The Daily Indian

Taliban leaders have no immediate answer to President Hamid Karzai’s offer of talks with the Afghan government but will respond soon, a militant spokesman said on Friday, after Karzai invited them to a peace council.

In the country’s south, suicide attackers launched an assault in the capital of Helmand, Afghanistan’s most violent province, with gunmen holed up in three buildings, battling government and NATO troops who returned fire with helicopter strikes.

When the fighting stopped before dusk a Reuters reporter at the scene saw the bullet-riddled bodies of four gunmen dragged out of a building by Afghan troops and displayed in the street. Two of the dead gunmen wore police uniforms.

On Thursday, at a major conference on Afghanistan, Karzai set the framework for dialogue with Taliban leaders when he called on the Islamist group’s leadership to take part in a “loya jirga” — or large assembly of elders — to initiate peace talks.

A Taliban spokesman in Afghanistan declined to talk in detail about Karzai’s plans and only said the militants would make a decision “soon” about his offer.

“I cannot say a word regarding these peace talks. The Taliban leadership will soon decide whether to take part,” the spokesman, who uses the name Qari Mohammad Yousuf, said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Western countries have increasingly been supportive in public of moves to reach out to fighters to end the 8-year-old war. In an interview in the Financial Times earlier this week, the military commander of U.S. and NATO troops, General Stanley McChrystal, backed talking to some Taliban members.

The Taliban however have said repeatedly that negotiations with the Afghan government should only take place when foreign troops completely withdraw from Afghanistan.

In a statement issued during Thursday’s conference, the militants mocked McChrystal’s interview as evidence of Western military defeat and “psychological disease”, and repeated a longstanding rejection of any deal that included asylum abroad.

“The invaders think that the committed Mujahideen of Afghanistan are like their mercenary soldiers who lost their lives in mountains and deserts of Afghanistan for obtainment of a few dollars,” said the statement, posted in English at Taliban website alemarah.info.

“The fundamental solution of the tragedy of Afghanistan lies in withdrawal of the invading forces from Afghanistan.”

Nonetheless, in what U.S. officials called an encouraging sign, a big Pashtun tribe in east Afghanistan, the Shinwari, announced it would help the Afghan government fight the Taliban.

The tribe’s head, Malek Osman, said he would impose a fine on anyone in his district who worked with the Taliban, and urged one man of fighting age from each family to join the army or police.

I hope wives the world over realise that this actually holds true globally. All current talk about having a CEO who is different from the owner/Chairman is actually balderdash of the highest order

A Sandeep

The wife, that is! My cousin, married for two years, seemed totally flustered when he stormed into my office. “She drives me nuts,” he screamed, “and tries to dictate everything. I hate it! What the hell do I do man?” All this while, I had my malevolent love-guru yogi smile resplendently plastered on my face (see above). Twirling a pen, I calmly asked him, “Tell me, who pays for everything in the house?” “Of course me,” came the provoked answer. At that very moment, with a satisfied chuckle, I revealed the Bible of manhood to my man, “Then it’s very simple my friend. Go and tell her the golden rule of management. The one who pays is the one who rules. No questions about it, not in family, not in business! One company, one hero! Period!”

I hope wives the world over realise that this actually holds true globally. All current talk about having a CEO who is different from the owner/Chairman is actually balderdash of the highest order. The research is unquestionable. The classic paper titled Chairman and CEO — One Job or Two? by McKinsey’s Paul Coombes and Northwestern’s Simon C.Y. Wong proves how combining the two positions “empowers a chief executive to act decisively…” Nearly 80% of S&P 500 companies combine the two roles in one person (as per a McKinsey study) — a proportion that has barely changed in the past 15 years. The brilliantly well referred study (…The Separation of CEO and Chairman [positions]…) by Brickley (Rochester), Coles (Arizona) and Jarrell (Rochester) affirms how “Empirical evidence provides preliminary support for the hypothesis that the costs of separation [of the roles] are larger than the benefits for most firms.” Of course, Spencer-Stuart masterfully circumstantiates in its 2006 paper titled Board Governance that “splitting the roles of Chairman and CEO does not improve…the performance of the company. There is no evidence of economic gain…”

The splendid Christian & Timbers study, Rethinking the CEO-Chairman Split, shows how “stockholder returns were nearly 5% lower in European companies that implemented the split,” when compared with companies that hadn’t, and how in US, “returns were 4% lower in companies with a separate Chairman and CEO.” Booz Allen’s 2004 report titled The World’s Most Prominent Temp Workers nails it down that “separation of the roles of Chairman and CEO generally reduces returns to investors.” The final nail is driven in by Dr. M. Useem, Director of Wharton’s Center for Leadership & Change Management, who authoritatively states how “research has shown that the performance of US companies in which the Chairman and CEO positions are held by different people is no better than that of firms in which those posts are held by the same person.” From Michael Dell (Chairman, CEO, Dell) to Steve Jobs (Chairman, CEO, Apple), from Warren Buffet (Chairman, CEO, Berkshire) to Osamu Suzuki (Chairman, CEO, Suzuki), from L. N. Mittal (Chairman, CEO, Arcelor Mittal) to Mukesh Ambani (Chairman, MD, RIL), owners of outstanding corporations the world over have only one man running the show, themselves!!

Two hours after I had gloatingly packed off my ‘Chairman/CEO’ cousin – who left with newfound confidence to settle scores with his upstart wife — I received a mysterious text message from him. It cryptically read, “Thanks for your advice. I gave it off to her nicely; took your name too. She’s cool. I get to decide from now on what to eat, what to purchase, which channels to see… and where to stay. P.S: My wife conveyed your ‘conclusive’ research to her best friend — your wife — who suggested to me that you avoid returning home (I’m put up tonight at a hotel near the crossing; food’s cheap too).”

(A Sandeep is Editor of Planman Media)

The shocking revelations made by Indian Army to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence regarding the dismal level of preparedness of the army, shatters much of the faith that people of this country had on the ability of parliamentary democracy to take care of the defence preparedness. This issue of the lack of preparedness on the part of the army does not mean that the foot soldier in army is no more willing to sacrifice his life for his nation. Even today, he is as much committed to the cause of the nation as he has always been. But there is a limit to how much the commitment of the foot soldiers or their field commanders can essentially win wars for the nation unless they are given the right kind of weapons to fight with.

Unfortunately that decision regarding the urgency of the need of such requirements and to buy that at literally the speed of thought, cannot be taken by them or their superiors. That decision is at the discretion of the political leadership of the country and the bureaucracy. Often, irrespective of whosoever is in the ruling dispensation, the politico-bureaucracy class has little or no understanding of the warfare doctrines or strategies. And therefore, for silly reasons of propriety, geopolitical considerations and of course the corruption factor, decisions with respect to purchase of weapon systems move at the pace of the sloth. This problem gets aggravated by the fact that none from the politico-bureaucracy class or their progeny ever have to face the music of the advancing enemy. It would still be the ill-equipped foot soldier who would be asked to prove his patriotism and commitment to the call of duty while facing bullets. It would not be a botheration, if that foot soldier still continues to be lacking amenities as basic as knee and elbow guards, a bullet proof jacket which can thwart a bullet in reality and night vision goggles. It’s a shocker that India has not bought howitzers for two decades now, time since the Bofors scandal was exposed. The Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) deal is nowhere near completion till date. And the first plane from that would not arrive possibly before 2015. The army and the paramilitary continues to use vintage carbines and they have not yet been replaced. Shockingly most of the equipment, sought by the NSG after the 26/11, are still in the pipeline and there seems to be no urgency on the part of the government to take up these issues of acquisitions on a war footing. The case is the same with respect to LCA, IRBMs, purchase of combat and transport helicopters, anti-material guns and submarines. Incidentally, the trend is that successive governments have taken a lot of pride in cancelling defence deals in order to prove their credentials and devotion to the cause of propriety. It is not the propriety factor, which would come to the aid of India in case of a crisis, but the acquired equipments that would save the nation.

Not every minister is P Chidambaram. And thus, it is important for the bureaucracy to make sure that the foot soldier is not let down in the battle field. Unfortunately, the Indian bureaucracy especially the IAS officers have exemplified in their ineptness in handling defence and home ministries. What India needs today is a dedicated cadre who have been educated in military, conflict management and strategic studies to man the defence and home ministries. The need of the day is a new stream like Indian Defence Service on the lines of IFS or IRS. Unless that is done, the Indian foot soldier would continue to be an ill-equipped and dispensable commodity, always let down by the babus sitting in cosy offices.

On his first visit to Gujarat as BJP president, Nitin Gadkari today drew parallels between the Mahatma Gandhi and Narendra Modi, saying both believed that politics was an instrument to alleviate poverty.

Gadkari, whose visit coincides with the 61st death anniversary of Mahatma, also said that Gandhi and BJP’s founding father Deen Dayal Upadhyaya believed in the same ideals of national unity and equality.

“I am happy that I am at Mahatma Gandhi’s birthplace today and I also had the opportunity to unveil a statue of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. Both were men who thought national unity of foremost importance. Like him Gandhiji believed that politics should be used as a tool of socio-economic development and not as an instrument of power.

“Alleviating poverty should be the end of all politics and a living example of that ideal is Narendra Modi who is working tirelessly for the same goal,” Gadkari told reporters while inaugurating a special exhibition of sand sculptures depicting the life and values of the Mahatma.

Gadkari and Modi also attended the 34rth Garib Kaliyan Mela here and the Chief Minister said that as Gujarat celebrates its golden anniversary poverty alleviation is his prime goal. “We are providing relief worth 1500 crores to more than 50 lakh families through the Garib Kalyan programme.

I have taken it upon myself to organise 50 more melas,” said Modi. Earlier, both of them attended a prayer meeting at Kirti Mandir, Mahatma’’s birth place in Porbandar town.

The exhibition of sand sculpting has been organized with a theme of Gandhian values and Modi announced that it will be made into a annual event with next year’’s theme being ”Gandhi and the Environment”.

Contradicting his former captain Ian Chappell’s statement, Australian pace bowling great Dennis Lillee on Today said there was no reason why India cannot sustain their numero uno Test status.

“I don’t agree with Ian Chappel’s that India cannot sustain their number one status in Test cricket,” Lillee said.

“I don’t see a reason why India can’t sustain their position. At the moment India has a balanced attack. Sometimes it is not all about out and out fast bowling. Australia also lacks a genuine tearaway pacers. Except Dale Steyn there are not many bowlers who can be express and also deal with swing and seam,” he said.

Chappell had said recently said that it is unlikely that India will sustain their number one Test status as they quality bowling attack and batting alone cannot deliver the goods for them for a longer period.

But Lillee begs to differ with Chappell and said former India captain Kapil Dev is a classic example of what a fast bowler can do if he can exploit the conditions well enough.

“As long as the bowlers know what to do with the conditions, it should be fine. There is no greater example than Kapil Dev who got the job done irrespective of where he was operating (at home or overseas). I don’t agree with Ian’s (Chappell) take on India,” he said.

Lillee feels bowlers will always be under batsman’s mercy in Twenty20 cricket but those who have quality will denitely come good.

“When the format is truncated, the bowlers will obviously targeted more. It is not only with the fast bowlers, it applies to all types of bowlers.

“But Glen McGrath bowled brilliantly in the first edition of the IPL and Daniel Vettori has been good too. So it all boils downs to the quality,” he said.

He also said that he was not surprised at all by the growing popularity of Twenty20 cricket.

“People come in to see fast paced action. All they want is live entertainment of three hours like most other sports. T20 is turning out to be a good family outing. When WACA and Victoria had arranged a private game a few seasons back, it drew in a decent crowd. I was convinced on the format then,” Lillee said.

The Australian also said he was overwhelmed to see his name bestowed in the ICC Hall of Fame.

“On being inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame is a huge honour. It was an humbling experience as my name is alongside some of the players I grew up idolising. You never dream of these things when you grow up. I did not believe I would be seen in the same league as some of the names there,” Lillee said.

Trying to warm up to Mayawati, rebel SP leader Amar Singh today said the BSP supremo has proved herself against all odds and he can understand her “pain” when she was “humiliated” by Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Stating that he was not without alternatives, Singh, who has been sparring with his SP detractors ever since he quit key party posts, also heaped praise on Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Both Mayawati and Gandhi have “proved themselves against all odds”, Singh, who is under pressure to quit his Rajya Sabha seat, said.

“Both of them are political personalities in their own right. One lady has proved herself in the state of UP against all odds and the other has proved herself in the country against all odds,” Singh told CNN-IBN in an interview.

On Mayawati, he said, “Now I can sense her pain of the guest house episode,” while recalling the incident in which Samajwadi Party workers had surrounded the Uttar Pradesh State Guest House in Lucknow in 1995 and roughed her up after BSP had withdrawn support to the Mulayam Singh Yadav government. Reacting to Singh’s statement, SP spokesman and general secretary Mohan Singh said he is praising Mayawati and Gandhi because he has run out of options.

“I think after appreciating them, he will abuse them. To comment on that will be like getting fooled. There is a defect in his personality and this defect is not of today,” Mohan Singh said.

Singer Katy Perry was left red-faced after her producer hacked her Twitter account to post a series of embarrassing messages.

The ‘I Kissed A Girl’ hit-maker was stunned when she discovered Lukasz Gottwald, also known as Dr. Luke, had logged into her Twitter page and wrote obscene comments for all her friends and fans to see, reports starpulse.com.

Some of the posts read: ‘Is it normal to have the recurrent rash with blisters on my vagina???’ and ‘Oops I cr**ped my pants! It’s messy. What should I do?’

Perry reacted after realising she had been pranked and posted: ‘Hey stop! I leave my computer for one second. Stop hacking my Twitter.’

In high volatility, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex tumbled by 502 points, or 3%, this week on heavy selling after fears of tightening of monetary policy and regulations for US banks to invest in equities.

Worries of tightening of monetary policy reduced temporarily when the Reserve Bank of India left key interest rates unchanged while raising the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 75 basis points.

US President Barack Obama planned to curb risk taking by financial institutions, stunned markets by unveiling new rules for US banks that would restrict their size and prohibit them from certain business activities, a broker said.

The BSE benchmark Sensex fell below 16K-mark to 15,982.08 during the week, a level not seen since November 4, 2009. It ended at 16,357.96 as against last weekend’s level of 16,859.68, a net loss of 501.72 points or 2.98%.

The Sensex dropped by more than 1,196.34 points or 6.82% in the past two weeks.
The NSE 50-share Nifty also dipped by 153.95 points or 3.06% to end the week below 5K-mark at 4,882.05 as against last weekend’s level of 5,036.00.

Interest rate related counters from realty and auto were the worst hit by heavy sell-off, while metal stocks too bore the brunt of selling on fall in its prices at London Metal Exchange and reports that China would further cool down its economy with policy actions.

Toyota said its global safety withdrawal would take upto 1.8 million vehicles off Europe’s roads and rival Honda announced its own recall, placing the vaunted pedigree of Japan’s carmakers under fresh scrutiny.

The move by Honda, tipped to benefit from Toyota’s woes, came as suppliers, consumers and analysts weighed the financial impact on Toyota of its recall and its suspension of U.S. sales.

Toyota Motor Corp’s president, Akio Toyoda, has apologised for a recall of millions of the top automaker’s vehicles around the world, Japanese broadcaster NHK said on Saturday.

“We’re extremely sorry to have made customers uneasy,” Toyoda was quoted as telling NHK in an interview in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday.