Daily Current Affairs, 29th January 2018

1)  India To Host Informal WTO Ministerial Gathering In New Delhi

•Trade ministers from various countries including Australia, Japan and Switzerland met for an informal WTO ministerial gathering in Davos, Switzerland. India was represented by Deepak Jagdish Saksena, ambassador and permanent representative to the WTO.

•India announced that it will host an informal WTO Ministerial gathering in March 2018. The meeting would be held in New Delhi on March 19-20.

2)  Vijay Keshav Gokhale takes charge as Foreign Secretary

•Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale today took charge as the Foreign Secretary. Mr Gokhale, an Officer of 1981 batch Indian Foreign Service was serving as the Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs prior to his new assignment as Foreign Secretary. He will have a two-year tenure. He succeeded S Jaishankar who was given one-year extension in January last year. 

•Mr Gokhale had played a key role in negotiations to resolve the Doklam standoff between Indian and Chinese armies last year. He also served as India's Ambassador to China, Germany and worked in Indian missions in Hong Kong, Hanoi and in New York.

3)  GDP growth expected to be around 8 to 8.5 % in 2018-19

•NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, Rajiv Kumar has said that the country's GDP growth is expected to be around 8 to 8(point)5 per cent in 2018-19 and what has been predicted by the Economic Survey is underestimate. 

•Talking to media in New Delhi, Mr Kumar said , the investment cycle has picked up and will increase further. 

•He said, the quantum of corporate bonds has increased by 17 per cent and private investment cycle has finally turned around and will be reflected in higher growth. 

4)  Tai Tzu Ying Of Taiwan Wins Indonesian Masters

•The world no.1 Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan has defeated Saina Nehwal in the finals of the Indonesia Masters in Jakarta.

•Tai Tzu has now defeated the former world No.1 nine times in their last 10 meetings. Saina had enjoyed early success against the Taiwanese till 2011 but the Nehwal has beaten her only once at the 2013 Swiss Open ever since.