GS PAPER: III

Road fatalities rise in India

Why in the news?

According to the latest Global status Report on Road Safety by WHO, the annual number of road traffic death dropped by 5 percent from 1.25 million to 1.9 million per year, even as number continue to rise in India .

About the report

• While the numbers have slightly reduced globally, with more than two deaths occurring per minute and over 3,200 per day, road traffic crashes remain the leading killer of children and youth aged five to 29 years.
• Since 2010, road traffic deaths fallen by 5 percent to 1.9 million annually.
• Among UN members states 108 countries reported a drop in road traffic related deaths between 2010-2021.

• Ten countries from four different regions — Belarus, Brunei Darussalam, Denmark, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, Russian Federation, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela — achieved the target reduction of at least 50% in their fatality numbers.
• The report has noted that 28 percent of global traffic deaths occurred in South-East Asian region, 25% western pacific region, 19 percent African region, 12 percent in the region of Americas, 11 percent in the eastern Mediterranean region and 5 percent in European region.
• Nine in ten deaths occur in low and middle income countries.
• The pedestrian death rose by 3 percent to 2, 74,000 between 2010 and 2021 accounting for 23 percent of global fatalities.
• Death among cyclist rose by 20 percent to 71, 000, accounting for 6 percent of global deaths.
• 80 percent of world’s road fails to meet pedestrian safety standards and just 0.2 percent has cycle lanes.
• Just six countries have laws that meet WHO best practices for all risk factors while 140 countries have such laws for at least one of these risk factors.

Status of India:

• India’s record has deteriorated as the total number of fatalities went up from 1.34 lakh in 2010 to 1.54 lakh in 2021 Moreover, India’s share in total road fatalities also increased from 11% to 13%.

GS PAPER – III

Parliament security breach: Intruders set off smoke canisters in LS

Why in the news?

• In a major security breach on the 22nd anniversary of a deadly attack on Parliament, two jumped inside the Lok Sabha chamber from its visitor’s gallery where they set off yellow smoke emitting canisters they had concealed in their shoes, leading to chaos.
• The incident in the Lok Sabha took place when Khagen Murmu was speaking during Zero Hour, with nearly a hundred MPs present in the House, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

2001 parliament attack

• In 2001, a five-member suicide squad comprising Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists attacked Parliament house, while the Lok Sabha was in session: the Houses were adjourned at the time of the attack, but several parliamentarians and staff were present inside the building.
• The attackers came in an Ambassador car, and were able to gain entry because of a forged government sticker. But as the car moved inside the Parliament complex, one of the staff members became suspicious. The vehicle was thus forced to turn back and in the course, hit then Vice President Krishan Kant’s vehicle.
• The gunmen, armed with AK-47s and grenades, then got down and opened fire. The attack lasted for about 30 minutes, and all the five terrorists were neutralised outside the building itself. 
• However, five security personnel of Delhi Police, one woman constable of the CRPF and two security assistants of Parliament Watch and Ward section died preventing the entry of terrorists into Parliament House. A gardener and a photojournalist too lost their lives.
• Within days, four people were arrested and charged as masterminds of the attack. The case against the four – Mohammed Afzal Guru, Shaukat Hussain, Afsan Guru and SAR Geelani – went on for about a decade, with the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court eventually acquitting two, and upholding the death sentence of one.
• Geelani, a professor in Delhi University, was acquitted for “need of evidence” by the Delhi high court in 2003, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in 2005. Afsan Guru, too, was cleared of charges and Hussain served jail time. Afzal Guru was hanged in 2013.

GS PAPER – III

COP-28 calls for transition away from fossil fuel: Dubai Consensus

Why in news?

• Nearly 200 countries at the Cop28 climate summit have agreed to a deal that for the first time calls on all nations to transition away from fossil fuels to avert the worst effects of climate change.

Key points to come out of the deal included:

• It reinforced the 1.5C goal and recognised it would require a 43% emissions cut by 2030 and 60% by 2035 relative to 2019 levels. It implies a major increase in targets and policies when countries submit new commitments in 2025.
• Countries backed a call for global renewable energy to be tripled and the rate of energy efficiency improvements doubled by 2030.
• A statement that global emissions should peak by 2025 was dropped. China, among others, objected to this despite evidence it may be on track to peak its own emissions by then.
• Language backed by fossil fuel interests found its way into the text, including “transitional fuels” – seen as a code for natural gas – and “carbon capture and utilisation and storage”.
• Little progress was made on climate adaptation and finance, which the deal acknowledges will need trillions of dollars in support.
• A loss and damage fund to help the most vulnerable repair the damage from climate breakdown was operationalised – a major step forward – but significant work remains to build its capacity.

GS PAPER – III

New Delhi declaration on AI

Why in news?

• The Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), an alliance of 29 member countries, has unanimously adopted the New Delhi declaration underscoring the need to mitigate risks arising from the development and deployment of AI systems, and promoting equitable access to critical resources for AI innovation including computing and high quality diverse datasets.

About New Delhi Declaration

• It promises to position GPAI at the front and centre of shaping the future of AI in terms of both innovation and creating collaborative AI between partner nations to create applications in healthcare, agriculture, etc.
• All GPAI members had also agreed that the group would lead global conversations on shaping the future of AI governance as well as keeping it safe and trusted.
• GPAI will be an inclusive movement that will increasingly focus on including countries from the Global South and making available the benefits of AI, its platforms and solutions to all of the people.
• Like-minded countries will have to move faster to ensure that by the time all GPAI countries meet next year in Korea, there are definitive granular regulations that all nations have around AI.
• GPAI will now have to be more granular and get down to defining the contours of the rules that will define how users interact with AI.
• The declaration acknowledged the need to harness new opportunities and mitigate the risks arising from the development and deployment of AI. This includes –
• Concerns around misinformation and disinformation,
• Unemployment,
• Lack of transparency and fairness,
• Protection of intellectual property and personal data, and
• Threats to human rights and democratic values.
• The declaration also acknowledged the need for equitable access to resources, which must be considered, accounted for, or addressed in order for societies to benefit from and build competitive AI solutions.

About Global Conversation on AI Regulation (GPAI)

• GPAI is a multi-stakeholder initiative with 29 member countries that aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice on artificial intelligence by supporting cutting- edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.
• Multiple sessions on diverse topics like AI and global health, education and skilling, AI and data governance, and ML Workshop, among others will be organised during the summit.
• Other attractions of the summit include Research Symposium AI Game Changers Award and India AI Expo.
• The summit will witness participation of more than 50 GPAI experts and over 150 speakers from across countries.
• Further, top AI game changers from across the world will be  participating in different events including Intel Reliance Jio, Google, Meta, AWS, Yotta, Netweb, Paytm, Microsoft, Mastercard, NIC, STPI, Immerse, Jio Haptik and Bhashini etc.
• Besides, students who are winners under the YUVA AI initiative and start-ups will be showcasing their AI models and solutions.