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

Friday, March 20, 2020

SUICIDE MISSION - a Harakiri !

As far as the onslaught of Covid-19 is concerned , so far we have been lucky And that is what worries our PM Shri Modiji ! He is, rightly worried that this low incidence will make us complacent Also, equally rightly, he compares this as a GLOBAL WAR , which must be fought unitedly But, to fight a WAR , we need WEAPONS - technological weapons In this blog / email, I have described some of these weapons , which are, either already available or capable of being developed by our Scientists in short time We need to make available these weapons to those brave soldiers - not simply express our gratitude by clapping / ringing bells at 5 pm on 22 March ! We must not send them on a SUICIDE MISSION - a Harakiri ! I urge Dr HarshVardhan to urge our Scientists / Geeks to rise to the occasion MYBLOGEPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM Sankalp – Sanyanm – Shastra

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Corona Virus ?

Can we find courage to : > Take whatever urgent ( and , may be temporary ) steps are needed to contain the spread of Corona Virus ? > Think of turning this threat into an OPPORTUNITY to push through REFORMS , which will strengthen the very foundation, not only of our HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, but also of our ECONOMY ? And I don't mean handing out cheques to our citizen ( as being contemplated in USA ) Can we look forward to hear PM Shri Modiji announce some of the suggestions listed here , in his address to the nation today evening at 8 PM ? I am sending this blog to him ( through E Mail ) , hoping that he does ! MYBLOGEPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Civic whip in Mumbai: Offices ordered to work at 50% of capacity

17 March 2020 News : Civic whip in Mumbai: Offices ordered to work at 50% of capacity Read more at: https://lnkd.in/gHEu7PA ======================= But of course, Government / MCGM , have no means to monitor the actual " attendance " ( vis-a-vis the full employee strength ) in thousands of offices - even assuming that there is a perfect / clear understanding by the office-owners and the MCGM staff , re what constitutes " non - essential services " And since this order covers only " OFFICES " , it is also a debatable issue in respect of " offices " which are attached to " FACTORIES " . Employers may even ask office staff to shift and continue working from such " Attached Offices " Whereas such an order might serve as an immediate response to a crisis situation, we need to implement some permanent / long-term solution ( for monitoring attendance ) , as done by : MAD goes to Mandi [ 02 Jan 2020 ] https://lnkd.in/gYFxSNf ------------

how long will it

Here is a math problem for your 8th standard daughter ( who is at home since schools are closed due to Corona Virus ) to solve : > If it take 4 weeks to test 9,100 persons for corona virus , how long will it take to test 1,000,000 persons ? And a problem for YOU : > From among 1370 million Indian Citizen , how would you identify those 1 million who are running HIGH BODY TEMPERATURE - and, therefore qualify for use of 1 MILLION imported TEST KITS ? For answer ( to your question - not to your daughter's , which stumps me ! ), read : MYBLOGEPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM Corona Virus Testing Capacity

Monday, March 16, 2020

SAVED LIVES !

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Quantum Computing / you-name-it , all are being employed to find a solution to the scourge of Corona Virus Research Labs of Pharma Companies / Disease Control Centers / Health Organization ( WHO ) / Universities etc , are going all out to find vaccines Here is my suggestion of how a TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTION ( within easy grasp ) can contribute to this world-wide campaign I urge Dr HarshVardhan to dial Shri S N Subramaniam ( MD - L&T / ) for this challenge which will unite the entire world PM Shri Modiji has offered $ 10 million towards a fund to fight Corona My suggestion will convert those dollars into thousands of SAVED LIVES ! MYBLOGEPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM Marriage of Technologies to contain Corona ? Yes !

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Without doubt, it can !

15 Mar 2020 Dear Executive Search Professionals, Can AI help you decipher a candidate's RESUME ? Without doubt, it can ! Some 17 years ago ,here is how I described : Self Learning Software [ 05 Sept 2003 ] https://lnkd.in/guMH58F AND, GURU MATCH ALGORITHM [ 17 Oct 2006 ] https://lnkd.in/g7Guhp2 ============================ 17 years later , some software geeks ( I know nothing about coding ), published following article : " We Asked an A.I. to Write a Column for Us. The Results Were Wild." [ https://lnkd.in/g-F6UU5 ] Extract : > We give the algorithm a sentence from a real OneZero article (you’ll see them below in bold), and the algorithm iteratively generates what it thinks the next word should be. GPT-2 learned which words often follow other words by analyzing a dataset of 8 million webpages. We’re calling this project GPT-210. ( Get it? ) ==================================

Tweak CAA rules to include Shah’s NPR assurance: Activists

15 Mar 2020 News : Tweak CAA rules to include Shah’s NPR assurance: Activists https://lnkd.in/grx8z5g ===================== Read "clause by clause " tweaking that Shri Amitbhai Shahji , may want to consider : CAA Compromise : With Malice towards None https://lnkd.in/fN-dQji =============

Maharashtra to make 80% jobs for locals in pvt sector mandatory

15 March 2020 News : Maharashtra to make 80% jobs for locals in pvt sector mandatory Read more at: https://lnkd.in/grpxM7W ============== By passing such a law, Shiv Sena / NCP , want to fulfill their election manifesto promise It is argued that Andhra already has such a law and MP is planning something similar Just imagine if ALL of our States were to pass similar laws ! We would cease to be INDIA and become : > INDIAN UNION ( ala European Union ) > FEDERAL UNION of DEMOCRATIC INDIA ( FUDI ) > UNION of INDIAN SOCIALIST REPUBLIC ( ala USSR ) > UNITED STATES of INDIA ( ala USA ) > GREATER INDIA ( ala UK ) Who knows, someday , each of our States may want to issue VISA for entry by citizen of other States ! I cannot escape the feeling that such a law will hasten remote " Working from Home [ WFH ] " , using Video-conferencing / Internet / VPN etc - and help contain spread of Corona Virus ! Read : Opportunity in Adversity ? https://lnkd.in/gZgVnkq

Democracy does work but rather slowly

Yes, Democracy does work but rather slowly For getting a consensus , do we always have to pay a price in terms of TIME ? We are not THE ONLY democratic country . There are many others But they manage to reach that consensus within months which takes us YEARS - sometimes , never ! So , as you can see, the fault does not lie with the system of governance It lies with the " Honesty of Purpose " on the part of the politicians concerned These days, some people are blaming the Government for sabotaging the democratic institutions But then, no institution can perform / deliver , if on the part of the members of that institution, there is little willingness to patiently/dispassionately listen to the views of others - and none to compromise ( give and take ) in larger interest of the country May be following was an exception !

Saturday, March 14, 2020

Work from Home

To prevent the spread of Corona Virus, in the past few days, Chief Ministers of State after State , are : > Ordering shutting down of public places > Exhorting businesses / industries to let their employees " Work from Home " , using Internet / Video-Conferencing / VPN etc What however no State Chief Minister can do is to announce a : " Work from Home " Policy Frame-work, which would turn a corner of home of every UNEMPLOYED youth , into a " DISTRIBUTED BPO ", using VPN and with Direct Transfer of Subsidy ( DBT ) , to the youths - instead of the Rs 1 LAKH per seat subsidy to the BPO owner Over the past 4 years, some 29,000 Startups have registered If, on average, each employs 10 persons, that amounts to 290,000 in 4 years My suggestion [ of " Work from Home " BPO ] can create 5 million jobs EVERY YEAR ! It is an OPPORTUNITY that I hope , NDA government will not miss ! If $ 5 Trillion economy ( by 2024 ) is like " Building Castles in the Sky ", then my suggestion is the FOUNDATION ! MYBLOGEPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM Permission to create jobs ?

Friday, March 13, 2020

CoronaVirus into an OPPORTUNITY for giving a massive lift to its ECONOMY

Can India turn THREAT of CoronaVirus into an OPPORTUNITY for giving a massive lift to its ECONOMY ? Yes, it can if our politicians stop mud-slinging for just one day , and work together to defeat a COMMON ENEMY ? And that common enemy is not an externally invading CoronaVirus ! It is an internal enemy called : Lust for Power / Power at the cost of Public If we miss this opportunity to UNITE once again ( last time being QUIT INDIA movement to throw out the BRITISH ), then history will never forgive us ! Here are the STRUCTURAL REFORMS that could well be : The Magic Wand MYBLOGEPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM Opportunity in Adversity ?

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Job - Candidate Assessment

Dear Recruiter In my yesterday's post , I talked about GRAPHICAL PROFILES of a Job-seeker , generated when he submitted his RESUME on ( now de-hosted ) job portal ...www.IndiaRecruiter.net What are these Profiles ? # Skills Profile ( 3 Main Skills of the Candidate ) # Project Profile # Salary Profile # Tenure Profile # Career Profile # Education Profile What does these profiles tell you about that candidate ? You will be amazed when you go back 13 years , by clicking : "Job - Candidate Assessment " made easy https://lnkd.in/fRAwSsD

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

GRAPHICAL PROFILES

Some 13 years ago , I had launched a job-portal , www.IndiaRecruiter.net ( now de-hosted ) As soon as a Job-seeker posted his resume on this site , it got instantly converted into 8 / 9 GRAPHICAL PROFILES , showing his relative position among all similar job-seekers , registered on this portal Executive Search professionals may wish , LinkedIn provided a similar feature ! Look up : Unanswered Questions https://lnkd.in/f2F9mW7

Monday, March 9, 2020

Reliance Jio develops in-house 5G tech to reduce costs

09 Mar 2020 News: Reliance Jio develops in-house 5G tech to reduce costs Read more at: https://lnkd.in/fvKChMB ------------------ At 41st AGM , Mukesh Ambani said : Hence we will integrate the physical and digital market places in a uniquely collaborative Bharat – India Jodo enterprise “ [ source : Reliance Juggernaut Rolls ! / 06 July 2018 ] https://lnkd.in/fXNSxVT

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Forces Shaping Indian Retail's New Decade

08 March 2020 Today's Times of India carries an info-graphic ( under section " Startup Stories " ), titled : " Forces Shaping Indian Retail's New Decade " It lists following trends : > Digital Consumer Journeys ( Bio-metric Payments, AR based product trials ) > AI at scale ( Inventory Management, assortment planning ) > Digital Supply Chain ( Schedule Optimization, Replenishment Planning ) > Automation of Operations using Robotics ( In-Store stocking, Last mile delivery ) > Technology-driven Staff enablement ( VR assisted training , mobile POS ) How Reliance Retail is implementing all of the above , is explained in this blog MYBLOGEPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM Jumping onto Reliance Retail Bandwagon

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Robot analysts are better than humans at picking stocks, a new study found

07 March 2020 News : Robot analysts are better than humans at picking stocks, a new study found https://lnkd.in/f5SshXR ---------------------------------------- Extract : It found that portfolios based on the buy recommendations of robo-analysts outperformed those of human analysts, suggesting robo-analysts' buy recommendations are more profitable. ------------------------------------------- From my blog ( A Matter of Time / 03 Jan 2017 ) https://lnkd.in/fvzEgnx Wallet based algorithm will move funds across different bank accounts for best yield , constantly searching for best interest rates offered by banks on Fixed Deposits This will happen automatically , much like algorithm-based share trading , taking advantage of price differences in two bourses located 300 km apart ( in one thousandths of a second ! ) No rocket science here considering availability of " BEST PRICE " apps for thousands of goods and services And since computing power of mobiles are doubling every 18 months ( Moore's Law ), nothing will stop algo-trading through a Mobile Wallet , as well ! ( Demat A/C on Wallet ? )

Friday, March 6, 2020

Recruiters threatened by AI ?

06 Mar 2020 News: Tribal kids of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar learn from their new teacher Alexa https://lnkd.in/f-Mz5-E --------------- Extract ; For tribal children of about 40 primary schools in Maoist infested Bastar district, Alexa is their new “teacher”. A teacher who answers every question, which tribal children ask out of curiosity- from the number of states in India to the weather condition in Bastar Division. -------------------- Seems like Bastar is overtaking all the schools of India and catching up wit Finland , when it comes to ROBOTIC learning . Here is how : Recruiters threatened by AI ? [ 31 Mar 2018 ] https://lnkd.in/e9N6qCb Extract : “ Finish school employs a robot teacher fluent in 23 languages “ The robot recognises the pupil’s skill levels and adjusts its questions accordingly. It also gives feedback to teachers about a student’s possible problems.

The Commercial Capital " of India

Reason Mumbai is called , " The Commercial Capital " of India , is due to the fact that Maharashtra is the de-facto : Industry State of India Now new MVA government of Maharashtra is determined to make it, " Most Skilled and Self Employment State " of India As usual , Maharashtra takes the lead in solving the Un-Employment Issue Congratulations , Shri Uddhav Thackerayji ( ) MYBLOGEPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM Congratulations, Shri Ajit Pawar / Shri Nawab Malik

Thursday, March 5, 2020

SERVICE SECTOR

Today's newspapers report that the SERVICE SECTOR has recorded highest growth in the last quarter There is enough evidence to conclude that this came about due to rapid DIGITIZATION of our economy Other factors which could have helped this growth are : > As compared to the Manufacturing Sector, service sector is less capital-intensive > It is more Manpower-intensive ( of which, we have abundance ) But, in my opinion, we have barely touched the fringe of this sector Service Sector has tremendous potential and can create millions of jobs - and fairly fast In this blog / email , I have suggested an intervention ( by Shri RaviShankar Prasadji ) , to enable India realize its dream of : Jobs for All = Peace on Earth MYBLOGEPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM Caused by CoronaVirus ?

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Govt plans to change rules to make CCTVs mandatory in pvt buildings

04 Mar 2020 News : Govt plans to change rules to make CCTVs mandatory in pvt buildings https://lnkd.in/fnguABM ============= Extract : State home minister Anil Deshmukh informed the legislative Assembly on Tuesday that the government was planning to make changes to the building proposal rules to make installation of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras mandatory in all private buildings in Mumbai. He said it will help the government augment the network of CCTVs and control the crime rate “The government is looking to make changes to the building proposal rules to make installation of cameras within the premises of the existing and new buildings in the city. The cameras will be linked with the surveillance network of the police and help in reducing the crime rate, especially crimes against women,” he said. ==================== Maharashtra seems set to overtake China . Read : https://lnkd.in/fqvHD6h https://lnkd.in/fkw4fkJ https://lnkd.in/fz-ewuY

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Green for healthy: China divides nation with QR code

03 Mar 2020 News: Green for healthy: China divides nation with QR code Read more at: https://lnkd.in/fuyEXZQ -------------------- EXTRACT : China has begun a BOLD mass experiment in using data to regulate citizens' lives - by requiring them to use software on their smartphones that dictate whether they should e quarantined or allowed into subways, malls and other public spaces But an NYT analysis found that the system does more than decide , whether someone poses a contagion risk. It also appears to SHARE INFORMATION with police, setting a template for new forms of automated social control that could persist after the epidemic subsides ---------------------- Chinese Government could get away with this but if anything remotely similar was to be tried in democratic India, it would ( - and should ) be vehemently opposed , even if its objective is VASTLY BENEFICIAL for the citizens . It is therefore , of utmost importance that , before introducing the HEALTH DATA VAULT scheme, Government leaves " no stone unturned " to SELL it convincingly to our citizen . For details , read : Health Data Vault [ 16 July 2019 https://lnkd.in/fNUQkpW

Election Commission has informed the Government that it is not in favor of State Funding

03 Mar 2020 News: EC not in favour of state funding of elections Read more at: https://lnkd.in/fC6N6t2 -------------- EXTRACT : " The Election Commission has informed the Government that it is not in favor of State Funding as it will not be able to prohibit or check candidates' own expenditure or expenditure by oters , over and above that which is provided for by te state ", the Minister stated The Law Commission Report in 1999 said,state funding of elections was desirable provided that political parties are PROHIBITED from taking funds from other sources --------------------------------- Of course, there will be unforeseen problems when we try to implement ANY reform ! Should that FEAR ( of possible failure / shortcoming ) prevent us from undertaking this vital reform ( and root of many corrupt practices ) ? If there is a will ( on part of political parties - which I doubt ), here is a ( near ) FOOLPROOF method : Transparency in Political Funding ? [ 06 July 2017 ] https://lnkd.in/fnaebrH ----------------------

NPR FORM

They say : " It is not enough to be a fair / transparent and honest, you have to be perceived as one " Especially in the present case of NPR about which , there exists in the minds of citizen, a lot of distorted perceptions It won't help to keep shouting : Opposition is spreading false impression about NPR What will help is to go out among the citizen ( rallies at every street corner ? ) and say : " Ask me any question about any DATA FIELD of the NPR FORM - and I will explain to your satisfaction, why that information about YOU will be used to devise WHAT beneficial schemes for YOU " I have no doubt , this is the only way to get perceived RIGHT ! MYBLOGEPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM Better Late than Never

Monday, March 2, 2020

It pays to manage waste, find 9 south Mumbai societies

02 Mar 2020 News: It pays to manage waste, find 9 south Mumbai societies Read more at: https://lnkd.in/fHssQTF ------------------------------ Extract : Starting this month, nine housing societies in south Mumbai’ s D ward will qualify for a 10 % property tax rebate - 5 % for properly segregating their wet and dry waste and 5 % for COMPOSTING the wet garbage on their premises -------------------------- 10 % tax rebate ? Just not enough to motivate 50,000 Coop Hsg Societies of Mumbai ,which generate 8,000 tons of GARBAGE per day What ( rebate ) will motivate them ? " Towards installation of such plants , Municipality to give a discount of 25 % to the Society in monthly taxes , for a period of 5 years " For detailed proposal, read : Incentivize Housing Societies [ 27 April 2016 ] https://lnkd.in/fKr99Tc ================== I urge , Mr. Rajendra B. Jagtap, AE (SWM) D Ward 022-23861429 Extn 371 to consider my suggestion

Sunday, March 1, 2020

GLASS FULL of HOPE

A few years back, PM Shri Modi had said in a speech : " I am an optimist . I see a half filled glass as a GLASS FULL of HOPE " Currently when India is facing acute shortage of vital inputs from China suffering from Corona Virus, it is the RIGHT TIME ( - if it, ever is ! ), to implement my following suggestion I urge , both the NDA government - and the Opposition Parties - to stop mud-slinging at each other over CAA-NPR - NRC etc., and debate my suggestion It is time of a NATIONAL CHALLENGE and the world will be watching , how we stand up and face it, as one ! MYBLOGEPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM Making Best of Worst Times ? ( BLOG # 2,000 )

Saturday, February 29, 2020

ENEMY FROM WITHIN

When George Orwell wrote his famous book , " 1984 " , he did not imagine the ENEMY FROM WITHIN [ viz : HR Departments ? ] To my HR friends : You are innocent till proven guilty - no matter what pseudo-experts like me try to paint you as ! Still , this blog will help you start devising ways in which, you can protect the privacy / sanctity of the EMPLOYEE DATA , which your department has accumulated MYBLOGEPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM “ Employee Data “ is only a Subset !

Friday, February 28, 2020

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

For deciding which employee gets : > Promotion to next higher grade / level { Excellent Performance } > Double / Multiple " annual increment " in same grade { Good Performance } > Lump sum / one time , " Appreciation Amount " { Fair Performance } > His salary " frozen " at same level { Poor Performance } , HR managers ( with inputs from Performance Appraisal Forms filled in by Line Managers - with remarks re FEEDBACK given to an employee ) , will spend midnight oil during the month of March There are organizations which are so particular about this VITAL MANAGEMENT PROCESS , that they tell the line managers : " HR dept will not issue " Increment Letter " , unless it receives employee's PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL , latest by 15 March " I have a very strong feeling that , in a majority of the Organizations, this whole exercise becomes nothing more than a RITUAL to be gone through mechanically, in order to satisfy the dictate from HR department ! Those of you , who have a similar feeling , may find here, some clues on how to re-design this process in a way that satisfies, not only the BOSS but also the employee being appraised MYBLOGEPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM Performance Rating of Employees

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Is RIGHT TO LIVE , only YOUR exclusive , god-given prerogative ? "

Dear Shri Aditya Thackerayji, { } If you try to implement following REFORM , you are bound to face a lot of opposition from " vested interests " In that case , please ask those opposing : " If you think 3 lakh , unlicensed hawkers , should not be issued hawking licenses , are you ready to employ them ? Give them a paying job ? And , if you cannot employ them, do you want me to throw them out of Mumbai ? And, if we cannot throw them out, nor allow them to carry on hawking, do you want them - and their children - to die of starvation ? Is RIGHT TO LIVE , only YOUR exclusive , god-given prerogative ? " Dear Adityaji, This deserves higher priority than those multi-million dollar , Physical Infrastructure Projects , being implemented First of all , we need to build SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE projects - especially for self-employed without any Retirement Benefits MYBLOGEPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM BMC proposes : Hawkers will dispose ?

Tech will give Chair better grip on MPs

27 Feb 2020 News: Tech will give Chair better grip on MPs Read more at: https://lnkd.in/ffEfs2d ---------------------------- Extract : As per the plan, the digital audio visual system, which will be placed in front of every seat, will have programmable rules based microphones which will put the Speaker in control of who gets to speak and who doesn't .... will also include features such as biometric based digital voting mechanism..... none other than member assigned for a particular seat will be able to vote ---------------------------------- A welcome reform of the working of LokSabha But, a long way to go : Reforming Elections and Lok Sabha [ REaL ] ( 20 Dec 2016 ) https://lnkd.in/fqPt_iA