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Non-Life

Over 21k tested positive for COVID after taking first dose of either Covishield or Covaxin: Gov

Of Covishield, 11.6 crore doses have been given. Ten crore received the first dose and 17,145 i.e. 2 per 10,000 people contracted the infection. About 1,57,32,754 individuals took the second dose of covishield and of that 5,014 (0.03 per cent) got infected. Two to four per 10,000 breakthrough infections have occurred, a very small number. This was mainly healthcare workers prone to more occupational hazards, he said

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Britain’s driverless car ambitions hit speed bump with insurers

Insurers are key players in the shift to automated driving, with some investing in a technology they believe will slash accidents and deaths, and save them billions in payouts.

But they are worried drivers might equate today’s lower levels of automation with fully self-driving vehicles, potentially causing more accidents in the short term and permanently damaging public confidence in the technology.

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Covid-19 resurgence threatens vigorous global economic growth momentum

Emerging and developing economies accounted for two thirds of global growth before the pandemic and around 86% of the world’s population. The World Bank told them just this week that they must prepare for the possibility of their recoveries losing steam.
A nascent economic revival in India — the world’s sixth largest economy — is being threatened by renewed movement curbs across provinces to stem a new wave of infections that have topped 200,000 daily for the last week.

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Insurers prefer private equity investments over Hedge Funds: Goldman Sachs Survey

Private equity was the most-favored asset class for insurers seeking to increase investment returns, followed by middle market corporate loans and infrastructure debt, the survey said.

Private equity returns in the past 10 years “have been strong and have outperformed other asset classes,” Michael Siegel, global head of insurance asset management at GSA, told a media briefing, which he said helped explain consistent insurer interest in the asset class in recent years.

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Why India is shattering global infection records

Despite warnings and advice that precautions were needed, authorities were unprepared for the magnitude of the surge, said K Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India.

Critics have pointed to the government deciding to not pause Hindu religious festivals or elections, and experts say that these may have exacerbated the surge.

“Authorities across India, without exception, put public health priorities on the back burner,” Reddy said.

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Vaccinating everyone above 18 yrs to cost just 0.36% of GDP: India Ratings

”This means that the total size of the population that will now be eligible for vaccination would be 84.19 crore out of the total population of 133.26 crore,” India Ratings and Research said a note.

Assuming two doses of vaccines at Rs 400 per dose for new vaccine procurement and 5 per cent wastage, the cost for the central government will come to Rs 62,103 crore for 155.4 crore doses, it said.

The total of the two comes to Rs 67,193 crore which ”works out to be just 0.36 per cent of GDP,” it noted.

The maximum impact is likely to be on Bihar (0.60 per cent of gross state domestic product or GSDP), followed by Uttar Pradesh (0.47 per cent), Jharkhand (0.37 per cent), Manipur (0.36 per cent), Assam (0.35 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (0.30 per cent) and Odisha (0.30 per cent).

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