Fiji’s Chaudhry gets Krishna Menon Award

LONDON: Mahendra Chaudhry, Fiji’s Indian-origin former prime minister, has been chosen to receive the VK Krishna Menon Award in recognition of his contribution to the Indian diaspora. Chaudhry is the leader of the Fiji Labour Party. The former trade union leader became Fiji’s first Indo-Fijian PM on May 19, 1999, but exactly one year later he was ousted in a coup. Chaudhry’s ancestors hailed from Rohtak district in Haryana. PTI

Nestle pays $7b to sell Starbucks products

ZURICH: Swiss food giant Nestle will pay USD 7.15 billion in cash for the rights to market Starbucks products around the world, outside of the company’s coffee shops. The agreement gives Nestle, which owns the Nescafe and Nespresso brands, a strong platform for continued growth in North America, the company said. The Starbucks business covered by the deal currently generates around USD 2 billion sales annually. AFP

Australia pledges cash to help save koala

SYDNEY: Australia has unveiled a US $34 million plan to help bring its koala population back from the brink, following a rapid decline in the furry marsupial’s fortunes. The Australian Koala Foundation estimates there may be as few as 43,000 koalas left in the wild, down from a population believed to number more than 10 million prior to European settlement of the continent in 1788. AFP