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

Saturday 6 September 2014

" COMPOSE MESSAGE " page


Shuklendu


This is further to our telecon yesterday

In the evening , I mentioned to Vishesh re our attempts to embed a video into the text of the message

He pointed out 2 things :

>  Video will make the message " heavy " and email will take a long time to get transmitted ( this is something that I have experienced )

>  But what could be far worse is that , such an email ( containing a video ) is quite likely to be treated as " spam " and dumped into junk email folder - unlikely to be ever opened

If you too agree with these observations then , it is not too late to reverse / modify our decision  !

We have following options :

>  Forget about the video altogether ( just provide for embedding photo / image etc into the text )

>  Make provision for " attaching " a video with an appropriate warning that this may go to junk folder  !

I would appreciate if you could discuss this with Nitin and then convey to me your decision


If you decide to drop the video altogether , when can Satish upload the remaining changes ?


These changes are :


*  Any casual visitor being able to compose a message and be able to download the same ( which will carry a watermark )

*  Search-bar , to type a keyword and click either of the buttons , " Show Images "   / " Show Clip-Art "

*  Display of search-results and ability to copy/paste ( into the Message Text ) , any photo / image

*  Anything else ? You may want to refer to my handwritten notes / earlier emails

hcp

Friday 1 August 2014

A TALE OF TWO BETRAYALS

*  Betrayal by Central Government ( really , by BJP )


    Central Government decided not to cover political parties under RTI act - which was a BJP promise during elections



*  Betrayal by the Supreme Court


    SC declined not to have FAST TRACK courts for trying - and completing within ONE year - court cases pending against MPs and MLAs

    But , if Modi means what he said , both during election campaign and in Lok Sabha , he can most certainly find a way to create 15/20 Special Courts ( to be named , " Legislator's Court " ?  ) , which will hear these cases on a day-to-day basis


*   hemen   parekh  (  02 Aug 2014 )

Monday 14 July 2014

The Ultimate Business Marketing Tool

The Ultimate Business Marketing Tool



The rules of Ad Industry are about to change !



Small Businesses around the World will now be able to reach out to their potential Clients , inexpensively



B2B will expand International Trade



As more and more Organizations join up , more will benefit due to principle of Network Externalities



hemen parekh

Sunday 13 July 2014

The ultimate Business Marketing Tool


 is the ultimate Business Marketing Tool

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For all Socially Networked :



Go to : http://www.Wolframalpha.com/

Type : Facebook Report

Click : " Analyze My Facebook Data "

Next : Authorise the App

Next : Register as WolframAlpha user

Next : Wonder , " What is all this about ? "

But it is FUN  !

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

hemen  parekh  (  14  July  2014  )

Monday 7 July 2014

Central Budget : 2014



Dear Shri Arun Jaitleyji,

Even as you proceed to present Central Budget to Lok Sabha on 10 July 2014 , please look out the window of your car and see the " Poor " people on Delhi's footpath

Then , like Mahatma Gandhi ask yourself,

"  Whatever budget proposals that I am about to present , will these bring a smile to the faces of these poor  ?

363 million poor Indians , who eke out a survival on expenditure of Rs 32 ( rural ) or Rs 47 ( urban ) per day  ?  (  $0.5 - 0.8 / day  )

For a family of 4 , that works out to , Rs 3840  -  Rs 5640 per month
(  $ 64  -  $ 94 per month )

May be the head of the family manages to earn Rs 2,000 per month , doing odd jobs , here and there

The rest of the income must be coming thru ,

*  Wife scavenging the garbage heaps for discarded plastic bags / bottles
   ( when she is not salvaging discarded food  !  )

*  Children begging on the streets ( you will see them as you drive to Lok Sabha )


Now if,

*   Our population keeps growing at 15 million per year

*   Inflation keeps rising at 10 % per year, necessitating raising " Poverty
     Limit " by 10 % per year

Then ,


*   How many more people will get added to "Poor "population, every year ?
May be 5-7 million/year  ?  25-35 million by 2019 ? Taking the total to 400 million  ?


Mr Jaitley ,

Can you listen to their anguished cries ?

They are " begging " you to create jobs for them , so that they can work hard and earn an honest / decent income , which can lift them above that wretched " Poverty Line "

They don't want your dole-outs / subsidies for food / LPG / Kerosene etc  !

They don't want to remain dependent on Sarkaar - Maa Baap , for ever  !

Sir ,


Can you ( ie Central Government ) give them jobs ? To even 50 million / year  ?

Assuming that creating ONE job calls for an investment ( in fixed assets + working capital ) , of Rs 1 million ( Rs 10 lakhs ) , you need,

* Rs 50 MILLION * MILLION , every year  !

And  YOU  just don't have that kind of money  !

Even as  { Rs 500 MILLION * MILLION  }  of Black Money is locked up in un-productive assets , all over the country  !

The only way you can create those 50 million jobs / year , is to enable these Black Monies to turn into WHITE MONEY and get channeled into Infrastructure / Manufacturing / Services etc

And the only way you can do is to ,

*  Introduce Amnesty Scheme   ( now / immediately )

*  Introduce INVERSE TAX REGIME  ( in 2015 Budget )

I have sent these proposals to Shri Narendra Modi / Shri Murli Manohar Joshi / Shri Nitin Gadkari etc , during the past 8 months


*  hemen  parekh  ( 08 July 2014 / Mumbai )  

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

Make    Yourself    Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

(  Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :


    narendramodi1234@gmail.com; 38ashokroad@gmail.com;ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in; jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in;piyush.goyal@gov.in;nitin.gadkari@nic.in; spprabhu1@rediffmail.com;bandaru@sansad.nic.in;smritizirani@nic.in;nsitharaman@nic.in; ravis@sansad.nic.in;sureshprabhu@irctc.co.in;prakash.j@sansad.nic.in;secy-ipp@nic.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; shaktikanta.das@nic.in; rsecy@nic.in; adhia1981@gmail.com; ceo-niti@nic.in; atul-chaturvedi@nic.in; uma.bharati@sansad.nic.in; d.pradhan@sansad.nic.in; rprudy.office@gmail.com; rudypr@rediffmail.com; eam@mea.gov.in; mosvks@mea.gov.in; mvnaidu@sansad.nic.in; mnaqvi@sansad.nic.in; rao.inderjit@sansad.nic.in; mljoffice@gov.in; sadananda.gowda@sansad.nic.in; ministerminority@gov.in; najmah@sansad.nic.in; minister-ca@nic.in; ramvilas.paswan@sansad.nic.in; gandhim@sansad.nic.in; akumar-alpha@sansad.nic.in; jpnadda@sansad.nic.in; hm.moca@nic.in; geete@sansad.nic.in; simratbadal@yahoo.com; ns.tomar@nic.in; rmsingh@sansad.nic.in; tc.gehlot@sansad.nic.in; dr.harshvardhan@sansad.nic.in   





       

Sunday 6 July 2014

The Invisible Corruption



Why invisible  ?

Because it is cleverly camouflaged in the " Terms of Contract " that companies sign with Central Government / State Governments / Municipal Corporations / umpteen Government Agencies

This invisible corruption is rampant in Infrastructure Projects that get spread over months / years

And every possible trick / excuse ( officially called " Reasons " ) is used to ensure that these Projects get delayed as much as possible !

Examine carefully and you will find that the more a Project  gets delayed , the more that Contractor stands to gain ! Anyone believing otherwise , has got to be naive  !

How  ?

These contracts contain " Cost Escalation Clauses " which decide the extra / additional amounts payable to the Contractor , over and above the ( so called ) " Fixed Price " quoted at the time of tendering

Under these clauses , the Contractor is eligible to claim / demand extra payments , whenever

*  SOMETHING  HAPPENS

   - costs of certain " Inputs " go up above a certain agreed level , eg :

    #  Prices of Raw Materials
    #  Prices of Water / Gas / Electricity
    #  Cost of Labor
    #   Foreign Exchange Rate
    #   Consumer Price Index
    #   Interest Rate

    If any of these go up above certain agreed levels , the quoted price to go up by X/Y/Z amount , as per the Formula which determines the % age contribution of these elements , in the quoted price

*  SOMETHING  DOES  NOT  HAPPEN

   #  Environment Clearance for the Project
   #  Land acquisition and Handover to Contractor
   #  Hundreds of permissions from dozens of Govt Depts/Muni Corporations
   #  Issue of Import Licenses
   #  Release of Foreign Exchange
   #  Issue of NOC from umpteen departments
   #  Issue of Compliance Certificates from various departments
   #  Approval of Designs / Design Change Requests ( from Govt as well )
  

If any of these are NOT issued / given by certain " Dates "  ( very easily managed  !  ) , then the quoted price to go up by X / Y / Z  amount

Invariably , these clauses are heavily  tilted in favor of the Contractor

And equally invariably , colluding Government officers / bureaucrats / politicians , responsible for drafting / approving these " Clauses " , leave them vague !

This is apart from framing the Tender Specifications in such a manner that only a certain preferred bidder will qualify !

If you doubt what I have said , then just file a RTI application , asking for a copy of,

*  Original Tender Document
*  Final Contract
*  Number of Price Revision Requests received / granted

for any project of your choice  !

If Narendra Modi is keen to reduce corruption , he should start by instituting MODEL  INFRASTRUCTURE  PROJECT  CONTRACT , which clearly spells out what price / time revisions can be granted and when

At the same time , internally , there must be a provision for DEMOTION / PENALTY for those officers who fail to give permissions / approvals / NOC etc, on specified dates ( milestones for the project )


*  hemen  parekh  (  07  July  2014  /  Mumbai  )

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

Make    Yourself    Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

(  Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :


    narendramodi1234@gmail.com; 38ashokroad@gmail.com;ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in; jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in;piyush.goyal@gov.in;nitin.gadkari@nic.in; spprabhu1@rediffmail.com;bandaru@sansad.nic.in;smritizirani@nic.in;nsitharaman@nic.in; ravis@sansad.nic.in;sureshprabhu@irctc.co.in;prakash.j@sansad.nic.in;secy-ipp@nic.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; shaktikanta.das@nic.in; rsecy@nic.in; adhia1981@gmail.com; ceo-niti@nic.in; atul-chaturvedi@nic.in; uma.bharati@sansad.nic.in; d.pradhan@sansad.nic.in; rprudy.office@gmail.com; rudypr@rediffmail.com; eam@mea.gov.in; mosvks@mea.gov.in; mvnaidu@sansad.nic.in; mnaqvi@sansad.nic.in; rao.inderjit@sansad.nic.in; mljoffice@gov.in; sadananda.gowda@sansad.nic.in; ministerminority@gov.in; najmah@sansad.nic.in; minister-ca@nic.in; ramvilas.paswan@sansad.nic.in; gandhim@sansad.nic.in; akumar-alpha@sansad.nic.in; jpnadda@sansad.nic.in; hm.moca@nic.in; geete@sansad.nic.in; simratbadal@yahoo.com; ns.tomar@nic.in; rmsingh@sansad.nic.in; tc.gehlot@sansad.nic.in; dr.harshvardhan@sansad.nic.in   


     





Saturday 28 June 2014

A Threat or an Opportunity ?



Unemployment in 17 countries of Euro Zone is climbing steadily over the years


Before the financial crisis of 2008 , it was 7.5 %


In April 2014 , it reached 12.2 % , with 19.38 million unemployed ( out of a population of about 330 million )


By Dec 2014 , it is expected to reach 20 million


Country-wise figures are as follows :



---------------------------------------------
Country                    % age Unemployed 
               Youth % ( 16-25 Years )
-----------------------------------------------------------

 Greece  ................   
27...........................................   62.5

 Spain   ..................  26.8.......................................    56.4

Portugal  ................  17.8  ......................................   42.5

Italy  ...................... 12  .........................................   40.5

Netherland ..............  6.5  ......................................    10.6

Austria  ................... 4.9  ........................................   8.0

Germany  .............    5.4  .........................................  7.5


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

What does this mean to India  ?


*   If their own economies do not expand fast enough ( highly unlikely , in short term ) , to absorb their own jobless citizens , would these countries try to aggressively " export " their goods and services to developing countries like India  ?

That might affect our own employment  !


*    Should India open up its market to these countries ( FDI etc ) , in return for their agreeing  to liberal / unrestricted, import of Indian goods and services ?



Considering that NaMo is ,


*  an OPTIMIST ( remember , " glass half full with water and half full with air " ? ),

*  an astute Gujju businessman ,


I am sure , he will find means to exploit this situation to India's advantage  !


*   hemen  parekh  (  29  June  2014  /  Mumbai  )

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

Make    Yourself    Heard

Dear Visitor :

It is time for YOU to speak up - and demand that YOU are heard

By emailing this suggestion - incorporating your OWN improvements - to the following Policy Makers

(  Just multiple copy all the following Email IDs into the Recipient column of your Outlook and Copy / paste this suggestion in the Message Box ) :


    narendramodi1234@gmail.com; 38ashokroad@gmail.com;ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in; jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in;piyush.goyal@gov.in;nitin.gadkari@nic.in; spprabhu1@rediffmail.com;bandaru@sansad.nic.in;smritizirani@nic.in;nsitharaman@nic.in; ravis@sansad.nic.in;sureshprabhu@irctc.co.in;prakash.j@sansad.nic.in;secy-ipp@nic.in; amitabh.kant@nic.in; shaktikanta.das@nic.in; rsecy@nic.in; adhia1981@gmail.com; ceo-niti@nic.in; atul-chaturvedi@nic.in; uma.bharati@sansad.nic.in; d.pradhan@sansad.nic.in; rprudy.office@gmail.com; rudypr@rediffmail.com; eam@mea.gov.in; mosvks@mea.gov.in; mvnaidu@sansad.nic.in; mnaqvi@sansad.nic.in; rao.inderjit@sansad.nic.in; mljoffice@gov.in; sadananda.gowda@sansad.nic.in; ministerminority@gov.in; najmah@sansad.nic.in; minister-ca@nic.in; ramvilas.paswan@sansad.nic.in; gandhim@sansad.nic.in; akumar-alpha@sansad.nic.in; jpnadda@sansad.nic.in; hm.moca@nic.in; geete@sansad.nic.in; simratbadal@yahoo.com; ns.tomar@nic.in; rmsingh@sansad.nic.in; tc.gehlot@sansad.nic.in; dr.harshvardhan@sansad.nic.in