| Nigeria: The ASUU Strike
The brittle relationship between university teachers and the present administration could hardly be worse than it is now. Even before the teachers' union otherwise known as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) embarked on its latest strike on March 26, it had become obvious that both parties had lost confidence in each other. Despite the efforts of the Gamaliel Onosode committee to broker peace between the government and ASUU, it seemed clear that the basis for negotiation did not sufficiently exist. While the ASUU believes that the government has not kept faith with regard to all the agreements it reached with the union in 2001, the government on its part thinks ASUU is impatient and unduly insensitive to the efforts it has made since to improve things on the university campuses.
Rupee appreciation would not hit badly: Granules
Managing Director at Granules India, C Krishna Prasad says, the forward integration on finish dosages would be completed by July this year and the net effect on our EBITDA would be increase of about 3% to about 17%. Excerpts from CNBC-TV18's exclusive interview with C Krishna Prasad: Q: Your company is in the process of forward integration or completing that basically consolidating the API, PFI as well as the finish dosages business when will the entire forward integration be complete and how would it ramp up your margins and your growth? A: The forward integration on finish dosages would be completed by July this year and the net effect on our EBITDA would be an increase of about 3% to about 17%. We already had manufacturing API and we have a plant in China and PFI is fully integrated.
US expects fair treatment for its cos. in Russia - Gutierrez
MOSCOW, April 4 (RIA Novosti) - The United States expects Russia to treat U.S. companies doing business in the country fairly, including embattled auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the U.S. Commerce Secretary said Wednesday. PwC, a respected international auditing firm, has been accused by Moscow city tax officials of helping the bankrupt Yukos oil company evade taxes, and it may as a result lose its operating license in Russia. Carlos Gutierrez, who arrived in Moscow Monday to discuss Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) and bilateral investment, said after a meeting with Russia's economics minister, German Gref, that Washington expects any investigation into alleged violations of Russian tax legislation by PwC to be even-handed. The Moscow Arbitration Court held hearings into the PwC case March 20 and ruled that the company violated professional standards while conducting audits for Yukos in 2002-2004.
Tridico Supports the Union
SooNews' Frank Tridico returns to the columns giving a strong message to the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), which represents 335 employees of St. Marys Paper. Tridico argues that the union's rejection in what appears to be a last-chance offer to save a restructuring effort was the right thing to do. That proposal that included a five-year extension to a three-year 20% wage rollback that workers already gave ownership voluntarily one year ago. Tridico argues that while the percentage used in the proposal has been 20%, it is more likely to be much higher than that when previously negotiated annual wage increases, now frozen, are factored in. Tridico took an earlier stand along with MP Tony Martin in arguing that workers' pensions should not have been part of negotiation.
Afe Babalola urges lawyers to embrace arbitration
Chief Afe Babalola, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has advised legal practitioners in Nigeria to embrace arbitration as a way of resolving disagreement, because it "ensures swift dispensation of justice and resolution of misunderstanding at the cheapest possible cost". Chief Babalola, who now heads the Chartered Institute of Arbitration, Nigeria (CIAN), said the adversary nature of litigation was virtually eliminated by arbitration. He called on government and its agencies to take advantage of arbitration in resolving many of the commercial disputes it is presently involved in. The Senior Advocate in his acceptance speech at the weekend, stressed the importance of arbitration. He said, "the importance of arbitration cannot be overem-phasised, especially in a world that is prone to constant bickerings, disagreements and rising commercial disputations given the spate of developments across the globe." .
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