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 31 January 2017

Will Holograms beat H1B Visa Ban ?



Poor Mr Trump !


He can build a huge wall on the US-Mexico border , but how will he build a “ Wall – in – Sky “ ?


To prevent Indian geeks from taking over jobs from Americans , he plans to raise to $ 130,000 per year , minimum salary payable to H1B visa holders , whether employed by Indian companies or by American companies


With this , he hopes to replace 350,000 Indian Visa holders , currently paid $ 60,000 per year ( with Americans at a salary of $ 100,000  ? )



 MR TRUMP KNOWS THAT :

·         India’s IT industry employs 3.7 million people ( mostly software guys ) of which ,     barely 10 % are posted in USA
·          
·          Its annual turnover is about $ 150 billion
·          
·          Of this $ 108 billion is from “ outsourcing “ by foreign companies
·          
·          Most of this revenue comes from its US operations
·          
·          At $ 60,000 per year , Indian H1B visa holders , earn $ 21 billion / year
·          
·          At $ 100,000 per year , replacing them with Americans will cost the Employers, ( both Indian and American ) , $ 35 billion


WHAT WE KNOW :

·         This bill ( if it becomes a law ), will certainly impact the Indian IT industry in short term

·         It will force Indian IT industry to find customers in other foreign countries and reduce its dependence on USA


WHAT WE NEED TO DO ? :

·         Learn to thrive on problems . Treat this as a “ blessing in disguise “ . Turn this into an opportunity to “ re-invent “ our IT Industry

·          
·         Not merely “ allow “ but pro-actively “ enable “ our IT industry to become ,

·          




·         Grant these Back Factories , an “ Infrastructure Industry “ status

·          
·          Enable BLACK MONEY investments into such “ Back Factory Units “,through a limited period AMNESTY SCHEME , outlined in my earlier blog

·          
·         Exempt these BACK FACTORIES from Corporate / Personal Income tax for 10 years  

·          
·         Enable construction of 1000 “ Back Factory Parks “ , each having 50 units , along the lines of Coastal Employment Zones proposed by Shri Arvind Panagarhia ( Vice Chairman , NITI Aayog

·          
·         These 50,000 units will provide , at least , 500,000 jobs

·          
·         LIKE SOUTH KOREA , EQUIP THESE BUILDINGS WITH 1 GBPS INTERNET BROADBAND



HOW WILL THIS HELP ? :


·          These BACK FACTORY units will deliver REMOTE SERVICES to customer-companies all over the World, through




Imagine 500,000 Indian geeks swarming virtually in every American office !


And no way for Mr Trump to stop them !



[  Those having any doubt , may want to look up :


[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3038317/The-world-s-HOLOGRAM-protest-Thousands-join-virtual-march-Spain-against-law-banning-demonstrations-outside-government-buildings.html ]

Dear Narendrabhai :

You do not need any convincing re this “ GAME CHANGING “ concept since you pioneered it yourself by addressing 800 election rallies through your own holographic projection during 2014 election !

Please put in a word to Shri Arun Jaitleyji as he gets up to deliver his budget speech two hours from now !

01    Feb  2017
==============================================================
Added on 31 Oct 2020 :
   

  

  

Monday 30 January 2017

JUST ONE MORE STEP LEFT

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 27: 

“We are going to start Aadhaar Pay. With this, people will not require to carry their mobile phone for payments. They can visit any merchant, share their Aadhaar number and verify themselves using biometrics to pay and receive money,” Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Electronics and IT, said here.
The Minister also said the Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app has also been integrated with the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System on Thursday.


Dear Shri Prasadji :

For those 100 Crore Indians who cannot enter their Aadhar Number in the Smart phone , please consider taking the following next – and ultimate / inevitable – step , outlined in my earlier email dated 03 Dec 2016 :


Reincarnation of Smart Phone ( with SARAL app )

Why do people need to " OWN " a phone ( AEPS pre-installed ), in order to be able to " USE " it ?


People who make their purchase payments using Credit / Debit cards , do NOT own their personal PoS machines / Card Readers !


The SELLER owns those machines , kept on his counter


And allows the BUYERS to use these while making payment


With AEPS duly " integrated " with Aadhar-based BIO-METRIC device , linked to user's bank account , there is no technical reason , why a BUYER cannot use an AEPS installed phone , lying on the counter of the SELLER !


When he is carrying his EYES - and his Aadhar Card - there is no need for him to " OWN / CARRY " his own EYE - READER ( smart phone ) , wherever he goes !


Just look into the camera of the SARAL phone lying on the sales counter , speak your Aadhar Number , then speak payment instruction !  As SARAL ( simple ) as that, until smart phones start reading your unspoken thoughts !


And putting a 100 million SARAL phones ( pre-installed with AEPS ) , into the hands of SELLERS , is much easier /faster / cheaper than placing 500 million phones into the hands of USERS !


With this innovation ( shrinking and morphing a bulky PoS / Card Reading Device to a tiny SARAL phone , pre-installed with AEPS ) , there is an opportunity for manufacturers of these devices to " re-invent " themselves !


Now is the time to make themselves obsolete , before someone else does !


If they don't , they are cooked !


And , since Credit / Debit card Issuers too are on the verge of " going into oblivion " , they would be happy to tie-up with PoS / Card Reader manufacturers , to implement my suggestion


They can still survive , if they ensure that those MORPHED / SHRUNK devices ( called SARAL phones ) , enable millions of illiterate Indians to make their payments , just by " talking to the phone ( lying on the SELLER's counter ) " , in a language of their choice !


If they succeed in pulling off this innovation ( of spoken instructions ) , they have a good chance to beat existing Mobile Wallet companies


Dear Shri Amitabh Kant :


If asked , Sundar Pichai ( Google ) would gladly combine " Google Talk "  with " Google Translate " , to come up with a  " SARAL " app which can be integrated into AEPS !


This  SARAL  avatar of a Smart phone , has tremendous scope for export all over the World .


I hope , the Members of the Chief Ministers Committee , find time to debate my suggestion


31  Jan  2017


Sunday 29 January 2017

Solar Power at Rs 1 per Kwh ?



Today’s MINT carries following news report :
------------------------------------------------------------------
 Govt mulls introducing fixed-cost component in renewable energy tariff :

The idea is to prevent distribution companies (discoms) shying away from procuring electricity generated by such projects, as they will have to pay the fixed tariff component even if they don’t buy the electricity contracted for.

Such a tariff mechanism already exists for electricity from conventional sources such as coal and gas which has two parts—A FIXED COST, WHICH IS THE INVESTMENT INCURRED TOWARDS POWER GENERATION EQUIPMENT, and a variable cost or the cost of fuel.

“The idea is to fix a certain component which will allow a renewable energy project developer to SERVICE THE DEBTS even if the distribution companies (discoms) back down from buying electricity. It is under consideration,” said a government official, who too sought anonymity.


In case of solar power ,

·        Cost of fuel ( sunlight ) is ZERO
·        Cost of Maintenance is almost ZERO ( wash the panels )
·        Cost of Investment  is “ Interest on borrowed funds “
·         
How low can this “ fixed cost “ ( servicing the debt of the company generating solar power ), go ?

In California , when interest cost went down to 1 % , fixed cost of generation went down to 4 cents / Kwh ! ( Rs 2.7 )

Website of  MASDAR (http://www.masdar.ae/ )  , talks of latest installation where this has gone down to 2.6 cents ( Rs 1.74 / Kwh ) !

In India , we are planning to add Solar Power to the tune of 100 GW by 2022

How can we make that happen ?

And , can we make that happen at Re 1 per Kwh ? or less ?

We can , if  CAPITAL COST  is  ZERO !  No interest burden !

How ?

It can happen if NDA government musters enough courage to implement what I have been suggesting for past 2 years, viz:
  *  Government declares units belonging to " Solar Power ( Panel Mfr / Power Production &
    Distribution / Ancillary Mfr  ) " as    a "  SOS " industry


*   Units will need to register as such with Department of Company Affairs ( DIPP )


*  Units will be exempt  from paying Corporate Income Tax for 10 years , on whatever
   income they earn ( only those starting operations latest by 31 March 2018 )


 *  No questions will be asked as to the " source " of funds invested in the shares of such
   units ( a kind of Temporary Amnesty Scheme - 01 April 2017  till 31 March 2018 - to
   channelize BLACK MONEY into creation of PRODUCTIVE  / NON-POLUTING assets )


 *  Units cannot engage in any other Industrial / Commercial / Financial activities


 *  Units cannot declare any dividends to share-holders for 10 years


These are just broad outlines and details need to be worked out


If there is political courage to pull off such an initiative , government will NOT need to allocate ANY AMOUNT !


NO NEED TO SUBSIDIZE THESE UNITS OR THE USERS , WITH THE TAX PAYERS' MONEY !




Remember , how , only a few months back , tiny Indonesia managed to collect $ 300 billion of its Black Money , by levying tax ( no penalty ) of just 4 % !


And with this kind of  INCENTIVE WINDOW ( to convert BLACK into WHITE ) , expect


*  Hundreds of SOS Units to spring up before 31 March 2018


*  They will have ZERO cost as far as servicing of EQUITY is concerned ! No dividends !


*  They will not need to borrow funds from banks and pay interest ( no danger of NPA ! )



*  They will compete with each other fiercely and ( as it is already happening in USA ) ,
   start offering roof top installations, absolutely FREE, and selling the generated power at
   20 paise/Kwh, for 10 year purchase agreement and with a 5 % tariff reduction per year !


   We can look forward to witnessing similar competition among large , land-based ,  solar
   power installations which will be the main suppliers to large commercial establishments /
   industrial factories / infrastructure projects / Electric Vehicle Charging stations , etc

  
Just imagine


*   how much, our LOW ENERGY COST ECONOMY can make us , INTERNATIONALLY  COMPETITIVE !



*  the rise in GDP !


*  the possibility of being able to export our surplus power to neighbouring countries


*  Being able to replace 6 million petrol / diesel vehicles with EVs by 2020 , due to
   easily available charging stations on every street corner


*  Reduction in pollution by shutting down of hundreds of existing fossil fuel based power
    plants , whose utilization will drop below 10 % by 2022 ( as against National Electricity
    Plan expectation of 48 % , and a un-viability threshold of 55 % )


30  Jan  2017










Saturday 28 January 2017

The Mini Wall of Mexico



Two days back, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to immediately start construction of a wall along the USA / Mexico border


The wall will be 1000 miles long , 50 / 60 feet high and take 5 years to build , at an
estimated cost of $ 14 billion. It might possibly employ 1000 workers


Despite being a mammoth project, this pales before the Great Wall of China, which stretches for almost 3900 miles along the northern border of China


That Chinese wall was built some 2000 years ago and engaged 1.5 Million labours over a period of 200 years


It is recorded that some 3-5 lakh soldiers were stationed along that Chinese wall to guard against invaders from the north


President Trump plans to post 5,000 border patrol along the wall to prevent entry into USA, of Mexicans in need of jobs and trying to escape poverty


Now Mr Trump cannot build a wall along the vast sea-coast of America , nor build a wall in the sky , to prevent internet penetration !


So, he has also threatened to drastically cut back on H1-B visas under which , currently some 300,000 Indian techies are working in USA , both for Indian and American companies


Trump has given to American citizens , a slogan : Buy American


And to American Industrialists , a slogan : Hire American


He does not realize that , through his Executive Orders ,


·         He cannot stop the march of Technology ( remember wise king Canute ? )

·         
·         He has done a great service to India ! ( a blessing in disguise ? )

·         
Here is how :


A poor family was eking out a living by selling the fruits that grew on a tree in their backyard


There was no need for anyone in the family to work , making all members lazy


A friend who realized that this situation would perpetuate the poverty , cut down the tree one night and ran away


In the morning, the distraught family realized that they can no longer depend upon the fruits of the tree for a living !


They all started working and gradually prospered !


I hope :


·        NDA government would seize this opportune moment , to turn India into,

·       




Where I echo the vision of ShriJayant Sinha  




 , so that Indian geeks sitting in small towns of India can remotely replace Americans working in their ,


  *    Farms and Factories

  *    Hotels and Hospitals

  *    Malls and Markets

  *    Roads and Railways

  *    Workshops and Warehouses

  *    Garages and Gardens

  *    Drones and Delivery Trucks ….etc


Any person starting a “ Back Factory “ operation which earns dollars through “ export “ of “ Remotely Delivered Services “ would be exempt from Corporate and Personal Income Tax for 10 years



It is time to get out of the way of these “ Self Employed “ to enable them to take on the World !



·        Shri Arun Jaitleyji would not simply  “ copy “ Donald Trump and make marginal / token reduction in Corporate Income Tax in his budget three days from now ,

·         
     But , introduces what I have repeatedly suggested ,







     where , the greater the number of employees engaged by a Company , the lesser (   incremental ) tax rate on successive higher slabs / levels of employees


     Of course , no Indian company would simply hire more employees in order to take advantage of a lower tax rate but this will discourage them to resort to “ automation “ just in order to reduce manpower costs . It will be Indian Innovation to beat the malaise of  a “ Jobless Growth



·        Shri Jaitley announces measures to turn India into a ,

·         



Thank You , MrDonald Trump




YOU MAY HAVE WOKEN US UP FROM OUR SLUMBER !



29  Jan  2017