Category:

Eco/Invest/Demography

Ida likely to become one of the costliest U.S. hurricanes: Aon

Steve Bowen, managing director and head of Catastrophe Insight on the Impact Forecasting team at Aon, said: “As larger-scale disasters occur with more intensity and subsequently result in greater impacts, this has put a spotlight on areas where gaps lie in humanitarian and insurance protection. This is true regardless of whether a country is identified as developed or emerging. Hurricane Ida’s catastrophic impacts in the United States highlighted how much work is yet to be done to better insure around inland and coastal flooding. An even greater gap is found in Haiti following the major earthquake that once again has the country facing a challenging recovery. How governmental bodies work with private sector groups to improve hazard protection and aim to better and more smartly rebuild will be key to lowering future natural peril risk.”

read more

Over 50% agricultural families in debt with average loan of ₹ 74,121 in 2019: Survey

The survey further said the average monthly income per agricultural household during agricultural year 2018-19 was at ₹ 10,218. Of this, the average income per household from wages was ₹ 4,063, crop production ₹ 3,798, animal husbandry ₹ 1,582, non-farm business ₹ 641 and leasing of land ₹ 134.

According to the survey, the number of agricultural households in the country was estimated at 9.3 crore with OBCs accounting for 45.8 per cent, SC 15.9 per cent, ST 14.2 per cent and others 24.1 per cent.

read more

How lung cancer arises in non-smokers revealed

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Every year, more than 2 million people around the world are diagnosed with the disease. Environmental risk factors, such as exposure to radon, air pollution, and asbestos, or having had previous lung diseases, may explain some lung cancers among never smokers, but scientists still don’t know what causes the majority of these cancers.

read more

Swiss Re sees growing demand for insurance protection, positive outlook for premiums

According to Swiss Re Institute, non-life insurance premiums are expected to be 10% higher than the pre-COVID-19 level by the end of 2021. Heightened risk trends will increase the need for insurance protection, but also require a greater focus on evaluating and modelling, and ensuring pricing is adequate for the risks taken.

read more

India eyes turning 3-wheelers into EVs

Mahua Acharya, MD and CEO,Convergence Energy Services Ltd said there are 5.5 lakh electric three-wheelers (E3W) on the road.

”After accounting for central government subsidy, the price of E2W comes to Rs 55,000 to Rs 1.3 lakh. If states give subsidies, the prices will come down further. At this, price is very competitive (compared to fossil-fuel-based two-wheelers),” she said.

read more

Lloyd’s reports strong H1 2021 results with pre-tax profit of £1.4bn and 92.2% combined ratio

Premium rates increased by 9.9%, continuing the trend of 15 consecutive quarters of positive rate movement.

The combined ratio of 92.2% (HY 2020: 110.4% and 97.0% excluding COVID-19 claims) is a solid improvement with a 4.8 percentage point reduction on the previous year, excluding COVID-19. These results demonstrate the substantial turnaround of Lloyd’s profitability and performance.
Lloyd’s continued to provide significant support to its customers around the world, paying £9.4bn of claims, including to customers impacted by COVID-19 where 80% of the claims notified to date have been paid.

read more

World’s largest plant capturing carbon from air starts in Iceland

Swiss start-up Climeworks AG, which specialises in capturing carbon dioxide directly from the air, has partnered with Icelandic carbon storage firm Carbfix to develop a plant that sucks out up to 4,000 tons of CO2 per year.

That’s the equivalent of the annual emissions from about 790 cars. Last year, global CO2-emissions totalled 31.5 billion tonnes, according to the International Energy Agency.

Direct air capture is one of the few technologies extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and is viewed by scientists as vital to limit global warming, blamed for causing more heatwaves, wildfires, floods and rising sea levels.

read more