BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Preface Even after all this time the Sun never tells the earth, “You owe me”. Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky. ~Hafiz We humans are rational beings. We need logics to understand the phenomena happening around us. This inquisitive nature of humans has led to various discoveries, inventions and other scientific advances. Despite all this, there are still some questions which remain unanswered and have remained so since the beginning of the time. The questions like- How and why time came into being? How and why the universe came into being? What is the purpose of human life on this earth? And the biggest puzzle that boggles our minds is on death and after-death phenomena. Ajit Singh, DIG (Retd) Similarly, we need answers to the social phenomena happening around us. The most disturbing question is that despite possessing a rational mind, why many amongst us wish to be the slaves of illegitimate fantasies? The purpose might be to satisfy the queries that I have mentioned above. I am talking about the blind faith that millions of Indians have invested in various religious institutions, sects, deras et al. I call faith an “investment”, because faith is something which is expected to yield manifolds. As a rational being, I would like to invest my time, my intellect, my energy and my trust somewhere I can get a return from. That return may be in the form of answers to the above mentioned questions or simply a feeling of peace and solace and ultimately make me more humane. But does and should faith lead to a path of inhumanity, wealth amassment, violence, hate and lies? This question is more important than any other question mentioned in this article. There is a fine line difference between “faith” and “blind faith”. Faith leads you to truth, light and love. Blind faith leads to darkness, violence, irrationality, hopelessness, shattered expectations, broken trust and ultimately lower self-confidence. Faith helps you reach insurmountable heights. Indian society has laid emphasis on religion since ages. We have tied to discover things with closed eyes and folded hands. And through our scriptures, we find that our Vedic ancestors already knew the things that were discovered during renaissance in the western world. We should take pride in our ancestral knowledge. But I think presently, we are falling in to the dark valleys of hopelessness and despair. There are stark differences of intellects and lifestyles in our society. And then there are penumbral regions, wherein even the educated masses are following the illegitimate religious institutions. Where are these phenomena leading our society to? Swami Vivekananda once said, “Faith, faith, faith in ourselves, faith, faith in God---this is the secret of greatness. If you have faith in the three hundred and thirty millions of your mythological gods, and in all the Gods which foreigners have now and again introduced into your midst, and still have no faith in yourselves, there is no salvation for you. Have faith in yourselves, and stand up on that faith and be strong; that is what we need. “ And, I believe that the answers to the questions should be sought within and not without. Have faith in yourself, in your faculties, in your capabilities and the God inside you. Team BrainyIAS has tried its best to present you the best monthly current affairs in the best format. Have faith and learn from the best team. I wish you all the success!! BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Contents ART AND CULTURE ......................................................................................................................................................... 6 1. Seven Social Sins .......................................................................................................................................... 6 2. Buddha’s Eight-fold Path to Liberation (Nirvana) ........................................................................................ 7 3. Satyagraha Ashram...................................................................................................................................... 7 GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY ............................................................................................................... 9 4. Food Wastage in India ................................................................................................................................. 9 5. Larsen C Shelf Calving ................................................................................................................................ 11 6. Sustainable Development Goals ................................................................................................................ 11 7. The Sixth Mass Extinction: Biodiversity Loss ............................................................................................. 16 8. Bottom Trawling ........................................................................................................................................ 17 9. Zero Waste Goals ...................................................................................................................................... 18 10. Inland Waterways...................................................................................................................................... 20 POLITY AND GOVERNANCE .......................................................................................................................................... 22 11. Skill India Mission ...................................................................................................................................... 22 12. Election of President of India .................................................................................................................... 25 13. Voluntary National Review (VNR) Report On SDGs ................................................................................... 27 14. The National Commission for Backward Classes (Repeal) Bill, 2017 ......................................................... 29 15. Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 .............................................................................. 30 16. Accessible India Campaign ........................................................................................................................ 31 17. The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 ............................................................. 34 18. National Population Policy ........................................................................................................................ 35 19. Malnutrition in India.................................................................................................................................. 38 20. Gram Uday Se Bharat Uday Scheme ......................................................................................................... 39 21. Judicial Appointments ............................................................................................................................... 40 22. National Commission On Backward Classes (NCBC).................................................................................. 41 23. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme .............................................................................................................. 42 24. Student-Scientist connect programme “JIGYASA”. ................................................................................... 43 25. The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 ....................................................................................................... 44 26. Prevention Of Corruption Act, 1988 .......................................................................................................... 45 BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy 27. Lokpal Bill .................................................................................................................................................. 46 28. Handloom Industry .................................................................................................................................... 47 29. National Biopharma Mission ..................................................................................................................... 49 30. PMAY - Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana ....................................................................................................... 51 31. Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana ..................................................................................................................... 52 32. Smart Cities ............................................................................................................................................... 53 33. Why Codification Of The Parliamentary Privileges? .................................................................................. 55 34. Parliamentary Privileges and Immunities in Indian Constitution .............................................................. 57 35. Agricultural Reforms And Their Impacts ................................................................................................... 59 36. TRADEMARKS ............................................................................................................................................ 61 ECONOMY ...................................................................................................................................................................