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Prepare for the next pandemic, says WHO scientist

“We’ve seen time and time again that products developed in high income countries take decades to find their way to low income countries. This has happened with influenza pandemics, with HIV, and with hepatitis B vaccines.

It took 30 years for hepatitis B vaccines to get to developing countries and that’s exactly the reason why COVAX [the UN-led scheme to distribute two billion COVID-19 vaccines to mostly poorer countries] was set up, to make sure that as vaccines get developed, that there’s also equity in access.

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Swiss Re announces ambitious climate targets; accelerates race to net zero

Swiss Re’s Group Chief Executive Officer Christian Mumenthaler said: “Climate change remains the biggest challenge we face as a society. The stakes are high and require immediate attention. Signing up to net-zero emissions by 2050 and setting concrete climate targets are important first steps. What needs to follow now is action. We are moving ahead in all areas of our business to accelerate the transition towards net zero.“

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India uses digital banking and biometrics to organize its 1.3 billion population

The digital network is now the lynchpin for most of India’s social security and cash transfer programs — which had been notorious for corruption and unreliability. Today, the government uses JAM’s direct benefit transfers for 317 programs. It made 2.6 billion transactions in the current financial year, getting more than $46 billion to beneficiaries. The cumulative value of the transfers since the first programs started in 2013 stands at more than $195 billion.

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GIFT City: Modi’s plan to make a Singapore in Gujarat has fallen flat

In hosting an international financial center, Singapore stole a march over rival Hong Kong, where the bankers were initially against more competition. But it wasn’t tall buildings that made the experiment a success. A freely convertible currency, pragmatic regulation, a stable tax regime, rule of law and speedy dispute resolution played a huge role. (Good schools and pubs helped, too.)

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Covid-19 Pandemic:Tracking an Unprecedented Year for Businesses

Nearly every business in the world has been affected by COVID-19—in different ways. While one-fourth of the companies saw sales falling 50 percent in the last quarter, a third of firms said their sales increased or stayed the same in the period.
To capture the impact of the pandemic on firms’ performance, the World Bank launched ongoing surveys with more than 120,000 firms in over 60 countries. The assessment is expected to help inform recovery efforts.
Developing countries have introduced multiple support programs, but businesses most affected by the shock—small firms and those in poorer countries—were the least likely to receive government support.
Crises are nothing new to small enterprises in developing countries.

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“Significant improvement in climate-related disclosure of Insurers”

Bronwyn Claire, Senior Programme Manager for ClimateWise said,“We’ve seen significant progress being made by members in the incorporation of climate change considerations into investment and underwriting strategies demonstrating growing strategic commitment to corporate and societal resilience to climate change.”

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Rising Risk of Cyber-attack on Industrial Sector:Lloyd’s Report

Cyber-attack risks have previously been considered unlikely to materially impact the physical market, with cyber perils traditionally emerging in the form of non-physical losses. However, the report looks at how physical risks have become a rapidly growing concern for industrial businesses as shown by recent high-profile breaches. As bridges are increasingly being built between information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT), along with increases in automation and sophistication of threat actors, it is paramount that (re)insurers carefully consider where major losses may occur.

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