Category:

Non-Life

Latest

COVID-19 kills more than 4,000 Indians amid clamour for vaccines

Two states – Karnataka, which includes tech hub Bengaluru, and Maharashtra, which includes Mumbai – have announced they will temporarily suspend vaccination for people aged 18-44 years as they prioritize those over 45 who need their second dose.

Maharashtra also announced that curbs on movement would be extended until the end of the month in a bid to break the chain of infections. Mostly rural Bihar in the east extended curbs until May 25.

read more

Remote work leads to massive surge in hacking globally: Report

Among Financial and insurance industries, 83 per cent of data compromised in breaches was personal data, while in Professional, Scientific and Technical services industries only 49 per cent was personal.

“As the number of companies switching business-critical functions to the cloud increases, the potential threat to their operations may become more pronounced, as malicious actors look to exploit human vulnerabilities and leverage an increased dependency on digital infrastructures” said Tami Erwin, CEO, Verizon Business, in a statement. .

read more

Colonial Pipeline has cyber insurance policy, paid hackers nearly $5 Million in ransom

The cover was for at least $15 million.

Cyber insurance typically covers ransom payments and insurers often provide staff to negotiate with the hackers, in addition to IT and public relations services.

Swiss Re CEO Christian Mumenthaler argues that the private insurance market is simply not large enough to offer full cyber protection to vulnerable organisations, due to the systemic nature of cyber risk.

He observed that the cyber insurance market is currently worth around $5.5 billion in premium, compared to “gigantic” yearly losses that extend into the hundreds of billions of dollars.

read more

Adani and other Australian coal miners flag finance, insurance difficulties

The withdrawal of global insurers risks making even some ancillary business unviable, said contractor BMD Constructions Pty Ltd, which is building a section of a 210 km (130 mile) rail line to service Adani’s Carmichael mine in northern Queensland state, which is due to start operating this year.

The coal miners argued that Australia’s high-energy coal offers a comparatively lower emissions alternative to export markets compared with coal from other regions. They say coal also provides billions of dollars to government coffers and supports regional jobs.

read more

Indian states turn to anti-parasitic drug to fight COVID-19 against WHO advice

“The current evidence on the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 patients is inconclusive,” WHO said in a statement in late March. “Until more data is available, WHO recommends that the drug only be used within clinical trials.”

Merck, a manufacturer of the drug, has also said available data does not support using the drug as a COVID-19 treatment. “We do not have enough data to support its use,” said Anita Mathew, an infectious diseases expert in Mumbai.

read more

Pune at the top in health infra-related ranking: Report

These rankings are benchmarked against parameters such as number of hospital beds per 1,000 people, air quality, water quality, sanitation, liveability index and 40 per cent weightage has been given to number of hospital beds.

“When it comes to health infrastructure, Pune is the most equipped city in India, offering 3.5 hospital beds per 1,000 people,” Housing.com said. This is much higher when compared to India’s national average.

read more

 Amazon-backed Acko seeks new funds at $1 billion value

The funding round, if successful, will make Acko the latest unicorn in India, where there’s been a boom for the technology industry. In April, the country minted at least six new startups with a valuation of $1 billion or more in a week’s time.

Acko, founded in 2016, is among India’s first digital insurers that provides coverage for cars, motorbikes and even taxi passengers as well as health insurance, according to its website. It has more than 400 employees and has sold policies to over 50 million customers. Besides Amazon, the startup also counts Accel, Catamaran Ventures and SAIF Partners among its investors.

read more

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co to acquire Willis Re and WTW’s corporate risk, broking, health and benefits services for $3.57 billion

Gallagher has agreed to purchase a group of businesses from Willis Towers Watson that includes:

Willis Re operations globally, excluding operations in mainland China and Hong Kong;

Global cedent facultative reinsurance, excluding operations in mainland China and Hong Kong;
Corporate Risk and Broking business unit known as Inspace globally and certain business undertaken for Aerospace Manufacturing clients;

read more