Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 20 May 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Egypt flight from Paris to Cairo crashed into the Mediterranean sea

An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo carrying 66 people crashed into the Mediterranean sea with possible wreckage spotted off a Greek island, as investigators probed whether it was downed by a bomb.
Egypt’s Aviation Minister said that while it was too soon to say why the Airbus A320 had vanished, “a terrorist” attack would be a more likely scenario than a technical failure.
The plane had fallen 22,000 feet and swerved sharply twice in Egyptian airspace before it disappeared from the radar screens.
The incident raised fears of a repeat of the bombing of a Russian passenger plane by the Islamic State jihadist group over Egypt last October, which killed all 224 people on board.
The jet was flying from Paris to Cairo when it disappeared, without sending a distress signal.

India led the way for ‘Red Line Campaign’ for antibiotics packaging

India’s idea of putting a red line on antibiotic packages to curb their over-the-counter sale is now being cited as a model that can be used globally to counter the rising threat of superbugs.
In its final report on tackling drug resistant infection released on May 19, the global Review on Antimicrobial Resistance says India has led the way so far with its idea of a ‘Red Line Campaign’ for antibiotics packaging.
This was launched earlier this year, and should be considered as a starting point. It recommends that the labelling and symbols used can be improved if needed and then expanded globally.
While stressing that convincing people to stop using antibiotics would not be effective unless they recognise antibiotics.
“Labelling of antimicrobials, especially antibiotics, is crucial. We call on governments and international health organisations to agree on global labelling standards,” it adds.
India’s Red Line campaign, launched in February this year, began marking prescription-only antibiotics with a red line to curb their irrational use and create awareness on the dangers of taking antibiotics without being prescribed.
The report says laws prevent sale of antibiotics and other antimicrobials over-the-counter, but these may be weakly enforced in some countries and non-existent in many.
It says 20-30 per cent of antibiotics are consumed without prescription in south and east Europe, and up to 100 per cent in parts of Africa.
It is still early in India to map the impact of the Red Line initiative, but experts see better awareness.

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:: INTERNATIONAL ::

US President to visit Vietnam and Japan

Barack Obama’s visit to Vietnam and Japan next week will reiterate the “rebalance to Asia” policy that many critics say has faltered after the initial push.
Mr. Obama’s visit will also resuscitate the memories of the U.S.’s difficult past of war and conflict with these two current partners in Asia.
Mr. Obama will be the first serving U.S. President to visit Hiroshima, one of the two Japanese cities on which the U.S. dropped atomic bombs in 1945.
The visit will also underscore the significance the Obama administration attaches to the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement that is the cornerstone of the U.S.’s Asia-Pacific policy, despite it being hotly contested in the ongoing presidential campaign.
Maritimes disputes on the South China Sea will be part of the discussions at the G-7 meeting in Japan.
The U.S. opened full diplomatic ties with Vietnam in 1995 but the relationship is far from smooth. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush visited Vietnam once each and this will be Mr. Obama’s first trip to the country that shares a border with China
But concerns regarding human rights violations in the country still rattle U.S. administrations, and Mr. Obama will interact with civil society organisations in Hanoi.
The White House had earlier said the President would not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb while visiting Hiroshima.

Seventh anniversary of end of Eelam war observed

Even as Sri Lanka observed the seventh anniversary of the end of the Eelam War, issues of reconciliation and accountability remained “largely unaddressed”, according to the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG).
The group said the government “appears to be backtracking” on transitional justice plans, particularly on the role of foreign judges and experts.
“Mechanisms promised to the UNHRC [United Nations Human Rights Council] feed Sinhala nationalist suspicions, while attempts to reassure Sinhalese and the military encourage doubts among Tamils about [the] government’s willingness”, it added.
It added that though the “national unity” government has “expanded the political centre and isolated hard-line nationalists”, the window for change has begun to narrow.

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:: Business and Economy ::

Apple opened its first development centre in India to work on Apple Maps

Apple Inc. opened its first development centre in India to work on Apple Maps, the company’s digital maps and navigation service.
The company’s servers will be located in the U.S. but technical and support services would be provided in Hyderabad. It will work out of an existing software hub that is part of a special economic zone.
“The talent here in the local area is incredible and we are looking forward to expanding our relationships and introducing more universities and partners to our platforms as we scale our operations,” said Tim Cook.
Apple didn’t specify the amount of investment in the facility but in a statement it said the centre would accelerate development of maps and create up to 4,000 jobs.
The Cupertino, California-based company has teamed with Noida-based RMSI, a global IT services company, to provide development expertise and software for geo-spatial services.
It chose Hyderabad to set up its map development centre as the city had the largest number of engineers in the country specialising in mapping. The National Remote Sensing Agency that processed maps and images from India’s earth observation satellites was based here.
Several companies in the city offered GIS services, including spatial analysis, mapping and visualisation, content imagery and remote sensing.
There were at least 50 small enterprises that supported the GIS and mapping industry. A significant amount of mapping done was used by the mobile phone industry.

TRAI issued a consultation paper on free data

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India issued a consultation paper on free data seeking comments from stakeholders whether business models which provide free data or suitable reimbursement to users could be allowed without violating the differential pricing norms set by the regulator.
This move is aimed at giving consumers more choices for accessing the Internet, according to a posting on the regulator’s website.
Earlier this year, TRAI had banned the practice of differential pricing of data or allowing telecom service providers to offer differential pricing for access to specific applications or websites.
The move put the end to Facebook’s Free Basics. Now, the regulator is looking at different models which can work within its regulatory framework.
It is looking at whether a “Telecom Service Provider (TSP)-agnostic platform” that does not play the role of gate-keeper could be allowed in order to “give consumers more choices for accessing the Internet.”
The other models it talks about is that of a “don’t charge” or toll-free API, where the telecom service provider doesn’t act like a gatekeeper and direct transfer of money for Internet data charges.