Daily Current Affairs, 13th May 2018

1) India, Nepal Agree To Expand Their Partnership For Socio-Economic Development

•India and Nepal have agreed to expand their partnership for socio-economic development on the basis of principles of equality, trust, respect and mutual benefit. 

•In a joint statement issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to Nepal. Mr. Modi and his Nepalese counterpart KP Sharma Oli emphasized the need for the regular convening of bilateral mechanisms to review the overall state of bilateral relations and for expeditious implementation of the economic and development co-operation projects.

2) Fitch Predicts 7.3% Growth Rate Of India In 2018-19

•Credit rating agency Fitch has stated that India's economic growth will accelerate to 7.3% in the current financial year (2018-19) and 7.5% in the next fiscal (2019-20).

•In its second-quarter Sovereign Credit Overview for Asia Pacific region, Fitch stated the growth rate will accelerate as money supply has recovered to its pre-demonetisation level and disruptions related to the rollout of GST have diminished.

3) India largest remittance-receiving country in world

•India has become the largest remittance-receiving country in the world, with migrant workers from the country sending home 69 billion US dollars in 2017. 

•According to the report ‘RemitSCOPE - Remittance markets and opportunities - Asia and the Pacific', remittances to the Asia-Pacific region amounted to 256 billion dollars last year.

•India with 69 billion Dollars, China with 64 billion Dollars and the Philippines with 33 billion Dollars are the three largest remittance-receiving countries in the world in 2017. 

•Worldwide, an estimated 40 percent of the total value of remittances go to rural areas. However, in the Asia-Pacific region, remittances go disproportionally to countries with a majority of rural populations such as Nepal 81 per cent, India 67 per cent, Vietnam 66 per cent, Bangladesh 65 per cent, Pakistan 61 per cent and the Philippines 56 per cent. 

4) China's first home-built aircraft carrier begins sea trials

•China's first domestically developed aircraft carrier began sea trials today. The 50,000-metric tonne vessel will become the country's second aircraft carrier, and the first to be entirely built and designed inside of China. It would join navy before 2020. 

•The Chinese Navy said in a statement that the trial aims to demonstrate the reliability and capability of the ship's propulsion systems. 

•The still-unnamed carrier was launched this time last year but since then has been undergoing fitting of weapons and other systems and has not yet entered service. 

•China launched the new aircraft after it commissioned the first carrier the Liaoning, a refitted Soviet Union-made vessel in 2012.