FRIDAY, AUGUST 10 , 2018

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Nooyi to quit as PepsiCo CEO; will remain Chairman till early 2019

Elderly Sikh man attacked in California

Indra K. Nooyi will step down on October 3 after 24 years with the company, the last 12 as the Chief Executive Officer than two-and-a-half times that amount today.” Cook pointed out that under her leadership the company invested “for the future, leading the way on corporate sustainability and responsibility, and embedding a sense of purpose in everything the company does.

IANS, NEW YORK

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ndian American business executive Indra K. Nooyi will step down as the Chief Executive of food and beverage major PepsiCo Inc in October, the company said this week. According to the US-based multinational, Nooyi, 62, will step down on October 3 after 24 years with the company, the last 12 as the CEO. However, Nooyi will remain the Chairman of the company until early 2019, Pepsico said. She will be succeeded by Ramon Laguarta, 54, as the Chief Executive Officer. “Growing up in India, I never imagined I’d have the opportunity to lead such an extraordinary company,” Nooyi was quoted as saying in a company statement. “Guided by our philosophy of ‘Performance with Purpose’ — delivering sustained performance while making more nutritious products, limiting our environmental footprint and lifting up all the communities we serve, we’ve made a more meaningful impact in people’s lives than I ever dreamed possible,” “PepsiCo today is in a strong position for continued growth

Nooyi, who will remain the Chairman of the company until early 2019, will be succeeded by Ramon Laguarta as the CEO

Indra K. Nooyi will step down as the Chief Executive of food and beverage major PepsiCo Inc. (File Photo IANS)

with its brightest days still ahead.” While Nooyi departs, the rest of PepsiCo’s senior leadership team will remain unchanged. Speaking on behalf of PepsiCo’s Board of Directors, presiding director Ian Cook said: “As Chairman and CEO, Indra has provided outstanding leadership over the past 12 years, serving as a model

both within our industry and beyond for responsible corporate stewardship in the 21st century. “As CEO, she grew revenue more than 80 per cent, outperforming our peers and adding a new billion-dollar brand almost every other year. And shareholders have benefited: $1,000 invested in PepsiCo in 2006 is worth more

“As one of the first Fortune 100 CEOs to embed sustainability targets into business operations, Indra was a pioneer, paving the way for a new generation of business leaders who seek to ‘do well by doing good’. “Under her leadership, PepsiCo grew its portfolio of ‘Good for You and Better for You’ options from about 38 per cent of revenue in 2006 to roughly 50 per cent in 2017, almost tripled its investments in research and development to expand its more nutritious offerings and minimize its environmental impact, and achieved global recognition for the company’s work in communities around the world.”

SAN FRANCISCO: An elderly Sikh man was viciously attacked in California, leading to fears among the community that he may have been a victim of hate crime, the media reported. On August 8, two teenagers aged 16 and 18, were arrested in connection with the assault on Sahib Singh Natt, 71, in Manteca which took place on August 6 morning, reports CNN. The incident caught on a resident’s surveillance camera shows Natt walking around a park, when two men confronted him, kicked him several times and spat on him, police in Manteca said. In the video, the suspects appear to walk away, and then one of them returns, kicking the man several more times while he is still on the ground, reports ABC News. Hundreds of people gathered on August 7 night at Greystone Park in Manteca, just feet away from where Natt was beaten. Supporters, community leaders and neighbors of the victim voiced their concerns about the attacks. “It’s not an attack on an individual, it’s an attack on an entire community,” said one speaker. —IANS

Sunita Williams among 9 astronauts to fly into space IANS, WASHINGTON

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ndian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams is among the nine astronauts named by NASA on Friday for its first human spaceflight programme from the US soil since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011. The astronauts will fly on the spacecraft developed by Elon Muskowned SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and global aviation firm Boeing’s CST100 Starliner, as part of the US space agency’s Commercial Crew programme to send humans to the ISS on private US spacecraft. Williams has been named for the Boeing programme to the ISS — the first test flight scheduled to take place in the middle of 2019. “For the first time since 2011, we are on the brink of launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. Born in Euclid (Ohio), Williams came to NASA from the Navy where she was a test pilot and rose to the rank of captain before retiring. Since her selection as an astronaut

The first US astronauts who will fly on commercial spacecraft are, from left, Sunita Williams, Josh Cassada, Eric Boe, Nicole Mann, Christopher Ferguson, Douglas Hurley, Robert Behnken, Michael Hopkins and Victor Glover. (Photo: NASA)

in 1998, she has spent 322 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for Expeditions 14/15 and Expeditions 32/33, commanded the space station and performed seven spacewalks, the US space agency said in a statement. “The men and women we assign to these first flights are at the fore-

front of this exciting new time for human spaceflight,” said Mark Geyer, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “It will be thrilling to see our astronauts lift off from American soil, and we can’t wait to see them aboard the ISS,” he added. In 2014, Boeing and SpaceX were

awarded a combined $6.8 billion in contracts from NASA to develop spacecraft capable of flying crews to the space station. SpaceX is targeting November 2018 for Crew Dragon’s first uncrewed demonstration mission (Demo-1), three months later than the previous schedule released by

NASA early this year. The crewed demonstration flight, with two astronauts on board, will follow in April 2019, four months later than previously announced. Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, on the other hand, will likely perform two crucial test flights next year, instead of this year as planned. Each test flight will provide data on the performance of the rockets, spacecraft, ground systems, and operations to ensure the systems are safe to fly astronauts. The crew for Boeing’s Crew Flight Test and SpaceX’s Demo-2 flights will each include at least a flight commander and pilot aboard to test out the systems. After successful completion of the flight tests with crew, NASA will review flight data to verify that the systems meet the agency’s safety and performance certification requirements and are ready to begin regular servicing missions to the space station, the US space agency said. Additional crew members will be assigned by NASA’s international partners at a later date.