Indian consultant to help Firestone
Washington: Bruised and beleaguered tyre company, Firestone, has hired a renowned American of Indian origin to help the company in an exhaustive search to find the root of its recent problems with its tyres.

In full page advertisements issued in leading publications, the company has announced that it has retained the services of Dr Sanjay Govindjee, a world-renowned engineering consultant to help us in this effort.

It is understood that Dr. Govindjee, who serves as a consultant to government agencies and private corporations, has conducted a detailed review of the company’s Akron technical centre and its manufacturing plants. He has been provided with tyre analysis and test data from these facilities. He, in turn, will provide periodic updates that Firestone plans to make public.

Dr Govindjee, who received his bachelor’s degree in science in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and master’s degree in science from Stanford University; holds a doctorate degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford.
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Naina Lal Kidwai, Asia’s third-most powerful woman
New Delhi: From the ramps to the financial world, Indian women seem to be making their mark with increasing regularity.

Global business magazine, which has ranked 50 most powerful businesswomen in the US and the top six in Asia and Europe, has two Indian-born women in the hallowed list.

Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai, 43, the first Indian woman to study at Harvard and currently head of M&A for Morgan Stanley in the country, is ranked the third most powerful Asian businesswoman. India-born PepsiCo's chief financial officer Ms. Indra Nooyi, 45, is ranked at No. 43 on the American list.

According to the magazine: "Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai has ridden a flair for numbers to become India's most important investment banker in its most important investment bank in what may become its most important industry --information technology."

Ms. Indra Nooyi, who is a key advisor to chief executive Roger Enrico, has also been acknowledged for her work as senior vice-president and chief financial officer, PepsiCo.

The top businesswoman in the US, predictably, is Ms. Carly Fiorina, president and chief executive of, Hewlett-Packard, who has retained her numero uno position. In Asia, the top businesswoman is 46 year old Ms. Mari Matsunaga, who designed i-mode, the astonishingly successful mobile-phone Internet service. Ms. Matsunaga has recently jointly formed an Internet startup called E-woman, of which she is editor-in-chief.

In Europe, 53 year old Ms. Marjorie Scardino, chief executive officer, Pearson -- which owns the Financial Times -- has been voted the top businesswoman.
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Rajeev Bakshi to be in charge of Cadbury’s south Asian operations
Mumbai: As a recognition of his services, Cadbury India managing director, Mr. Rajeev Bakshi, has been given the additional responsibility of being in charge of overall operations in south Asia. Under the new dispensation, all south Asian subsidiaries will report directly to him.

In his four years at the helm, Mr. Bakshi has seen the topline of the company go downward more than once. However, a series of new initiatives taken up by him could arrest the turnover decline.

With new moves like planning a major push in semi-urban areas where penetration level is low and increasing the number of retail outlets from around 4.5 lakh to 5.5 lakh by the end of this fiscal, the company may well come out of the downward slide in its topline growth.
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