Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 10 June 2016

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 10 June 2016

:: National ::

More than one lakh people loose life in road accidents

• An official report, released by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister, said 1.46 lakh people were killed in road accidents in India in 2015 — an increase of five per cent from 2014.
• Road accidents as a whole rose 2.5 per cent during 2015 to 5.01 lakh or 1,374 accidents every day, claiming 400 lives, the report said.
• The report said a majority (54.1 per cent) of those killed in road accidents during 2015 were in the age group of 15-34.
• Thirteen States, including Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, accounted for the highest number of accidents.
• Among cities, while Mumbai had the highest number of accidents (23,468), Delhi saw the most number of deaths (1,622) in road accidents.
• Also, drivers’ fault was responsible for 77.1 per cent of the accidents, deaths and injuries, mainly because of over-speeding, the report noted.
• Alarmed by rising road accidents, the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry has sent a Cabinet note for setting up a National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board to advise the government on road safety standards and guidelines.

Street view of Google denied permission

• A technical committee of the Defence Ministry, which comprises officials from Indian Air Force, Military Intelligence, Navy, Army and Intelligence Bureau, had unanimously opposed the service.
• The main concern was security of sensitive defence installations. The Defence Ministry said it was not possible to monitor the service once it was launched and it would be detrimental to national security.
• The proposal was rejected in February itself, primarily amid security concerns after the terror attack at the Pathankot airbase on January 1-2.
• Investigating agencies suspect that terrorists used Google maps as they were aware of the airbase’s topography.
• The Home Ministry recently uploaded the draft Geospatial Information Regulation Bill 2016 for comments from the public.
• The Bill proposes jail term of seven years and a fine upto Rs. 100 crore for wrongly depicting the map of India, a move that is likely to hit Google and Microsoft.
• In April 2015, Google representatives made a presentation on Street View for the MHA.
• They had told the officials then that the platform would be useful for tourism and disaster management.
• A formal proposal was submitted in July same year to shoot images through high-end cameras and upload them on ‘Street View’.
• In 2011, Google launched Street View as a pilot project in some of the tourist sites like Qutub Minar, the Thanjavur temple, the Varanasi riverbank, the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort, Nalanda University etc. in partnership with the Tourism Ministry.
• The service was launched in 2007 in the U.S. and has since expanded to other parts of the world.
• The Street View imagery has run into trouble in Germany, Greece, Switzerland, Poland and the United Kingdom amid privacy concerns and data protection issues.

India working hard to get support for NSG (Register and Login to read Full News..) 

:: International ::

Hillary Clinton gets Obama’s support

• U.S. President Barack Obama endorsed Hillary Clinton to succeed him, declaring in a video message “I’m with her.”
• The endorsement comes after a hard fought Democratic primary season, in which Ms. Clinton struggled against her rival Bernie Sanders.
• “I don’t think there’s ever been someone so qualified to hold this office.” “I have seen her judgment. I’ve seen her toughness. I’ve seen her commitment to our values up close,” Mr. Obama said of Ms. Clinton.
• Looking forward to her presidential campaign, the first major decision Ms. Clinton will have to make ahead of the national convention in July is that of choosing a vice-presidential running mate.
• The selection of the V-P candidate is normally part of a wider agreement the nominee reaches with other sections of the party, and with an eye on reaching out to crucial constituencies or winning a swing State.
• The most talked about woman in this context is Elizabeth Warren, Senator from Massachusetts who has emerged as a leading liberal voice in the party.
• Ms. Warren, the only woman Senator who has not endorsed Ms. Clinton, shares most of the concerns with Mr. Sanders and could be attractive to his supporters who are now feeling dejected.

Pakistan accuses India of derailing talks (Register and Login to read Full News..) 

:: India and World ::

UNGA meet set the world on course to end HIV by 2030

• At a high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS at the United Nations General Assembly, Health Minister reinforced India’s commitment to fast-track progress on ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
• At the meeting member states have adopted a new political declaration, including time-bound global targets, to be reached over the next five years and end the epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.
• The UNGA meeting brings together heads of state and government, people living with HIV , and donor organisations, to reiterate commitments made in the Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS and to set the world on course to end the epidemic by 2030 within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals
• India proposed a five-point strategy — the ‘global family’ — to end AIDS. He stated that India was committed to enforcing TRIPS flexibilities to make drugs affordable.
• “India is proud of being one of the leading partners in the global fight against AIDS epidemic.”
• These remarkable successes would not have been possible without access to affordable medicines.
• The low cost generic medicines produced by the Indian pharmaceutical industry have been instrumental in scaling up access to HIV treatment not only in India but in other parts of the world.
• More than 80 per cent of the antiretroviral drugs, used globally, are supplied by the Indian pharmaceutical industry,” he said.
• The five point strategy includes adoption of the fast-track target; reaching 90 per cent of all people in need with HIV treatment; commitment to maintain the TRIPS flexibilities; creating an inclusive society with programmes that work towards restoring the respect and dignity of individuals, and lastly, global solidarity.

India gets more support for its bid to NSG (Register and Login to read Full News..) 

:: Business and Economy ::

RBI Governor asks for better coordination among countries

• RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has urged greater co-ordination among countries to tackle spill-over effects – the impact that economic policies in some countries may have on other economies.
• “How do we take cognizance of the fact that the world is quite integrated and therefore, policies across countries have spill-over effects and today we don’t have a system to coordinate these spill-overs; each country does what it has to and other countries have to accept that and the consequences,” he said.
• The former IMF chief economist has been critical of ‘ultra-low’ monetary policies adopted among some countries in the developed world.
• Their decisions to keep interest rates low to support growth and re-inflate their economies have impacted emerging market economies.
• He cited the example of Brexit, which is the possibility that Britain will withdraw from the European Union. The country will hold an in-out referendum on its EU membership on June 23.

Food Ministry proposes 25 % duty on sugar export (Register and Login to read Full News..) 

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Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

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