Tapan Singhel, MD&CEO, Bajaj General Insurance& Chairman,...
Category:
Articles
Latest
Closing Crisis Protection Gap: Leaders call for 10 fold higher finance to meet cost of future crises
Less than $1 of every $5,000 of crisis finance goes to low income...
Employee medical plan costs: Aon forecasts 11.1% increase for businesses in Asia Pacific
"The high medical trend rate can also be attributed to a higher...
Vaccine lottery: Indian states grapple with how to share COVID-19 jabs
Many poor Indians do not have biometric identification cards that are often required to access public services, including vaccination registration – allowing those who do to jump the vaccine queue. In some instances, residents from the cities of Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad have booked slots in rural health centres, driving out into the countryside to get their shots, according to local media reports.
The real pandemic risk from India is tracking new variants of Covid-19
India, too, needs to do its part. Even as it struggles to provide hospital beds, oxygen and antivirals to its gasping citizens, New Delhi must step up genome surveillance to figure out–for itself and the rest of the world–what exactly is going on. Plans being laid for reopening and economic recovery everywhere could depend on it.
Driverless taxis to cancer drugs: Google’s moonshots are serious business
More than half of that “Other Bets” valuation, though, would come from Waymo LLC, the self-driving taxi company whose chief executive officer John Krafcik stepped down last month after it became clear the promise of self-driving wouldn’t be fulfilled as soon as many tech optimists expected a few years ago. Time was when some investors valued Waymo above $100 billion; that number has reportedly melted to about $30 billion. How the business can make money in the near future is still unclear.
US employers brace for Covid’s Mental Health fallout as workers return
“We’re seeing pretty alarming numbers,” said Vaile Wright, senior director of healthcare innovation at the American Psychological Association (APA), who oversees its Stress in America survey. “People’s bodies and minds just aren’t in quite the fit place they were in a year ago.”
Tens of millions have plunged into poverty in Covid ravaged India
Economists warn depleting household savings and falling incomes will have an impact on domestic consumption, which accounts for almost 60% of GDP. A study by Nikhil Gupta, an economist at Mumbai-based brokerage Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd., found that India’s household savings dropped to 22.1% of GDP in the quarter through December, from 28.1% in the three months ended June last year. Full-year numbers show India’s savings growth lagged behind the likes of the U.S., the U.K. and Japan, he said.
‘Turning the Corner’: U.S. COVID outlook reaches most hopeful point yet
Americans have entered a new, hopeful phase of the pandemic. Buoyed by a sense that the coronavirus is waning, in part because of vaccinations, more people are shrugging off masks, venturing into restaurants and returning to their pre-pandemic routines. Mayors, governors and other local officials — once the bearers of grim news about the virus’s toll and strict rules for businesses — have joined in the newfound optimism, rapidly loosening restrictions.
Public health experts remain cautious, but said that while they still expect significant local and regional surges in the coming weeks, they do not think they will be as widespread or reach past peaks.
Covid, Cyber, Compliance and ESG top risk concerns for financial services sector: Allianz
“The financial services sector faces a period of heightened risks. Covid-19 has caused one of the largest ever shocks to the global economy, triggering unprecedented economic and fiscal stimulus and record levels of government debt,” says Paul Schiavone, Global Industry Solutions Director Financial Services at AGCS. “Despite an improved economic outlook, considerable uncertainty remains. The threat of economic and market volatility still lies ahead while the sector is also increasingly needing to focus on so-called ‘non-financial’ risks such as cyber resilience, management of third parties and supply chains, as well as the impact of climate change and other Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) trends.”
Fighting misinformation in the time of COVID-19, one click at a time
“Public trust in science and evidence is essential for overcoming COVID-19,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
“Therefore, finding solutions to the infodemic is as vital for saving lives from COVID-19 as public health measures, like mask-wearing and hand hygiene, to equitable access to vaccines, treatments and diagnostics.”
Low rates of vaccine acceptance are a concern across the globe. Data released in January 2021 by the Johns Hopkins Centre for Communication Programs** suggest that across 23 countries, only 63 percent of respondents will accept a vaccine.
Scientists say India government ignored warnings amid coronavirus surge
The World Health Organization has not declared the India mutant a “variant of concern,” as it has done for variants first detected in Britain, Brazil, and South Africa. But the WHO said on April 27 that its early modelling, based on genome sequencing, suggested that B.1.617 had a higher growth rate than other variants circulating in India
Tackling climate change through emerging hydrogen industry: Managing complex risks
Driven by climate change, the possibilities of energy storage, use as a fuel and the long-term intention to replace reliance on coal and oil, hydrogen has the potential to morph from a niche power source into big business.
New bulletin from Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) highlights operational risks that need to be addressed in hydrogen projects, including fire and explosion hazards, impact of embrittlement and business interruption exposures.
AGCS sees increasing demand for insurance coverage for hydrogen solutions in future.