Education Minister Chris Hipkins is set to become New Zealand's next prime minister after he was the only candidate to enter the contest to replace Jacinda Ardern.

Hipkins, 44, must still garner an endorsement from his Labour Party colleagues, but that is just a formality now. An official transfer of power will come in the days to follow.

Ardern shocked the nation of 5 million people when she announced she was resigning after five-and-a-half years in the top role.

 British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was fined by police after he posted a video to his Instagram showing him not wearing a seatbelt.

Lancashire Police said it had issued a 42-year-old man from London with a conditional offer of a fixed penalty.

Downing Street said the Prime Minister will pay the fine and “fully accepts this was a mistake and has apologised".

The net import bill for oil and gas for the country fell from $18.35 billion in November 2022 to $11.2 billion in December 2022, thanks to decline in average crude oil prices, data from the Petroleum Ministry shows. The net oil and gas import bill in December 2021 was $10.7 billion.

Net import is calculated after reducing the country’s oil and gas exports from the total imports of oil and gas. India imported crude oil worth $11.9 billion, LNG imports $1.6 billion and the exports were $4.6 billion. Crude oil imports decreased by 3% in December 2022 compared to the same period last year. In the April-December 2022 period, however, crude oil imports increased by 9.9%.

The price of Brent Crude averaged $81.82 a barrel during December 2022 as against $91.67 a barrel during November 2022 and $74.10 a barrel during December 2021. The Indian basket crude price averaged $78.10 a barrel during December 2022 as against $87.55 a barrel during November 2022 and $73.30 a barrel during December 2021.

Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on  Jan 22 asked Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to cut the retail prices of petrol and diesel if the crude oil prices in the international market come down and also if OMCs under recovery come down.

Oil Marketing Companies incurred a loss of Rs 21,200 crore on account of selling petrol and diesel below the cost price. Though Oil Marketing Companies are free to revise product prices based on economics, in practical terms political considerations are also important in the revision of prices.

Hardeep Singh Puri also claimed that prices of petrol and diesel have been under check, despite volatile prices of the Indian crude basket. 

Private sector lender ICICI Bank  has announced 34% increase in its standalone profit at Rs 8,312 crore for the quarter ending December 2022, supported by strong growth in net interest income.

Net interest income rose 34.6% to Rs 16,465 crore for Q3FY23 from Rs 12,236 crore in same quarter in previous year. 

In a bid to tighten the noose on tax evaders, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has given the approval to set up five digital forensic laboratories in the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), the CBIC chairman has informed in a letter to GST officers

The DGGI has detected tax frauds of more than Rs. 54,000 crore in 2021-22 and recovered more than Rs. 21,000 crore of such evaded tax.

Due to measures adopted by the GST department against tax evasion, the GST collections in 2021-22 rose 20% from pre-pandemic levels (in 2019-20) to Rs 14.76 lakh crore. This year, going by the trend, the total GST collection will likely cross Rs 18 lakh crore in 2022-23.

Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Korea's An Seyoung emerged champions at the India Open after stunning wins over two-time world champions Viktor Axelsen and Akane Yamaguchi in their men's and women's singles finals, respectively.

Kunlavut beat Olympic champion Axelsen of Denmark 22-20, 10-21, 21-12 in 64 minutes to claim his maiden Super 750 tournament title, while An saw off world No.1 Yamaguchi 15-21 21-16 21-12 in the women's singles summit showdown.

World No.11 Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang came out as the winners in men's doubles after seeing off star Malaysian third seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 14-21, 21-19, 21-18 in the final for their second World Tour title following the triumph at Japan Open last year.

The other two doubles matches didn't happen following two withdrawals, both featuring Chinese pairs, on the final day of the tournament due to ill health.

Japan's Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino won the mixed doubles title, while Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida, also from Japan, claimed the women's doubles crown.

An Iranian chess player who fled to Spain after she took part in an international tournament without the mandatory hijab said  on Jan 22 she is "not myself" when she wears the headscarf.

In December Sara Khadem, 25, appeared without a hijab -- which is compulsory for women under Iranian law -- at the International Chess Federation (FIDE) World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Her action was seen by some as a show of support for the protests that have gripped Iran since the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22.