29 January 2018 Current Affairs: Today’s Current Affairs for Competitive Exams – Bank, SSC, Vyapam, PSC

Vijay Keshav Gokhale takes charge as foreign secretary of India

Vijay Keshav Gokhale took charge as the next foreign secretary on Monday, succeeding S Jaishankar.
Vijay Keshav is a 1981 batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service.
He was previously the Indian ambassador to China.

Image result for Vijay Keshav Gokhale

Victims of Acid Attack to get quota in central government jobs

People with autism, mental illnesses, intellectual disability and victims of acid attacks will now get quota in central government jobs.
In case of direct recruitment, four per cent of the total number of vacancies, in groups A, B and C shall be reserved for people with benchmark disabilities.
Benchmark disability means a person with not less than forty percent of specified disability.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Palestine, Oman, UAE

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make a historic visit to Palestine during a trip to the Middle East -UAE and Oman from February 9 to 12.
Narendra Modi will be first Indian Prime Minister to visit Palestine
Modi’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be his second visit after August 2015.
“The Prime Minister will hold discussions on matters of mutual interest with their leaders, apart from participating in other events,” the External Affairs Ministry said on Saturday night.
Modi will address the Sixth World Government Summit at Dubai in which India has been extended ‘Guest of Honour’ status.

GDP growth of India to be 7-7.5% in 2018-19

The Economic Survey 2017-18 which was presented by finance minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament on the first day of the Budget session said that the Indian economy is expected to expand at 7-7.5% in the next financial year, 2018-19.
Survey showed that the industrial sector grew at 4.4%, while growth in the farm sector was at 2.1% for the 2017-18.

Economic Survey says India needs to become “net producer of knowledge”

India needs to gradually move from being a net consumer to a “net producer of knowledge”, the Economic Survey said.
“As India emerges as one of the world’s largest economies, it needs to gradually move from being a net consumer of knowledge to becoming a net producer,” it said.

Australian Open

Swiss Tennis player Roger Federer wins Australian Open by defeating Marin Cilic in the Australian Open final on Sunday night.
He defeated Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 at the Rod Laver Arena to take his record Grand Slam count to 20.

Sandeep Lamichhane becomes first Nepal player to get IPL contract

Sandeep Lamichhane became the first cricketer from Nepal to land a deal an IPL contract.
He was picked by Delhi Daredevils in players auction of IPL.
The 17-year-old, the only Nepal player in the IPL auction, was sold at his base price of Rs 20 lakh.

Finland re-elects Sauli Niinisto as its President

Finland’s moderate President Sauli Niinisto won elections on Sunday by overwhelming 62.7% of the vote.
“I am very surprised at this kind of support. I must think hard how to be worthy of it,” Mr. Niinisto told reporters.

Imp Note : Capital of Finland – Helsinki

China will launch 60 high resolution video satellite by 2020

China plans to launch 60 high resolution Jilin-1 video satellites by 2020, the satellite developer said.
The high-resolution optical remote sensing satellites were independently developed by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. Ltd. for commercial use, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.
Currently, China has launched 10 Jilin-1 satellites into space.

World Leprosy Day

World Leprosy Day is observed internationally on January 30 or its nearest Sunday to increase the public awareness of the Leprosy or Hansen’s Disease.

Google now lets users mute reminder ads in apps, websites

Google lets users to mute the reminder ads in applications and on websites that partner with Google.
The tool is located in Google’s account settings.