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

Wednesday 19 December 2018

Thus spoke Mukesh :




·         “ Data colonisation” is as bad as previous forms of colonisation and India’s data must be controlled and owned by Indians

·         Data of an individual or business belongs to them and not to corporates who could use it to monetize from them.

·         In this new world, data is the new oil. And data is the new wealth. India’s data must be controlled and owned by Indian people and not by corporates, especially global corporations

·         Therefore, for India to succeed in this data-driven revolution, necessary steps will have to be taken to migrate the control and ownership of Indian data back to India - in other words, Indian wealth back to India

·         Data freedom, he said, is as precious as the freedom won in 1947.

·         Fundamentally, I am a big believer in the power of all of us together rather than a power of few.

·         The world will have to go from aggregator model to a distributor model as he backed those arguing for preventing foreign companies from repatriating and making money off of Indian consumers’ data.

·         Important thing is that data of an Indian belongs to him.  It does not belong to a corporation, whether it be Indian or global. The only right that the corporation has is exactly like a bank that if I give you a fixed deposit locker and you put your money, which is your data in my locker, it doesn’t become mine that I take that money and gamble on the stock market. If I make gain, take it and then say, I have given back your Rs 100. It doesn’t work like that

·         Fundamentally, he said, the data belongs to the individual. If I use or monetise it in any way, I have to transparently share with you the gains of that

·         I strongly feel on data ownership and the way data should be monetized for every single entity. This is true for individual, small merchants, small shops, small businesses, and large businesses. Even my business data should be my own data.

=======================================================
Thank you Mukesh  [ mukesh.ambani@ril.com  ] :

-      for articulating the  StorageDistributionExploitation and Compensation for the NEW OIL , whose Ownership vests with individual citizen

Coming from you , there is no doubt that our Policy Makers will , carefully listen to you

And should the Policy Makers want to know how the principles laid down by you could be effectively translated into practice , they may look up my following earlier E mails :

The new GDP   ………………………………………………………..[  18  Dec  2018  ]


Only Answer : a Statutory Warning  ………………………..[  10  Nov  2018  ]


Contract for the Web  ………………………………………………..[  06  Nov  2018  ]


Internet Bill of Rights  ………………………………………………..[  07  Oct  2018  ]


Alice in the Wonderland of Privacy !   ………………………..[  06  Oct  2018  ]


Tim Berners-Lee Speaks    …………………………………………..[  30  Sept  2018  ]


Wealth of Nations   ……………………………………………………….[  17  Aug  2018  ]


A Matter of Motive   ……………………………………………………….[  04  Aug  2018  ]


Data Privacy Law : a Pandora’s Box ?    ……………………….[  15  July  2018  ]


Privacy  for  Sale    …………………………………………………………[  26  Aug  2017  ]


=====================================================================================
20  Dec  2018














Betting on BPOs ?




You bet  !


And here is some better news for the BPOs , which earn for India billions of dollars through “ Service Exports “ :





Extract  :

India aims to keep business process outsourcing (BPO) service providers out of the ambit of the goods and services tax (GST), ensuring that they won’t face 18% tax. 


This will ensure that services provided by captive BPOS to their parents as well as by Indian back-office service providers are treated as exports and not face tax in the country. Intermediary services face 18% GST. 


Exports, as a principle, have to be tax neutral. Thus, all taxes used in the inputs are also reimbursed. Back-office services have enjoyed this benefit even under the erstwhile service tax regime. 

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

In August last year , I sent following e-mail to our Policy Makers , where I wrote :

 [  Ready to be Ridiculed  ]



If engaged in “ Export of Intellectual Property “ ( BPO / KPO / LPO / Any PO that the rest of the World needs to be carried out remotely by our low cost graduates ) , then it would become possible to :

·     #    Put those unsold 4 lakh flats to a productive use


·     #    Increase “ Asset Utilization “ of property worth Rs 20 lakh*crore lying idle



·     #    Provide gainful employment to 120 lakh youth



·     #    Export “ services “ valued at $ 528 Billion / year

     ( Read :   Brain Inc  2.0  ) 



#       Encourage owners of these 4 lakh flats to turn their flats into “ Knowledge Factories “
         ( exempted from “ Factory Act “ / “ Shop & Establishment Act “ / “ Minimum Wages Act “
          / “ PF Act “ / various Labour Laws…  etc  )


#       These “ Knowledge Factories “ to be governed by “ Human Enterprise Act “ ( to be
         drafted / legislated )


#       Owners need not pay any taxes such as “ Property Tax  GST / Income Tax etc “


#       No questions to be asked as to the source of funds with which the flat was bought


        
#       Owners to “ Register “ as a Start Up as laid down in :

   “  Start Up Act –2015 “





Related Readings :

HowAbout Virtual Call Centers ?                            [  04 Oct 2016  ]

 



====================================================
20  Dec  2018


Tuesday 18 December 2018

The new GDP





In current turmoil about ownership and protection of personal data , this GDP stands for,

Great  Data  Pilferage



On the internet, there are thousands of Data Thieves , who hack into web sites / search engines and siphon off all kinds of user data which accumulates there through usage


Then there are web sites where users submit a huge amount of their personal data for availing certain services / for buying things etc


These sites are known to “ sell “ such user-data to other companies ( - mostly , e-commerce companies ), without “ explicit “ user permission


Sites like Google – Apple – Facebook – Amazon ( the infamous GAFA ) , may not be “ selling “ user data to others “ directly “ but make such data available to advertisers “ indirectly “

  
In the process , GAFA make tons of revenue / profit


This has prompted France to introduce ( effective Jan 01 ) , the so-called GAFA tax , which is estimated to yield to the French government, $ 570 million in 2019


I am worried that when our own DATA  PROTECTION  ACT  takes concrete shape , our government too , may consider levying some such tax on Social Media sites


But the Indian user is much smarter . He is telling the government ,


“ Over the past 4 years , you have convinced us about the advantages of DBT ( Direct Benefit Transfer ) .


So , please , don’t  tax GAFA . It will be impossible to figure out how much revenue / profit they made , using our PERSONAL data and therefore , how much tax they must pay


Whatever figure IT department may come up with , will get challenged in Supreme Court


Instead , let them pay us DIRECTLY for use of our personal data .


We have just read the following news report :


[ According to cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab that investigated Dark Web markets to find out how much personal data is worth, cyber criminals can sell someone's complete digital life for less than $50 (nearly Rs 3,500 )

This can include data from stolen social media accounts, banking details, remote access to servers or desktops, and even data from popular services like Uber, Netflix, and Spotify, as well as gaming websites, dating apps, and porn websites which might store credit card information. ]



We would not be surprised if our data is being sold to 10 different parties ( E-Com sites / Advertisers etc ) every month , adding up to a loss of Rs 35,000 per month ( Rs 4.2 lakh per year )


We request you to incorporate provisions in our proposed Data Protection Law , to get these web sites to deposit this amount DIRECTLY in our Jan Dhan bank account, every time they use it for commercial purpose


And please , exempt this income from personal income tax  !


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

Dear Shri Arun Jaitleyji / Shri Ravi Shankar Prasadji ,


Here is your golden opportunity to implement an equivalent of a Universal Basic Income , without having to worry – “ How shall we fund it ? “


Just ensure that our own Data Protection Law gets centered around :




======================================================
19  Dec  2018
  









Monday 17 December 2018

Starting a Virtuous Circle





Government is about to set in motion, a VIRTUOUS  circle ,


·         Starting with “ Apprenticeship

·         Moving on to “ On the Job Training


·         Leading to “ Employability

·         Culminating in “ Jobs



Following news report describes how this circle will get going :




Highlights :

#    Ministries involved ……………… HRD – Labour  -  Skill Development

   
#    Eligibility……………………………    Final year Degree students in Humanities and non-
                                                 technical courses


#    From   …………………………………. Private and government-funded higher education
                                                 institutes

 
#    Apprenticeship Period………….. 6 – 10 months  ( including “ On the Job “ training )


#   Target  …………………………… ……. 1 Million student in the 2019-20 academic session


#   Govt contribution to Stipend … 25 % upto Rs 1,500 per month


#   Linkages …………………………. …… Central PSUs – Sector Skill Councils – Big Industry


#   Long term Goal ………………… ..  National Integrated Apprenticeship Program for 8 million
                                                  students / year


#   Funds Provided ……………………..  Rs 10,000 crore set aside for National Apprenticeship
                                                   Promotion Scheme



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

  
Dear Shri Dharmendra Pradhanji ,



Congratulations on this long overdue initiative , which incorporates some of my suggestions emailed to you earlier !


But , this still falls far short of the target set by Shri Modiji while announcing the amendments to the Apprenticeship Scheme in June 2016



At that time , Shri Narendra Modiji had said :

" LET'S MAKE INDIA THE  SKILL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD "


He went on to add :

" By next decade, India will have 50 MILLION SURPLUS MANPOWER FOR EXPORT "


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


This should be read in the context of the Skills Development target that NSDC had set for itself in 2015 , which is :


  To impart  skills  to 300 MILLION YOUTH BY 2022 ( approx  50 million / year ) “



It was in this context that in my email ( dt 06 June 2016 ) , I had suggested following :

[ source : Skill Capital of the World ?  ]

 

[ A ]  What was “ missing “ in the Amended Scheme ;

 

 #  Offset against CSR ,( of the expense incurred by Companies on
     Apprentice Scheme ) was NOT restricted to only those Companies
     which engaged apprentices in excess of mandatory  2.5 % of employee
     strength


 #   For 6 trades , training duration was NOT reduced from 3 to 2 years


#    Stipend payable was lower than specified 70% / 80 % / 90 % of
      Semi-Skilled minimum wages  ( of approx Rs 6000 per month )


#    Minimum Mandatory limit was raised from 2.5 % to 5 %


#    There was NO upper limit for engaging ( currently 10 % of employees )



[ B ]  I had further suggested :


·           Turn this entire exercise into a PROFIT MAKING proposition in the

            hands of PRIVATE SECTOR ( Individuals + Corporate + Start Ups )


·           Enable BLACK MONEY to be invested in private sector SPVs called,

            " XYZ Manpower Skilling SPV ",

            with no questions asked as to the source of funds invested ( domestic
  
            or Foreign )


·           Grant INDUSTRY status to such SPVs


·           In order to attract PRIVATE Individuals / Corporate, to come forward

            and set up these 50,000 SPVs ( before March 2018 ), provide a 10 year

            TAX HOLIDAY ,  to " Manpower Skilling Industry "


-      much in the same way NITI Aayog has recommended for companies

            investing in Electronics manufacturing activities . And  as against

            expected creation of 20,000 jobs due to this proposed policy in
 
           Electronic Industry , my suggestion would create 50 LAKH jobs @ 100

           jobs / SPV !

 


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


Other Related  E Mails sent :


Universal Basic Income       [  20 Jan 2017  ]



Discovering the Obvious ?   [ 30  Nov  2017  ]

 

Saving Jobs : Creating Jobs [ 19  Dec  2017  ]

 

Safeguarding Existing Jobs ? [ 24  Jan  2018  ]

 

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18  Dec  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs