Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 31 August 2016
:: National ::
India and the U.S. signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement
- India and the U.S. signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) that will give the militaries of both countries access to each other’s facilities for supplies and repairs.
- Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter said in a joint statement that the pact “will facilitate additional opportunities for practical engagement and exchange.”
- While it is an enabling agreement, LEMOA does not make logistical support automatic or obligatory for either party.
- The agreement does not involve allowing military bases either. Each case will require individual clearance. The services or supplies accessed will be on a reimbursable basis.
National Crime Records Bureau comes out
- Incidents of rioting remained almost the same in 2015 as compared to 2014, but as communal riots decreased, big increases were seen in other categories – agrarian riots, sectarian riots, student riots and caste conflicts.
- This data comes from the “Crime in India” report for 2015 released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
- Recorded incidents of agrarian riots saw a 327 per cent increase from 628 in 2014 to 2683 in 2015.
- The number of people arrested also increased nearly three fold from 3540 to 10353.
- Sectarian riots — defined as violence between different sects of the same religion not considering caste conflict — showed a 2,700 and 9,000 per cent jump in incidents.
- The decrease in communal riots incidents recorded by NCRB — from 1,227 in 2014 to 789 in 2015 — however does not mesh with data released by the Ministry of Home Affairs in response to a parliamentary question in July 2016.
- Ministry data showed a slight increase from 644 incidents in 2014 to 751 in 2015.
- Chennai recorded the lowest rate of total crimes among major cities (154.3 per 1 lakh population). Among all cities, only Surat (86.9), Kannur and Dhanbad had better rates.