 Foreign Affairs Minister of Denmark Anders Samuelsen arrived in New Delhi on a two-day official visit to India. Mr. Samuelsen will meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. The two Ministers will hold discussions on various aspects of bilateral ties as well as important regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest. A number of MoUs will be exchanged after the meeting. The visiting dignitary will also meet Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu. |
| Source: News On AIR |
 India announced a $1.4 billion package for the Maldives to meet its immediate budgetary as well as some medium-term requirements. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the package that includes soft loans after talks with visiting Maldives President Ibrahim Solih in New Delhi. The Maldives is weighed down by some $3 billion in debt to China and the country is looking to India and Saudi Arabia, besides others, for help. In November 2018, New Delhi had offered an immediate loan of $25 million to the Maldives during a visit by its new foreign minister Abdullah Shahid.
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| 1. Agreement on the Facilitation of Visa Arrangements 2. MoU on Cultural Cooperation 3. MoU for Establishing Mutual Cooperation to Improve the Ecosystem for Agribusiness 4. Joint Declaration of Intent on Cooperation in the field of Information & Communications Technology and Electronics. |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
 Ministry of Power has launched the ECO Niwas Samhita 2018, an Energy Conservation Building Code for Residential Buildings (ECBC-R). The Code was launched on the occasion of National Energy ConservationDay 2018 (14th December) in the presence of Chief Guest Smt. Sumitra Mahajan, Hon’ble Speaker, Lok Sabha. It aims to benefit the occupants and the environment by promoting energy efficiency in design and construction of homes, apartments and townships. |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
 India’ first private sector unit for manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)opened at Adani Aerospace Park in Hyderabad. Built by the Adani Group and Israel-based Elbit Systems, the 50,000 square feet facility will develop Hermes 900 medium altitude long-endurance UAVs for the Indian and global markets. The unit will begin with the manufacture of complete carbon composite aerostructures for Hermes 900, followed by Hermes 480, catering to global markets. |
| Source- The Livemint |
 To give a fillip to the medical device sector, which is a sunrise sector, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, announced setting up of a National Medical Devices Promotion Council under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. The Council will be headed by Secretary, DIPP. The Medical Devices Industry (MDI) plays a critical role in the healthcare ecosystem and is indispensable to achieve the goal of health for all citizens of the country. The announcement was made at the occasion of the 4th WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices, at Andhra Pradesh Medtech Zone, in Vishakhapatnam. |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
 The Delhi High Court ordered a ban on the sale of online medicines by e-pharmacists across the country. The court directed both Central and state government to ensure immediate implementation of the order. The HC bench comprising Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao passed the judgment while hearing a PIL filed by Delhi-based dermatologist Zaheer Ahmed who complained that lakhs of medicines were being sold on the internet every day without much regulation, posing a huge risk to patients and doctors alike. |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
 Indian Navy inducted its first Submarine Rescue System with Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV) along with associated equipment at western naval dockyard in Mumbai, Maharashtra (west coast of India). It is first of the two non-tethered DSRVs ordered by Indian Navy. With this, India joined select list of international navies (US, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore UK, Sweden and Australia). Its induction will enhance Indian Navy’s operational capabilities for search, locate and provide assistance to downed or disaster-struck or distressed submarines at high sea. |
| Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV) The vehicles are developed by Scotland-based JFD, a part of James Fisher and Sons Plc In March, 2016. JFD had won the contract of 193 million pounds for supply of two sets of non-tethered DSRV and 25 years of maintenance. These DSRVs are third-generation system, considered to be most advanced system currently in operation globally. It is capable of undertaking rescue from a disabled submarine up to 650 metres depth. It is operated by a crew of three, can rescue 14 personnel from disabled submarine at time. DSRVs complete with associated kit in fly away configuration, can be crucial in quickly locating submarines through vast expanse of sea and can be mobilised by air and water for rapid rescue. It can be deployed at short notice for providing assistance to submarines in distress. Indian Navy two DSRVs will be based on West and East Coast of India respectively. The first DSRV will be operated and deployed by crew of Indian Navy’s newly formed Submarine Rescue Unit (West) from its base in Mumbai. The second DSRV is out for delivery and is expected to reach Visakhapatnam soon. It will be operational by April 2019. |
| Background Indian Navy currently operates 16 submarines of Sindhughosh, Shishumar and Kalvari classes as well as nuclear powered submarines. The operating medium and nature of operations undertaken by submarines expose them to high degree of inherent risk. In such eventuality, traditional methods of search and rescue at sea are ineffective for disabled submarine in deep waters. To overcome this capability gap Indian Navy has acquired third generation, advanced Submarine Rescue System considering of Non-tethered Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) and its associated equipment. |
 According to data released by Central Statistics Office (CSO), factory output measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew 8.1% in October 2018 as against 4.5% in September 2018. The growth was aided by favourable base effect and robust output in all key sectors—manufacturing, electricity and mining. IIP is the closest approximation for measuring economic activity in the country’s business landscape. |
| Breakaway of October 2018 IIP Sector wise Performance: Manufacturing sector output grew 7.9% in October 2018 from 4.6% in September 2018 and 2% a year ago. Electricity production growth grew to 10.8% in October from 8.6% in September 2018 and 3.2% a year ago. Mining activity grew to 7% in October 2018 from 0.2% in September 2018 from de-growth of (-) 0.2% last year. Use-based Performance: Primary goods grew by 6.0%, intermediate goods by 1.8% and infrastructure/construction goods by 8.7% as compared to growth in October 2017. Consumer durables output also grew 17.6%, from 5.2% in September 2018, indicating higher production during the festive season. Consumer non-durables grew 7.9% in October 2018 as compared to 6.1% in September 2018. |
| Index of Industrial Production (IIP) IIP is composite indicator that measures short-term changes in volume of production of basket of industrial products during given period with respect to chosen base period. It is compiled and published monthly by Central Statistical Organization (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). Its base year is 2011-12. It comprises 407 individual items. Sector wise, the items included falls into 3 categories viz. Manufacturing (405 items), Mining (1 items) & Electricity (1 item). he weights of the three sectors are 77.63%, 14.37%, 7.9% respectively. The combined weightage of 8 core Industries in IIP is 40.27%. In use wise composition 407 individual items are divided into basic goods, capital goods, intermediate goods and consumer goods. Further, consumer goods is divided into consumer durables and consumer non-durables. In this case maximum weight is of basic goods, followed by Consumer Goods, followed by Intermediate and Capital Goods. |
 The Kannur international Airport-KIAL in Kerala began its operations with Union minister for civil aviation Suresh Prabhu and Kerala Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayanjointly lighting the lamp inside the terminal building, marking the inauguration of the airport. Later the first flight from the Airport to Abu Dhabi was flagged off. |
| Source: Air World Service |
 India’s first Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence established by the European Unionwas inaugurated at the Department of European Studies (DES) at Manipal Academy of Higher Education in New Delhi by Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to India and Bhutan, Tomasz Kozlowski. The award comes with a grant of €1,00,000 to pursue India-EU interdisciplinary studies in culture, literature, education and society. This is the fifth time that MAHE has been awarded grants under the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet initiative. |
| Source- ANI News |
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