Rishi Sunak on Oct 25 scripted history when he was appointed by King Charles III as Britain's first Indian-origin Prime Minister after being elected unopposed as the new leader of the governing Conservative Party on Diwali.

The 42-year-old former Chancellor of Exchequer, a devout Hindu, is the youngest British prime minister in 210 years.

He is also the first Hindu Prime Minister of Indian heritage in the UK.

Sunak became the ruling Conservatives' new leader on Oct 24 after rival contender Penny Mordaunt failed to secure enough nominations from Tory MPs, and Boris Johnson dramatically aborted a comeback bid.

The 47-year-old Truss announced her resignation, admitting she could not deliver her "mandate" from Conservative members -- who had chosen her over Sunak in the summer.

German and European Union leaders gathered experts  on Oct 25 to start work on what Germany's chancellor described as a "new Marshall Plan" for the rebuilding of Ukraine.

The Marshall Plan was a U.S.-sponsored initiative that helped revive western European economies after World War II.

A one-day conference in Berlin was convened to discuss "how to ensure and how to sustain the financing of the recovery, reconstruction and modernization of Ukraine for years and decades to come," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

Scholz, who co-hosted the meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said he's looking at "nothing less than creating a new Marshall Plan for the 21st century -- a generational task that must begin now."

Von der Leyen said the World Bank puts the cost of damage to Ukraine so far at 350 billion euros ($345 billion).

The EU decided in June to make Ukraine a candidate to join the bloc, and needs "to firmly embed Ukraine's reconstruction efforts as part of its path toward the European Union," she said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that point in a video address from Kyiv. He told the Berlin conference participants that Ukraine has a $17 billion "fast recovery" plan to repair damage to hospitals, schools, transportation and energy infrastructure, and other structures.

Scholz underlined Germany's commitment to keep supplying Ukraine with weapons, including air-defence systems, as long as they are needed.

Scholz and von der Leyen invited the leaders of Poland and Switzerland, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the U.N. Development Program and others to on Oct 25  meeting.

Germany currently chairs the Group of Seven industrial powers.

A senior Pakistan journalist, who was booked on charges of sedition and peddling an 'anti-state' narrative by the country's security agencies earlier this year, was shot dead in Kenya, his wife said on Oct 22.

Arshad Sharif, 49, a former reporter and TV anchor with ARY TV, and known for his proximity to former prime minister Imran Khan, had relocated to Kenya.

Sharif's wife Javeria Siddique took to Twitter to confirm the news of his death.

In August, Sharif was booked on charges of sedition for interviewing Khan's close aide Shehbaz Gill.

In the interview, Gill criticised the Shehbaz Sharif government for trying to pitch Khan against the country's powerful army.

Sharif subsequently fled the country, while ARY Network said it had "parted ways" with the journalist. Sharif was born in the port city of Karachi in 1973 and started his journalistic career three decades ago.

He was awarded the 'Pride of Performance' in 2019 by Pakistan President Arif Alvi. 

Latest data released by the petroleum ministry showed India’s crude oil imports increased by 1 per cent in September 2022.

The net import bill for oil and gas was USD 10.7 billion in September 2022, as compared to  USD 9.4 billion in September 2021, while exports in the month were at  USD 5.3 billion. Of the total imports, crude oil constitutes  USD 12.8 billion and LNG $1.0 billion.

Data also suggests imports during the April-September 2022 quarter went up by 15.1 per cent. According to the data by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), a body of the petroleum ministry, the price of Brent Crude averaged  USD 89.87 per barrel during September 2022, as against  USD 99.99 per barrel during August 2022 and  USD 74.58 per barrel during September 2021.

Indian basket crude price averaged  USD 90.71 per barrel during September 2022, as against  USD 97.40 per barrel during August 2022 and  USD 73.13 per barrel during September 2021. The crude consumption reported a growth of 13.4 per cent during April- September 2022 with a volume of 107.73 million tonnes (MT). It was 95.0 MT during the same period of the previous year.

This growth was led by 18.5 per cent growth in petrol, 16.1 per cent in diesel and 72.1 per cent in ATF (aviation turbine fuel) consumption during the half year. The consumption of petroleum products during September 2022 recorded a growth of 8.1 per cent with a volume of 17.2 MT compared to the same period of the previous year.

India’s crude oil production in September 2022 was down by 2.3  per cent from that of September 2021 as compared to a de-growth of 3.3  per cent during August 2022. Oil India Limited (OIL) registered a growth of 5.2 per cent and ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) registered a growth of 1.0  per cent during September 2022 as compared to September 2021. PSC registered a de-growth of 13.9  per cent during September 2022 as against the same month in 2021. 

Global soft drinks major Coca-Cola Company on  Oct 25 said its lemon and lime-flavoured soft drink Sprite has become a billion-dollar brand in the Indian market.

The company has recorded a "strong" volume growth in its India business in the third quarter of 2022, helped by its sparkling soft drinks portfolio and fruit drink brand Maaza.

Earlier in January this year, Coca-Cola had said its Indian soft drink brand Thums Up had become a billion-dollar brand in 2021.

India is the fifth-largest market for Coca-Cola globally.

French World Cup-winning hero Zinedine Zidane said on  Oct 24 it was "time to forget the controversies and focus on the football" at the upcoming World Cup in Qatar, despite calls to boycott the tournament over the Gulf state's rights record and treatment of migrant workers.

former Real Madrid coach Zidane, 50, said as he attended the unveiling of his own wax figure at the Musee Grevin in Paris.

When asked about the World Cup, which will begin on November 20 after more than a decade of controversy since Qatar was named as host, Zidane said the focus should now be on the sport "for all those fans who just want to watch the football".

Zidane, who helped lead France to glory at the 1998 World Cup on home soil, was an ambassador for Qatar's successful bid to stage the tournament.

When the tiny country was named as host by FIFA in 2010 he declared himself "very pleased" with the decision.

West Indies head coach Phil Simmons will step down from his role at the end of this year, following the Caribbean side's debacle at the ongoing T20 World Cup where they failed to reach the Super 12 stage.

West Indies, the T20 World Cup's most successful team with triumphs in 2012 and 2016, crashed out of the showpiece event in the group stage, after losses to Scotland and Ireland.

They beat Zimbabwe in the round-robin league but that was good enough to finish at the bottom of the four-team group.

This was the first time West Indies failed to advance further from the group stage since the inaugural tournament in South Africa in 2007.

Q1. Name the leader who has  appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to have photos of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi on currency notes ?

1. Arvind Kejriwal
2. Shivraj Singh Chouhan
3. Yogi Adityanath
4. Himanta Biswa Sarma
5. None of These

Q2. Mallikarjun Kharge is the second leader from Karnataka to hold the top party post after S Nijalingappa became the Congress president in

1. 1980
2. 1976
3. 1968
4. 1962
5. None of These

Q3. Name the person who has been appointed as Britain's first Indian-origin Prime Minister by King Charles III ?

1. Antonio Costa
2. Pravind Jugnauth
3. Kamala Harris
4. Rishi Sunak
5. None of These

Q4. Name the  senior Pakistan journalist, who was booked on charges of sedition and peddling an 'anti-state' narrative by the country's security agencies earlier this year, and who has been  shot dead in Kenya recently?

1. Arshad Sharif
2. Hamid Mir
3. Ayesha Jalal
4. Husain Haqqani
5. None of These

Q5. Name the West Indies head coach who will step down from his role at the end of this year, following the Caribbean side's debacle at the ongoing T20 World Cup where they failed to reach the Super 12 stage ?

1. Gordon Greenidge
2. Phil Simmons
3. Michael Holding
4. Malcolm Marshall
5. None of These

Answers

1-------------------------1   Arvind Kejriwal

2-------------------------3  1968

3-------------------------4    Rishi Sunak

4--------------------------1   Arshad Sharif

5----------------------------2    Phil Simmons