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Eco/Invest/Demography

India AstraZeneca shot delay could be ‘catastrophic’ for Africa: health official

The African Union had planned to vaccinate 30-35% of the continent’s population by the end of the year he said. “If the vaccines are delayed we are unlikely to meet our target,” he added.

That AU target primarily relies on supplies from the global COVAX vaccine-sharing facility, through which 64 poorer countries including many in Africa are supposed to get doses from the SII. COVAX aims to provide enough shots for African countries to inoculate at least 20% of their populations.

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India launches COVID-19 vaccination for all people above 45, year’s highest single day rise of 72,330 new cases reported

According to the health ministry, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Punjab, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh continue to show a steep rise in the COVID daily new cases accounting for 84.61 per cent of the new cases reported in a span of 24 hours.

Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 39,544. It is followed by Chhattisgarh with 4,563 while Karnataka reported 4,225 new cases. India’s active caseload has reached 5,84,055 and now comprises 4.78 per cent of the country’s total infections. A net rise of 31,489 cases has been recorded in the total active caseload in a span of 24 hours.

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Coronavirus pandemic to shave 3% off global output in medium term: IMF

The IMF said the prospects for “scarring” from the current crisis remained substantial, even if systemic financial stress and the associated long-lasting economic damage had been largely avoided due to the unprecedented policy actions taken.

The path to recovery remained challenging, especially for countries with limited fiscal resources, the IMF said in a blog post based on its updated World Economic Outlook.

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52% of Indian firms report cyber attack in last 12 months

“Cyberbreaches are a reality that we cannot afford to ignore. Within an organisation, there will always be multiple threats that can exploit various vulnerabilities and launch full blown cyberattacks,” Sunil Sharma, Managing Director — sales, Sophos India and Saarc, said in a statement.

“The only way to stop these threats is to actively hunt for them and neutralize them. This makes threat hunting an important function to mitigate the damage caused by cyberattacks.”

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Australia flooding to cut into insurers’ earnings, add to upward pressure on reinsurance rates:AM Best

AM Best expects the number of claims received to date to escalate as the event continues to impact the region, and as access to damaged properties is gained over the coming weeks. Losses are likely to emanate primarily from domestic property and motor lines of business, as well as from commercial risks, including business interruption and agriculture covers.

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