3rd March

‘Nirmal Gram Puraskar’ for Dakshina Kannada

'Dakshina Kannada' became the first district in the Karnataka
to be chosen for the Nirmal Gram Puraskar.
The "Nirmal Gram Puraskar" award is instituted in 2003 by the
Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. The award
carries and incentive amount of Rs. 50 lakh for District Panchayats
with population of above 10 Lakh. The Nirmal Gram Puraskar is being
awarded at the gram panchayat, taluk and district levels as an
incentive to eradicate open defecation in villages. Also, Mangalore
and Sullia taluks have been chosen for the block-level Puraskar. The
Govt has laid down guidelines for spending the award money. The
Award Money should be used for solid waste management and upgrading
sanitation facilities.
*PRIs = Panchayati Raj Institutions
Delhi Court terms ‘Microsoft India’ as “Odd Man Out”
2012-03-05 10:03:40 GKToday
A Delhi Court removed Microsoft India from the list of 21 websites which were made party in a civil suit.
The Delhi Court calling Microsoft as: "Not a networking site" and "odd man out" dropped the name of
Microsoft India. Mufti Aijaz Arshad Qasmi was unable to produce any downloaded document from
Microsoft that he found objectionable. The Delhi Court also imposed a cost of Rs 5,000 on complainant
Mufti Aijas Arshad Quasmi for embroiling Microsoft and saddling the company with legal disbursements.

U.S. Blogger and Online Activist ‘Andrew Breitbart’ dead
2012-03-05
A conservative U.S. blogger and online activist Andrew Breitbart (43)passed away on March 1,
2012.
He was a US publisher, commentator at the Washington Times, an author, and an occasional
guest commentator on different news programs. He ran his own news aggregation site,
Breitbart.com.
He played vital roles in the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal (also dubbed Weinergate), the resignation of
Georgia State Director of Rural Development Shirley Sherrod, and the ACORN (Association of
Community Organizations for Reform Now) 2009 undercover videos controversy.

$3.2-bn loss reported by Areva, the French nuclear giant

2012-03-05
Areva, the France's State-controlled nuclear giant reported to have lost around €2.4
billion ($3.2 billion) in 2011. This was much on the back of a troubled uranium mining
venture that has been the subject of investigation.
The gloomy figures exhibit a tough year for Areva which is also confronting a global
reconsideration of the future of atomic energy in the wake of Japan's Fukushima
disaster. E.g. Germany has resolved to close-down all of its nuclear plants by 2022, forcing Areva to lay
off staff in Germany.
2011 also witnessed the departure of Areva's charismatic chief executive Anne Lauvergeon (known as
"Atomic Anne") subsequent to her loss of the French government's support.
A Look into the Areva's partnership / business with INDIA:
18 December 2008 - AREVA inked an agreement with the NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of
India) for the supply of 300 tonnes of uranium to India for power generation. Thus, Areva became
the first-ever foreign supplier of Uranium to India after the NSG waiver.
4 February 2009 - AREVA inked MOU to supply 2 to 6 nuclear reactors to the NPCIL. The deal was
worth around $12.3 billion (600 billion Rupees), an all-time record for the company surpassing the
8-billion Euro (11.1 billion dollars) deal signed with China a few years earlier.
Areva is also probable to supply fuel for the project intended in Maharashtra
Areva will also carry out the construction of a 110/11KV Substation for Infopark at Cherthala in
Kerala.

Madras High Court verdict: Writ of ‘quo warranto’ can’t be issued
for removing a Minister
2012-03-05

The Madras High Court in its verdict held that the pleasure of dismissing or removing a State Minister has
to be that of the Governor and not that of the High Court and thus the High Court cannot issue a writ of
'quo warranto' for removing a Minister.
The Bench of the Madras High Court made this observation whilst dismissing a petition by K. R.
Ramaswamy alias 'Traffic' Ramaswamy attempting an issue of a writ directing Tamil Nadu Forest
Minister K. T .Pachamal to demonstrate under what authority he served as a Minister in the face of well-documented allegements of his violating the law.
The petitioner, K. R. Ramaswamy, alleged that the Tamil Nadu Forest Minister K. T .Pachamal had
violated the City Municipal Corporation Act by setting up digital banners.
In a series of decisions the Supreme Court and other High Courts had held that a writ of quo warranto
could not be issued for removing Ministers, who were people's representatives. The cure exists in the
Constitution and a writ court could not issue a writ of quo warranto.