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Protracted legal battles are common in India. One of the longest-running of all concerns who is allowed to practise law in the country. On March 10th the Bar Council of India quietly released an announcement that, though armed with inevitable caveats, removed some of the restrictions that have for decades kept most foreign lawyers from plying their trade on Indian soil. “With this, the legal practice of India enters a new era,” says Vyapak Desai of Nishith Desai Associates, a rare Indian law firm with offices abroad.Listen to this story. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on More

New Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan plans to work a shift once a month at the company’s cafes.
He underwent 40 hours of barista training and donned the green apron after joining Starbucks in October.
Narasimhan said he plans to keep up his barista skills to stay close to the company’s culture and customers.

Laxman Narasimhan, incoming Starbucks CEO, Sept. 7, 2022.

Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan told employees Thursday that he’ll work a half day every month at one of the coffee giant’s locations.
Narasimhan took the helm on Monday and will lead the company’s shareholder meeting Thursday. He joined Starbucks in October, spending months learning the business. That included 40 hours of barista training and donning the baristas’ iconic green apron.

But he’s not hanging up the apron just yet.
“To keep us close to the culture and our customers, as well as to our challenges and opportunities, I intend to continue working in stores for a half day each month, and I expect each member of the leadership team to also ensure our support centers stay connected and engaged in the realities of our stores for discussion and improvement,” he wrote in a letter to employees Thursday morning.
His pledge comes at a rocky time for the company’s relationship with its baristas. As of Friday, more than 190 company-owned Starbucks locations have voted to unionize, according to National Labor Relations Board data. Workers have cited unsafe working conditions, understaffing and unreliable scheduling as some of the reasons why they’re in favor of a union.
Before joining Starbucks, Narasimhan was chief executive of Reckitt, which owns brands like Lysol and Durex. Previously, he worked at PepsiCo and McKinsey.

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Darden Restaurants on Thursday raised its revenue outlook for fiscal 2023 for the second consecutive quarter.
Net sales rose 13.8% to $2.79 billion, fueled by same-store sales growth of 11.7% across all of its brands, which include chains like Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and The Capital Grille.
Darden CEO Rick Cardenas credited the quarter’s strong sales growth to its strategy of pricing below inflation.

Customers enter an Olive Garden restaurant in Pittsburg, California, US, on Friday, Dec. 9, 2022.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Darden Restaurants on Thursday raised its revenue outlook for fiscal 2023 for the second consecutive quarter after reporting quarterly results that showed growth across the board.
For fiscal 2023, Darden now expects sales of $10.45 billion to $10.5 billion, up from its prior range of $10.3 billion to $10.45 billion.

Darden CEO Rick Cardenas credited the quarter’s strong sales growth to its strategy of pricing below inflation. He said in a statement that the company’s sales and traffic outperformed the broader restaurant industry.
Here’s what the company reported for its most recent quarter:

Earnings per share: $2.34
Revenue: $2.79 billion

Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had expected EPS of $2.25 and revenue of $2.73 billion. It was not immediately clear whether Darden’s reported results were comparable to consensus estimates.
The restaurant company reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $286.6 million, or $2.34 per share, up from $247 million, or $1.93 cents per share, a year earlier.
Net sales rose 13.8% to $2.79 billion, fueled by same-store sales growth of 11.7% across all of its brands, which include chains like Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and The Capital Grille. Wall Street was expecting same-store sales to increase just 9.1%, according to StreetAccount estimates.

Olive Garden, which accounted for nearly half of Darden’s quarterly revenue, reported same-store sales growth of 12.3%. LongHorn Steakhouse saw its same-store sales climb 10.8%. And its fine-dining business, which includes The Capital Grille, reported same-store sales growth of 11.7%.
Darden said it added 35 net new restaurants during the quarter.
In addition to hiking its revenue forecast, Darden narrowed its expected range for fiscal 2023 earnings to between $7.85 and $8 per share. The company also raised its inflation outlook to a range of 7% to 7.5%, up from its prior range of 7%.
Read the full Darden Restaurants earnings report.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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Ford Motor said Thursday its electric vehicle business lost $2.1 billion in 2022 on an operating basis.
That loss was more than offset by $10 billion in operating profit between its internal combustion and fleet businesses.
The financials are the first detailed look at EV profitability as Ford unveils a new financial reporting structure.

The badge of a Ford Motor Co. E-Transit electric vehicle during a presentation in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, July 28, 2021.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Ford Motor said Thursday its electric vehicle business lost $2.1 billion last year on an operating basis, a loss that was more than offset by $10 billion in operating profit between its internal combustion and fleet businesses.
The Detroit automaker expects 2023 to unfold along similar lines, forecasting an adjusted loss of $3 billion for its EV unit, adjusted earnings of about $7 billion for its internal combustion unit, and adjusted earnings of roughly $6 billion for its fleet business.

The financials are the first detailed look at unit profitability as Ford unveils a new financial reporting structure that aims to give Wall Street a better understanding of how its electric vehicle business is evolving — and how profits from its internal combustion businesses are funding its electric transformation.
The reformatted reports follow a sweeping reorganization, announced in March 2022, that divided Ford’s global business into five business units: “Ford Blue,” its traditional internal combustion engine business; a new “Ford Model e” electric vehicle unit; “Ford Pro,” containing its commercial and government fleet business; “Ford Next,” which includes nonautomotive mobility solutions and other future tech; and its existing Ford Credit financial services subsidiary.
“We’ve essentially ‘refounded’ Ford, with business segments that provide new degrees of strategic clarity, insight and accountability to the Ford+ plan for growth and value,” CFO John Lawler said in a news release. Lawler said the new reporting structure is a reflection of how he, CEO Jim Farley, and other senior Ford executives are now thinking about and operating Ford’s businesses.
Ford on Thursday shared versions of its 2021 and 2022 financial results that had been restated according to the new format to give analysts and investors a basis for comparison going forward. Those revised results show that while Ford Model e, the company’s EV unit, lost $2.1 billion last year, Ford Blue and Ford Pro generated $6.8 billion and $3.2 billion of adjusted operating income, respectively.
Those 2022 Model e losses more than doubled unit losses from 2021, as the company continues to ramp up EV production.

Ford reiterated Thursday that it expects to be building EVs at a rate of 2 million per year by the end of 2026. It hopes to achieve a 10% profit margin on an EBIT basis by that time, with an 8% adjusted EBIT margin for Ford Model e.
Before the restructuring was announced, some Wall Street analysts had urged Ford to spin off its EV business. But Farley and other executives argued that keeping the EV unit in house allows it to draw on the existing manufacturing expertise and other strengths now housed in Ford Blue and Ford Pro. This gives it a significant advantage over so-called “pure play” EV startup companies that have had to create manufacturing bases from scratch, they said.
The company hopes that the new financial reporting structure will help analysts and investors understand how profitable its core internal combustion businesses are, while making it easier to track the progress of Ford’s overhaul over time.
Ford will hold a “teach-in” to explain the new reporting structure to investors and analysts at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday. A live webcast of the event will be made available at Ford’s investor relations site.
The automaker will report its first-quarter results May 2 and will provide a deeper dive into its strategy and the progress of its restructuring efforts at its annual Capital Markets Day on May 22.

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New Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan will lead the company’s shareholder meeting just days after his transition to the role.
Investors will vote on whether Starbucks should have an independent assessment of its commitment to workers’ rights and if the board should be better at succession planning.
Shareholder proposals aren’t binding but can push the company to change.

Laxman Narasimhan, incoming Starbucks CEO, Sept. 7, 2022.

Starbucks investors will vote Thursday on whether the coffee giant is respecting its workers’ rights and if its board is doing enough to plan for executive transitions.
The shareholder meeting is the first under new CEO Laxman Narasimhan, who took the reins from Howard Schultz on Monday, nearly two weeks earlier than expected. Narasimhan’s ascension comes at a time when Starbucks is facing scrutiny from all angles.

Next week, Sen. Bernie Sanders is slated to grill Schultz in front of a U.S. Senate panel about the company’s alleged union busting. Baristas from more than 100 cafes spent Wednesday on strike and picketed in front of Starbucks’ Seattle headquarters. Even animal rights group PETA said it plans to “pummel” the company during Thursday’s meeting over its premium pricing for milk substitutes.
Shareholder votes aren’t binding, so the board can reject proposals even if a majority of investors vote in favor. For example, in 2021, shareholders rejected Starbucks’ executive compensation plan, in a rare admonition of an S&P 500 company. But a public show of support for proposals can put pressure on the board and the company more broadly.

Workers’ rights

The eighth proposal on shareholders’ ballots would push the company to agree to an independent assessment of its commitment to workers’ rights, including the freedom to bargain collectively.
More than 190 company-owned Starbucks locations have voted to unionize under Starbucks Workers United, according to National Labor Relations Board data as of Friday. The union has filed more than 500 unfair labor practice charges against the company, alleging union busting, including retaliatory firings and store closures. Starbucks has filed more than 100 of its own complaints against the union.

Members of a recently formed union of Starbucks workers hold a rally to celebrate the first anniversary of their founding, December 9, 2022 in New York City.
Andrew Lichtenstein | Corbis News | Getty Images

Starbucks is telling its investors to vote against the proposal but said it would have its own independent probe.

“The company has basically conceded that they need to do an assessment, that’s what they said in their opposition statement,” said Jonas Kron, chief advocacy officer of Trillium Asset Management, which led a group of investors in creating the proposal. “The issue is that they are being very hand wavy and vague about exactly what it is that they’re committing to.”
Trillium also filed the same proposal with Apple, which has seen some of its retail stores seek to unionize. Apple, unlike Starbucks, agreed to perform the assessment without waiting for a shareholder vote.
But Trillium has more than two decades of experience putting shareholder proposals before Starbucks’ board. Past wins include asking the company to report its workforce racial and gender data, which only won 34% of votes but prompted the company to start releasing some of that data.
“My feeling is that once a shareholder proposal hits 30%, the proposal has effectively won at that point,” said Kron, adding that management can’t ignore a third of its investors.
Proxy advisory companies Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, which both have significant sway over shareholders’ ballots, recommended in favor of voting for the proposal.
Schultz owns 1.89% of Starbucks’ shares, according to FactSet.

Improved succession planning

SOC Investment Group, which represents pension funds sponsored by unions, crafted Proposal 6 on investors’ ballots. The proposal pushes Starbucks’ board to improve its succession planning, including requiring a plan three years ahead of an expected transition.
“Ultimately, we think that the board can’t keep relying on Schultz to return to the helm,” Emma Bayes, director of ESG engagement at SOC Investment, told CNBC.
It follows last year’s rocky succession, when former CEO Kevin Johnson shocked investors by stepping down. Johnson said he told the board about a year earlier that he wanted to retire, but he left the company before a long-term successor was picked. Instead, Schultz returned for a third stint at the helm as interim CEO.
“This is one of those things that only really comes into the light when you have a succession that’s bumpy … Overall, it’s something that boards need to be focused on and devote a substantial amount of time to,” Bayes said.
Starbucks’ board adopted several of SOC Investment’s recommendations but told shareholders to vote against the proposal due to the three-year timeline, which it said placed artificial constraints on the process.
However, Glass Lewis recommended voting for the proposal, and several shareholders, including Neuberger Berman, Calvert Investments and CalSTRS, have already cast their ballots in favor of the proposal, according to Bayes.

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Relativity Space, a 3D-printing specialist, launched the inaugural flight of its Terran 1 rocket late on Wednesday night, which successfully met some mission objectives before failing to reach orbit.
The rocket reached space, flying for about three minutes before an anomaly caused the engine on its second stage to shut down.
Despite not reaching orbit, the mission represents a significant step forward for Relativity, helping demonstrate the viability of its ambitious manufacturing approach.

The company’s Terran 1 rocket lifts off from LC-16 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Relativity Space

Relativity Space, a 3D-printing specialist, launched the inaugural flight of its Terran 1 rocket late on Wednesday night, which successfully met some mission objectives before failing to reach orbit.
Terran 1 lifted off from LC-16, a launchpad at the U.S. Space Force’s facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and flew for about three minutes. While the rocket cleared a key objective — passing the point of maximum atmospheric pressure during an orbital launch, known as Max Q — its engine sputtered and shut down early, shortly after the second stage separated from the first stage, which is the larger, lower portion of the rocket known as the booster.

Relativity launch director Clay Walker confirmed that there was an “anomaly” with the upper stage. The company said it will give “updates over the coming days” after analyzing flight data.

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Despite falling short of reaching orbit, the “Good Luck, Have Fun” mission represents a significant step forward for the company, and helped demonstrate the viability of its ambitious manufacturing approach.
While many space companies utilize 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, Relativity has effectively gone all-in on the strategy.
The company believes its approach will make building orbital-class rockets much faster than traditional methods, requiring thousands less parts and enabling changes to be made via software. The Long Beach, California-based venture aims to create rockets from raw materials in as few as 60 days.

The blue flames of the Terran 1 rocket, which is powered by a mixture of liquid methane and liquid oxygen (or methalox), as it launched.
Relativity Space

Terran 1 stands 110 feet high, with nine engines powering the lower first stage, and one engine powering the upper second stage. Its Aeon engines are 3D-printed, with the rocket using liquid oxygen and liquid natural gas as its two fuel types. About 85% of this first Terran 1 rocket was 3D-printed.

Relativity prices Terran 1 at $12 million per launch. It’s designed to carry about 1,250 kilograms to low Earth orbit. That puts Terran 1 in the “medium lift” section of the U.S. launch market, between Rocket Lab’s Electron and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 in both price and capability.
The debut launch did not carry a payload or satellite inside the rocket, with Relativity emphasizing the launch represents a prototype.

The company’s Terran 1 rocket stands on its launchpad at LC-16 in Cape Canaveral, Florida ahead of the inaugural launch attempt.
Trevor Mahlmann / Relativity Space

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The FAA won’t require usual flight requirements at congested airports in New York City and Washington, D.C., this summer.
The agency cited air traffic controller staffing shortfalls.
The FAA says the measure aims to mitigate disruptions and delays during peak periods.

An United Airlines seen at LaGuardia International Airport in New York. 
Adam Jeffery | CNBC

The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday announced measures to try to avoid a repeat of disruptions at airports serving New York City and Washington D.C. this summer as it grapples with a shortage of air traffic controllers at a key facility in the area.
The agency said it will reduce flight requirements for airlines’ take off and landing rights to avoid congestion. Airlines have until April 30 to file requests to give up take-off and landing slots.

The waiver would last from May 15 through Sept. 15.
Airline executives have repeatedly complained about air traffic control shortfalls contributing to flight disruptions as air travel sprang back from pandemic lows in the past few years. Airlines last summer also reduced their schedules to avoid delays as they dealt with their own staffing issues and other strains.
The FAA said it expects increased delays in the New York City area this summer compared with last year, projecting a 45% rise in delays with operations growing 7%.
United Airlines said it would seek a waiver for certain use of take-off and landing allotments at the three biggest New York-area airports and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. In a letter to the FAA’s acting Administrator Billy Nolen on Wednesday, United said it would use aircraft with more seats to make up for reduced numbers of flights and offer alternative flights to affected customers.
Delta Air Lines applauded the FAA’s measure.

“Delta is reviewing our network to ensure the best customer experience throughout the summer travel season and we are committed to working with the FAA on measures to ensure the safety and efficiency of operations at the NY/NJ Airports,” the carrier said in a statement.
Later this month, the FAA will hold a summit with airlines about other ways it can ease disruptions in the area. It held a similar event last year at Florida as airline passengers faced delays stemming from bad weather, high demand and congestion from issues like space launches and military exercises.

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Lawyers for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the original armorer on the “Rust” film, are planning in the next two weeks to file a motion to dismiss the criminal charges against her.
Gutierrez-Reed and “Rust” star and producer Alec Baldwin are charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The former special prosecutor in the case, New Mexico lawmaker Andrea Reeb, recently stepped down after Baldwin’s lawyers sought to disqualify her from the case.

An image of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died after being shot by Alec Baldwin on the set of his movie “Rust”, is displayed at a vigil in her honour in Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 23, 2021.
Kevin Mohatt | Reuters

Defense attorneys for the original “Rust” movie armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, are planning in the next two weeks to file a motion to dismiss the criminal charges against her, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“Rust” star and producer Alec Baldwin is also charged in the case. If approved, the dismissal motion on behalf of Gutierrez-Reed would not automatically drop the charges against Baldwin, according to another person familiar with the matter.

Both people declined to be named due to the sensitive nature of the proceedings.
Baldwin’s lawyers could not be reached for comment.
Baldwin, known for roles in “The Hunt for Red October” and “Beetlejuice,” and Gutierrez-Reed are each facing two counts of involuntary manslaughter charges for the fatal on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021. Baldwin, who has pleaded not guilty, was holding the gun that fired the bullet that killed Hutchins. Gutierrez-Reed also pleaded not guilty, according to the district attorney.
A jury will decide which count of involuntary manslaughter applies in this case. Either count carries up to 18-month sentences.
The dismissal motion would follow a series of missteps by the Santa Fe prosecutors trying the case. Most recently, The New York Times reported that the case’s former special prosecutor, Andrea Reeb, suggested in a June 9, 2022, email that working on the case could help her political career.

“At some point though, I’d at least like to get out there that I am assisting you…as it might help my campaign lol,” Reeb said in an email to New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, the Times reported Tuesday.
“I am intending to either introduce you or send it in a press release when we get the investigation!” Carmack-Altwies responded. The DA’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Reeb was announced as special prosecutor in August, and she was elected to New Mexico’s legislature last fall. She stepped down as special prosecutor last week after Baldwin’s defense team sought to disqualify her. Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys co-signed that motion. They argued her work on the case violated New Mexico’s constitution since she was simultaneously serving as a prosecutor and a legislator.
Following the release of the emails, Baldwin’s attorneys said in Tuesday court filings that they now reserve the future right to argue that “Reeb charged the case to advance her political career.” They added that it is “a further abuse of the system and yet another violation of Mr. Baldwin’s constitutional rights.”

Alec Baldwin on Oct 7, 2021 at the Hamptons International Film Festival.
Mark Sagliocco | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

In response to Baldwin’s court claims, Reeb told CNBC that the involuntary manslaughter charges “were not politically motivated.”
“I was already elected at the time charging decisions were made. Mr. Baldwin’s attorneys continue to deflect their client’s situation onto everybody else … ignoring Mr. Baldwin’s own responsibility for his actions,” Reeb added.
The prosecution also had previously walked back a so-called “firearm enhancement” charge, which carries a mandatory five-year prison sentence, after Baldwin’s defense pointed out that the law was not in effect at the time of the shooting.
Further, the DA’s office has made a series of heated public statements that some lawyers have said could bias a jury pool against Baldwin. For example, after the firearm enhancement charge was dropped, the DA’s office spokesperson said: “The prosecution’s priority is securing justice, not securing billable hours for big-city attorneys.”
The DA’s office has not yet announced who will take over Reeb’s position as special prosecutor on the case, but Baldwin’s lawyers also said they reserve the right to challenge the future appointment.
Baldwin and other producers on the film are also up against a civil suit filed by Hutchins’ mother, father and sister.

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