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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 10 November 2019

::NATIONAL::

SC delivers Ayodhya verdict, accepted equally by all stakeholders

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has welcomed the Supreme Court's unanimous decision on Shri Ram Janmabhoomi. In a tweet, Mr Shah appealed people of all communities and religions to accept the decision with ease and remain committed to peace and harmony and to the pledge of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat'.
He expressed confidence that the landmark judgment given by the Supreme Court will prove to be a milestone in itself. Mr Shah said, the decision will give further strength to the unity, integrity and great culture of India.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said, its a landmark judgement which should be accepted by all of us with humility. He appealed to the people to maintain peace and calm.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up across the state, with the deployment of Police and Central forces. Markets and shops are open as usual and people are seen busy in their day-to-day activities. People have been asked not to post any inflammatory posts on social media.
Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi says the Supreme Court judgement on Ayodhya land dispute case should be welcomed and respected wholeheartedly by all.
He said it is a collective responsibility to strengthen unity, social harmony and brotherhood in the country. Talking to media, Mr Naqvi said the verdict should not be seen as a victory or defeat of anyone.

National workshop on ODF plus held in New Delhi

With all 5.99 lakh villages, 699 districts and 35 states and union territories having declared themselves open defecation free (ODF) under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) [SBM(G)] as of October 2019, the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti organised a one-day national workshop on ODF Plus – ODF Sustainability and Solid and Liquid Waste Management, today in New Delhi.
ODF Plus, SBM(G)’s latest component, consists of two main tracks: ODF Sustainability (ODF-S) and Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM).
ODF-S includes sustaining behaviour change for safe sanitation, leaving no one behind and addressing gaps, ensuring community toilets for floating populations, and strengthening the capacity of all grassroots functionaries.
As part of SLWM, the Mission is taking up biodegradable waste management, plastic waste management, grey water management, and fecal sludge management.
The workshop included presentation by the participating states on the their current status in rural sanitation and their plans going forward.
ShriArunBaroka, Additional Secretary (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, in his presentation made the overall case for the Department’s vision moving forward and reiterated that focus has to be maintained on the sustainability of outcomes gained thus far and on solid and liquid waste management.

::ECONOMY::

Govt. claims economy robust as inflation is controlled

Government has said that the fundamentals of the economy remain quite robust with inflation under check and bond yields low. It said, India continues to offer strong prospects of growth in near and medium term.
An official press release said, the Government of India has noted that the Moody’s Investors Service has changed the outlook on India’s ratings to negative from stable while keeping the foreign-currency and local-currency long-term issuers rating unchanged at Baa2.
The Government said, India continues to be among the fastest growing major economies in the world and its relative standing remains unaffected. IMF in their latest World Economic Outlook has stated that Indian Economy is set to grow at 6.1% in 2019, picking up to 7 % in 2020.
As India’s potential growth rate remains unchanged, assessment by IMF and other multilateral organizations continue to underline a positive outlook on India.
The Government has undertaken series of steps and reforms to strengthen the economy as a whole. Government of India has also proactively taken policy decisions in response to the global slowdown. These measures would lead to a positive outlook on India and would attract capital flows and stimulate investments.

RBI increases limits for NBFC and MFI borrowers

Reserve Bank has increased the household income limits for borrowers of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and microfinance institutions (MFIs) from 1 lakh to 1.25 lakh rupees.
The move is aimed at strengthening credit to those at the bottom of the economic pyramid in rural areas. Similarly, the limit has been increased from 1.6 lakh for urban or semi-urban areas to 2 lakh rupees.
RBI said in a circular that the limit has been increased after taking into consideration the important role played by microfinance institutions in delivering credit to those at the bottom of the economic pyramid and to enable them to play their assigned role in a growing economy.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Iran begins uranium enrichment raising concerns for global leaders

Iran has resumed uranium enrichment at its underground Fordow plant south of Tehran today in a new departure from its commitments under a landmark 2015 nuclear deal, a statement said.
The suspension of uranium enrichment at the long secret plant was one of the restrictions Iran had agreed to on its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of UN sanctions.
It has drawn a chorus of concern from the remaining parties to the troubled agreement. Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia have been trying to salvage the hard-won deal since Washington abandoned it in May last year and reimposed crippling unilateral sanctions.
The resumption of enrichment at Fordow is Iran's fourth move away from the deal. Uranium enrichment is the sensitive process that produces fuel for nuclear power plants but also, in highly extended form, the fissile core for a warhead. Iran has always denied any military dimension to its nuclear programme.
Iran's latest move comes after the passing of a deadline it set for the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement to come up with a mechanism that would allow foreign firms to continue doing business with Iran without incurring US penalties.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed concern about Tehran's announcements but said European powers should do their part. The Kremlin had previously called sanctions against Iran as unprecedented and illegal.

U.S-China trade deal to be delayed for next month

A meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign a long-awaited interim trade deal could be delayed until December as discussions continue over terms and venue, a senior official of the Trump administration told Reuters on Wednesday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was still possible the "phase one" agreement aimed at ending a damaging trade war would not be reached, but a deal was more likely than not.
Dozens of venues have been suggested for the meeting, which had originally been scheduled to take place on the sidelines of a now-canceled mid-November summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Chile, the official said.
They included sites in Europe and Asia, but the former was more likely, with Sweden and Switzerland among the possibilities. Iowa, which Trump has suggested, appeared to have been ruled out, the official said.
China's latest push for more tariff rollbacks would be discussed, but was not expected to derail progress toward an interim deal.
Since Trump took office in 2017, his administration has been pressing China to curb massive subsidies to state-owned firms and end the forced transfer of American technology to Chinese firms as a price of doing business in China.
Analysts say the phase one deal will fail to adequately address these issues, focusing largely on Chinese purchases of U.S. farm goods and intellectual property protections related to copyright and trademark issues. It will not address industrial subsidies at all.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

NASA’s voyager 2 reaches interstellar space

NASA’s Voyager 2 has exited heliosphere and has entered interstellar space. It is now at 11 billion miles from the earth. Information from the spacecraft takes 16.5 hours to reach earth at the speed of light. (Light from the sun takes 8 minutes to reach earth)
The spacecraft joined its twin voyager 1 on December 10, 2018. The Voyagers were launched to study the outer solar system up close. Voyager 2 will target Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus.
Till November 5, 2019, the space around the spacecraft was surrounded by plasma flowing out from the sun. This outflow is called solar wind and envelopes the planets in the solar system.
However, recently, scientists detected no electrical current of plasma to detect density, pressure, temperature. This confirms that the spacecraft has left the heliosphere and entered inter stellar space.
Voyager 2 also discovered 5 moons of Neptune. It identified a “Great Dark Spot” at Neptune. Also the spacecraft discovered that there are four rings around Neptune.

::SPORTS::

Deepak kumar secures Olympic quota in shooting

Birthday boy Deepak Kumar secured India's 10th Olympic quota in shooting while Manu Bhaker claimed the women's 10 metres air pistol gold medal in the 14th Asian Championship in Doha today.
Deepak gifted himself a bronze medal in men's 10 metres air rifle on the opening day of the championship. Deepak shot 227.8 in the eight-man final to finish third on the podium and add to India's quotas for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Later in the day, Bhaker shot 244.3 to win the top prize in her event. The Haryana sensation had already secured an Olympic quota at the Munich World Cup in May.