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The wait for the self-driving future is coming to an end

In just a few years these companies are promising to fill the roads with robo-taxis, driverless delivery vehicles, and sentient shuttles that will transform the way we move, upend industries, and ultimately reduce deaths by car accidents. By 2021 there will be 51,000 autonomous vehicles on roads worldwide, according to a new forecast from IHS Markit, with sales projected to rise to nearly 1 million by 2025 and an estimated 33 million by 2040. 

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China becoming an increasingly difficult environment for reinsurers: AM Best

On the bright side, China’s Belt and Road program has created some hope of new premium sources for Chinese reinsurers, especially state owned companies that can leverage their state-owned relationship. The early stages of the Belt and Road initiative will bring vast investments in infrastructure—the construction of railroads, highways, and tunnels—as well as developing sectors such as energy and telecommunications.

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Indian GDP growth to pick up in 2018; oil, inflation risk factors

After falling for five successive quarters from 9 per cent in the fourth quarter of FY2015-16 to a low of 5.7 per cent in the first quarter of FY2017-18, the GDP growth at 6.3 per cent in the July-September quarter of 2017-18 reversed the trend.Within GDP growth numbers, a highly encouraging sign is that while export growth has remained positive, import growth has fallen.

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India ends 2017 being among the best-performing markets globally

Buoyed by strong inflows into systematic investment plans (SIPs), mutual funds have purchased equities (net of sales) worth Rs 1.17 lakh crore during 2017. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought Indian equities worth Rs 51,492 crore (close to $8 billion).FPIs ended the year with a net inflow of over Rs 51,000 crore.

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Surging bitcoin price pushes up costs for insurers for ransomware attacks

There’s been “a massive escalation” in both the number of attempts and the size of demands as criminals scramble for the hot cryptocurrency, said Michael Tanenbaum, an executive vice president at Zurich-based Chubb. The rise in price of bitcoin correlates,” he said, , declining to specify total costs. Around midyear, top payouts in corporate ransomware attacks began to exceed $1 million, dwarfing the previous maximum of about $17,000, he said.

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