From the Desk of the Chairman

The favourite pastime post any cricket match for an average Indian is to dive deep into an in-depth analysis of the already concluded matches in the tournament. This year also ?after the recently concluded Cricket World Cup the self-styled cricket experts got sufficient vicarious opportunities to give vent to their bitter feelings of disappointments.?? The primary reason was that India was generally expected to win the tournament based on their having won all their matches in this tournament itself. Unfortunately for the armchair experts there was no one in particular who could be directly blamed for the loss that India suffered at the hands of Australia and more importantly, their expertise also could not conjure up possible mistakes of Indian players while playing or with the playing conditions. Even the conspiracy theorists had a tough time coming up with credible theories. Be that as it may, there were a few important takeaways from the tournament, especially in the finals where the Indian team met the Australians. The latter are past masters in the art of playing mind games with the opposing teams. In the finals they did not have to do much in terms playing any game other than the cricket match itself, for they were perceived as the underdogs compared to the Indian team.? Playing cricket in Ahmedabad before the home crowd of more than one lack was in itself a daunting task for the Indian players.? While Australians were playing the Indian contingent of eleven men in blue the Indians were playing to seek validation from that one lack plus spectators, not to speak of those Indian supporters glued to their television sets. Indians who had earned the sobriquet of being chokers did indeed choke when the Aussies were playing a match as professionally as one could without the help of sledging and expletives. Now that cricket has already moved to the status of being a religion in India, it is time the Indian team learns the elementary lessons of playing the game the professional way with clinical precision. This will need to be done by the Indian team consisting of several players coming from humble backgrounds for whom there is nothing called innate confidence. This mental trait must be learned, if required, from the Australians themselves.? If you wish to dismiss this as a pontification of an armchair self-appointed expert aired from a remote laptop, so be it. But the facts don’t change. The other takeaway that we got from the tournament was from Afghanistan, a war-ravaged country which has lost its moorings during their evolution process. It is nothing short of remarkable that Afghanistan came one win away from the knockout stage.? You do not expect this kind of performance from a team from a war-torn country with wretched living conditions for its people. In its final match in the tournament, they came so close to winning the match but for an extraordinary performance by an Australian called Glen Maxwell.? His was an innings that was beyond extraordinary. He scored a double century.? Cricket despite being a team game, Maxwell virtually turned it into a solitary fight by an Australian against the Afghan team. He had his skipper Pat Cummins as his cheerleader at the non-striker’s end scoring next to nothing. If you thought that playing cricket is one activity without the interference of politics in India, you are mistaken. In the end, the game did conclude with the Prime Minister of the country being subjected to some unsavoury criticisms. In an otherwise impeccable tournament spanning over more than one month this was one avoidable controversy.?

Narayana Murthy, the doyen of the Indian industry stirred the hornet’s nest when in a recent interview he advocated a 70-hour workweek.? According to him, but true, India’s work productivity is one of the lowest in the world.? “Unless we improve our work productivity, we will not be able to compete with these countries that have made tremendous progress”. He further exhorted the younger generation to take a pledge: “this is my country.? I want work to 70 hours a week”.? He goes on “This is exactly what the Germans and Japanese did after the Second World War”. There have been reactions galore post this statement from Narayana Murthy, the primary one being the one alluding to his having retired comfortably at the top of the pyramid in industry.? There were also spirited criticisms centred? around work-life balance and the peculiar problems of a third world country. Even those who disagree with him do not suspect his intentions. Seasoned economists argue that the average number of hours a typical Indian spends in employment today is significantly higher than in Germany or Japan.? They further point out that the right comparison should be based on Gross Domestic Productivity per hour worked. In a developing country like ours there are logistical constraints in working long hours. Some sagely advice too is on offer from Naushad Forbes, Chairman Forbes Marshall who gives a solution succinctly thus: “Get more people working, get more people working in modern manufacturing and services in our cities, and get people working better and longer”.? It would be a sacrilege to dismiss Murthy’s concern only as an old man’s idle rant.? Murthy is absolutely right in identifying this as our key national priority. Those who are nitpicking and castigating Narayan Murthy should understand the message behind the 70 hours. It could be 71 or 69 for all that you know. While on the subject, it is necessary to what Bill Gates had to say on this subject.? In an episode of Trevor Noah’s “What Now?" Gates said that Artificial Intelligence won’t replace humans but will free up labour. “The purpose of life is not just to do jobs. So, if you eventually get a society where you only have to work three days a week or something, that's probably OK," Gates added. Now it is not who is right – Murthy or Gates?? It is what kind of economy and environment you are in. Let us not get defensive when someone tells us that we have to do something about improving our productivity. Understand the intrinsic message in what Murthy is saying for starters.

Rishi Sunak had an unenviable task before him when he was undertaking a Cabinet reshuffle.? It was occasioned consequent to his sacking the incumbent Foreign Secretary Suella Braverman. The vacant position was filled by the Home Secretary leaving the position of Foreign Secretary vacant.? History had just started getting used to remembering David Cameron only as a former Prime Minster of Britain here comes the news that Camaron had decided to come back to resume his innings albeit as the Foreign Secretary under Sunak, the PM. In the Westminster system of governance there is nothing strange or wrong in such a move though it rarely happens as a Minister who had been a Prime Minister could be a potential threat to the present incumbent. In fifty long years, no former Prime Minister had come back thus to become a ?Minister (Secretary in this case) in Great Britain. Cameron on his part was eminently unemployed having resigned as the PM after the Brexit fiasco in 2016. He had become a hero to the British who love? to hate him. Rishi Sunak’s compulsions are understandable. With so much happening in the world all round no PM in London or for that matter in any capital city go to bed peacefully. From that point of view the step taken by Sunak in requesting a person who knows the tricks of the trade on what is happening in the world capitals would be an enormous asset. ?So much is the importance of foreign relations that it consumes a greater proportion of a PM’s time than most voters realise and as head of the government you have to give appropriate amount of time and attention to all parts of governance.? Relations with international leaders and foreign dignitaries are important, nay, critical particularly for a hitherto colonial power like the UK.? Fundamentally, Cameron is good in people matters. He has an easy Patrician charm and self-assurance which reportedly impressed a long list of people who mattered during his time as the Prime Minister.? They include the likes of former US President Obama, former German Chancellor Merkel and the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. As of writing, Sunak’s government is all set to lose a general election if one were to be held today. Even with the depth and rigor of Cameron that perceived reality is unlikely to change. But, as they say, politics is the art of the possible. Cameron had this to say about Rishi Sunak.? “Though I may have disagreed with some individual decisions, it is clear to me that Rishi Sunak is a strong and capable Prime Minister who is showing exemplary leadership at a difficult time”. Let us wait and watch.

The fight in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas has entered a new phase albeit with a temporary pause in fighting to facilitate release of hostages on both sides. The pause is a tenuous one with the warring parties keeping their fingers firmly on the triggers to resume the battle.? It is difficult to imagine what would be the next steps that would be taken by either side. The hatred that the parties harbour for each other is so bitter that a lasting peace is the last one on their agenda.? The job is cut out for the self-appointed peaceniks.? Seeing the theatre of war on live television continually over so many days it is very difficult for anyone to forget the savagery and barbarism involved from both sides. Under the circumstances, it will not take time for such base human behaviours from getting normalised.? That is also on the assumption that it had not already happened.? This is a classic case of ?getting the whole population of the region getting radicalised like no other.? Anyone who has been following the war till now can only draw one conclusion – the cheapest commodity available on offer is human life. The world is getting more and more bitter by the day and there is no one including institutions like the UN ?who has the ability to stop this mass scale massacre.? The biggest losers in this war whenever it winds down would the United Nations itself who are now sitting on the sidelines watching the savagery unfold. This august body would now be known only as a toothless debating society going through its motions.? By the time this war winds down (when it does, eventually) the most important question that would crop up in the minds of people is sure to be - why was this war fought in the first place. People who live far away from the theatre of war in other parts of the world are also fighting this out enraged by the unfairness of the war or outraged by its sheer brutality. The Time magazine had this to say on the conflict: “Jews and Palestinians are?equal descendants genetically ?of the 15 ancient tribes that roamed this contested land. At some point, boundaries are drawn, and sovereignty declared. Fully 18 million Indians and Pakistanis were displaced when those lands were divided in 1947, a year before more than 1 million Jews and Palestinians were displaced in the region following Israel’s creation, but persistent bitterness has not normalized barbaric kidnappings of grandmas from their homes and slaughter of teenagers at music concerts. For centuries, until the end of World War II, half of today’s Ukraine was part of Poland, but no one disputes those borders now. So how far must we go to adjudicate potentially rightful claims? When wars end, treaties can be settled, boundaries drawn, and life can go forward”. In the alternative, we can all go back to the stone ages.

Sam Altman, the CEO of Open AI is considered the patron saint of Artificial Intelligence.? The man walking with that kind of a halo must be a tough adversary to deal with for anyone.? That is what the Board of Open AI found when they eased him out of his post a few days back.? Ever since Open AI launched Chat GPT Altman arguably has been the most talked about individual on the planet and for good reason.? Altman put out this tweet announcing the unfolding developments “i love you all. today was a weird experience in many ways. but one unexpected one is that it has been sorta like reading your own eulogy while you’re still alive. the outpouring of love is awesome. one takeaway: go tell your friends how great you think they are”. For the corporate world the development of sacking the CEO was perhaps normal, if not routine; but Altman’s response was not.? The Board of Open AI sacked Altman on the ground that “it no longer has confidence in his (Altman’s) ability to continue leading OpenAI”.? This bullet fired by the Board of OpenAI took only one day to ricochet and Altman to come back into the company that he himself had helped to found.? Apparently, Altman had been fired after his disagreement with the Board over his efforts to transform OpenAI from a nonprofit organisation focused on scientific exploration of Artificial Intelligence into a business that builds products that attracts customers and lines up the funding needed to power AI tools. Members of the former Board harboured concerns about the potential harms done by powerful, unchecked AI.? The employees en masse revolted forcing the Board to reverse its decision. There are few parallels of such employee rebellions in the western corporate models. No one is forthcoming to give a credible reason for the sordid drama that is being played out in OpenAI.? The real reason could be commercialisation of the benefits of artificial intelligence. In a multi layered organisational structure where both “for profit” and “not for profit” corporate models are overlapping, something had to give way.? Unfortunately, the Board of OpenAI forgot for a moment that Altman had become Atman for the tech world!

Just as I was finishing this piece here comes the news that Henry Kissinger, the ultimate diplomat of all times passed away at the ripe old age of 100. It looks as if he, the ace negotiator that he was, wouldn’t be satisfied with any other number when departing from this world. Kissinger was the most powerful Secretary of State of the US in the post war era. This quote from the New York times says it all: “His complicated legacy still resonates in relations with China, Russia and the Middle East”. He advised 12 Presidents — more than a quarter of those who have held the office — from John F. Kennedy to Joseph R. Biden.? He shared the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for the successful negotiations that he had undertaken to usher in durable peace in war torn Vietnam.? When you think of him, you cannot but think of his famous one-liners. The one that still stays with me is this: “The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.” For a time, Kissinger also served as a faculty in the hallowed portals of Harvard.? His books on the fine art of diplomatic negotiations in an embattled world are seminal works for those who wish to understand the nuances associated with ?what diplomacy in world affairs are really like.? Once in a reply to a question about what kind of a legacy he was planning to leave for future generations, he replied: “I’m not worried about my legacy. And I don’t give really any thought to it because things are so changeable. You can only do the best you’re able to do, and that’s more what I judge myself by — whether I’ve lived up to my values, whatever their quality, and to my opportunities.” May his soul rest in peace.? Even if God is not yet prepared to accede to his request for solace, He would know only too well that He is not in a position to deny what Kissinger is asking for once He knows that ?He is talking to the Henry Kissinger himself who can successfully negotiate anything including a peaceful after-life for himself. ?Let me bid farewell to one of my all-time favourite heroes in this world.

Thank you.

Venkat R Venkitachalam