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HDFC Life & HDFC Ergo launch a combi protection plan with term & COVID-19 health cover in a single policy.

HDFC Life’s C2P3D Plus is one of the most flexible and customizable term plans in the market. HDFC Ergo’s Corona Kavach is an indemnity health policy that was launched earlier this year to offer cover against medical expenses incurred due to hospitalization of individuals seeking treatment for COVID-19, on a positive diagnosis for the virus, in a government authorized diagnostic centre

Indian general insurance industry plunges into losses of Rs 1402 crore in 2019-20, sees higher FDI inflow

The total underwriting losses of the industry have surged by 4.4 per cent year on year(y-o-y) to Rs 22,859 crore in 2019-20.  .
Shriram General Insurance, at 91 per cent  and SBI General Insurance(93.5 percent) have earned the distinction of having very low combined ratio in the industry and are a very few companies which have seen underwriting profits in FY 2020-21.   

AstraZeneca and Oxford say COVID-19 vaccine shows 70% efficacy

AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said that the lower first dose of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine meant more people can be vaccinated more quickly, as the British drugmaker unveiled interim late-stage trial results.

“Being able to vaccinate more people faster is a really a big plus,” he told a briefing.AstraZeneca said it would “immediately prepare regulatory submission of the data to authorities around the world that have a framework in place for conditional or early approval.”
The Astra vaccine does not require ultra-cold storage which may make it easier to administer than the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, which needs to be refrigerated at -70 degrees.

S&P sceptical of allowing corporates into Indian banking

“The working group’s concerns regarding conflict of interest, concentration of economic power, and financial stability in allowing corporates to own banks are potential risks,” S&P Global Ratings said in a note.

A former RBI governor, Raghuram Rajan, and a former deputy governor, Viral Acharya, also criticised the proposal, calling it a “bad” idea.

Even though India needed more banks it was not wise to allow industrial houses into banking as the history of such inter-connected lending showed it could be disastrous, they said.

Will India’s banking system go from being state-dominated to tycoon-led?

The regulator mustn’t take the public’s trust for granted. The IL&FS debacle shows little institutional capacity to stop mischief outside the balance sheet of a traditional bank.
The report came just as the regulator solemnised the sale to Singapore’s DBS Group Holdings Ltd. of one such lender, the third failure of a major deposit-taking institution in 15 months. Before that shotgun marriage, the country had 22 universal banks (and 10 so-called small finance banks) in the private sector, with a 30% share of deposits, up from 13% two decades ago. Foreign banks’ low 5% share has remained unchanged. Dominant public-sector banks’ market share is down to 65%, from 82% in 2000.

Surge in greenhouse gases sustained despite COVID lockdowns – U.N

Many scientists expect the biggest annual fall in carbon emissions in generations this year as measures to contain coronavirus have grounded planes, docked ships and kept commuters at home.

However, the WMO described the projected 2020 drop as a “tiny blip” and said the resulting impact on the carbon dioxide concentrations that contribute to global warming would be no bigger than normal annual fluctuations.

Maha makes RT-PCR negative report mandatory for entering state

“The passengers without symptoms will be allowed entry. Passengers with symptoms shall have the option of turning back and going to their home to recuperate,” the order said.

The order stipulated that all domestic passengers traveling from airports in NCR Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Goa shall carry RT-PCR negative test reports with them before boarding and show them to the teams at the arrival airport in Maharashtra.

UAE eases limits on foreign ownership to attract investors

The presidential decree changing the corporate law helps the UAE “strengthen its leading position regionally and globally as an attractive destination for projects and companies,” state-run WAM news agency reported.

The reforms allow foreign entrepreneurs and investors to set up their own companies without involving local shareholders, the agency said.

Biden names Kerry as U.S. climate envoy, emphasizing diplomacy’s role in the issue

Biden has pledged to reverse course on climate from President Donald Trump, who doubts mainstream climate science. Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate, and dismantled Obama-era climate and environmental regulations to boost drilling, mining and manufacturing.

While secretary of state under former President Barack Obama, Kerry, 76, called climate change “the world’s most fearsome weapon of mass destruction.” In travels from glaciers in Greenland to the Solomon Islands, Kerry has emphasized cooperation on tackling climate change.