In a move to curb "evergreening" of loans, the Reserve Bank on Dec 19  barred banks and NBFCs from investing in any scheme of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) having investment in companies that have taken loan from the lenders concerned in the past 12 months.

Banks and NBFCs, which are Regulated Entities (RE) under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), make investments in units of AIFs as part of their regular investment operations.

Venture capital funds, angle funds, infrastructure funds, private equity funds and hedge funds, among others, are AIFs.

IndiGo has become the first Indian airline to carry 100 million or 10 crore passengers in a single calendar year. With this achievement, the Gurugram-based airline has joined a select club of global carriers to operate on such a scale.

In calendar year 2022, IndiGo carried 78 million passengers on board (slightly above pre-Covid19 levels). The new milestone represents a 22% increase in passenger traffic for 2023. IndiGo has managed to carry 10 crore passengers even as it has to ground a large number of aircraft due to engine-related issues.

Last month, the carrier said that it is likely to ground about 35 more aircraft due to the powder metal issue on its Pratt & Days after raising $340 million in Series E round, B2B ecommerce platform Udaan has fired nearly 120 employees. 

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc was sold for Rs 24.75 crore to Kolkata Knights Riders (KKR), becoming the most expensive player in the history of IPL auctions. Starc will return to the Indian Premier League (IPL) after an eight-year absence, having previously played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

Record-smashing Aussies

He surpassed Australia captain Pat Cummins who went to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for Rs 20.50 crore on  Dec 19  in the auction in Dubai. An intense bidding war followed for the World Cup 2023 winning fast bowler with Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chennai Super Kings, and Sunrisers Hyderabad raising their paddles frenetically to secure the services of the fast-bowling all-rounder.

Albania coach Sylvinho, a Brazilian, received Albanian citizenship on Dec 18 in a show of appreciation for qualifying the tiny Western Balkan country for the European Championship.

Albania reached Euro 2024 atop a group including the Czech Republic and Poland. It’s only the second time the country has qualified.

Prime Minister Edi Rama invited President Bajram Begaj and Sylvinho to the podium of the “Best of 2023” gala for the ceremony.

In 2004, Sylvinho obtained a Spanish passport after completing three years’ residency there.

Albania hopes to keep Sylvinho as the coach in a bid to reach the 2026 World Cup for the first time. Sylvinho’s current deal ends after next summer’s Euro in Germany.

Albania also gave citizenship to Italian coach Giovanni de Biasi after he ushered Albania to Euro 2016.

Q1. Name  the country which has been the highest remittance recipient country in 2023 ?

1. Mexico
2. China
3. Philippines
4. Egypt
5. None of These

Q2. Which among the following has become the first Indian airline to carry 100 million or 10 crore passengers in a single calendar year ?

1. AirAsia India
2. Air India
3. IndiGo
4. Vistara.
5. None of These

Q3. Name the Australian  fast bowler  who was sold for Rs 24.75 crore to Kolkata Knights Riders (KKR) and  become the most expensive player in the history of IPL auctions ?

1. Pat Cummins
2. Mitchell Starc
3. Glenn McGrath
4. Jason Gillespie
5. None of These

Q4. Name the   Albania coach and  Brazilian who has  received Albanian citizenship on Dec 18 in a show of appreciation for qualifying the tiny Western Balkan country for the European Championship ?

1. Sylvinho
2. Lionel Scaloni
3. Zinedine Zidane
4. Mauricio Pochettino
5. None of These

Q5. Arif Mohammed Khan is governor  of 

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

Answers

1-----------------------------5    None of These Ans- India

2------------------------------3   IndiGo

3------------------------------2  Mitchell Starc

4------------------------------1    Sylvinho

5------------------------------2    Kerala

In a setback to the Congress in Gujarat ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, party MLA Chirag Patel resigned as a member of the legislative assembly, citing disappointment with the working style of the party leadership.

Patel, a first-time MLA who represented the Khambhat seat in Anand district, handed over his resignation to Gujarat assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary in Gandhinagar.

With this, the Congress's strength in the 182-member assembly has come down to 16.

Patel had defeated sitting BJP MLA Mahesh Raval in Khambhat by a thin margin of nearly 3,700 votes in the assembly polls held last year.

India's top court, on Dec 19, issued a temporary order protecting Rajendra Bihari Lal, Vice-Chancellor of SHUATS University in Uttar Pradesh, from arrest and coercive action until January 5. This comes as he challenged the Allahabad High Court's order refusing to quash an FIR related to alleged religious conversion.

The Supreme Court's two-judge vacation bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Vishwanathan, passed the interim order and protected the accused, Lal from arrest till further orders.

Lal, the Vice-Chancellor of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology, and Sciences (SHUATS) in Uttar Pradesh, is accused of persuading a woman to adopt Christianity by offering her a job and other benefits.

BJP legislator Ramdular Gond was sentenced to 25 years in prison along with a fine of Rs 10 lakh for raping a minor girl in Sonbhadra in 2014.

The MLA from Duddhi assembly constituency (reserved for STs) in Uttar Pradesh's Sonbhadra district was convicted and sentenced by the MP-MLA court of additional district judge (I).

However, despite the MLA being sentenced by the court on December 15, he is yet to be disqualified from the UP Assembly.

Gond was elected as MLA for the first time in 2022.