Category:

Eco/Invest/Demography

Covid-19 3rd wave could peak between Oct-Nov; intensity expected to be 1/4 of second wave

Manindra Agrawal, an IIT-Kanpur scientist who is part of the three-member team of experts that have been tasked with predicting any surge in infections, said if no new virulent emerges, then the situation is unlikely to change.

If the third wave peaks, the country may see only 1 lakh daily cases as against more than 4 lakh when the deadly second wave was at its peak in May. The second wave killed thousands and infected several lakh.

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Climate Change: Insurers can afford to drop Oil and Gas—but many won’t

To date, just one insurer has promised to take “significant action” in this regard, according to analysts at Societe Generale SA.

Australia’s Suncorp was the first to announce it would no longer provide coverage for all new oil and gas production projects.While insurers (23 in all) have moved to end their underwriting of coal-related activities, they have been slow to act on oil and gas. That’s mainly because the insurance market for those fossil fuels is considerably larger, with estimated premiums of more than $17 billion in 2018, compared with $6 billion for coal power, said Peter Bosshard, program director at the Sunrise Project and global coordinator of Insure Our Future (IOF).

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Japan’s Fukushima nuclear water to be released via undersea tunnel

The government decided in April to start discharging the water, after further treatment and dilution, into the Pacific Ocean in spring 2023 under safety standards set by regulators. The idea has been fiercely opposed by fishermen, residents and neighboring countries including China and South Korea.

The offshore discharge using a pipeline enclosed inside a concrete tunnel is an attempt to minimize the “reputational damage” that would occur if the contaminated water is released close to marine life off the Fukushima coast.

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FSDC meeting on Sep 3; to take stock of economy, financial sector

The Reserve Bank of India Governor, and the heads of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, and International Financial Services Centres Authority are also members of the FSDC.Sources also said that the finance minister may ask financial sector regulators to relax and harmonise investment norms for instruments like infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) to be used to monetise public assets like highways, power and railway tracks.

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Covid-19: DGCA extends suspension of international flights till Sep 30

International scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis.
“This restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by DGCA. However, International Scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis,” further stated the circular.

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Resting on climate action a $11 trillion opportunity for India: Deloitte Report

Over the next 50 years, the top five most impacted industries in terms of economic activity are expected to incur a significant share of climate-related loss.

These industries — services (government and private), manufacturing, retail and tourism, construction, and transport — currently account for more than 80 per cent of India’s GDP. Together, they form the basis of the country’s contemporary economic engine, it added.

Deloitte estimates that by 2070, these five industries alone would experience an annual loss in the value added to GDP of more than USD 1.5 trillion per year.

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