Current Affairs in Short: 10 September 2021

India, England 5^th Test postponed due to possible COVID-19 cases in Indian camp

•The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after several rounds of discussions with the England Cricket Board (ECB) called off the 5^th Test Match between India and England due to COVID019 cases in the Indian camp.

•The BCCI has offered to ECB for rescheduling of the canceled test match. Both the Boards will work on finding a window to reschedule the match, read BCCI’s statement. The 5^th Test Match between India and England was scheduled to be played at the Old Trafford in Manchester from September 10 to 14, 2021.

•There have been 4 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Indian camp. The first case was reported when India’s head coach Ravi Shashtri tested positive. Later bowling coach Bharat Arun, fielding coach R Sridhar, and junior physio Yogesh Parmar also test positive for COVID-19.

T20 World Cup: Mohammad Nabi becomes captain of Afghanistan team

•Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi on September 10, 2021, was appointed as the captain of the Afghanistan cricket team by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

•36-year-old Nabi was announced captain after Rashid Khan stepped down as Afghanistan team’s captain on September 9, 2021. Khan tweeted his decision to step down stating that ACB announced the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad without his consent.

•The ICC T20 World Cup is scheduled to be played from October 17 to November 14, 2021, in Oman and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Income Tax Return filing deadline for FY 2020-21 extends to December 31

•The due date to file Income Tax Return for the Assessment Year 2021-22 has been extended to December 31, 2021 from September 30, 2021. The deadline has been extended because of glitches in the new income tax portal.

•This deadline to file Income Tax Return has been extended for the second time. Last time, the ITR filing deadline was extended by two months from July 31 to September 30, 2021.

•The deadline to file belated and/or revised ITR has also been extended from January 31, 2022 to March 31, 2022. Earlier, it was extended from December 31, 2021 to January 31, 2022.

India, Denmark launch Centre of Excellence on Offshore Wind

•Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy R K Singh and Denmark’s Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities Dan Jorgensen met on September 9, 2021, in New Delhi and jointly launched ‘Centre of Excellence on Offshore Wind’ as part of the Green Strategic Partnership.

•The launch is significant as the Ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) has set a target of adding 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy projects by 2030. Singh noted that PM Modi has set a target of 450 GW of Renewable Energy capacity by 2030. Currently, the renewable energy portfolio of India is at 146 GW.

•Singh further noted that India is the only G-20 country that is operating in sync with the Paris climate agreement in keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial levels.

IOC suspends North Korea till 2022 as it fails to send a team to the Tokyo Games

•The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suspended North Korea until the end of 2022 after it failed to send a delegation to the Tokyo Games. North Korea did not send a team as it was protecting its athletes from COVID-19.

•The suspension by IOC means North Korea will not be able to participate in the Beijing Winter Games. The IOC President Thomas Bach said the North Korean Olympic Committee would not be entitled to financial aid due to suspension.

•Bach further said that the IOC reserves the right to reconsider the duration of the suspension of North Korea and to decide on any individual North Korean athlete who qualifies for Beijing 2022.

•North Korea had won 2 Gold, 3 Silver, and 2 Bronze medals at the Rio Olympics 2016.