Daily-current-affairs-11-09-2023

1. GS 3 (INDIAN ECONOMY): FISCAL POLICY: THE HINDU:

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India’s external debt of $624.7 billion at March-end with a debt-service ratio of 5.3% is within the comfort zone and modest from a cross-country perspective.

What is Debt Service Ratio?

Debt service ratio is an indicator to measure the servicing burden of external debt. Debt service ratio is a ratio of total debt service payments (principal repayments and interest payments) to current receipts excluding official transfers on balance of payments basis.

2. GS 1 (SOCIETY): SOCIAL NORMS:  THE HINDU:

The Supreme Court has said rapid changes in modern life have made what constitutes ‘cruelty’ in marriage fluid.

SC Judge noted that boundaries of what constitutes cruel conduct in marriages shifts depending on human behaviour, capacity or incapability to tolerate the conduct complained of, etc. The verdict said even the concept of ‘mental cruelty’ does not remain still throughout they

3. GS 3 (INDIAN ECONOMY): AGRICULTURE: THE  HINDU:

Apple country gets ground ready for cannabis cultivation. With the Himachal Pradesh government taking steps to legalise cannabis (hemp) cultivation in the State, growers are upbeat and optimistic about getting an economic boost.

A committee comprising lawmakers that explored the possibility of legal cultivation of cannabis recently recommended cultivation of cannabis for “non-narcotic use of cannabis for medicinal, industrial, and scientific use”. However, there are social concerns, especially of adolescents and youth being drawn towards the use and abuse of cannabis.

In 2017, Himachal Pradesh’s neighbour Uttarakhand became the first State in the country to legalise cannabis cultivation.

4.GS2(INTERNATIONAL RALATIONS): REGIONAL GROUPINGS: THE HINDU:

U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday rejected the notion that he was seeking to isolate China or engage in a cold war.

HE SAID the Quad grouping (India, the U.S., Australia and Japan) was not about containing China but about stability in the region.

5. GS 2 (SOCIAL JUSTICE):

September 10 marked the observance of World Suicide Prevention Day, an initiative which began in 2003.

Ever since India began categorising suicide data by occupation, housewives have consistently ranked among the top two groups. This trend held true for 2021, the most recent year for which data are available.

The number of women who died by suicide in India reached a peak of 45,026 in 2021. More than half of them were housewives.

Shifting expectations around social roles, particularly post-marriage, could be a contributing factor. In the south, where female literacy rates are comparatively high and women have greater access to mass media, there tends to be a clash between modern perspectives and traditional societal norms.