Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan's former foreign minister and a close aide of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, was on  Dec 26 arrested at the Adiala Jail at Rawalpindi for 15 days in another case, a day after the Supreme Court granted bail to him in the cipher case.

Qureshi, Vice Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, was arrested for 15 days under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance, a colonial-era law that allows a government to arrest anyone if there was a threat of public disorder.

The 67-year-old two-time former foreign minister was incarcerated in jail along with Khan in the cipher case but the apex court granted them bail in the case last week.

Metallurgical coke producer Tamilnadu Coke and Power (TNCPL) has filed a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the NSE Emerge.

The offering comprises a fresh issuance of 64.14 lakh shares with a face value of Rs 10.  It plans to use the proceeds from the issue to build a new ferrosilicon manufacturing unit at an outlay of Rs 39.60 crore.

Ferrosilicon is mainly used in the production of stainless steel and carbon. The plant will have a capacity of 8,000 tonnes per annum (TPA). It plans to use Rs 8.63 crore to set up a solar power plant with a capacity of 1581 KWP and Rs 5 crore for acquiring land adjacent to the existing plant.

TNCPL operates a low ash metallurgical coke oven plant in Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu with a capacity of 1,20,000 TPA. It owns a power generation unit with an installed capacity of 10 MW and sells power to consumers through the Indian Energy Exchange.

Wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Dec 26  announced through a letter to the Prime Minister that she will be returning her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award, protesting against the election of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh-loyalist Sanjay Singh as the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president.

She along with Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia were the face of the protest against the former WFI chief Brij Bhushan on sexual harassment charges and mismanagement.

Vinesh's decision comes after Sanjay Kumar Singh, a staunch supporter of Brij Bhushan, was elected the WFI president after securing 40 out of 47 votes to beat Anita Sheoran, a former CWG medallist, on December 21, 2023.

On the same day, a teary-eyed Sakshi Malik, the lone woman wrestler from the country to win an Olympic medal to date, placed her shoes on the table while announcing her decision to retire from wrestling at the Press Club of India.

Following Malik, the next day, Bajrang Punia wrote a letter to PM Modi returning his Padma Shri award. However, the Sports Ministry later suspended the newly-elected panel for not following the provisions of its own constitution while making decisions and also asked the IOA to constitute an ad-hoc panel to manage the affairs of the sports body.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Coca-Cola are thrilled to announce an eight-year global partnership encompassing ICC World events across all three formats, up until the end of 2031.

The official signing ceremony which took place at ICC's Headquarters marked a historic milestone for the partnership and demonstrated Coca-Cola's commitment to sports.

This eight-year partnership as a Global Partner of the ICC, confirmed the collaboration as one of the longest-ever associations formed by the ICC with a single brand, spanning a total timeline of 13 years (2019 - 2031).

During the recent ICC Men's Cricket World Cup India 2023, Thums Up and Limca Sportz were the exclusive beverage and sports drink partners, activating a host of online and offline fan engagement activations.

Additionally, Sprite took center stage with its captivating 'Thand rakh' campaign, aimed at elevating and sustaining the enthusiasm of cricket fans throughout the biggest World Cup ever.

Coca-Cola has been globally committed to supporting local sporting events and organizations around the world. The Coca-Cola Company has an eight-decade-long association with the Olympics.

Moreover, for over four decades, it has been associated with the FIFA, T20 World Cup, and using the power of sports to bring people together and transform lives.

The recent association of ThumsUp with the Olympics and Paralympics in India is a testimony to the Company's belief in sports and its enduring journey towards making a refreshing difference.

Q1. Name the state in which the new BJP government has terminated the Rajiv Gandhi Yuva Mitra Internship Programme, a flagship initiative of the former Congress  government ?

1. Rajasthan
2. Madhya Pradesh
3. Chhattisgarh
4. Telangana
5. None of These

Q2. Name the state in which  BJP-led government has decided to modernize madrasas in the state by allocating Rs 10 lakh to each madrasa and introducing science and math as mandatory subjects ?

1. Haryana
2. Maharashtra
3. Uttar Pradesh
4. Uttarakhand
5. None of These

Q3. Sweden and Finland dropped decades of military non-alignment and sought to join the US-led defence organisation after Russia invaded Ukraine in February

1. 2020
2. 2021
3. 2022
4. 2023
5. None of These

Q4. Name the  former foreign minister  of Pakistan and a close aide of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan who  was on  Dec 26 arrested at the Adiala Jail at Rawalpindi for 15 days in another case, a day after the Supreme Court granted bail to him in the cipher case ?

1. Sartaj Aziz
2. Khawaja Muhammad Asif
3. Jalil Abbas Jilani
4. Shah Mahmood Qureshi
5. None of These

Q5. The JSW Renew Energy Limited has started phase-wise commissioning of 810 megawatts (MW) wind power projects in

1. Tamil Nadu
2. Kerala
3. Karnataka
4. Telangana
5. None of These

Answers

1-----------------1 Rajasthan

2-----------------2    Maharashtra

3-----------------3  2022

4------------------4    Shah Mahmood Qureshi

5-------------------1  Tamil Nadu

Three days after an unmanned drone attacked a merchant ship off the coast of Veraval and another Indian merchant ship being attacked in Red Sea, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, expressing concerns on the situation in West Asia.

“I held a good conversation with my brother Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on the future of strategic partnership between India and Saudi Arabia. We exchanged views on West Asia situation and shared concerns regarding terrorism, violence and the loss of civilian lives. We agreed to work together for peace, security and stability in the region,” said Modi.

It may be recalled that three days ago, an unmanned drone hit a merchant ship (MV Chem Pluto) off the coast of Veraval in Gujarat. The vessel had 21 Indian sailors on board. While nobody was hurt fortunately, the ship, which carried oil from Saudi Arabia and was heading to Mangaluru, suffered damages. A day later, another Indian ship, MV Sai Baba, was attacked in Red Sea.

This is an obvious spillover of the conflict in Red Sea. Many merchant ships have paused their commute after Houthi attacks. The Houthis, who rule a major part of Yemen, have pledged to carry out attacks until Israel halts assault on Gaza. About 40 per cent of international trade passes through the narrow strait between Yemen and northeast Africa, which leads northwards to the Red Sea, Israel’s southern port facilities and the Suez Canal.

Two pressure improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted by Naxalites on a road have been recovered by security personnel in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh.

With this, the security forces have recovered at least 180 IEDs planted by Naxalites so far this year in the state.

A plane carrying more than 300 passengers, mostly Indians, grounded in France for four days over suspected human trafficking, landed in Mumbai in the early hours of December 26, three days after it was detained by French authorities over suspected human trafficking, a source said.

The Nicaragua-bound flight that had taken off from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates with 303 passengers was grounded at Vatry airport, 150 kilometres east of Paris,over suspected "human trafficking".