Replace Locally : Displace Globally

A few days back , Government banned 59 Chinese mobile Apps

Now, the Ministry of Electronics and Information technology, headed by Shri RaviShankar Prasadji has directed the Ministry “to initiate the Grand Challenge “

The new challenge will look at local apps that can REPLACE , TikTok, CamScanner, WeTransfer and UCBrowser

[ source : A Challenge for App Cos to Build Chinese Rivals    /  03 July  ]

Shri Prasad also talked about :

‘Banning Chinese apps a digital strike’: Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad 

Extract :

“In the wake of the ban which we have imposed...I think it is a great opportunity.

Can we come up with good apps made by Indians ?

Let the dependence on foreign apps, with their own agenda for a variety of reasons, stop,” the minister said yesterday.

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Let us think BIG . Let us expand our HORIZON

Even as we go about developing / launching India-made Apps to REPLACE those Chinese Apps, locally, our goal should be to DISPLACE them , globally  !

That thought made me send following email yesterday :

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" MADE  IN  INDIA  " APPS

Sent : Thu 02-Jul-20 10:51 AM

To : 'rsprasad.bjp@gmail.com'; 'ravis@sansad.nic.in'; 'moc-office@gov.in'; 'ravishankarprasad@gov.in'

cc : nandan@nandannilekani.in;

 nandan_mn@infosys.com; 'delhi@nasscom.in'; 'debjani@nasscom.in'

------------------------------

Dear Shri Prasadji,

Most of those 59 Chinese Apps you banned, are in respect of :

Ø  Video –based Entertainment

Ø  Social Get-together

Ø  Messaging – Chatting – Status Posting …etc

I am not aware if any of these are in the nature of,

Ø  Providing online “ Govt Services “ to citizen ( like UMANG )

Ø  Help people get JOB-ALERTS / APPLY ONLINE from their mobiles

Ø  Attend to Citizen Complaints and give feedback on progress of “ Complaint Solution

Ø  Simplify Social-Economic-Political processes……..etc

Ï urge you to take a look at the ( proposed ) APPS listed below- then advise the Indian Startups re the priorities :

An App for Everything ?                                      [  18  Aug  2017  ]

Without doubt, when launched, many of these will get adopted by developing countries around the World – countries which are facing problems very similar to our own

Here is our opportunity to replace those “ Non-utilitarian Chinese Apps “, not only in India, but in 80 % of the countries of the World

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With regards,

Hemen Parekh

Mumbai / hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  www.hemenparekh.in

Irony of Amul

Context :

Amulseeks ₹160-crore export incentive to get rid of extra skimmed milk powderstock

Extract :

Faced with ample stocks of skimmed milk powder (SMP) amid demand disruption in the bulk consuming sector, largest dairy player Amul has approached the Gujarat government seeking a ₹160-crore financial incentive to export the surplus stocks.

And we have collected record milk during the lockdown period and converted it into SMP and white butter. Now, there is about 1.25 lakh tonnes of stocks of SMP available in the country,” said Sodhi told BusinessLine.

During the lockdown period, Amul had procured additional 40-50 lakh litres of milk from producers, but due to insufficient bulk demand, it is now sitting on SMP stocks of about 80,000 tonnes.

SMP prices have seen a sharp decline from a peak of ₹330 per kg before the lockdown in December 2019-January 2020 to about ₹130 a kg in June

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Where is the IRONY ?

Some 50 years ago, I had an opportunity to attend a lecture by Shri Verghese Kurien ( Father of India’s White Revolution )

He narrated the following episode from those early days of Amul :

He wanted lakhs of people to drink milk but there was insufficient supplies from dairy farmers, in and around city of Anand ( Gujarat )

That is when he read that Dutch dairy farmers had overstocked on Skimmed Milk Powder and, in order to sustain a profitable price-level, they were destroying this excess stock by dumping into the sea

He approached the Dutch Government and said :

“ To sustain price level, you don’t have to dump milk powder in the sea. Just gift your surplus stock to Amul. I will add some water, convert into milk and give it to poor people of India “

To the Dutch Government, this logic appealed. It would also be a philanthropic act !

They said : 

“ Granted . Take as much as you want . Bring your ships and load up “

But the Dutch Government was totally unprepared for what Verghese said next :

“ I have no money to rent ships. Please pay the rent directly to Shipping companies. It will still cost you less than the cost that you are incurring in destroying your surplus stocks “

The Dutch Government could not find fault with logic / arithmetic of Verghese  !

They agreed !

As they say :  Rest is History !

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If Verghese was still around, he would have told Shri Vijaybhai Rupani ( CM-Gujarat ) :

 Amul is a “ for profit “ co-operative society that is owned by lakhs of poor dairy farmers

 Due to Covid, these farmers are already on the brink of starvation

Hence, Amul cannot give away these 80,000 tons of SMP for free

But you- the Government of Gujarat – certainly can

Please pay Amul , take these stock and distribute FREE , 100 grams , to each of the 80 crore poor persons, all over India, to whom the Central Government is going to give 5 kg of FREE food-grains during July-Nov

Let Gujarat demonstrate that it cares for the poor, wherever they might be living / working

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Dear Vijaybhai Rupaniji,

(  min.vrrupani@gmail.com  /  vijaybhairupani@gmail.com  ),

(   079-23250074 / 9824811186  )

Not only Verghese but if Bapu too was around, he would have made the same request to you

With regards,

Hemen Parekh

hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  03 July 2020

Kirana Stores : Today and Tomorrow

Here is TO-DAY :

Technology is the next big focus of 13 million kiranas 

https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/technology/three-out-of-four-kirana-stores-do-not-have-technology-for-payments-or-procurement-report/76677397  

Here is how they will morph TOMORROW :

MA = DA x 4,000,000 ?  ………………………………………….[ 17 July 2018 ]

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2018/07/ma-da-x-4000000.html

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03 July 2020  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com

God appears as Roti

In my following blog / email, to Cabinet Ministers / State Chief Ministers, some 3 months back , I wrote :

India trumps USA ? ………………………………………………….[ 25 March 2020 ]

“ Even as I await the press conference of Smt Nirmala Sitharamanji at 1pm this afternoon , I urge fellow citizen to appreciate that , when it comes to caring for the poor , Shri Modi does not waste time, in sloganeering [  Garibi Hatao  ]

He acts upon what Mahatmaji taught him :

“ In the hands of the poor , God appears in the form of a Roti “

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Yesterday, Shri Modiji proved that he “ cares for the poor “, by announcing extension of PMGKAY ( PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana ) by 5 months ( July-Nov )

Free foodgrains, pulses scheme for poor extended till November, says PM

Extract :

More than 80 crore people have been given ration (5 kg rice/wheat) for three months free of cost, moreover, every family has been given 1 kg dal too free of cost. This is something which has astounded the world,” Modi said

Under the scheme, 80 crore individuals will continue to get 5 kg of wheat or rice, free of cost per month till November. This will be over and above the food-grains being made available under the public distribution system through ration shops and subsidised price.

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In my earlier blog / email (India trumps USA ? ) , I wrote :

Question :

Do we have enough food-grains to sustain such program beyond 3 months ?

Answer :

We need 5600 million kg / month =   5.6 Million tonnes / month

For 3 months , we need              =   5.6 x 3 = 16.8 million tonnes

For 12 months , we need             =  5.6 x 12 = 67.2 million tonnes

By April , we expect FCI ( Food Corporation of India ) food-grain stock = 100 million tonnes

Expected production of food grain in 2019-20  =  292 million tonnes

Hence , no worry on this count !

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Not only Shri Modiji has accepted my suggestion, he has extended PMGKAY by 5 MONTHS

Hence ,instead of requiring 16.8 million tons ( for a 3 month extension ), Govt would need to distribute ( FREE ), some 20 million tons ( 5Kg x 5months x 800 million persons )

As compared to the existing stock ( 100 million tons ) + the incoming stock ( 292 million tons ) , this 20 million tons, is a small requirement - approximately, the quantity that parishes each year due to

Ø  Open / uncovered storage under the rains

Ø  Being eaten away by rats / insects ( even when stored in covered go-downs of FCI )

Context :

India Has Enough Food Grain Stock to Supply to Its Citizens for More than 1 Year 

Food grains rot in India while millions live with empty stomachs 

 

May be this prompted West Bengal CM, Smt Mamtaji to announce :

West Bengal to give free ration till June 2021, says Mamata

Can we expect that, before long, in a game of “ Political-Upman-ship “, some States will announce :

“ For the poor, FREE ration for EVER “ ?

Unlikely, but should that happen, Poor might want to remain Poor forever { at least on Government Records }

Dear Shri Narendrabhai,

I suppose your idea is that those rendered unemployed due to Corona pandemic, do not go to sleep on empty stomach

I suppose, you and I, hope that by November end these poor will get back their jobs and earn enough to be able to “ buy “ their rations

Even if those migrant workers do manage to get back their jobs, some 12 million others get added to the ranks of “ jobless “, each year

How do we enable them to “ buy “their rations ?

Now, and after November 2020 ?

FREE ration cannot be a PERMANENT solution

Enabling jobless to become SELF EMPLOYED, is the only answer

You have already found that answer in your “ Street Vendor Loan Scheme “

Please modify and extend it as described at :

Congratulations , Shri Mahesh Kumarji    …………………………………..[ 20 June 2020 ]

With regards

Hemen Parekh

hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  01 July 2020  

A tale of two approaches

One tale :

Since China has ( allegedly ) transgressed into our territory, we should boycott imports from China

Response :

Join Zee News' Made In India campaign to boycott China, give missed call on 7834998998

Related Readings :

A Seven Year War – Redux ? …………………………………………………………….[ 28 June 2020 ]

Boycott Chinese Products ? A Game Two can play  ………………………….[ 09 June 2020 ]

 

Second tale :

Since USA has suspended ( claimed to be temporarily ) 

H1-B visas, some 60,000 Indian IT professionals will not be able to go to work in US firms

Response :

Infosys announces permanent flexible WFH ( Work from Home ) for employees 

Extract :

Ø  In the 39th annual general meeting on Thursday, Infosys COO U B Pravin Rao assured that the work from home (WFH) model has not disrupted the employee productivity. Depending on the client requirements and projects, employees can choose between a flexible work from home option.

Ø  Infosys's 93% of 2.4 lakh headcount is already working from home. The company was able to switch within the first few weeks of Covid-19. The IT service firm has been able to tide over the global crisis triggered by the pandemic.

Ø  Nandan Nilekani, Infosys Chairman said, "Our remote access infrastructure was expanded 10x for virtual private network bandwidth and back-end capacity scaled by 4x to support the increase in concurrent connected remote users.

Ø  New deal signings and an increase in digital revenue have helped the company to grow revenue by 8.1% in FY20. Over 39% revenue companies came from digital services and solutions

Ø  The H-1B visa ban does not have much of impact on Infosys

For Infosys Game-Plan , read :

Climb Every Wall / Cross Every Sea ……………………………………………………[ 19 April 2017 ]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lessons to be learned :

Level-PlayingField is a Double Edged Sword !  ………………………………….[ 08 Feb 2017 ]

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Hemen Parekh

hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  01  July  2020