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Budget FY2024-25: Indian Insurance Industry’s Wish-list
The upcoming Budget 2024-25 is crucial for advancing insurance...
June warmest on record every month since July 2023 breached 1.5 deg C threshold
This was also the 13th consecutive month of record-high...
22 countries have requested India for supply of Covid-19 vaccines: Health minister
“We have received requests for vaccine supply from 22 nations so far. Out of these, supply has already been made to 15 nations as grant assistance as well as contract doses. As of February 2, a total of 56 lakh doses has been given as grant assistance and 105 lakh as contracts doses,” the minister said.
80 countries including India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan on Thursday criticised the European Union for its recent decision of introducing export controls on Covid-19 vaccines.
China to launch public platform to track, crack down on polluters
Polluting enterprises are obliged to install monitoring equipment and keep at least five years of data, with fines of 200,000 yuan ($31,000) for those that fail to do so. Fines of 1 million yuan can be imposed on firms that pollute without permission.
According to the environment ministry, the new information platform will allow authorities and members of the public to monitor real-time emission levels and check historical data in order to determine whether rules are being breached. It is set to come into effect on March 1.
Police seize $60 million of bitcoin! Now, where’s the password?
Bitcoin is stored on software known as a digital wallet that is secured through encryption. A password is used as a decryption key to open the wallet and access the bitcoin. When a password is lost the user cannot open the wallet.
Over 90k samples archived so far in 17 national COVID-19 bio-repositories: Govt
Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan said these samples are being used to develop validated diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for COVID-19 prevention, control and treatment. Additionally, the samples are a valuable resource for research and development related activities to understand the early predictors of disease severity, immunopathogenesis of the disease.
Pvt investment of Rs 30,000 cr expected in 2021-22 through HAM, BOT projects: Highways secy
About the National Infrastructure Pipeline, the secretary said the current target for the national highways sector is to take up the implementation of 1,820 projects by 2024-25 in about 89,300 km for a total estimated cost of Rs 19.35 lakh crore.
”Out of this, 86 projects of 4,414 km for Rs 32,000 crore have been completed and 1,059 projects costing Rs 6.70 lakh crore are in progress,” he said.
11,713 new cases take India’s coronavirus tally to 1,08,14,304
There are 1,48,590 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which accounts for 1.37 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
The COVID-19 case fatality rate stood at 1.43 per cent.
Allianz to acquire full ownership of China life insurance venture
“Allianz has been pursuing the 100% ownership of our life entity since the opening up measures were announced by the government in 2019,” Sergio Balbinot, chairman of Allianz (China) Insurance Holding Co, was quoted saying in the company statement.
Allianz will leverage its global management experience, advanced digital technology and brand value, to provide professional and comprehensive life insurance for a growing number of customers in China, it said.
52% millennials in India keen on international holiday this summer: Survey
The survey showed that 40 per cent millennials are open to spend between Rs 2-5 lakh for their holidays while 35 per cent would spend between Rs 5-10 lakh.Around 34 per cent millennials would like to book luxury hotels with limited inventory while 25 per cent each would go for boutique and budget properties, it said.Travellers are still looking for places with fewer crowds, it added.
The survey also showed that 62 per cent millennials would prefer Thailand, followed by Singapore (58 per cent), UAE (52 per cent), Maldives (46 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (40 per cent) in the short-haul category of foreign destinations.
‘Playing with fire’: Twitter’s India snub sparks debate on compliance, free speech
Twitter initially complied but later restored most of the accounts, citing “insufficient justification” to continue the suspensions. The technology ministry warned the company, in a letter seen by Reuters, of legal “consequences” that could include fines or jail, saying the government was not required to justify its demand to ban accounts.
Exxon unveils carbon-removal tech venture in green image push
The move comes as Exxon looks to burnish its environmental credentials as it engages in a proxy fight with hedge fund Engine No. 1, which is attempting to appoint candidates on the oil company’s board and push toward a more renewables-focused future.
The oil major said it would invest $3 billion on lower-emission solutions through 2025, by which time it plans to reduce the intensity of its oilfield greenhouse gas emissions by 15%-20% from 2016 levels.