Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 20 August 2016

:: National ::

Even with an entire country and its 1.3 billion people rooting for her, it was a tough task for P.V. Sindhu.
And though the young Indian was finally beaten for the first time in six matches, the defeat in itself seemed to be a defining moment in the fledgling career of the 21-year-old.
The final of the women’s singles, an epic battle in more ways than one and going the distance to last an hour and 22 minutes, was one of fluctuating fortunes before World No. 1 Carolina Marin (Spain) came good.
The silver medal around Sindhu’s neck still had its own glitter as she emerged the first woman athlete from the country to earn such an honour at the Games, the second Indian to win a badminton medal after Saina Nehwal (London 2012).
Undoubtedly what stood out again, as in her earlier matches, was the grit and determination displayed by the Hyderabad-born, a protege of 2001 All England champion Pullela Gopi Chand, to surprise the Spaniard in the first game.
Sindhu also seemed to be overcome by fatigue towards the end as she admitted defeat, but to the whole of India she remained the heroine they had worshipped prior to the start of the final.

Afghanistan’s former President Hamid Karzai “appreciated” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on the human rights situation in Balochistan, saying that India had every right to respond to Pakistan’s provocations.
“Pakistani authorities have spoken freely on Afghanistan and India, but this is the first time that the PM of India has spoken about Balochistan,” Mr. Karzai said, during a visit to Delhi.
“However I don’t think India intends to go to any proxy wars as it has a tradition of peaceful coexistence. The region should not go to proxy wars.”
The remarks from Mr. Karzai, who has often called out Pakistan for its support to the Taliban, come a day after Bangladesh Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu had also backed Mr. Modi.
In his address on Independence Day, Mr. Modi had vowed to take up the cause of the Baloch people, facing repression in Pakistan, on the international stage.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has said that no reference was “ever made” to the delisting of the Golden Temple of Dambulla.
It is one of the eight World Heritage sites in Sri Lanka. Located about 175 km from here, the Temple was declared a World Heritage site in 1991.
A sacred pilgrimage site for many centuries, this cave monastery, with its five sanctuaries, is the “largest, best-preserved” cave-temple complex in Sri Lanka, according to the UNESCO’s website.
It contains Buddhist mural paintings, covering an area of 2,100 sq. m and contains 157 statues.
There have been reports of concern over the state of conservation of the monument.
In March 2015, the International Committee on Monuments and Sites, the UNESCO’s advisory body for cultural properties, had dispatched a monitoring mission to assess the situation.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) is working on the process concerning Inter-state Goods and Services Tax (IGST).
Inter-state Goods and Services Tax will be put in public domain soon.
GST, although people say it is not directly related to Customs, is going to be a reality now.
The target date is April 1, 2017. What will be the system of levy of IGST? How revenue will be taken? All these things are yet to be decided and this will be on public domain soon.