Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 12 January 2021

::NATIONAL::

UGC issues guidelines for re-opening of universities and colleges

UGC said that, 'before reopening of any campus, the Central or the State Government must have declared the area safe for reopening of educational institutions
According to UGC, hostels may be opened only in such cases where it is necessary while strictly observing the safety and health preventive measures
Before reopening of any campus, the Central or the concerned State Government must have declared the area safe for reopening of educational institutions. The directions, instructions, guidelines and orders issued by the Central and State Government concerned regarding safety and health in view of COVID-19 must be fully abided by the higher education institutions.
However, they may develop stricter provisions and guidelines, if they feel it necessary. The universities and colleges have to make adequate arrangements to ensure the safety and health of students, faculty and staff.
The universities and colleges shall be allowed to open only if they are outside the containment zones. Further, students and staff living in containment zones will not be allowed to attend the colleges. Students and staff shall also be advised not to visit areas falling within containment zones.
The faculty, staff and students of the university and college should be encouraged to download ‘Aarogya Setu App’.
The institutions should be ready with a plan for handling the inflow of students, faculty and staff in the campus, monitoring disinfecting measures, safety and health conditions, screening and detecting the infected persons, containment measures to prevent the spread of the virus in the campus, and also alternative plan(s), in case the campus needs to be closed again due to spread of the virus in campus or in the surrounding area(s) in near future.

Supreme Court stays implementation of farm laws

The Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the three farm laws till further orders and decided to set up a four-member committee to resolve the deadlock between the Centre and farmers' unions over them.
A bench, which was headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, justice AS Bopanna and justice V Ramasubramanian, said that it will pass an order to this effect later.
The top court stayed the implementation of the Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act after several petitions were filed challenging their constitutional validity.
The bench the four-member committee will look into the farmers' grievances on the issue. HS Mann, president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union, president of Maharashtra's Shetkeri Sangthana, Anil Ghanwat; Pramod Kumar Joshi, the director for South Asia, International Food Policy Research Institute, and agriculture economist Ashok Gulati will be the members of the panel.
The top court had earlier sought the Centre's response on a batch of pleas against the Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.

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::International::

Iran must undo uranium enrichment, help nuclear diplomacy

Iran started pressing ahead with plans to enrich uranium to 20% fissile strength at its underground Fordow nuclear plant last week.
Iran must reverse its decision to enrich uranium at higher levels and give international diplomacy a chance to save the 2015 nuclear accord, the European Union said in a statement.
"The initiation of uranium enrichment to up to 20% by Iran at the underground Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant ... is a very serious development and a matter of deep concern," the EU's 27 governments.
Iran started pressing ahead with plans to enrich uranium to 20% fissile strength at its underground Fordow nuclear plant last week, a level Tehran achieved before striking the deal with world powers to contain its disputed nuclear ambitions.

::Economy::

5% more income tax returns filed this year

Over 5.95 crore income tax returns (ITRs) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020 (2019-20) were filed by January 10, the Income Tax Department said.
Income tax returns filed this year have risen by about 5 per cent to nearly 6 crore as more businesses and entities filed annual income statements.
Over 5.95 crore income tax returns (ITRs) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020 (2019-20) were filed by January 10, the Income Tax Department said.
The ITR filing deadline for individuals ended on January 10 while for companies it is till February 15.
The tax department in a tweet said 5.95 crore ITRs for Assessment Year 2020-21 were filed till January 10, 2021, as compared to 5.67 crore ITRs filed for the previous Assessment Year by September 10, 2019.
The total returns for 2019-20 are 33.35 lakh higher than the previous year as total ITRs filed stood at 5.61 crore on the last date which was August 31, 2019.
"CBDT passes order u/s 119 of Income-tax Act, 1961 in F No. 370153/39/2020-TPL dt 11th January, 2021, disposing off the representations for extension of due date for filing of Audit Report u/s 44AB, in compliance with the order of hon'ble Gujarat High Court dt 8th January, 2021," the department had said in a tweet.
This was in response to the Gujarat High Court order dated January 8 in the case of the All India Gujarat Federation of Tax Consultants versus Union of India directing the finance ministry to look into the issue of extension of due dates for filing of audit report under Section 44AB of the Income Tax Act.

'Continue to protect private messages': WhatsApp clarifies privacy policy again

The popular messaging app has been facing a trust deficit after it issued an update to its privacy policy on January 8 related to data sharing with Facebook and how data is used when a customer interacts with a business using WhatsApp.
“We want to address some rumors and be 100% clear we continue to protect your private messages with end-to-end encryption,” it tweeted. The Facebook-owned messaging service also said in another tweet that its recently revised policy “does not affect the privacy of messages with friends or family", adding that this update was only applicable to messaging a business on WhatsApp.
WhatsApp updated its privacy policy and among the new terms reserve the right to share user data, including location and phone number, with its parent Facebook Inc and units such as Instagram and Messenger. The popular messaging app has been facing a trust deficit after it issued an update to its privacy policy on January 8 related to data sharing with Facebook and how data is used when a customer interacts with a business using WhatsApp.
The clarification came even as more and more WhatsApp users are migrating over to rival apps like Signal that do not share their data with a parent app. Recently, Signal became the most downloaded application in the app store. The Signal app has also climbed to the top of the charts on the Apple app store for iPhone users in many countries including India.

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

2 Flight Surgeons To Leave For Russia To Train For Gaganyaan Mission

The four test pilots of the Indian Air Force, chosen for India's first manned mission to space, have been undergoing training at the Yu.A. Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Centre near Moscow since February last year.
Two flight surgeons will soon fly to Russia where they will get hands-on experience in space medicine from their Russian counterparts for the Gaganyaan mission, an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
The flight surgeons are doctors from the Indian Air Force who have specialised in aerospace medicine.
“The flight surgeons will leave soon. They will get hands-on training with flight surgeons in Russia,” the official said.
Training of astronauts is a critical aspect of the human space mission project. Fight surgeons are responsible for astronauts' health before, during and after a flight.
The flight surgeons will also get to train with the prospective astronauts, the official said.

::SPORTS::

Thailand Open 2021: Kidambi Srikanth shows a bleeding nose

India badminton star Kidambi Srikanth alleged poor treatment from the health officials at the Thailand Open in Bangkok.
It a tweet that he shared on Tuesday, he showed a bleeding nose and said that he has taken 4 Covid-19 tests and the experience has never been pleasant.