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When and how will COVID-19 vaccines become available?

Essential workers, a group of 87 million people who do crucial jobs that cannot be done from home, are the likely next group. This includes firefighters, police, school employees, transport workers, food and agriculture workers and food service employees.

Around 100 million adults with high-risk medical conditions and 53 million adults over the age of 65, also considered at higher risk of severe disease, are the next priority.

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A ‘mission of the century’ as airlines prep for gargantuan vaccine supply

This will be the largest and most complex logistical exercise ever,” said Alexandre de Juniac, chief executive officer of the International Air Transport Association, the industry’s chief lobby. “The world is counting on us.”

IATA estimates that the equivalent of 8,000 loads in a 110-ton capacity Boeing 747 freighter will be needed for the airlift, which will take two years to supply some 14 billion doses, or almost two for every man, woman and child on Earth. It’s a tall order, given about one-third of the global passenger fleet is still in storage, based on data from Cirium.

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Will India’s banking system go from being state-dominated to tycoon-led?

The regulator mustn’t take the public’s trust for granted. The IL&FS debacle shows little institutional capacity to stop mischief outside the balance sheet of a traditional bank.
The report came just as the regulator solemnised the sale to Singapore’s DBS Group Holdings Ltd. of one such lender, the third failure of a major deposit-taking institution in 15 months. Before that shotgun marriage, the country had 22 universal banks (and 10 so-called small finance banks) in the private sector, with a 30% share of deposits, up from 13% two decades ago. Foreign banks’ low 5% share has remained unchanged. Dominant public-sector banks’ market share is down to 65%, from 82% in 2000.

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Bumper harvests, healthy stockpiles but coronavirus world is undernourished

More worrying is that while food production and stocks have remained sufficient, household budgets haven’t. Even before the pandemic, the world was hungry. A report published in July by the United Nations’s Food and Agriculture Organization and others estimated almost 690 million people were underfed in 2019 — up by 10 million from the previous year, and by nearly 60 million in five years. Close to 750 million of us, or nearly one in 10, didn’t have reliable access to sustenance.

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Without us even realising it, Google has occupied every nook and cranny of our existence

Google’s prevalence has brought the company to a critical point. On Tuesday, the Justice Department sued it for anticompetitive practices, in the most significant antitrust action by the U.S. government against a technology company in decades. The government’s case focused on Google’s search and how it appeared to create a monopoly through exclusive business contracts and agreements that locked out rivals.

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Risk Management: COVID-19 spurs collaboration and innovation

Risk management and transfer has always been about collaboration between client, broker and insurance carrier to find the most suitable solutions for risk problems. Without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us all to find different ways to do that – with the opportunity for face-to-face brainstorming put on hold, we need to find other ways to continue to innovate.

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Plastic pandemic: COVID-19 trashed the recycling dream

Plastic, most of which does not decompose, is a significant driver of climate change.

The manufacture of four plastic bottles alone releases the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions of driving one mile in a car, according to the World Economic Forum, based on a study by the drinks industry. The United States burns six times more plastic than it recycles, according to research in April 2019 by Jan Dell, a chemical engineer and former vice chair of the U.S. Federal climate committee.

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New Reality: Securing “Intangible Assets”

Advancements in cyber-attacks and corporate espionage, along with increasing uncertainty in the business environment have pushed many organisations towards introducing stricter processes to protect confidential and proprietary intangible assets from threats such as intellectual property trademark and copyright infringements, data piracy and appropriation of trade secrets.
Many organizations’ approach their reputation challenges in a reactive way after an adverse event occurs. However, it’s important to understand that risk management depends on proactive reputation management. Negative publicity stemming from mismanagement or inadequate preparation can cause significant reputational damage.

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