• India Energy Dashboards Version 2.0 was recently launched by Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog.

India Energy Dashboards (IED)

• It is an endeavour to provide single-window access to the energy data for the country.
• Energy data published/provided by Central Electricity Authority, Coal Controller’s Organisation, and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is compiled in the Dashboards.
• NITI Aayog launched the Version 1.0 in May 2017.

• Dr Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, Judge, Supreme Court of India and Chairperson, e-Committee of the Supreme Court has recently inaugurated a Judgments and Orders Portal for searching past judgments and orders and an e-Filing 3.0 module to allow electronic filing of court documents, through a virtual event.
• The initiatives are developed by Pune based e-Courts project team are aimed to strengthen legal system.

Judgments and Orders search portal

• The portal is a repository of judgments pronounced by various High Courts in the country.
• It provides facility to search judgements and final orders based on multiple search criteria.

e-filing 3.0 module

• It was introduced by the e-Committee of the Supreme Court and it allows electronic filing of court documents.
• With the introduction of the new module, there will be no need for lawyers or clients to visit the court premises for filing of a case.
• The filing process can take place even when the court, client and lawyer are at three different locations. 

1. Haldighati Pass – Rajasthan
2. Asirgarh pass – Madhya Pradesh

• President has recently appointed Shri Sushil Chandra, the senior-most Election Commissioner, as the Chief Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India.

Election Commissioners

• Article 324 of Indian Constitution has made the following provisions with regard to the composition of election commission.
• The Election Commission shall consist of the chief election commissioner and such number of other election commissioners, if any, as the president may from time to time fix.
• The appointment of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners shall be made by the president.
• The chief election commissioner and the two other election commissioners have equal powers and receive equal salary, allowances and other perquisites, which are similar to those of a judge of the Supreme Court.
• In case of difference of opinion amongst the Chief election commissioner and/or two other election commissioners, the matter is decided by the Commission by majority.
• They hold office for a term of six years or until they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
• They can resign at any time or can also be removed before the expiry of their term.

United Nation (UN) had declared 2021 as:

1. International Year of Peace and Trust
2. International Year of Fruits and Vegetables
3. International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour
4. International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development

Brucellosis

• Brucellosis is a bacterial disease caused by various Brucella species, which mainly infect cattle, swine, goats, sheep and dogs.
• Humans generally acquire the disease through direct contact with infected animals, by eating or drinking contaminated animal products, or by inhaling airborne agents.
• The majority of cases are caused by ingesting unpasteurized milk or cheese from infected goats or sheep.
• Person to person transmission is rare.
• The disease causes flu-like symptoms, including fever, weakness, malaise and weight loss.

Poppy Straw

• Poppy straw is the husk left after the opium is extracted from pods.
• This poppy straw also contains a very small morphine content and if used in sufficient quantities, poppy straw can give a high.
• Possession, sale, use, etc. of poppy straw is regulated by the State Governments under the State Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Rules.
• Farmers sell the poppy straw to those licensed by the State Governments to purchase poppy straw.
• Any excess poppy straw is ploughed back into the field.
• Hence, anyone possessing, selling, purchasing or using poppy straw without a license or authorization or in violation of any conditions of the license is liable to prosecution under the NDPS Act.

100% Sustainable Fuels

• • In 2020, the Federation of International Automobile (FIA) announced that it had developed a 100% sustainable fuel and that engine manufacturers were already in the process of testing
  • A 100% sustainable fuel essentially represents the third generation and most advanced iteration of biofuels, which typically are made from by-products of industrial or agricultural waste.
  • F1 cars already use biofuels but current regulations only mandate that the fuel include 5.75% of bio-components.
  • In 2022 that number will increase to 10% and by 2025, when new power units are proposed to enter the competition, the FIA hopes to transition completely to 100% advanced sustainable fuels.

Biofuels

• Any hydrocarbon fuel that is produced from an organic matter (living or once living material) in a short period of time (days, weeks, or even months) is considered a biofuel.
• Biofuels may be solid, liquid or gaseous in nature.

1. Solid: Wood, dried plant material, and manure
2. Liquid: Bioethanol and Biodiesel
3. Gaseous: Biogas.

• These can be used to replace or can be used in addition to diesel, petrol or other fossil fuels for transport, stationary, portable and other applications.
• Also, they can be used to generate heat and electricity.

Bar Headed Goose

• The bar-headed goose (Anser indicus) is a goose that breeds in Central Asia in colonies of thousands near mountain lakes and winters in South Asia, as far south as peninsular India.
• It lays three to eight eggs at a time in a ground nest.
• It is known for the extreme altitudes it reaches when migrating across the Himalayas.
• The bird’s original habitat is around Central China and Mongolia, however they make the world's highest bird migration.

Global Minimum Corporate Tax Rate

• US Treasury Secretary has urged G20 nations to move towards a global minimum corporate tax.
• It is an attempt to reverse a “30-year race to the bottom” in which countries have resorted to slashing corporate tax rates to attract multinational corporations (MNCs).
• The US proposal envisages a 21% minimum corporate tax rate, coupled with cancelling exemptions on income from countries that do not legislate a minimum tax to discourage the shifting of multinational operations and profits overseas.
• It is tailored to address the low effective rates of tax shelled out by some of the world’s biggest corporations, including digital giants such as Apple, Alphabet and Facebook.
• These companies typically rely on complex webs of subsidiaries to hoover profits out of major markets into low-tax countries such as Ireland or Caribbean nations such as the British Virgin Islands or the Bahamas, or to Central American nations such as Panama.
• The increase in corporation tax comes at a time when the pandemic is costing governments across the world, and is also timed with the US’s push for a USD 2.3 trillion infrastructure upgrade proposal.