Pran Kurup

Jerry Yang Steps Down

The stock market is relieved to see Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang step aside. It’s not in the least bit surprising. After turning down an offer from Microsoft at almost three times the current stock price, the only real surprise is that Jerry Yang survived this long!

The Yahoo! Board made a huge error in judgment by appointing Jerry as the CEO. Having been with the company since its inception and never having taken the job, its a clear sign that this was a job the Jerry never really cared for. In hindsight, when Terry Semel quit, it might have been far more prudent to name Jerry the interim CEO while continuing the search for a permanent CEO . This would have given both the Board and Jerry Yang a good chance to try and make some changes (or at least some plans) while the search was still on. Next, not making cuts sooner earned the wrath of Wall Street. Turning down the Microsoft offer simply made it worse. The “falling through” of the Google deal and the drop in the share price amidst the financial meltdown simply destroyed Jerry Yang’s hope of turning the company around.

Its sad to see Yahoo! struggle. Its even worse that it has a leadership crisis in the midst of these tough times. Will Microsoft (whose search strategy is yet to make a dent) step forward again given that it can possibly buy Yahoo at less than half its original offer?

Joe Lieberman Survives

Despite his extreme support for John McCain the Democratic party appears to have forgiven Joe Lieberman. After being the Veep nominee in 2000, Senator Lieberman has had quite a “ride” but appears to have survived. President-elect Obama is believed to have chosen not to “seek vengeance” and it appears as though the majority of the elected officials in his party have backed his stance despite their dislike for Senator Lieberman’s actions. The Democrats need every vote they can get, given that the filibuster proof 60 seats in the Senate is not likely at this point. Sen. Lieberman on the other hand wants to “hold on” to his Chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Govt. Affairs committee.

His survival does imply a marriage of convenience, but it most certainly an indication that the new President believes more in re-conciliation, than retribution and settling of scores. That in itself is a welcome, positive sign.

The GOP’s Soul Searching Exercise

Since the defeat in the recent US elections, the Republicans have returned to the drawing board to do some serious soul searching. Some Republicans prefer to use “math” to console themselves. Meanwhile, several young faces strive to jump to the top of the list for 2012 starting with recently transformed “media loving” Sarah Palin. The Democrats would simply love to see Sarah Palin as the future of the Republican party as there is no better way to further marginalize the GOP.

Thankfully, there are still a few sensible voices in the GOP who believe that its time to reach out to the moderates among electorate rather than let the GOP become a marginalized party of the social conservatives. Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota raised another very interesting point (in a veiled reference to the party’s obsession with Ronald Reagan) when he said “But Ronald Reagan was president a long time ago. A lot has happened since then.”

It will be interesting to see where the GOP heads in the months and years ahead. The party could chalk out a more sensible direction or simply hope that the Democrats stumble and self-destruct sometime over the next few years.

Dhoni Leads India’s Rise to the Top

It is not a mere coincidence that Dhoni lead India in both the Tests that India beat Australia in the recent cricket Test series. As one avid Indian supporter rightly said, “Dhoni made it happen”.

Dhoni has already displayed captaincy skills thus far not seen in Indian cricket. Comparing his captaincy style to that of Ganguly (as Dada says himself) would be a disservice to the young man. He absolutely leads from the front unlike most other Indian captains. In his short stint as captain he has shown repeatedly that he is different and far better than all those who have captained India in the recent past.

Here are a few of his moves that come to mind.

In the Mohali test, his decision to come in at number three and his ability to push the score along set the stage for India’s victory.
In the Nagpur Test, the “8 on the off” fielding strategy was key to India’s victory. I can’t recall the last time an Indian captain displayed an “out of the box” thinking of this nature. Although one could argue that this was a defensive move, its a sure sign that the man is a thinker and always leads with a clear strategy.
Dhoni’s decision to ask Dada to lead after the fall of the 9th wicket was a master stroke. It was a terrific gesture of the kind world cricket has never witnessed.
Despite his meteoric rise, Dhoni’s personal life has remained private and low key unlike say, those of the scandal-prone Sreesanth or Yuvraj Singh.
His post-match comments appear to be thoughtful, level headed and down to earth. He recently admitted that something was a “fluke”.
His decision to phase out the senior players from the ODI side proved to be the right move (despite all the criticism he faced). Thanks to this decision, India was able to beat Australia on home turf in the ODI series last year.
Lastly, Dhoni almost always appears to be calm and composed even in times of intense pressure. In comparison notice Yuvraj screaming at his fielders (in the recent Challenger trophy and in the IPL series).

The victory against Australia in the Test series, following the ODI win in Australia (where Dhoni led the team), could be the turning point in India’s rise to the top as the number one Test team. With Dhoni in-charge and a younger set of players ready to take over from the seniors, the future of Indian cricket could not be better positioned.

At the moment it looks like Dhoni could do no wrong. Some might even argue that he simply has the “Midas touch”. It remains to be seen how far he can sustain his success. Up until now, he has clearly displayed terrific captaincy skills and excited Indian crickets fans the world over with impressive results and unparalleled optimism. For someone who has hardly captained a team prior to this, his accomplishments so are simply mind-boggling.

Hail Dhoni!

Is Singapore Airlines Getting Complacent?

I have lost count of the number of times I have flown Singapore Airlines. Many Indian expatriates living in the US (especially those on the West Coast) almost always fly via Singapore Airlines to India. The Airline has been known for its great customer service among other things.

I don’t consider myself as a “picky” traveler, yet I found enough issues to “blog” about Singapore Airlines.

At the San Francisco airport, the ticket agents rather rudely ask you to weigh your cabin baggage the moment you step in front of them. The allowed weight is 7Kgs. If you carry a laptop bag, plus a couple of books, you are certain to be cutting it close. These agents are very strict about not exceeding the weight limit. The same is true for how the agents deal with the check in baggage. Even one extra pound and you are in trouble.
If you board the Singapore Airlines flight from SFO, chances are the 70+ percent of the passengers are of Indian origin. Yet almost 100% of the Airline crew starting with the ticketing agents are of Chinese origin. Whatever happened to globalisation? (Emirate Airlines on the other hand has a truly International crew).
The airline offers a “Hindu meal” (no beef but with chicken) which happens to be popular. But opting for the Hindu Meal has its drawbacks. The good news is that the Hindu meal is served first. The bad news is that you are stuck with your tray in front of you seemingly forever. Your trays aren’t removed until everyone is served and eaten, the drinks are served and the dessert is served.
The Singapore Airlines mileage program is not heavily marketed (not sure if they even had one before). On my way to India I was told that my mileage was going to be credited, however, on my return I was told that it does not apply to my ticket because of how and where I purchased it from. In short, the mileage program could use some improvement.

Thankfully, there are good alternatives to Singapore Airlines these days. Emirate Airlines offers direct flights to India via Dubai starting mid-Dec 2008. Jet Airways already flies to India via Shanghai. There are other flights via Europe as well.

Astrology favors McCain!

McCain is behind in the polls by double digits. The Democrats are “almost” starting to celebrate — announcing the death of Rovian politics among other things. With the Presidency almost in the bag the focus seems to have shifted to hitting the “magic 60” in the U.S Senate.

But then …..one Astrologer (and possibly others) seems to think the stars favor McCain. If you are in the Obama camp this can be reminder not to take chances and continue to maintain the momentum.

Obama’s $150 million record in September

The Obama campaign raised a mind-boggling $150 million in September. I recall reading that the Obama campaign might have trouble matching the McCain campaign with its 84M Federal funding. But the September numbers are truly astounding. From $66M in August (which then a record), the Obama campaign has surely knocked this one out of the park. My guess is that many who had planned to contribute all along jumped on board before its too late while repeat contributors did their bit as well.

…Mr. Obama had added 632,000 new donors in September, bringing the campaign’s total to 3.1 million. The average contribution, Mr. Plouffe said, was $86….”

This record does raise some very interesting questions about the future of public financing and campaigns in general. Is this the end of public financing the way we know it? Is every future candidate going to reach out to the directly to the voters to finance their campaign? Is technology the center-piece of the strategy for all future candidates?

There is no doubt that Mr. Obama’s campaign is easily one of the best run campaigns in recent times. If Senator Obama brings the same amount of consistency, discipline and innovativeness (if he were to become President), there is room for genuine hope that he can turn the US around from its current multi-pronged mess.

p.s: The call for investigations into Obama’s money sources will likely re-surface, now that Senator McCain campaign is clearly run out of steam/ideas.

Republicans Hit The Panic Button

The Republicans appear to have hit the panic button. There are plenty of signs of this. Some are having nightmares imagining President Obama in charge.

The Republican talk radio circuit seems to have only Ayers to talk about. Sean Hannity is getting desperate.

The McCain team seems to have completely run out of ideas that they had to resurrect the Ayers issue — something the Clintons tried and failed to gain traction on. As their ship appears to be sinking McCain and Palin are grabbing Ayers for survival. Cindy McCain is blaming Obama for endangering her son in Iraq!

Check out Charles Krauthammer saying that McCain should have jumped on the Ayers association sooner and that the ad in North Carolina was not racsict!

McCain has only himself to blame for the bad timing. He should months ago have begun challenging Obama’s associations, before the economic meltdown allowed the Obama campaign…

McCain had his chance back in April when the North Carolina Republican Party ran a gubernatorial campaign ad that included the linking of Obama with Jeremiah Wright. The ad was duly denounced by the New York Times and other deep thinkers as racist.

(btw, notice the “should have” tone. Is this race over?)

David Brooks wants to return to the drawing board of conservative ideology. Check out his piece in NY Times today — plenty of could have, should have and other soul searching comments.

This year could have changed things. The G.O.P. had three urbane presidential candidates. But the class-warfare clichés took control. Rudy Giuliani disdained cosmopolitans at the Republican convention. Mitt Romney gave a speech attacking “eastern elites.” (Mitt Romney!) John McCain picked Sarah Palin.

Senator McCain’s performance in the second debate simply didn’t help his campaign regain momentum. Now it appears to be on a free fall.

Revving up the base is hardly a sensible strategy at this late stage when it might make more sense to reach out to independents and undecided voters.

The Democrats must be wishing that it were November 4 tomorrow!

Ganguly Quits: Good, Timely Call

Sourav Ganguly announced his decision to retire from Test cricket after the series against Australia. Unarguably Sourav Ganguly was one of India’s better captains and his fighting spirit transformed Indian cricket forever. His infamous clash with Greg Chappell, his ouster and subsequent return provided plenty of drama for the entire cricketing world. He probably won’t be missed any longer given his poor form, but there is no question that he has been a phenomenon in Indian cricket for well over a decade. Given the commericialization of cricket of late, one can be asured the Ganguly will re-appear in other avatars beyond the IPL.

It’s nice to see him bid adieu to the game while still in the Test team. It is the first time since Sunil Gavaskar that a top Indian cricketer has left the cricketing scene while still being a member of the team. Even the great Kapil Dev was dragged along in the team until he reached his record wicket tally. While there has been widespread speculation in the media about the future of the “Fab Four”, the reality is that Ganguly could have dragged along longer if he chose to. A couple of good knocks in the first two Tests would have secured his position for the next tour or two. While its is unclear what triggered his decision, overall there appears to be a fair indication of professionalism on both the part of the selectors and Ganguly himself for how this has all transpired. Hopefully the public will be saved from another media circus in the days and weeks ahead without new revelations of any sort from Ganguly. The new selectors lead by Kris Srikanth deserve credit for giving Ganguly an opportunity to quit while still in the team.

Meanwhile, lets hope that the remaining stalwarts — Sachin, Dravid, and Kumble — plan their graceful exits. This series should be a decider for them. If they fail to perform, they should simply call its quits or plan their exits in discussion with the selectors. The selectors would also do well to have a chat with these folks to figure out what they have in mind with regard to their continued presence in the team. It is in the best interest of the team that these players phase out over time rather than all at once. Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Badrinath, Kaif, Raina, Pujara, Kohli and many others are waiting their turns and deserve a shot at the highest while they are still at their best.

That One ’08

Check this out. Senator McCain referred to his opponent as “That One” in last night’s debate. This is new logo is in response to that comment! I thought this was pretty funny.

I was surprised to hear James Carville say that “these two men deeply dislike each other”. It’s obvious that Senator McCain deeply dislikes Senator Obama, but there was little to suggest in last night’s debate (or prior to that), that Senator Obama dislikes Senator McCain. In fact, I think Senator Obama has remained very restrained and never really displayed his dislike, if any, for Senator McCain.