Starbucks has said that Brian Niccol, chief executive at Chipotle, would be the coffee chain’s new CEO — just over a year after current boss Laxman Narasimhan took over the role.

Narasimhan steps down as chief executive and as a member of the Starbucks board “with immediate effect,” said the company on Tuesday in a statement.

The leadership shifts come as Starbucks pushes to turn around its business, while contending with broad-based sales declines in its most recent financial results.

Starbucks has cited weakening consumer sentiment and difficult market conditions in China as factors in its troubles.

“Brian is a culture carrier who brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of driving innovation and growth,” said Starbucks board chair Mellody Hobson in a statement as the comapny announced the leadership changes.

Niccol has served as Chipotle’s CEO since 2018.

In naming him Starbucks’ new CEO, the company noted that his work at Chipotle had “driven significant growth and value creation,” citing revenue that has nearly doubled and rising profit.

Narasimhan, a veteran of PepsiCo and other consumer brands, had taken over the top spot in 2023 after a period working with longtime Starbucks CEO and interim boss Howard Schultz.

The statement noted that Narasimhan, during his tenure, drove innovation in the brand’s supply chains and boosted its store operations.

Niccol will start in his new role on September 9, with Starbucks chief financial officer Rachel Ruggeri serving as interim CEO until then. AGENCIES

The Australian National University (ANU) has announced that it will no longer invest in weapons companies following pro-Palestine student protests.

Genevieve Bell, Vice-Chancellor of ANU, said on Tuesday night that the 15-member ANU Council has resolved that the university’s long-term investment pool will not invest in weapons manufacturers and civilian small arms manufacturers, Xinhua news agency reported.

It comes after ANU students in April set up a pro-Palestine encampment at the university’s main campus in Canberra as an act of protest against ANU’s ties with Israeli institutions and weapons companies amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Among the demands of the protesters at the encampment — one of several set up at universities around the country — was that ANU divest from arms manufacturers including BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and the Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Bell said in June that the ANU Council would review the university’s socially responsible investment policy.

On Tuesday night, she said in a statement that the review attracted almost 900 submissions from staff, students and alumni.

“Our university community has recently drawn attention to investment in companies that derive revenue from arms manufacture and sales. We have listened to that feedback from our community,” Bell said.

“Determining where we seek to invest is something we will review regularly moving forward. This is a significant decision, but we must continue to think about how we reflect our values in our actions.”

It adds to the university’s existing investment screens relating to coal, tobacco, pornography and gambling. AGENCIES

 Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, has launched two rockets from Gaza at the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

“We launched two rockets of M-90 at the Israeli city of Tel Aviv in response to the Israeli violations against civilians in Gaza,” said al-Qassam on Tuesday in a press statement.

Avichai Adraee, Spokesman of the Israeli army, said in a press statement that a rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip and fell into the sea in central Israel. No alerts were activated.

At the same time, another shell was detected being fired, but it did not violate Israeli sovereignty, Adraee added.

The last time Hamas targeted central Israel with rockets was in May, Xinhua news agency reported.

The media reported that explosions were heard in Tel Aviv, but Israeli media reported no casualties.

Hamas continues to insist that truce talks concerning Gaza should focus on a deal already discussed with Israel and mediators. In response, Israeli airstrikes killed 19 Palestinians in the central and southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, according to medical sources.

The US indicated on Monday that it expects the peace talks scheduled for Thursday to proceed as planned and that a ceasefire agreement remains a possibility. The media reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to travel on Tuesday for discussions in Qatar, Egypt, and Israel.

The Israeli government has confirmed it will send a delegation to Thursday’s talks. However, Hamas has requested a viable plan to implement a previously accepted proposal, rather than engaging in further negotiations. AGENCIES

New York: On November 5, Kamala Harris may be elected as the first South Asian President of the US. If the Donald Trump-JD Vance ticket wins, Usha Vance will become the first Hindu Second Lady.

Indian diaspora has dazzled the world by reaching the top echelons — and not just in politics. India has become a global power player, earning the sobriquet, ‘Vishwabandhu’ (friend of the world), particularly after supplying vaccines during the Covid-19 pandemic to many nations.

Indians themselves would not be surprised by this welcome shift, however. Independent India may be only 77 years old, but it has, at its back, many millennia of civilisational wisdom rooted in the ancient texts of the Vedas and Upanishads, and the philosophical traditions of Buddhism and Jainism. This was elaborated by the eminent people in India and America invited to comment on the eve of India’s 78th Independence Day.

Another running strain in their comments is that India has antidotes to many of the world’s ills. Its perennial moral principles of ahimsa and vasudhaiva kutumbakam (the world is one family), underscoring the importance of compassion, tolerance and unity in diversity, are a beacon for addressing global challenges, promoting interfaith harmony and world peace, and fostering a sustainable and inclusive future.

It will not be an exaggeration to say that India is embracing its destined role and emerging as ‘Vishwaguru’, not just ‘Vishwabandhu’.

Rajiv Mehrotra, Secretary and Trustee of the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of H.H. The Dalai Lama in New Delhi, told New York-based ALotusInTheMud.com, “India’s rich civilisational heritage is a diverse blend of cultural, philosophical, religious, and scientific contributions. This heritage continues to evolve and adapt while inspiring and responding to present-day challenges.”

Swati Arun, Director of Social Media for the Hindu American Foundation in Washington, DC, pointed out that India’s contributions are not just historical footnotes but living elements of today’s modern life. “The zero, an Indian invention, is the cornerstone of the digital age. Yoga and Ayurveda, India’s holistic health systems, have revolutionised wellness.”

Calling India a model for pluralism in the world, Srinivas Reddy, a scholar on a Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship at IIT Gandhinagar, said, “The world faces unprecedented challenges related to war, famine, linguistic diversity, and cultural plurality. Much of the Western approach to diversity has been through assimilation. The Indian approach has always been — live and let live.”

Citing the stellar example of Bharat in Ramayana, Anil Bhatnagar, an IITian, author, and corporate trainer, said, “Instead of coveting what belongs to others or converting others to our faith, India’s story is that of the relentless and ongoing message of love, kindness, peace, compassion, tolerance, acceptance, ahimsa, and harmonious living propagated through an unbroken chain of avatars and gurus such as Krishna, the Buddha, Mahavir, Nanak, and Swami Vivekananda.”

Preity Upala, who is on the Advisory Board of the Europe India Chamber of Commerce and Industry and has appeared on CNN and Forbes as a political and cultural expert, said, “In the current state of affairs globally, with polywars, unending conflicts, and a very divided world, Bharat has demonstrated much-needed pragmatism, diplomacy, holistic leadership, and global empathy.”

Suma Varughese, the former editor of ‘Society’ and ‘Life Positive’ magazines, agreed that Indian civilisation could show the way out of the multiple crises afflicting the world. “From our systems like Ayurveda and Siddhi, architectural models like Vaastu Shastra, the gurukul education model, our art and dance traditions, our approach to astrology, our four-fold goals of human life – dharma (ethical conduct), artha (wealth), kama (fulfillment of desires) and moksha (liberation), and the four stages of human life from bachelorhood to renunciate, the world will learn how to live, heal, relate, eat, create, love and look after others.”

Aditi Banerjee, a young attorney at a Fortune 500 financial services company who writes and speaks about Hinduism, said that India has an antidote for the younger generation suffering from an overload of information. “Counterbalance this by going within through silence and meditation, reflection and study of the self, through worship and reverence for nature, through yoga and chanting.”

Narayani Ganesh, former editor of The Speaking Tree and Sacred Space columns in The Times of India, and daughter of Gemini Ganesan, the Tamil cinema stalwart, pointed to the formidable but often ignored contribution of Dravidian India. “Dravidian India’s contributions to spirituality and wisdom have certain distinctive features evident in Sangam literature, the Bhakti movement, and the richness of the world’s oldest language, Tamil, and its scriptures, some of which date back to pre-Vedic times.”

Saket Bhatia, who has a PhD in Electrical Engineering and astrology-numerology and has founded two companies in the Bay Area, explained that Indians excel globally due to their strong emphasis on education, family values, and adaptability.” It is not just Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella, he argued. “Thousands of other Indian technologists and entrepreneurs are pioneering trends in artificial intelligence, IT, education, and healthcare. Indians have also made significant contributions globally in medicine, academia, arts, and humanities.”

In concrete terms, India has emerged as a force for good, enhancing cultural enrichment and global advancement. AGENCIES

About 40 per cent of “the biggest US manufacturing investments” announced in the first year of US President Joe Biden’s acts to strengthen its cleantech and semiconductor supply chain have been delayed or paused, a media report said.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Chips and Science Act, launched in 2022, offered more than $400 billion in tax credits, loans and grants to boost the US cleantech and semiconductor manufacturing development, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a Financial Times report.

In the first year of the program, more than $220 billion were announced. Yet, $84 billion has been delayed for two months to several years or paused indefinitely, a Financial Times investigation found.

“Slow government rollout of Chips Act funding for semiconductor projects and lack of clarity on IRA rules have left several projects at a standstill,” it said.

Due to uncertainty over tax credit rules for hydrogen, Nel Hydrogen, an electrolyser manufacturer, has paused its $400-million factory project in Michigan. Due to the lack of clarity over the IRA’s electric vehicle regulations, Anovion, a battery parts manufacturer in Georgia, delayed its $800-million factory by more than a year.

The delays raised doubts on Biden’s ability to keep his promise to deliver jobs, the report said. AGENCIES

The performance of manufacturing production in the Philippines sustained its growth in June 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Wednesday.

Based on the preliminary results of a monthly survey, the PSA said the year-on-year value of production index (VaPI) and the volume of production index (VoPI) increased by 2.2 per cent and 2.5 per cent in June, respectively.

The PSA said the VaPI rose at a slowed annual rate of 2.2 per cent in June 2024 from a yearly increase of 2.3 per cent in May, bringing the average VaPI growth rate from January to June this year to 0.5 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported .

In June 2023, the VaPI yearly growth rose 2.7 per cent.

The PSA attributed the slower annual increase in the VaPI in June to the decline in the manufacture of basic metals, which decreased to 17.5 per cent during the month from an annual decrease of 3.1 per cent in May.

The manufacture of basic metals contributed 28.5 per cent to the downtrend of VaPI for the manufacturing section in June.

Other primary contributors to the slower increase of VaPI were the annual decrease in the manufacture of transport equipment, and the slower annual increase in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products.

Meanwhile, the PSA said the VoPI registered an annual growth of 2.5 per cent in June 2024, slower than its annual increase of 3.2 per cent in May 2024. This brings the average growth rate of VoPI from January to June to 1.3 per cent.

In June 2023, VoPI recorded an annual increase of 2.1 per cent.

The PSA said the downtrend in the year-on-year growth rate of VoPI for manufacturing was primarily driven by the same top three industry divisions that contributed to the slower annual increase of VaPI for manufacturing in June.

These are the manufacture of basic metals, the manufacture of transport equipment, and the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products. AGENCIES

South Korea’s Forest Service helicopter crash landed on a hill in the southern county of Hadong on Wednesday and its lone pilot sustained a non-life threatening injury, officials said.

The AS 350 aircraft made by Airbus Helicopters, formerly known as Eurocopter Group, was carrying out pest control on chestnut trees when it went down on the hill in Hadong, some 290 kilometers southeast of Seoul, 9:39 in the morning, Yonhap news agency reported.

The pilot in his 40s was taken to a hospital with a bruise on the chest. No others were aboard.

Fire authorities suspect the crash happened after the helicopter was caught in an electric wire. Authorities were retrieving the remains of the chopper while the Korea Forest Service is looking into the exact cause of the crash.

Following the accident, the Korea Electric Power Corporation brought down the power lines in the region to prevent secondary accidents.

The Korea Forest Service introduced the helicopter in 2003. It is equipped with a tank, which allows it to carry water and medicines aboard.

Helicopters of the same model operated by civilian firms crashed in March and October last year. AGENCIES

President Droupadi Murmu received a warm send-off from Fijian Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad at Nadi airport as she concluded her state visit to Fiji on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, President Murmu paid her respects at the Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Temple in Nadi, which is one of the largest Hindu temples in the Pacific.

She was warmly welcomed by members of the Fijian Indian community at the temple.

This visit by the President was focused on further strengthening the cultural ties between the two nations.

On Tuesday, President Murmu was accorded a ceremonial welcome by Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, Fiji’s Deputy Prime Minister, Viliame Gavoka, the Indian High Commissioner to Fiji, P. S. Karthikeyan, and other government officials at the airport as she arrived in Suva on the first leg of her three-nation visit.

Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Maivalili Katonivere conferred the ‘Companion of the Order of Fiji’, the highest civilian award in the country, upon the Indian President.

President Murmu expressed her gratitude for the conferment, saying it is a “reflection of the deep ties between the two nations.” She also thanked President Katonivere for inviting her on her first visit to Fiji.

Later, addressing the Fijian Parliament, she reiterated India’s commitment as a “powerful voice of the Global South” to climate justice, promising to push for climate finance and technology for developing countries.

“We will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Fiji and other ocean states for climate justice,” she added.

During her visit, she also announced new projects, including a Super Specialty Cardiology Hospital in Suva, to meet the needs of the Fijian people and the wider Pacific region.

President Murmu has now left for Auckland for a three-day state visit to New Zealand at the invitation of Governor General Dame Cindy Kiro.

She will hold bilateral meetings with the Governor General and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. AGENCIES

A group of Russian warships has called at the Indian port of Kochi on the southwestern coast, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

“The Varyag missile cruiser and the Marshal Shaposhnikov frigate of the Russian Pacific Fleet have called at the port of Kochi, India, in the Arabian Sea,” it said on Tuesday.

The ships will resupply their stocks at the port in India, go sightseeing around the city, and participate in friendly drills with Indian sailors.

“This visit underscores the strong maritime cooperation between Russia and India,” it emphasised.

Cochin is a large port city in Kerala on the coast of the Arabian Sea.

The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement that the visit to the port of Kochi is made within the tasks of the Pacific Fleet’s ships during a long-distance mission.

A few days earlier, the detachment of ships left the port of Salalah, Oman.

The long-distance mission of the Pacific Fleet’s detachment began on January 22, 2024.

During this time, the Pacific sailors conducted dozens of training sessions in combat training and organised the ships’ daily activities at sea.

The crews also made business calls at the ports of countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Iran, Qatar, and Eritrea. AGENCIES

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, the spiritual leaders and founder of the Isha Foundation, said on Wednesday that atrocities are being perpetrated against Hindus in violence-torn Bangladesh and called for swift action for ensuring their safety.

Sharing a news report of a Bangladesh newspaper ‘Daily Star’, Sadhguru said, “What was part of this Nation unfortunately became neighborhood, but it is our responsibility to protect these people -who actually belong to this Civilisation- from these shocking atrocities.”

In a post on social media platform X, Sadhguru posted, “The atrocities being perpetrated against Hindus is not just an internal matter of #Bangladesh. Bharat cannot be Maha-Bharat if we do not stand up and act at the earliest to ensure the safety of minorities in our neighbourhood. What was part of this Nation unfortunately became neighborhood, but it is our responsibility to protect these people -who actually belong to this Civilisation- from these shocking atrocities.

On Tuesday, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev had condemned the targeted attacks on temples and business establishments of Hindus in Bangladesh, and urged the Centre to to protect the Hindu minority in the neighbouring country.

Bangladesh ISKCON Gen Secretary Charu Chandra Das Brahamchari had sought India’s help, saying Hindus are very afraid of targeted attacks. He also highlighted the recurring pattern of minorities being targeted whenever the government is toppled.

Bangladesh has recorded deaths of over 400 people since mid July amid anti-government protests that led to the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

After Hasina resigned as the Prime Minister and fled the country on Monday, President Mohammed Shahabuddin chaired a meeting which unanimously decided to release BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia immediately, after which she has been freed.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been appointed as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, President’s Press Secretary Joynal Abedin made the announcement, Dhaka Tribune reported.

The student-led non-cooperation movement had put immense pressure on the Hasina government.

The students had been protesting against a 30 per cent reservation in government jobs for relatives of freedom fighters who wrested independence for Bangladesh from Pakistan in a bloody civil war in 1971 in which, according to Dhaka officials, three million people were killed in the genocide by Pakistani troops and their supporters.

After the Supreme Court slashed the reservations to 5 per cent, student leaders put the protests on hold, but the demonstrations flared up again because the students said the government ignored their call to release all their leaders, making the resignation of Hasina their primary demand. AGENCIES