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Eco/Invest/Demography

RBI keeps rates at record low on virus fallout, projects retail inflation at 5.1%

According to Das, upside risks to inflation emanates from persistence of second COVID wave and consequent restrictions on activity on a virtually pan-India basis.

“In such a scenario, insulating prices of essential food items from supply side disruptions will necessitate active monitoring and preparedness for coordinated, calibrated and timely measures by both Centre and state governments to prevent emergence of supply side bottlenecks and increase in retail margins,” the governor said.

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Headache most common health ailment among urban Indians: Survey

“Notably for fever, consumers chose doctor visit over self-medication whereas for headache, cough and cold, more respondents seemed to self-medicate and rely on chemists. Further, gastric conditions were found to be more prevalent among geriatrics.

“Interestingly, Eno has emerged the top OTC brand choice for gastric conditions with at least 7 in 10 urban Indian preferring it. Zandu Balm was the top choice among balms for headaches,” says a statement by Ipsos.

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Decline in water availability due to increase in human, cattle population: Javadekar

”India has only four per cent water share of the world’s fresh rainwater resources. So, there is a basic necessity to save, reuse and repurpose. When India became independent, the availability of water was 5,000 litres per capita now it has become 1,100 litres. There is a basic decline in the availability of water due to human and cattle population growth,” he said.

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India’s daily new COVID-19 cases decline to 1.32 lakhs, fatalities at 2,713

India’s active caseload further declined to 16,35,993 as active cases decreased by 77,420 in the last 24 hours. The active cases in the country have been less than 2 lakhs since eight successive days. The daily positivity rate stands at 6.38 per cent, remaining below the 10 per cent-mark for 11 consecutive days, while the weekly positivity rate stands at 7.27 per cent.

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India’s vaccine inequity worsens as countryside languishes

In 114 of India’s least developed districts – collectively home to about 176 million people – authorities have administered just 23 million doses in total.

That’s the same number of doses as have been administered across nine major cities — New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Thane and Nagpur — which combined have half the population.

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Chasing yield, U.S. private equity firms nudge up risk on insurers

PE-insurance marriages can be joyous: Asset managers have skills and access to investments that insurers lack, and insurers provide cheap funding. PE firms also earn significant fees, even though their investments do not always capture outsized returns.

PE firms are nudging up risk on a large pool of money. They now own 7.4% of all U.S. life and annuity assets, or $376 billion, double the tally in 2015, credit agency AM Best said. Pending deals could add $250 billion this year, pushing PE ownership to 12%.

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