PEPSICO CEO Indra Nooyi will step down after 12 years leading the food and beverage giant, ending a tenure marked by efforts to adapt to changing consumer tastes and fending off pressure from activist investors.

President Ramon Laguarta, 54, will succeed the 62-year-old Nooyi effective Oct. 3, becoming Pepsi's sixth CEO. Nooyi will remain as chairman until early 2019.

"Growing up in India, I never imagined I'd have the opportunity to lead such an extraordinary company," Nooyi said in a statement. "PepsiCo today is in a strong position for continued growth with its brightest days still ahead."

In the 11 years through the end of last year, the company generated total shareholder return of 162 percent, it said Monday. It grew net revenue from $35 billion in 2006 to $63.5 billion in 2017.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejirwal was delighted after the national capital toppled Gujarat from the top spot in a list of 21 states and UTs with most investment potential.

“Congratulations Delhi. Power, water, education, health and now this achievement. Delhiites, along with their government, excelling in every field,” the Delhi Chief Minister tweeted.

Delhi has toppled Gujarat from the top spot in a list of 21 states and union territories with the most investment potential, according to a report by economic think-tank NCAER. The national capital is followed by Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and West Bengal. The ranking of 20 states and one Union Territory of Delhi was based on six pillars — land, labour, infrastructure, economic climate, governance and political stability and business perceptions.

Taking a leaf out of Sophia's (popular human-like robot) book, a 38-year-old Ranchi man is on the verge of developing India's own humanoid robot.

Ranjit Srivastava said Rashmi has a functional head and body, but is missing the limbs, which will be fixed shortly.

Rashmi is the world's first such Hindi-speaking robot, Srivastava claims, adding it can also speak in Bhojpuri, Marathi and English.

Apple, the popular technology stock owned by millions of Americans through funds in their 401(k)s, has become the first publicly traded U.S. company to hit a market value of $1 trillion.

The iPhone maker's milestone on Thursday follows an extraordinary stretch of innovation, and it arrives as the bull market for stocks, more than 9 years old, looks to overtake the 1990s bull run as the longest in history this month. 

The company's good fortune is good news for individual investors.

Apple's stock is widely owned by workers ranging from teachers to electricians to lawyers. With a nearly 4 percent weighting, Apple is the biggest holding in the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index, an investment that most people own in 401(k)s through index funds and other types of funds that hold Apple shares.

"Apple's $1 trillion valuation is a great reminder to investors that companies with innovative ideas combined with world-class products and service can create value for investors over time," says Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones, a brokerage headquartered in St. Louis.

India has been elected as the President of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) for a period of two years. 

India got elected against Iran during voting which took place at the 44th annual gathering of AIBD in Colombo yesterday.

Director General of All India Radio F. Sheheryar was re-elected as chair of the executive board while Sri Lanka was elected as vice-chair. Broadcasters from 26 countries in the region including India are full members of the organization.

AIBD, established in 1977 under the auspices of UNESCO, is a unique regional inter-governmental organisation and is mandated to achieve a vibrant and cohesive electronic media environment in the Asia-Pacific region through policy and resource development. 

The three-day gathering was inaugurated by Sri Lankan Minister of Finance and mass media Mangala Samarweera.
 

Islamabad: Pakistan’s two former dominant political parties said on Thursday they would join forces to field their own candidate for prime minister in parliament, challenging former cricket star Imran Khan, whose party won last week’s general election.

The alliance with several other smaller parties appeared unlikely to derail Khan’s election as prime minister, but it could leave him with a thin majority that could make enacting his agenda difficult.

Khan’s party, which won 116 of the 272 elected seats in the National Assembly, is believed to have enough would-be coalition partners among smaller parties and independents to win a majority vote to form a government.

But the main rival parties, which on Thursday repeated accusations that the 25 July vote was rigged by the powerful military, vowed to vote together with several smaller parties against Khan’s election as prime minister in parliament.

“It is an alliance which is against the rigged elections, and where all the political parties were not provided a free and fair, level playing field,” said Maryam Aurangzeb, speaking for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of jailed ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

The opposition alliance was not believed to have the numbers to block Khan’s election.

Russia may target the media in countries like India and Brazil to interfere in their elections, an Oxford University social media expert has alleged before US lawmakers.

The remarks by Philip N. Howard, a statutory Professor of Internet Studies at the Oxford Internet Institute and Balliol College at the University of Oxford came during a hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Foreign Influence on Social Media platforms. Howard, however, did not elaborate further about his allegations.

The situation could be more dangerous in those countries where the media is not as professional as that of the US, he said. Howard’s mention of likely Russian interference in the Indian and Brazilian elections through their media, without any further explanation, came in response to a question from Senator Susan Collins after he gave some examples of such interference in the Hungarian media.

“The United States actually has the most professionalised media in the world. It’s learned certainly to evaluate their sources and no longer report tweets as is given,” Howard said.

“I would say that the greater concern would be amongst the media institutions in our democratic allies. I believe that the Russians have moved from targeting us, in particular, to Brazil and India; other enormous democracies that will be running elections in the next few years,” Howard said.

UNITED NATIONS, United States: The UN Security Council is poised to back a US proposal aimed at removing some of the hurdles that tough sanctions on North Korea have thrown up in the way of delivering humanitarian aid, according to documents obtained by AFP.

North Korea’s humanitarian crisis has left about 10 million people — nearly half of the population — undernourished, according to UN officials, who have reported a drop in food production last year.

UN resolutions specify that sanctions should not affect humanitarian aid but relief organizations argue that strict trade and banking measures are creating bureaucratic obstacles and slowing down the flow of vital supplies.

A US proposal put forward last month would provide clear instructions to aid organizations and governments to apply for UN sanctions exemptions for North Korea, according to the text seen by AFP.

After weeks of negotiations, the UN sanctions committee is expected to give final approval to the new guidelines on Monday.
Once approved, a notice will be sent to the UN’s 193 member-states by the committee “to provide a clear explanation of its comprehensive humanitarian exemption mechanism” which will “improve the delivery of humanitarian assistance to DPRK,” according to the documents.

The White House on Wednesday acknowledged that India has invited US President Donald Trump to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade in 2019, but said no decision has been taken at the moment.

“I know that the invitation has been extended, but I don’t believe a final decision has been made,” press secretary Sarah Sanders said in response to a question at the daily press briefing.

She added that defence secretary James Mattis and secretary of state Mike Pompeo will travel to India in September “and will begin the dialogue and the process and potential discussion for a presidential visit later in the year”.

Mattis and Pompeo will travel to New Delhi to September 6 for the inaugural 2+2 ministerial dialogue with defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.