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Eco/Invest/Demography

Haiti: flash floods and mudslides latest threats in earthquake-hit country

The natural disaster is likely to cost insurers around $250 million, according to catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Co. (KCC).

While the insured losses from this event are estimated at $250 million, the KCC Caribbean Earthquake Reference Model shows that insurable losses are around $1.7 billion (which indicates an insurance protection gap of approximately $1.45 billion), said the firm

In addition to the dead and wounded, initial reports indicate more than 700 collapsed buildings, including hospitals and schools, more than 13,000 homes destroyed, and significant damage to roads.

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Fewer women than men will regain work during COVID-19 recovery: ILO 

In Building Forward Fairer: Women’s rights to work and at work at the core of the COVID-19 recovery, the International Labour Organization (ILO) highlights that between 2019 and 2020, women’s employment declined by 4.2 per cent globally, representing 54 million jobs, while men suffered a three per cent decline, or 60 million jobs. 

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World Bank launches new Cybersecurity Multi-Donor Trust Fund

“There is widespread agreement in the international community that significantly more cybersecurity capacity building is needed to help low- and middle-income countries become more resilient against attacks and take full advantage of the development opportunities of the digital economy,” said Felix Kroll of the Cyber Foreign Policy and Cyber Security Coordination Staff of the German Federal Foreign Office.

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Pandemic has IFC pumping $1.7 billion into local companies, up 51%

The impact of the pandemic coupled with the region’s vulnerability to climate change, has highlighted the need for a collaborative, resilient and climate friendly recovery that can withstand future shocks, said its new regional director for South Asia, Hector Gomez Ang.

While South Asia is one of the fastest growing regions in the world, estimates suggest that climate impacts could reduce its annual GDP by an average of 1.8 percent by 2050, rising to 8.8 percent by 2100 if the region failed to take adequate corrective measures. The region is also estimated to have an untapped climate investment potential of USD3.4 trillion by 2030, Ang said.

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NPS” non-govt subscriber base crosses 30 lakh-mark; corpus to hit Rs 1 lakh cr soon: PFRDA

“As of August 14, the non-government sector, which is the corporate and all citizen model, we have seen that the total onboarding (of subscribers) has crossed three million. In this, retail is a big landmark for us.

“Three years ago, our subscriber was just about 13-13.5 lakh (March 2018) in retail and corporate,” the chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

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No data shows need for booster vaccines presently: Dr Gagandeep Kang

According to Dr Kang, whether people will have more antibodies or be better protected with the booster dose is still not known.

“It sounds obvious that more antibodies (abs) are better but we really don’t know whether people who push up abs with additional doses will be better protected than with the level they initially made. Or that when abs wane, we need to boost to maintain above some level,” she said.

Further, she explained how people with a poor immune response should get a third dose,

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Claim and counter-claim: health insurance key point of debate in pandemic

Health insurance companies received a total of 23.06 lakh claims from April 2020 till August 6, 2021, of which 13.19 lakh claims worth Rs 14,783 crore were received since April 1 this year, it said.

But why are claims being rejected? Giving the flip side of the picture, companies in the business said there are various reasons, including patients hiding pre-existing conditions or raising a claim before the waiting period of certain days after purchasing a policy.

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