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Eco/Invest/Demography

Facebook targeted in U.K. legal action over Cambridge Analytica

The possible lawsuit adds to Facebook’s run-ins with European privacy and antitrust authorities, which have intensified since the Cambridge Analytica affair emerged in March 2018. The EU has two early stage competition cases into Facebook’s classified ads service and its data practices, while Germany’s cartel office has targeted the company. The U.S. tech giant remains the target of multiple privacy disputes in Ireland, its EU home

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Lloyd’s insurer Apollo to stop underwriting Adani coal mine from Sept. 2021

“We participate in one construction liability policy in respect of Adani Carmichael…this particular policy terminates in September 2021 after which we will no longer provide any insurance cover for this project,” chair of Apollo Syndicate Management Julian Cusack said in the memo.

“We have recently declined to participate in an additional policy relating to the port and rail extension and have agreed that we will not participate in any further insurance policies for risks associated with this project.”

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COVID-19 caseload in India breaches 80-lakh mark with 49,881 new cases

The world’s second most populous nation also has the second highest tally of infections after the United States, which has recorded 8.8 million

The COVID-19 case fatality rate has further declined to 1.49 per cent.

There are 603687 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 7.5 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

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Banks roll out robots as pandemic shakes up IT plans

Industry experts say the pandemic has focused bank executives’ minds when it comes to IT spend and more digitally savvy lenders will steal a march on competitors.

“There is a digital divide,” Jerry Silva, global banking research director at IDC said. “Sometimes I call it the predatory gap, because those banks are going to be able to steal market share from those that weren’t prepared prior to 2020.”

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Fare limits to remain in place for another three months Puri

“Even though we are extending it by three months, if by the time we reach the end of the year, and if we find that there is a very appreciable movement in the situation and we are reaching pre-COVID levels, I would absolutely have no hesitation if my colleagues (aviation ministry officials) want us to not utilise the price band for the full three months period,” Puri added.

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Under pressure, WHO plans COVID-19 vaccine insurance scheme for poor nations

The scheme is being set up by the promoters of the COVAX vaccine facility, which is co-led by the WHO and GAVI, a global vaccine alliance, a COVAX document published on Thursday said. COVAX aims to distribute at least 2 billion effective shots around the world by the end of next year.

The scheme could foot the bill for 92 low-income countries, mostly in Africa and South-East Asia, meaning their governments would face little or no costs from claims brought by patients, should anything go unexpectedly wrong after a COVAX-distributed vaccine is administered.

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Insurtechs raise a record-breaking $ 2.5 bn in Q3 2020 globally as ‘funding gap’ widens

For the first time since Q4 2017, InsurTech start-ups based in India raised more funding rounds than those based in China.
$2.5 billion was raised by InsurTech firms across 104 deals, up 63% and 41% respectively over the prior quarter. Deals included two $500 million rounds, but the mid-tier funding gap for firms seeking investments in the $20 million to $50 million range has widened, according to the new Quarterly InsurTech Briefing from Willis Towers Watson,

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Indian outfit wins UN award for efforts to combat climate change amid COVID-19

COVID-19 has altered lives, economies and the nature of business on every continent — from the largest cities to the smallest villages. It is the most urgent threat facing humanity today, but we cannot forget that climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity over the long term,UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said

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