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.
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:: 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.