Gilani cancels US visit due to floods

PATIALA: Ever since Amitabh Bachchan was asked for his cellphone number on the Kaun Banega Crorepati show on Monday and he obliged, Puneet Bansal has been bombarded with calls and messages.

Bansal's mobile started ringing as soon as Bachchan gave out the first nine digits of the number. Bansal claimed so far, he had received around 10,000 calls from the US, UK, Hong Kong and Thailand alone. He has also had callers from Pune, Lucknow, Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad. During a 25-minute chat with TOI on Friday, Bansal got 98 missed calls.

Bansal sent a legal notice to Big B and KBC on Friday. "Initially, I was at a loss... But on September 12, when a caller told me he wanted to talk to Amitabh Bachchan and that Big B had given the number during KBC, I understood," said Bansal.

Bansal has stopped taking calls but then he has some 2,500 SMSes. "Amitabhji please talk to me", "I love you, Amitabh"... it goes on.

Museums have festive Sunday

Crookston, Minn. ―

Crookston museums held their annual fall celebrations on Sunday, both of
which were very well attended, with lots of activities for people of all
ages.

The Harvest Festival at Red River Valley Sugar Beet Museum had visitors
trying their hand at beet harvesting and wheat threshing the
old-fashioned way, as well as learning about the many pieces of vintage
equipment spread across the museum grounds.

Pioneer Day at Polk County Museum had "pioneer" women preparing and
serving their signature fry bread, various demonstrations and musical
entertainment by three different groups: O'Neill Family Musicians,
Greater Crookston Area Mens Chorus and The WoodPicks. The additional
music this year was made possible by funds from Minnesota's Arts and
Cultural Heritage program through the clean water, land and legacy
amendment.

雅虎重振雄风需要走五步棋

巴茨被解雇是一个杯具也是一个喜剧，去领导一个古老的互联网巨头并非易事，就算是马云做雅虎CEO也不行，马云在国内有很高的声望和名气，但领先 全 球的美国科技界还不至于让一个亚洲分公司的CEO来做全球CEO。也就是说马云不适合做雅虎CEO，媒体说马云是最佳人选是完全胡扯。

1、马云负责的中国雅虎一败再败，已经在中国同行里几乎被忽略不计，中国雅虎在搜索、空间、邮箱等诸多基础领域都丧失了竞争力，唯一一款不 错的统计也被转移到淘宝旗下。

2、马云把中国雅虎的资源都转移到亲儿子淘宝等站点，中国雅虎沦为一个烂尾楼。

3、阿里系并不是科技创新的领导企业，而是其雄厚的资本优势。

4、雅虎的人根本不服马云，更不服所谓的阿里文化。

5、雅虎的技术水平并不是很差，缺少的是精神和方向，需要走在科技前沿的人做CEO。

笔者列举马云不适合做雅虎CEO的理由之后，也思考了雅虎如何重振雄风的问题，我认为雅虎需要从下面五个方面大力改革。

1、内部IT系统的2.0升级。把过去老迈的企业IT系统重新设计并升级，把员工的工作体验放在最重要 的位置上，让雅虎所有员工感到雅虎的创新和进步。

2、收购tumblr或twitter。这两家公司注定是新媒体领域的王者，雅虎收购这两家公司可以把 自己的内容优势继续保持下去，并且获得大量创新型人才。

3、花大力气改良yahoo mail。yahoo mail作为雅虎重要的基础产品，目前在anti-spam 、socialize方面一直落后于gmail，建议雅虎在全球范围内进行mail大扫除和升级改良，让yahoo mail保持高使用率是维系雅虎继续前进的重要步骤。

4、建立创新工场式的创新孵化机制。雅虎需要鼓励内部员工创新和内部创业，清除没有激情和动力的坏因 素，让雅虎更年轻、更有活力。

5、大举收购开源软件。通过收购优秀的开源软件，建立生态链，为雅虎的广告体系铺好路基。

9/11 leaves far-reaching impact on FATA

LANDIKOTAL: The so-called war on terror has pushed peaceful tribal areas
into a state of protracted civil war that will not end in the next one
decade.

"Tribesmen have always paid a heavy price for the security and integrity
of Pakistan, but in return the custodians of borders have showered
bombshells on their houses, mosques, hujras, schools and other
infrastructure besides killing innocent tribal women, children and
elders," tribesmen expressed their views in a survey conducted by Daily
Times in Khyber Agency.

The US regime led by George Bush in the same breath blamed the Al Qaeda
leadership based in Afghanistan for the deadliest attacks on Pentagon
and twin towers of the World Trade Center in USA soon after the horrific
tragedy of 9/11.

Although, the US regime and its intelligence agencies, CIA and FBI, did
not waste any time to have thoroughly investigated worst incident of the
US history, which was surely a great failure of the US intelligence
network or their own handiwork to find a pretext to invade Afghanistan
to destroy it completely.

The tribesmen held the then US regime responsible for sabotaging the
peaceful atmosphere in the tribal areas besides Afghanistan, which, they
asserted, was an abode of peace and tranquility.

Tribal people opined that after 9/11, the US Air Force and its allies,
including Pakistan, dismantled the social system and the jirga
institution in the entire FATA to continue the alien war. They said that
poor and backward tribesmen had nothing to do with terrorism anywhere in
the world nor the tribesmen had invited the warmongers to seek shelter
in the tribal belt or to use this soil against anyone. "Rather, the
international players wreaked all this havoc," they opined.

Around 98 percent tribal people believe in peaceful co-existence. "So
war against innocent tribal people in FATA has no legitimacy and
justification," they asserted. They said that the civil and military
establishment earned billions of dollars for thrusting the war on tribal
people in order to appease the US. "The coward former dictator, General
(r) Pervez Musharraf, aligned Pakistan with the US-led NATO forces in
the war against terror that produced very harmful results for
tribesmen," Abdul Wahid Khan commented. "Taliban in reaction resorted to
incessant assaults on the NATO supplies passing through Khyber Pass
under the notorious treaty of logistic support signed by Musharraf,
which caused irreparable loss to the tribal transporters, common men and
local residents," he added.

"The growing insurgency in Khyber, like other parts of FATA, also made
social and business activities volatile and standstill in this part of
the tribal region," he opined, adding that extremists destroyed
educational institutes in the entire FATA that adversely affected the
system of education.

"He said that 9/11 had narrowed living conditions of tribal people who
had nothing to do with terrorism in any part of the world or the
country," Iqbal Afridi remarked and said that the ruling class labeled
tribesmen as terrorists or supporters of terrorists. "An alien war,
which is very deplorable, has been thrust upon tribal people that
strengthened bureaucracy in FATA and exploited our resources," Afridi
observed. He said that tribesmen suffered a lot financially during the
last 10 years. "The ongoing military operations and militancy violated
all basic human rights of the tribal people but unfortunately the
government and the judiciary both did not take any notice of these
sufferings and did nothing to alleviate them," Iqbal Khan commented. "We
have suffered tremendously and humiliated in the so-called war on
terror," he regretted.

"9/11 proved to be a great disaster for FATA," Rahat Shinwari, a social
activist, said. "It brought civil war, insecurity, terror and
instability to the entire FATA." commented. Arshad Ali, a young
intellectual.

He said that tribal areas were labeled as safe sanctuaries for militants
that led to the cruel and unjustified military operations in FATA, as a
result of which militancy grew that provided an excuse for the
continuity of so-called war on terror. "Due to military offensives,
millions of modest and peace loving people were forced to migrate from
their hometowns in FATA to safer places in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," he said,
adding that uncountable children, women and other people were killed in
the war between militants and military.

"Business and trade centers, hujras, mosques and homes besides
educational institutes were either bulldozed or blown up with explosive
materials in the whole FATA, which has further pushed the tribal people
into backwardness, poverty and illiteracy," he said and maintained that
elders and patriot citizens of Pakistan lost their lives in the tribal
regions from Bajaur to South Waziristan, which has produced very
negative impact on social life in FATA.

He also lamented that the elected parliamentarians from FATA and those
sitting in the FATA secretariat embezzled and usurped billions of US
dollars in the name of development but the fact was that the entire
FATA.'s infrastructure had been annihilated. "Every passing day reminds
us of the 9/11, as we see and notice only destruction and bloodshed of
the innocent people," Arshad Ali Afridi observed.

However, he was certain that the American CIA was the main culprit that
had planned and carried out attacks on the twin towers in US just to
wage a war to protect its political and financial vested interests both
in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Shaukat Zakhakhel termed 9/11 a deep-rooted conspiracy of Jews that
pushed tribal children out of schools and made them beggars. "The chief
justice of Pakistan and human rights organisations must take notice of
violation of human rights in the restive tribal regions. If Chief
justice of Supreme Court takes a suo motu notice of the killings in
Karachi, why not he takes a suo motu action against the extra judicial
killings in FATA that has gloomed the entire FATA, Shaukat Zakha Khan
regretted. If we are constitutional citizens of Pakistan then we are
justified to ask the parliament and the judiciary to stop the wide
spread killings and the violation of the basic human rights. 9/11 has
brought destruction to FATA which had no concern with the attacks on the
twin towers, Shaukat Zakha Khel commented. Our roads, hospitals,
communication systemand the complete infrastructure has been annihilated
after the 9/11, which is an irreparable loss, he concluded.