BEST poised to get BETTER ?

Context :

‘BEST fleet will rise to over 6,000 buses now’

Extract :

The fleet of BEST buses in the city will be nearly doubled  and will go up from 3,500 to over 6,000 in coming months, said general manager Surendrakumar Bagde [ gm@bestundertaking.com ]

Bagde said that all the additional buses in the fleet will be on wet lease and not a single bus will be purchased.

“The wet lease model took some years to be implemented in BEST, but we did it with the support of BMC.

It has been beneficial for speed of deployment, bringing in more efficiency and also cutting down costs,” he stated, adding that the city needs a bigger fleet.

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How will “ Wet Leasing “ ( inclusive of driver + maintenance ) help “ increase efficiency “ and “ reduce costs “ ?

My following earlier blogs / e-mails , explain “ how “ :

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Evidence  is  piling  up  ! ……………………………………………………………………………..[ 13 May 2018 ]

Extract :

Let us assume that these Electric Buses in Hyderabad, will run for 25 days per month

So , the cost ( hire-charge ) comes to Rs 860 per working day

Now , BEST buses in Mumbai average 189 km run per day ( against target of 200 Km )

If those 20 GHMC Electric buses also average the same mileage , its “ Cost per Km “ would come to Rs 4.5 per Km ! ( I presume , this is NOT a wet-lease and therefore does not include the cost of the driver )

Even if we add the driver’s salary ( Rs 20,000 pm for running 4725 km per month ), that would come to another Rs 4.2 per Km

So the total cost would come to Rs 4.5 + Rs 4.2 = Rs 8.7 per km !

Compare this with BEST’s running cost of Rs 107 per Km !

Chinese city of Shenzhen added some 16,359 Electric buses in last 8 years ( 2,000 per

  year ! ) . At this rate , Mumbai could replace its 3711 diesel buses in less than 2 years !

 China adds about 9,500 EV buses every five weeks

*  To further reduce upfront costs, some operators in Shenzhen also choose to lease

    buses from the manufacturers

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Buy or Lease ?   …………………………………………………………………………………………… [ 03 Apr 2018 ]

 

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

Logical to Lease    ………………………………………………………………………………………….[ 06 Mar 2018 ]

Extract :

Ø  A report in Hindustan Times ( 04 March ) reads :

Ø  The BEST had proposed wet leasing of buses in which the contractor will take care of driver, fuel and maintenance of buses

Ø  It was expected to bring savings of Rs 700 – 800 crore, but BEST panel had rejected the proposal earlier

Ø  It later on sanctioned most of the reform proposals including wet leasing of more than 450 buses

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EESL : Lease cars , do not Buy ! ………………………………………………………………………[ 16 Aug 2017 ]

 

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To Buy or not to Buy ?   ……………………………………………………………………………………[ 11 Oct 2017 ]

 

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Waiting to be proved wrong ! …………………………………………………………………………[ 30 Sept 2017 ]

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Thank You , Shri Bagde  …………………………………………………………………………………..[ 27 Feb 2019 ]

 

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

 

For over 2 years, that ( now cancelled ) order for OUTRIGHT PURCHASE 10,000 electric cars , by EESL ( on M&M / TATA Motors ), is hanging fire

6 month old “  experiment “ of OUTRIGHT PURCHASE of a few “electric “LUXURY sedan ( @ Rs 20 lakh each ) from a Chinese Company, ( again by EESL ), is in limbo !

I once again urge Shri Saurabh Kumarji [ MD – EESL ], to forget about OUTRIGHT PURCHASES and switch-over to “ Wet Leasing “ of electric cars from local manufacturers ( with at least 50 % local value addition )

EESL has a target to replace the existing fleet of Petrol / Diesel cars of Central + State Governments ( approx. 500,000 cars ), with Electric Cars

Even at the rate of 50,000 EV per year, this replacement will take 10 years !

But doing so has following distinct advantages :

 

Ø  A big boost to Car Industry ( - and Li-Ion Battery manufacturing in India )

Ø  A huge improvement in Air Pollution – and related 12 lakh deaths / year

Ø  A saving ( both initial Fixed Cost + recurring Running cost ) of lakhs of crore 

  

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  25  Aug  2020

Hastening Slowly : But in Right Direction

Context :

Explained: How the National Recruitment Agency will streamline the recruitment process 

Extract :

Why is the NRA needed?

As of now, aspirants have to take different exams that are conducted by various agencies for central government jobs.

According to C Chandramouli, Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, on an average 2.5 crore to 3 crore aspirants appear for about 1.25 lakh vacancies in the central government every year.

As and when it will be set up, the NRA will conduct a common eligibility test (CET) and based on the CET score a candidate can apply for a vacancy with the respective agency.

Will the NRA conduct a test for all government vacancies?

Initially, it will organise a CET to screen/shortlist candidates for the Group B and C (non -technical) posts, which are now being conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railways Recruitment Board (SSC) and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). Later on, more exams may be brought under it.

Based on the screening done at the CET score level, final selection for recruitment shall be made through separate specialised Tiers (II, III, etc.) of examination which shall be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies.

To make it easier for candidates, examination centres would be set up in every district of the country

The government says that the move will benefit the poor candidates, as in the present system they have to appear in multiple examinations conducted by multiple agencies. They have to incur expenditure on examination fees, travel, boarding, lodging and other things. The single examination is expected to reduce the financial burden on such candidates.

The CET will be conducted in multiple languages.

The CET score of a candidate shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of declaration of the result

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

Setting up of NRA ( National Recruitment Agency ) was announced by Smt Nirmala Sitharamanji, during her budget speech in Feb 2020

It is a welcome FIRST STEP

But this reform will remain incomplete unless this “ first step “ is followed up by a SECOND STEP described in my following blog / email , sent to the Cabinet Ministers :

National Recruitment Agency ………………………………………………………. 02 Feb 2020

SECOND STEP :

To shortlist – and offer APPOINTMENT LETTER to ONE candidate, out of ( may be ) 10 who , currently get “ Interviewed “, face to face , across the table (final selection ) described above )

This is , not only a very time-consuming process but has elements of personal biases

 / prejudices

I urge you to “ automate “ this second step as follows :

Ø    Eliminate face to face interviews

Ø    Conduct these interviews ONLINE , employing technology described hereunder

Ø    Eliminate bias / prejudice , through online VIDEO interviews

Ø   Conduct as many online interviews as desired simultaneously ( even 10,000 at a

      time  )

Ø  Create a panel of ( subject-wise )” interview experts” ( may be 1 LAKH ? ), who will conduct these online interviews from the living rooms of their homes ( no need for infrastructure )

Ø  Candidate will not know who is the interviewer/Interviewer will not know who is the candidate

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

For detailed framework of such AUTOMATION, refer :

National Career Service Portal                                       [ 21 July 2015 ]

Job Melas are NOT an answer !                                       [ 13 Feb 2017 ]

OnLineJobsFair

Exam Malpractices ?  No More !                                      [ 19 Oct 2019 ]

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

POST SCRIPT :

Instead of using only 640 CET centres ( at each district ) , I strongly suggest that Government considers using 255,798 CSC ( Common Service Centres ) , already set up

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

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  22 Feb 2020

Pandemic inspired Placement Process ?

Context :

In a first, companies set to conduct virtual interviews during placement season at IITs 

Extract :

Ø  This year, recruiters scouting for talent at the premiere technology institutes will select candidates virtually.

Ø  Online software, tests and virtual or telephonic interviews are on the cards.

Ø  “The format of interviewing will be through online software via video conferencing and in some cases, telephonically,” said BV Ravishankar, training and placement officer, IIT-B

Ø  The entire process will be conducted online this year keeping in mind Covid-19,” said C S Shankar Ram, advisor (training & Placement), IIT Madras.

Ø  Therefore, conducting online interviews and group discussions will be adopted by the institute,” said Dr Sunny Zafar, advisor (Career & Placement Cell), IIT-Mandi.

Ø  The institute as well as recruiters are very keen on conducting interviews online this year,” said Vinay Sharma, professor in-charge, placement and internship, IIT-Roorkee.

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

Dear IIT Professors [ in charge of placement ],

All of you deserve Congratulations for this initiative .

The Online Interview / Assessment Process envisaged by you, has the potential to change for ever, not only the Annual Placement Exercise at the leading Educational Institutions , but the rules of the entire Online Recruitment industry, consisting hundreds of Job Portals , including those managed by the Governments ( Central + States )

What is of UTMOST IMPORTANCE at this stage is avoid DUPLICATION of the VIRTUAL INTERVIEW PLATFORM, by different IITs coming up with slightly differing versions of the TECHNOLOGY

A Single / Common / Standardized platform will force ALL other Job Portals ( Private + Public ) to adopt the SAME platform ( - if you make it OPEN SOURCE ) – thereby,

Ø  Ensuring interoperability

Ø  Complete migration of “ Resumes “ and “ Vacancy Announcements “

Ø  Unprecedented PERSONNEL ANALYTICS of 100 million jobseekers

Dear Professors,

Before rushing headlong to become the FIRST to go Virtual, I urge you to go through my following CONCEPTUAL FRAME-WORK . 

Feel free to write to me if I can be of any help

With regards,

Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 21 Aug 2020

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

Conceptual Frame-Work :

 ResumesExchange  Portal.......................     [ 09 Feb 2016 ]

 ONLINE JOBS FAIR ………………………………………..[ 11 Feb 2016 ]

 JOB ALERT MOBILE ( JAM )…………………………….[ 01 Apr 2016 ]

 No Surprise Here ! ………………………………………..[ 17 Jan 2018 ]

Software Architecture For Online Jobs Fair     [ 29 Mar 2018 ]

National Recruitment Agency ( NRA )…………….[ 02 Feb 2020 ]

     World Wide Work ( W3F )……………………………… [ 17 June 2015 ]

    Consortium of Indian Job Portals : a First Step [ 04 Aug 2020 ]

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

Request directed to :

Ø  Prof B V Ravishankar ( Training & Placement Officer – IIT-B )

placementcell@iitb.ac.in  /  pic.placement@iitb.ac.in

Ø  Prof Vinayak Kulkarni ( Head, Centre for Career development / IIT-Guwahati )

hocccd@iitg.ac.in / vinayak@iitg.ac.in / fc2ccd@iitg.ac.in / abhiak@iitg.ac.in

Ø  Prof C S Shankar Ram ( Advisor, Training & Placement / IIT-Madras )

adtp@iitm.ac.in / placement@iitm.ac.in / director@iitm.ac.in / deanar@iitm.ac.in

deanadmn@iitm.ac.in / deaniar@iitm.ac.in

Ø  Dr Sunny Zafar ( Advisor, career & Placement / IIT-Mandi )

sunnyzafar@iitmandi.ac.in / placement@iitmandi.ac.in / advisoralum@iitmandi.ac.in

Ø  Prof Vinay Sharma ( Prof in Charge, Placement & Internship / IIT-Roorkee )

Vinay.sharma@ms.iitr.ac.in

OTHERS :

pm.placement@iitb.ac.in 

dksarma@nitm.ac.in

      sanjeev.bhickchandani@naukri.com

 p.sunthar@iitb.ac.in

     

A case of the Missing Argument

Context :

NITI Aayog recommends major reduction in sugar cultivation

EXTRACT :

Ø   Facts :

            #  Around 52 lakh hectares of land is currently under sugarcane

            #  Agricultural experts predict there will be an opening stock of 112 lakh tons of

                sugar at the beginning of the crushing season, which begins in October and ends

                in March. It is expected that the closing stock at the end of the season will be

                around 93 lakh tons

           #   Maharashtra produces around 33 % of sugar in the country. The sugarcane is

                the most important cash crop in the state with around 30 lakh farmers engaged

                in sugarcane farming

           #   Out of 33 Cabinet Mnisters in the State, 15 own and control one or more sugar

                factories in their district , both in private and cooperative sector

Ø  Recommendation of NITI Aayog

#  Centre should give incentive of Rs 6,000 per hectare to farmers to divert their

    land to other crops

Ø  Arguments by NITI Aayog

#   Total area under sugar cultivation can be brought down by 3 lakh hectares over

     the next 3 years, provided farmers were given cash incentives

#   Sugar factories should also be allowed to buy only 85 % of sugarcane from

     farmers to discourage them from bringing more and more area under sugarcane

     cultivation

#  The Central Government should stop maintaining buffer stocks of sugar … under

    the ( buffer stock ) scheme, 12 percent of the overall stock is left unsold in factory

    warehouses, which artificially raises the price of the commodity. The government

    bears the carrying cost, storage cost and insurance premium on the stock

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

Shri Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of the National Federation Cooperative Sugar Factories , says :

 (  nfcsfnd@gmail.com / nfcsf@yahoo.co.in  )

Ø  One way of reducing production of sugar is to divert more and more sugarcane towards producing ethanol.

     The factories will do it happily as they get payment for ethanol from petroleum

     companies in only 21 days , whereas otherwise they have to hold onto their stocks

     for minimum 7 to 8 months, before it is sold

Is Nitin Gadkariji likely to support Shri Naiknavare ? – and overrule NITI Aayog ?

Most likely . Here is what he said in Feb 2017 :

He said at present ethanol is derived from molasses which is barely 119 crore litres as against a minimum requirement of about 500 crore litres.

"We get hardly 3 % ethanol whereas we can mix 22 % in petrol. There is shortage of 19 per cent..

Promotion to green fuel like ethanol will not only arrest migration of people from villages to town but using bio technology production of biomass could be enhanced and more people could be roped in for employment, he said.

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So, what is wrong with cultivating MORE sugarcane to produce more ethanol ? ( Missing Argument ? )

Ø  It takes 1700 gallons ( 6426 litre ) of water to produce one gallon of ethanol .

    Assuming a 30 gallon gasoline tank in a SUV, we calculate 51,000 gallons of water

    for the corn ethanol fill up ( Prof David Pimentel of Cornell University )

Ø  Each time someone fills up an SUV with corn Ethanol, he or she uses as much water as the average American residential user consumes in 16 months !

        [ source : What are “ side effects “ of Ethanol ?  / 29 Apr 2018 ]

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

 

So , how much water do other crops need to produce 1 kg ?

Here are some facts :

Ø  Rice ……………………….. 3.000 / 5,000 litre

Ø  Cotton………………………22,500 litre

Ø  Sugarcane………………..1500 / 3000 litre

Ø  Soya…………………………   900 litre

Ø  Wheat………………………   900 litre

Hence, at 3000 litre / kg , sugarcane crop would need :

3000 litre / Kg x 1000 kg = 3,000,000  litre per ton, of sugarcane  ( 3 million litre  / ton )

Now, in India, we harvest 76 tons of sugarcane per hectare

( source : Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research  )

That would require :

3 million litre / ton x 76 tons / hectare = 228 million litre of water required / hectare

Hence , by reducing 3 lakh hectare of Sugarcane crop, we can save :

3 lakh hectare x 228 million litre / hectare = 684 million*lakh litre of water / year 

  

I leave it to you , how many extra tons of wheat we can produce each year, from these 3 lakh hectare of “ freed land “ , using 684 million*lakh litres of “ freed water “

And whether this “additional production “of wheat can help us save 1663 children ( under the age of 5 ), who meet a “ premature death “ in India EACH DAY, due to “ Starvation “

How much will this cost the Government if NITI Aayog recommendation ws accepted ?

Rs 6000 / hectare x 3 lakh hectare = Rs 18,000 lakh / year ( Rs 180 Crore )

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

Related Reading :

How much water is needed to produce food and how much do we waste?

Cabinet nod to increase in sugarcane price

Sugar Sector reforms need political will

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hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  20 Aug 2020