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Pandemic to nearly wipe out growth in developing Asia in 2020 – ADB

Developing Asia, a group of 45 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, is expected to post growth of just 0.1% in 2020, the ADB said in a supplement to its Asian Development Outlook report issued in April, the slowest pace since 1961, before growing 6.2% next year.The updated forecasts show more damage to economies in developing Asia than estimates it released it April, which predicted 2.2% growth for the region in 2020.

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Nigeria’s Swiss Re backed  life insurer sees sales surge as Pandemic take hold 

“Health workers are demanding it, other state governments and municipalities that didn’t have it before are now looking at it differently,” Leadway Assurance Co. Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Tunde Hassan-Odukale said in an interview in Lagos. “People who were not doing group life insurance before, are now looking at it on a corporate basis.”

Sales of group life policies have jumped 10% this year and the trend is expected to continue with COVID-19 cases in Nigeria still on the rise, he said. This may help to counteract pressure on the firm’s retail business, where individual life policies could be hit by a slowdown in economic activity because of lockdown measures to curb the spread of the disease.

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China-backed AIIB approves $750 million loan to India for COVID-19 response

Cofinanced with the Asian Development Bank, the budgetary support will go toward bolstering economic aid for businesses, including for the informal sector, expanding social safety nets for the needy, and strengthening the country’s health care systems. 

“Many of the world’s low and middle-income countries are still in the early stages of the health crisis but are already feeling the impacts of the pandemic. This poses an enormous risk for millions across India who have only recently emerged from poverty,” said AIIB Vice President, Investment Operations, D.J. Pandian.

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India and 12 other nations lead UN initiative to Counter COVID-19 misinformation

The 13 nations co-authored the cross-regional statement, which said that in times of the COVID-19 health crisis, the spread of the infodemic’ can be as dangerous to human health and security as the pandemic itself. Among other negative consequences, COVID-19 has created conditions that enable the spread of disinformation, fake news and doctored videos to foment violence and divide communities.

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New India provides Rs 50 lakh Covid-19 covers to 22.12 lakh healthcare workers,settles 6 claims

However, the insurance cover despite being a well-publicised scheme, awareness of the same appearsto be little amongst some of State Nodal Agencies as a substantial number of some 75 claims, lodged till date are outside the purview of the policy on account of either the deceased not being a health worker or the deceased having died of other than corona related ailments, said Atul Sahay CMD, NIA..

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