by a wearable activity tracker. Such data can perhaps never be completely identified . The current methods of using aggregated anonymised data might not be secure enough when applied to such data  “


For a list of 229 questions on which citizen opinions are solicited , read :




My own suggestions sent earlier to the following members of the Committee are linked below . Should you agree with these , just forward this mail to the following E Mail IDs :

Ensure that YOUR voice is heard !


·         Justice B N Srikrishna…………………………bnsrikrishna@gmail.com


·         Smt Aruna Sundarrajan………………………secy-dot@nic.in


·         Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey…………………. ceo@uidai.gov.in


·         Dr Ajay Kumar……………………………. ajay@deity.gov.in / akumar@del2.vsnl.net.in


·         Prof. Rajat Moona……………………………. moona@iitk.ac.in


·         Dr Gulshan Rai………………………………..  grai@deity.gov.in


·         Prof. Rishikesha Krishnan………………   director@iimidr.ac.in


·         Dr Arghya Sengupta………………………   arghya.sengupta@gmail.com



MY  SUGGESTIONS :







































28  Nov  2017


Sunday 26 November 2017

#SolarPower #ThermalPower #StorageBattery

A Jigsaw Puzzle  or  A  House of  Cards  ?




May be Shri Piyush Goyalji / Shri R K Singhji , has figured it out , whether the current power situation is a jigsaw puzzle or a house of cards


As far as I can make out , following are the pieces of this Power Puzzle :


·         Surplus of 55 million tons of coal accumulated at pit heads

·         CBI court trying cases of corruption in cases of past allocation

·         Sentencing of ex coal secretary Gupta ( perceived as honest )

·         Current auction method of coal block allocation

·         Supreme Court verdict cancelling past ( unfair ) allocation of coal blocks

·         Captive coal mines vs Commercial Coal Mining ( even though no takers ? )

·         Target to double Coal production by 2022

·         Power plants designed to run on only Imported coal, becoming unviable

·         21000 Mw worth of Coal based power plants closing down in May 2017

·         34 coal based power plants under different stages of construction , facing bleak future ( = 40 GW )

·         Solar Power being offered at Rs 2.41 / kwh against coal-based power at Rs 3.19 / kwh ( ave of NTPC power )

·         Rs 9 lakh*crore worth of bank loans ( to new / under construction coal based power plants ) about to turn NPA

·         Per capita electric power consumption in India at a measly 1075 Kwh as against, 53,832 kwh in Iceland and 9411 in Saudi Arabia

·         “ Access to Electricity “ target by Dec 2018….. 45 million households

·         Actual achieved by now………………………………….. 0.7 million households

·         Power Capacity growth in past 3 years…………   8.6% annually

·         Power Demand growth in past 3 years…………… 4.4% each year

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

·         NTPC


#    current installed capacity of 51,708 MW

#    capital expenditure for current year at Rs 28,000 Cr

#    another 20,000 MW of projects under construction

#    just floated a tender to buy-out operational coal-based plants

#    ave cost of NTPC power is Rs 3.19 / kwh


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



·         SOLAR  POWER  SCENARIO  ( AS  OF  SEPT  2017  )


  #  ground-mounted solar has reached only 13.9 GW


   #   roof-top capacity has reached only 790 MW


   #    taking total Solar installed capacity to 14.7 GW


   #   This means that , during the next 60 months ( Nov 2017 – Nov 2022 ) , we need
         to install ( 100 GW – 14.7 GW ),  85.3 GW of Solar ( ground + roof )

      #    That is nearly 1.5 GW / month ( month after month after month , for next 60
            months )

           Now, 1 GW installed capacity of Solar costs approx. 1 Bill dollar ( = Rs 6500 Cr )


          That means , we must find Rs 10,000 Cr / Month , for 1.5 GW


          Every month for the next 60 months !


    #   Solar Power Bids, planned as follows ( DNA / 27 Nov ) :

Ø  3.6 GW already bid

Ø  3.0 GW in Dec 2017

Ø  3.0 GW in Jan 2018

Ø  5.0 GW in Feb 2018

Ø  6.0 GW in March 2018

Ø  30.0 GW in 2018-19

Ø  30.0 GW in 2019-20



Ø  Ministry of New and Renewable Energy – MNRE - is examining a proposal submitted by the Power Grid Corporation of India , to generate Solar and Wind power in the deserts of Rajasthan / Kutchh / Lahul and Spiti / Ladakh


Ø  These deserts have , between them , the potential to generate 315.7 GW of Solar plus Wind power, compared with our present installed capacity of 331 GW


·         But , how to “ Store “ all that huge amount of Solar generated electricity and use it round the clock when Sun is not shining ?

This ( storage of solar generated power ) was not possible till yesterday

But it just became possible !

Only yesterday , Elon Musk ( TESLA ) completed installation of a 100 MW / 129 MWh , Lithium-ion Battery Storage facility in Australia , for a cost of $ 50 million

All within 100 days – ensuring no more “ black outs “ in South Australia  !

     To store that 316 GW ( 316,000 MW ) of solar power generated in our deserts , we
    will need 3160 Storage Batteries of the size ( 100 MW ) installed in Australia


    That would cost , $ 158 Billion ( Rs 11.15 lakh*crore )


    In all , we need to raise :


Ø  For 316 GW solar power projects in our deserts…………$  316  Billion

Ø  For 3160 Mega Storage Batteries………………………………..$  158  Billion

         A Total of …………………………………………………………………………… $  474  Billion


    Where / how can we raise such funds ?


    A small country like Indonesia managed to raise nearly $ 330 Billion of stashed away Black Money ( out of an estimated $ 851 Billion )  within 6 months under a tax amnesty scheme ( just pay 2 % tax / no penalty ! ) – all for investing in infrastructure




    

    To know how we can do better, look up :


    Sun:  Our Soul  (  07  Jan  2017  )



IndonesiaShows the Way  (  23  Dec  2016  )



Can you imagine :

·         what it could do to our economy if powerwas available for Rs 1 / Kwh ?

·         how many premature deaths ( due to air pollution ) can be avoided if we shut down ALL coal-based power plants ? ( Ans :  600,000 each year )

·         6 million Electric vehicles that the Government wants to put on our roads by 2020 , were re-charging their Li-ion batteries , using GREEN solar power ?

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

27  Nov  2017