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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 01 February 2015

:: National ::

Govt. effects major reshuffle of Secretaries

The Narendra Modi government effected a major reshuffle of Secretaries of Union Ministries days after the tenure of Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh was curtailed.
Shankar Agarwal, secretary of the Urban Development Ministry and Anita Agnihotri, secretary Housing and Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) Ministry were both moved out, ahead of the launch of the government's flagship schemes—the smart city project and housing for all by 2020.
According to sources, the Prime Minister's Office had held several rounds of meetings with both these ministries and there was “dissatisfaction” over the slow pace of work. The Prime Minister's Office had recently asked the UD Ministry to fast track the smart city project, while the HUPA ministry was asked to submit the blueprint for how housing shortage, particularly for the weaker sections will be met.
While Mr. Agarwal has been shifted as Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment in place of Gauri Kumar, Ms. Agnihotri will take over as Secretary, Department of Social Justice and Empowerment in place of Sudhir Bhargava.
Madhusudhan Prasad, Special Secretary in the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry will take over as Secretary, UD and Nandita Chatterjee, Member Secretary, National Commission for Women, Ministry of Women and Child Development will take over as secretary HUPA.
Gauri Kumar has been moved to (Co-ordination & Public Grievances), Cabinet Secretariat in place of S.B. Agnihotri.
Lov Verma, Secretary Health and Family Welfare Ministry has also been moved out at a time, when the government is gearing to roll out the Universal Health Assurance Mission. He has been shifted as Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in place of Stuti Narayan Kacker, on her superannuation. Bhanu Pratap Sharma, Establishment Officer and Special Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, will take over as the new Health and Family Welfare Secretary.

:: International ::

Italy: Sicilian judge elected President

Sergio Mattarella, a constitutional court judge from Sicily is seen as a symbol of Italy’s battle against organised crime, was elected Italy’s new President.
The 73-year-old Sicilian, who was backed by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD), succeeds the hugely popular Giorgio Napolitano.
Mr. Mattarella is little known to the public but is widely respected after a 25-year parliamentary career and several stints as Minister in governments of the left and right.

:: Business & Economy ::

Cash transfers can plug PDS leakages: study

A new study has estimated that 46.7 per cent or 25.9 million metric tonnes (MMTs) of the grains (rice and wheat), released through the PDS, did not reach the intended beneficiaries in 2011-12.
In the study, based on the latest NSSO data, by Chair Professor for Agriculture at ICRIER and former Chairman, Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP), Ashok Gulati and Shweta Saini, Chhattisgarh was the best performing State with 0 per cent diversion. Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were among the better performers with 11.1 per cent and 12.2 per cent leakages respectively.
The worst-performing State was Manipur where 97.8 per cent of the grains failed to reach beneficiaries, followed by Daman and Diu where leakages were 95.8 per cent. In Delhi, 82.6 per cent of the grains were diverted.
During the period under study, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister in Gujarat, the pilferage was 72.2 per cent. Poor States such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal delivered greater proportion of off-taken grains to the poor than Gujarat.
The PDS operates through a network of roughly 5.00,000 fair price shops (FPS) across the country and is likely the largest public network of its type in the world, currently distributing roughly 50-55 MMT of grains annually.
The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 also relies on this vehicle to deliver food security to 67 per cent of population (75 per cent rural and 50 per cent urban) with an estimated distribution of about 61.4 MMT of grains.