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

Thursday 31 May 2018

#AirIndia


[  Hot  ]  Air  India  ?



By 5 pm yesterday, not a single party had submitted its EoI  ( Expression of Interest ) , to buy out Air India




NEWS PAPER HEADLINES :


Times of India    /     “ No takers for Air India as deadline expires

Economic Times    /     Govt fails to get any bids for majority stake buy in Air India

DNA     /     It’s back to Rs 10 cr daily loss at AI




PAST COMMENTS  :


*   Ashok Gaja pathy Raju ( Civil Aviation Minister )   /   28 Jan 2018


“When our exercise of calculating Air India’s debt began, we found that the sum was hovering around the Rs 50,000 crore mark. But I won’t be surprised if the total debt reaches Rs 70,000 crore. Since people are looking at the books carefully, they may find more,”

According to me, Air India is a debt trap. I said as much in Parliament as well


In June 2017 , Shri Raju said :

“ There are hardly any bakras around, so to get one is difficult and businessmen are businessmen “



*  Civil aviation secretary R.N. Choubey

To Mint in Jan 2018 , ……..A foreign firm has sent “unsolicited” letter of interest for Air India.

On May 10, …

…….“  There is a great deal of interest for Air India “



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


CURRENT  COMMENTS  :


* Shri R N Choubey  ( yesterday )


“ It ( no response ) did not meet expectations of participation that we had . Inputs will be taken on what went wrong , and the plan is to reach the alternate mechanism ( AI GoM ) for solutions within a couple of weeks “


*  Aviation Ministry tweet

“ Further course of action will be decided appropriately “


*  Shri Suresh Prabhu / Shri Jayant Sinha

  No comments






MY  SUGGESTION :


Remains , more or less , the same as per my following email to the Cabinet Ministers :


Finding a Bakra ? Possible ?  [  04  June  2017  ]

Air India : A Pride ?  [  09  Jan  2018 ]

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2018/01/air-india-pride.html

 

 

 ==========================


And as far as getting rid of those 20,000 + employees is concerned , I suggest that the Govt announce a VRS scheme , which is normally , “ One month’s salary for each completed year of service “

I believe , Air India’s annual salary-wages bill is approx. Rs 2,840 crore

So , may be , at a burden of Rs 5,680 crore , govt could ( on an average ) , pay a VRS sum of 24 months’ salary to each member of staff

Of course , I don’t expect anyone in NDA to seriously consider my suggestion since it would be “ politically incorrect “ , what with recent debacle in State Assembly polls and the looming 2019 elections

It would be much easier to convince the 840 million voters to keep forking out Rs 10 crore per day of tax payer money till 2019 elections

Will ED – CBI – IT – SFIO etc, ever get around to unearth “ which politician made how many thousand crore “ by purchasing / selling / leasing back , hundreds of Air crafts which Air India , just did not NEED  ?

If they do , expect that life-threatening “ MahaGathBandhan “ to lose a lot of steam !

01    June  2018







#Google #GoogleJobSearch #Neighbourly


Is there a job in Neighbourhood  ?



It seems, Google just launched in Mumbai , a mobile app called “ Neighbourly


For details , read :






The new app lets users ask questions like if there is a garage nearby, good haircut places and the mom and pop store (kirana) where you get a particular herb in the locality



Now this opens up a great opportunity for those “ mom and pop “ stores


Not only to sell their products / services but also to announce the vacancies ( jobs ) that they might want filled , only with “ local jobseekers “ , who can work 10 hours per day ( since , they don’t need to spend 2 hours on local trains , to / from  home - work place )


Having already launched “ Google Job Search “ , this extension to “ Neighbourly “ will pose no problem for Google


In a city like Mumbai , even those who are already employed , would be happy to accept a 10 % cut in their monthly salary , if they can get an “ equivalent “ job in the neighbourhood , and save 2 hours of daily commute !


I am glad that after waiting for 13 years , Google is finally appreciating what I offered to its then Country Manager , Shri Ashish Kashyap , in my letter dated Dec  31 , 2005


{ Read :




I have no idea if Shri Kashyap ever got to read my letter , but I am hoping Shri Sundar Pichai [ CEO – Google ] , found time to read my following e mail :


Challenges Worthy of Google ?  [  05  Jan  2017  ]


01       June  2018



Wednesday 30 May 2018

#BHIM #MobileWallet #DigitalIndia


BHIM   will  recognize  you



Following news appeared in DNA ( 31 May 2018 ) :




Extract :
Currently, users need to enter a UPI PIN created by them for enabling transactions. The new feature of voice recognition will be available in addition to PIN option, giving users another secure way of managing the application, a senior government official told DNA Money.
This will also improve ease of using the digital payment app as it will be convenient for many to use their voice as the password.


BACKGROUND 

On 16-Jun-2017, at 12:39 PM, Hemen Parekh <hcp@recruitguru.com> wrote:

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

Dear Shri Hota :


Just read your views in Eco Times (13 June / Start Ups and the Sarkar ), where you say,


“ We are very happy with Start Ups


Post BHIM we have decided as a policy to work with Start Ups in developing new products and applications to enhance the payments eco-system “




Could the next improvement in BHIM , be a “ Voice Activated “ version ( BHIM V 4.0 ) , as described in :


·         BHIM , the Unstoppable  [  14  April  2017  ]


This breakthrough will enable millions of illiterate / rural Indians to start using BHIM


Earlier , I have penned my suggestions in :


·         Let  BHIM  get  MAD      [  21  May  2017  ]


·         A  Beerud  named  BHIM  ?  [  17  April  2017  ]



With Regards,


hemen  parekh 




Shri Hota replied as follows :

Fri 16-06-2017 16:06
Re: BHIM V 4.0
Contact NPCI Contact@npci.org.in  ;  Vishal Anand Kanvaty vishal.kanvaty@npci.org.in


Thank you Hemen ji. 

Vishal, our SVP product Development will get in touch with you. 

Hota

Sent from my iPhone



This was followed by :

Aseem Chaturvedi   aseem.chaturvedi@npci.org.in
Sun  18-06-2017  22:18
--------------------------------
Dear Hemen

Thanks a lot for your mail. This is Aseem  from BHIM team . Is it possible for us to connect in the coming week at a mutually convenient time ?

Best Regards

Aseem Chaturvedi

UPI Products

National Payments Corporation of India

Contact:  8879772834 ;  My VPA : aseemchat@ybl ,  aseemchat@upi


Dear Aseem :

Thanks for implementing the first part of what we discussed in your office last June

I hope the rest of the features mentioned in my blogs will follows soon , considering that Google TEZ / PayTM are making huge strides and WhatsApp mobile wallet is about to launch 



31  May  2018


Sunday 27 May 2018

Floating Island Nation ?





Yes , and two years ago , I had even named it  :



United States of Migrants  [  25  April  2016  ]





From following news report , it seems I was not far off !








Extract :


The Floating Island Project is a very real collaboration between the Seasteading Institute and Blue Frontiers


The team hopes to launch the first settlement by 2020, as Futurism previously reported.


In an interview with CNBC, Nathalie Mezza-Garcia –researcher for the Floating Island Project – spoke about the project’s goals to create hundreds of floating island-nations, where people could live by whatever rules they so please. 


Other goals include: 


housing refugees who are displaced as climate change gives rise to higher sea levels, enriching the poor, curing the sick, feeding the hungry, living in balance with nature, and powering the world.


 

Related  reading :


Not So far - fetched , After all !  ( 02 Feb 2017 )





Past-ly Jest : presently Just ?  (  24  Feb  2018  )





28  May  2018







Chat : as in Interview Questions / Answers ?






Just read in my mail box the following from Amazon Echo newsletter :





What’s new with Alexa?

THINGS TO TRY

 

"Alexa, let's chat."

The 2018 Alexa Prize socialbots are live ! Start a conversation today




Apparently, Alexa read my 2 month old blog !



[  For more on how Alexa snoops on its users, read :



About 2 months ago , I wrote :





“ How long before some smart Indian Start Up , comes up with a “ Voice  App “ which turns on its head , the  current role of Alexa to provide answers to questions / commands of the owner ?


How long before you tell Alexa :


“ Alexa , can you ask me  interview questions for the job of a BUSINESS ANALYST ? “



And , not only will Alexa ,


·         shoot off those questions from its vast database of Interview Questions


·         listen and record your answers  ( “ Speech – to – Text “ conversion database )


·         tell you your “ Raw Score “ and “ Percentile Score “


·         advise you of a few , most suitable job-vacancies ( picked up from job portals ) ,


          based on matching of your “ Skills – Domain Knowledge “ with “ job description “



·         and if you say , “ go ahead and apply “, also email your resume ( with the score ) to
          the concerned job-advertiser !





And who knows . how long before Alexa can turn itself into a “ Candidate Bot “ ( an avatar of the candidate ) and even appear for that job interview on your behalf  !


( ala  https://oben.me/  )





It is only a matter of few months that you won’t need a separate ( - and expensive ) device called Alexa ECHO



Every smart phone will morph into an Alexa ( or a SIRI / CORTANA / GOOGLE MINI )



May be even that “ feature phone “ of Reliance Jio  !



Those phones will start “ interviewing “ millions of jobless / unemployed around the world



I believe , having launched “ Google Job Search “ , Google will win this race



But here is a niche ( and lucrative ) market for Alexa



Possibly ONE billion ( out of 7 billion ) people on earth are OLD ( above 60 ) and LONELY
VERY LONELY and depressed



They desperately need to “ Chat “ with someone – anyone , even a device !



Can Alexa keep them company by listening / sympathizing / chatting , as envisaged in :




Share  Your  Soul  [  24  July  2016  ]




Let no one doubt whether Alexa has read my blog !



To know how this will shape up , read :





28  May  2018