David Trimble, the Nobel peace prize-winning former first minister of Northern Ireland whose statecraft helped end decades of conflict, died  on july 25 aged 77.

Trimble, a key architect of the landmark 1998 peace deal in the troubled UK province, won the prize along with pro-Irish leader John Hume that year after the pair sealed the historic agreement.

No further details were given about the death of a politician who, despite his staunch pro-UK convictions, worked with Irish nationalists to end the three decades of bloodshed known as the "Troubles".

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described Trimble as a "giant of British and international politics".

Irish premier Micheal Martin hailed the Nobel laureate as "someone who played a crucial and courageous role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland".

Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill, in line to be Northern Ireland's next first minister after her nationalist party swept to a historic victory in assembly elections in May, lauded Trimble's "very significant contribution to the peace process".

The 1998 Good Friday accord largely ended 30 years of conflict in Northern Ireland that killed 3,500.

India has said it has vital stakes in peace and prosperity in the Middle East and through the newly-formed I2U2 grouping and it is confident of making significant contributions to energy, food security and economic growth in the region and South Asia.

Four-nation grouping I2U2 comprises India, Israel, the UAE and the US. 'I' stands for India and Israel and 'U' for the US and UAE.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the first virtual summit of the coalition on July 14 and said the grouping would make an important contribution in areas of energy security, food security and economic growth.

With US President Joe Biden, Israeli Premier Yair Lapid and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan listening, Modi said the grouping has established a positive agenda and its framework is a good model for practical cooperation in the face of increasing global uncertainties.

During a recent virtual I2U2 summit, the leaders of India, Israel, the UAE and the US agreed to increase joint investment in six key areas of water, energy, transport, space, health and food security," Chargé d'affaires in India's Permanent Mission to the UN Ambassador R Ravindra said at the UNSC open debate on the Question of Palestine.

A new cross-party UK parliamentary panel has been created to promote trade, investment and people-to-people ties with India, backed up by the British Indian think tank 1928 Institute.

India (Trade and Investment) All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) was formally registered last week as part of celebrations of the 75th anniversary of India's independence and is made up of 25 members of Parliament and peers of different political affiliations.

With a stated goal to promote trade and investment between India and the UK for the mutual betterment of their citizens, whilst building an inclusive living bridge between the two countries, the new APPG hopes to support the ongoing India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations and promote its benefits once concluded.

Navendu Mishra, Indian-origin Opposition Labour Party MP for Stockport in north-west England and Co-Chair of the new APPG.

said Lord Karan Bilimoria, Indian-origin businessman and Co-Chair of the APPG.

Baroness Sandy Verma, the President of the new group.

More than 1,000 Lufthansa flights were cancelled  on july 27 because of a one-day strike by the airline's German ground staff, affecting tens of thousands of passengers in the latest travel turmoil to hit Europe.

About 134,000 passengers had to change their travel plans or cancel them altogether. At least 47 connections had already been cancelled on july 26 , German news agency DPA reported.

Lufthansa's main hubs in Frankfurt and Munich were most affected, but flights were also cancelled in Duesseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin, Bremen, Hannover, Stuttgart and Cologne.

The airline advised affected passengers not to come to the airports because most of the counters there would not be staffed anyway. Lufthansa spokesman Martin Leutke criticized the strikes as harmful.

At Frankfurt airport, 725 of 1,160 scheduled flights were cancelled for the day. Flights operated by other airlines, which are usually supported by Lufthansa ground staff, were also affected. Lufthansa itself had given the number of 646 strike-related flight cancellations for july 27.

Akasa Air, India’s newest airline, is adding 28 weekly direct flights on its newly-launched sector between Bengaluru and Mumbai starting August 19, 2022.

With this, Akasa Air will have a presence in the key cities of Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kochi and Bengaluru, making a total of 82 weekly flights available within the first few weeks of its operations.

The IMF has cut India’s growth forecast for 2022 down by 80 bps to 7.4%, reflecting less favourable external conditions and more rapid monetary policy tightening. In April, the multilateral agency had estimated India’s GDP to grow at 8.2%.

For 2023 as well, it had revised the growth estimate downward by 80 basis points to 6.1%. In its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) released on july 26 , the agency ruled out the possibility of a global recession this year but warned that the risk of a recession was prominent next year.

Considering the unending economic uncertainties, it has cut global growth to 3.2% and 2.9% in 2022 and 2023, respectively 0.4% and 0.7% lower than its April estimates. In 2021, growth stood at 6.1%. The primary culprits driving revisions include the world’s leading economies the US, China, the euro area and of course India which are witnessing sharper slowdowns due to extended lockdowns in China (affecting trade), tightening financial conditions, steeper interest rate hikes, persistent inflation, and spillovers from the Ukraine war.

Competition Commission has approved Axis Bank's proposed acquisition of Citi's consumer business in India, one of the largest deals in the country's financial services space.

Under the deal worth Rs 12,325 crore, announced on March 30, Axis Bank would take over Citi's credit cards, personal loans and wealth management businesses that are focused on the affluent segment.

Deals beyond a certain threshold require approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which keeps a tab on unfair business practices across sectors.

In March, Axis Bank and Citi had signed a definitive agreement for the deal, which is expected to be completed by September 2024 and would help Axis Bank gain access to 30 lakh new customers.

The parties involved in the deal are Axis Bank Ltd, Citibank, N.A. (acting through its India branch) and Citicorp Finance (India) Ltd.

Ashishkumar Chauhan has resigned as Managing Director and CEO of BSE and has been relieved of his roles and responsibilities at the exchange.

Chauhan will be joining rival National Stock Exchange (NSE) as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

He was part of the founding team of NSE but left it in 2000 for various roles at Reliance Industries group, before returning to the stock exchange arena as deputy CEO of BSE in 2009 and then as CEO in 2012. BSE has already begun the hunt for a new chief in place of Chauhan.

In the interim, the board of BSE has decided that an executive management committee of the exchange would be running its affairs till appointment of the new MD and CEO, it said in a regulatory filing to NSE.

The executive management committee comprises Neeraj Kulshrestha - Chief Regulatory Officer, Nayan Mehta - Chief Financial Officer, Kersi Tavadia - Chief Information Officer, Sameer Patil - Chief Business Officer and Girish Joshi - Chief Trading Operations and Listing Sales.

Chauhan has been relieved of the roles and responsibilities at BSE with effect from July 25, 2022.

At BSE, Chauhan is credited with reviving its revenues, helping it become the world's fastest exchange with 6 microseconds response time.