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India uses digital banking and biometrics to organize its 1.3 billion population

The digital network is now the lynchpin for most of India’s social security and cash transfer programs — which had been notorious for corruption and unreliability. Today, the government uses JAM’s direct benefit transfers for 317 programs. It made 2.6 billion transactions in the current financial year, getting more than $46 billion to beneficiaries. The cumulative value of the transfers since the first programs started in 2013 stands at more than $195 billion.

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Covid vax linked to 30% reduction in transmission, says UK study

Meanwhile, where healthcare workers had received a second dose of the vaccine at least 14 days before, their household members had a rate of Covid-19 which was at least 54 per cent lower than household members where healthcare workers had not been vaccinated, said the study.

The latest study came as the UK government said it will discuss with the European Union countries about the possibility of creating a vaccine passport, which will allow those who have had the jab to travel abroad more freely.

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Insurers, reinsurers prepare for battle over UK COVID-19 business payments

Bars, beauty parlors, nightclubs and other small companies in January won the right to business interruption insurance payments after senior judges ruled many insurance policies should cover losses caused by lockdowns in a test case brought by Britain’s market watchdog.

But senior insurance executives said the judgment, which affects 60 insurers, has not helped to clarify whether insurers or their reinsurers — companies which provide financial protection to the industry — are on the hook for payments.

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US, India, Australia, Japan agree to send 1 bln vaccines across Asia by end-2022

India will use its manufacturing capacity to make U.S. vaccines, with financing coming from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Australia will finance training and provide last-mile logistical support for the distribution of vaccines, he added, that will predominantly go to the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia and countries in the Indian Ocean.

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