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Colombo/Mumbai, Aug 2: WNS (Holdings) Limited (NYSE: WNS), a leading provider of global Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) services, yesterday announced renewal of its contract with Kantar, a part of the WPP group. In the renewed contract, WNS will focus on further strengthening the Market Research Operations Center of Excellence that delivers a range of market research operations, including survey programming, coding, data processing / management and charting. The WNS team will also provide support for production and hosting of live interviews in market research through a team of application support professionals and drive significant productivity enhancements using Six Sigma and LEAN expertise.

"We are delighted to extend our partnership with WNS. The company has a highly professional and experienced delivery team, which clearly understands our project goals and requirements. This has enabled us to realize significant cost efficiency and business value operationally," said Sharon Potter, CEO, Kantar Operations.

"Our strengthened partnership with Kantar is indeed a matter of pride for WNS. We believe this reinforces our client's belief in our expertise and solutions. Over the last five years, WNS has helped Kantar build a strategic asset in the form of the market research operations center of excellence. Both partners will continue to build on their capabilities to deliver world-class services that will help the Kantar Group to outperform. With our deep commitment towards ensuring operational and service excellence, I believe we should see further success in this relationship." said Keshav R. Murugesh, Group CEO, WNS Global Services.

WNS delivers a full range of business processes to support the market research industry, including survey design and management, data management, processing, presentation, report writing and high-end marketing analytics.

By Hermann Ferre and Kabir Duggal

New Delhi, Aug 2: In September 2008, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers sent financial markets in the United States into a spin. Credit markets froze as banks began to mistrust counterparties, not knowing the extent of toxic assets in loan portfolios that could lead to another major bank collapse. The crisis quickly spread around the world. Governments were urged to take drastic measures. Experts discussed the possible nationalization of portions of the U.S. banking industry and other sectors. Other countries also considered measures to save key industries.

In the world of investor-state arbitration, many predicted that national measures to combat the economic crisis would result in treaty claims. Commentators also warned states to heed the lessons of Argentina, which was unable to escape its treaty obligations by invoking a state of necessity. Predicted investor claims included violations of non-discrimination, fair and equitable treatment (FET) and expropriation provisions.

There is little evidence that the investment treaty regime anticipated the possibility of a worldwide economic crisis like that of 2008-2010. While claims against states responding to the crisis have yet to materialize, most investment treaties are silent with respect to a limitations period. Such claims may appear long after the crisis. States have, however, another defense: changed circumstances.

The defense typically has arisen in the context of treaty termination, but an unexplored aspect is a temporary suspension of treaty obligations. Different from necessity and force majeure, the defense of changed circumstances, classically known as rebus sic stantibus, is tailor-made for this crisis. Its literal meaning – “things standing thus” – refers to the expectations of the parties and the circumstances existing at the time a treaty was negotiated. In the context of investor claims arising from governmental responses to the crisis, the crisis itself is a fundamental change, not anticipated under the economic model on which the current treaty system is based, i.e., the “circumstances” existing in the 1990s. Some states can argue credibly that they did not cause the crisis, yet their economies were greatly affected. Under these changed circumstances, a state should be able to enact emergency economic measures to sustain critical national industries.

If the investment treaty regime is to remain sustainable, should a state not be permitted to suspend its treaty obligations during exceptional circumstances? Article 62 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) permits temporary suspension but provides no guidance.  The circumstances that have changed must have constituted an “essential basis” of the parties’ consent, and the change must “radically transform” the extent of obligations. The VCLT permits the state to terminate the treaty entirely or temporarily suspend its obligations.  A temporary suspension – a more limited response – logically should require a lower standard.  The VCLT uses the same standard for both actions.  This is perhaps the reason why Article 62 has been invoked rarely by states seeking to defend against claims relating to measures taken to address unanticipated crises. A mere suspension of treaty obligations would strengthen the treaty system by making it resilient. The standard for suspension, while remaining high, should take into account exceptional circumstances. A workable approach might include:  (i) an unforeseen global crisis; (ii) causing considerable hardship to significant populations; (iii) not a consequence of the state’s own actions; (iv) suspension is made in good faith with the expectation of resuming obligations; and (v) suspension is reasonable under the facts and circumstances.

As the economic crisis has required many countries to undertake protective measures, the suspension of rights and obligations might be the most desirable option. The risk of not permitting suspension might cause states to consider less desirable alternatives when claims are asserted. Questions regarding the length of suspension, and which rights and obligations are suspended, are subjective. Arbitrators could make such determinations in light of facts and circumstances. Recognition that suspension of treaty obligations might be appropriate under certain circumstances will not weaken the treaty system but strengthen it.

London, Aug 2: The unparalleled success of the past three years is leading to LAURA WALDEN taking SFC on in an Olympics-specific format with KEIR RADNEDGE majoring on world football under a format to be announced shortly.

Big thank you to all readers, clients, sponsors and advertisers who have partnered with us during an extraordinary last three years, said a press release.

New Delhi, Aug 2: Missouri recently banned student-teacher Facebook friendships under a law preventing students from having social relationships with their teachers. The law specifically prevents ‘exclusive’ access to students, which bans using Facebook for things like private study groups. Some teachers believe the ban will prevent students who wouldn’t otherwise seek their counsel from reaching out. It's time to do a massive Facebook friend-purge, Missouri teachers. A new bill signed into law by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon makes it illegal for students and teachers within the state to have private relationships on Facebook. We should note that the new law isn't targeting Facebook exclusively–or even social networks. The entire point of the legislation centers on curbing sexual misconduct between teachers and students. The "Amy Hestir Student Protection Act," named for a former Missouri public school student who was molested by a teacher decades prior, increases penalties for school districts that fail to report abuse allegations within a timely manner and fail to disclose instances of past abuse by former staff members. Buried within the law, however, is a provision that effectively eliminates private social relationships between students and teachers on any of the Web's many social networks. Missouri school districts are required to develop written policies to address the "appropriate use of electronic media" by the start of 2012, which must include guidelines for social network use. "Teachers cannot establish, maintain, or use a work-related website unless it is available to school administrators and the child's legal custodian, physical custodian, or legal guardian," reads the law. "Teachers also cannot have a nonwork-related website that allows exclusive access with a current or former student." The word "exclusive" is the key part of the text, as the law still allows teachers to set up social networking pages for friendships, class use, or program support so long as the site is publicly available to all. But even that provision isn't sitting well with Missouri teachers who maintain that Facebook is a valuable tool for students that might otherwise feel uncomfortable bringing up issues in a face-to-face setting. "For some students, that move could very well prevent them from confiding in a trusted adult friend who might be able to help them get through serious problems in their lives," writes Randy Turner, a middle school communications arts teacher in Missouri's Joplin School District. "For Joplin students, that could be dealing with the aftermath of losing their homes and having their lives uprooted on May 22. For others, it may be confiding in just the kind of horrific crime that the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act is supposedly designed to eliminate," she adds.