100% switch to Electric Vehicles will not completely eliminate pollution, but it will surely greatly reduce it. A central large power source is far more efficient than thousands of small ones – for example, if all homes, instead of running on centrally supplied electricity, used individual petrol/diesel generators, pollution levels would be horrendous.

More public transport is a good thought but while it is not possible to change all mindsets in a few years and get people to give up personal transport, yet we can change to all EVs in just a few years

In India, the pressing problem is pollution caused by 2-wheelers

As per State pollution norms, 2-wheelers are allowed to emit CO% (3.5%) and HC (3000ppm) which is 10 to 15 times more than that allowed for cars (0.3 and 200). Even if fuel consumption of 2 wheelers is 3 to 4 times less than that that of cars, it still means that, for the same distance covered, a 2-wheelers pollutes at least 3 times more than a car

And with 2-wheeler sales being 7 to 8 times that of cars in India, it means 2-wheelers cause over 20 times more vehicular pollution than cars

Our focus needs to be on converting 2-wheelers to electric –

• increase subsidy from the current 20-25%,
• lower price of EVs by auditing manufacturers costs (why are prices so high? how much are raw material costs as % of selling price?),
• Lease batteries monthly to owners, reducing the up-front capital cost
• create infrastructure for charging in public parking spaces, dedicated for 2-wheelers which are parked stuck to each other, have less power needs, so 5 to 10 cables can be connected to one charging station
• make such charging free for next say 5 years

Disclosure: Palas makes EV charging Stations

Adults spend 1 to 4 hours a day looking at their mobile screens, so it is natural for small children to want to imitate their parents and use a phone or tab. Imitating is natural, and touch screen devices so ubiquitous, that it is only a matter of time before a child starts using them, copying all the adults Is it a good thing ?

Some parents give their children too much screen time, using their phone/tab as an electronic baby sitter –  Either the phone is given to distract the child while parents finish some “important” task, or to bribe the child – if you sit at the table quietly and eat your meal, you can play with the phone

On the other hand, totally banning screen time may only serve to increase desire to use a screen and feel like an “adult”, causing children to use devices surreptitiously, either their parents or others

A few parents permit restricted screen time, where the child is allowed to handle a phone for a short time or to watch TV under supervision. Some TV shows are indeed educational. But if the child uses the touchscreen simply to navigate from one movie/show  to the next, then it is being used just like a remote, and the interactive features of the touchscreen are not utilised

Is there another path ?

A touchscreen can be beneficial if it is used as the interactive device that it is – for example:

There are so many games played years ago that encouraged experiential learning – fit solid shapes into their holes, jigsaws, using an abacus, connect the dots, painting – almost all of these can be done easily on a touchscreen device. And since children get bored easily, simply add a new program. No problem about where to store “older” toys !

• show a red colour and ask the child to choose the name of the colour from a list
• visually explain the concept of numbers – drag and drop one marble at a time into the box, then after each drop ask them to choose how many marbles are in the box
• recognise shapes – drag a ball to a round hole, or a cube to a square hole, fit irregular shapes like jigsaws
• touch an animal or a musical instrument to hear what it sounds like
• live videos of a cow being milked, or a fish swimming or a bird flying in slow motion enable us to grasp quickly concepts that are difficult to explain on paper
• and many more

What is needed is a software app that, while enabled, prevents access to any other program on the phone/tab, and gives access to only interactive educational experiences developed specially for children. Or use a touchscreen tab loaded with no application except interactive educational software.

It is with profound regret we inform the untimely demise of our Mr. Uma Shankar Singh, Senior Customer Support Executive, based in Mumbai.

Uma passed away suddenly, a victim of COVID-19.

A fine person, efficient, dedicated, humble, Uma had an excellent relationship with customers, all of whom respected his knowledge and readiness to help. Uma had been with Palas for several years and will be deeply missed.

With regret
Rajiv Srivastava
Managing Director
Palas Software Pvt. Ltd.