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Here is a masonry blog layout with no sidebarIndia records 47,092 new COVID-19 cases, biggest daily rise in 2 months
“With cases rising in Kerala, adequate steps should be taken to contain the inter-state spread of COVID-19,” Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in a statement after speaking with his state counterparts in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, which border Kerala.
He asked them to increase vaccination in the districts close to Kerala. India has so far administered 662 million doses, with at least one dose in 54% of its 944 million adults and the required two doses in 16%.
What can employers do if workers avoid COVID-19 vaccines?
At Delta Air Lines, unvaccinated employees on the company health plan will be charged $200 a month to help cover costs for possible COVID-19 hospital stays.
Symons said other employers will more likely add smaller charges of $20 or $25 per paycheck that might be refunded once the employee is vaccinated.
Surging collision risks Satellite and Space Debris force insurers to exit satellite coverage market
Space coverage has been a lucrative niche for insurers, which took in $475 million in gross premiums to cover satellites, rockets and unmanned space flights last year and paid just $425 million in losses, according to Seradata.
Space premiums are 10-20 times aviation premiums, said Peter Elson, CEO of insurance broker Gallagher Aerospace.
Only 11 spacecraft have suffered a partial or total failure due to suspected debris strikes over the past decade, according to Seradata, making insurer worries largely theoretical for now.
Yet because insurers predict risks over the life of current and future policies, space underwriters fret over doomsday scenarios years ahead.
German companies not allowed to check on employees’ vaccine status
But Germany has strict data privacy laws because of its history of Nazi and Communist state surveillance of citizens, meaning that companies have no right to find out about health issues relating to their staff.
German businesses have been pushing to be able to ask staff about vaccination and the government is trying to get more people to get the shots as infections rise again. Almost 61% of the population has had both shots and 65% at least one.
WHO warns new Mu variant of Covid-19 could be more vaccine-resistant
Ayush ministry launches ‘Yoga-Break’ app for professionals to de-stress at workplace
New Delhi, Sept 02: Union Minister of Ayush Sarbanand Sonowal on Wednesday launched the 'Yoga-Break' application for working professionals to de-stress, refresh and re-focus at their workplace to increase their productivity. The five-minute protocol...
Health Ministry partners with Google to enhance people’s access to COVID-19 vaccine
Starting this week, for over 13,000 locations across the country, people will be able to get more helpful information about vaccine availability and appointments — powered by real-time data from the CoWIN APIs (application programming interfaces). This includes information such as availability of appointment slots at each center, vaccines and doses offered (dose 1 or dose 2), expectations for pricing (paid or free) and the link to the CoWIN website for booking.
The above information will automatically show up when users search for vaccine centres near them, or in any specific area – across Google Search, Maps and Google Assistant.
Number of people with dementia set to jump 40% to 78 mln by 2030 -WHO
Only one in four countries has a national policy in place to support dementia patients and their families, it said, urging governments to step up to the public health challenge.
“Dementia robs millions of people of their memories, independence and dignity, but it also robs the rest of us of the people we know and love,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general.
WHO leader opposes ‘widespread’ use of boosters
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke in Berlin on Wednesday. He says the U.N. health agency last week witnessed the first decline in new global cases in more than two months.
He says, “this is obviously very welcome but it doesn’t mean much,” since many countries are still seeing steep increases and “shocking inequities” in access to vaccines.
Aon acquires 100% of its Indian JV, buys out 51% from Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran
Munich Re raises €1bn green bond
Christoph Jurecka, chief financial officer(CFO), Munich Re , said climate protection is an integral part of our Ambition 2025 Group strategy.
“By issuing a green bond, we have once again leveraged the capital markets to fund green investments. We strengthen our capital base, which gives us the financial flexibility to take advantage of current growth opportunities,” he said.
Over half of India’s adult population received at least 1 Covid shot: Govt
Swiss Re creates a central cyber underwriting team,John Coletti to head Global Cyber
With his expertise, John Coletti will help Swiss Re to address the complex nature of cyber risk, including important industry issues such as ransomware and risk aggregation. John Coletti will report into Gregory Schiffer, Head of Global Specialty, and will be responsible for Swiss Re’s global cyber business, which includes portfolio ownership, global underwriting activities as well as cyber product development.
Singapore rolls out SPAC rules as global scrutiny rises
A spokesperson from the Monetary Authority of Singapore said the local rules position SGX “as a regional first-mover in serving Asia’s fast-growing new tech and new economy companies’ financing needs,” while providing safeguards for investors.
In other markets, Hong Kong and Indonesia are taking tentative steps for potential SPAC listings, while Britain has eased rules. But such investment vehicles are peaking in popularity in the United States as regulators there clamp down on SPACs after a listing frenzy.
WhatsApp fined $266 mn by Irish regulator over data transparency breaches
Under the three-year-old GDPR law, authorities have powers to fine companies as much as 4% of their annual sales. The rules put watchdogs based in a company’s chosen EU hub in charge of supervising them. But the Irish regulator, which has at least 28 privacy probes open targeting tech giants such as Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, has faced mounting criticism for taking too long to wrap up its cases.
India aims to open finance to millions with user-data system
Regulators agreed to allow banks, pension funds, tax authorities, insurers and other finance firms to pool together customer information — once the user consents — to make transactions smoother. If the system works, firms will be able access large amounts of data within seconds to assess the creditworthiness of a small business, recommend a wealth management product for an individual, or tailor an insurance policy for a family.
The Account Aggregator system, years in the planning, was formally introduced on Thursday. It’s an ambitious approach that combines privacy protection with credit reporting.
HDFC Life to acquire Exide Life for Rs 6,687 crore
The embedded value of Exide Life, as on 30th June 2021, is Rs. 2,711 crore will augment the existing embedded value of HDFC Life by approximately 10% Proposed transaction will accelerate the growth of Agency business of HDFC Life as well as strengthen other distribution channels including Broker, Direct and Co-operative Banks Complementary geographical presence with a strong foothold in South India, especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 locations
Customers to benefit from stronger product suite, wider distribution network and more service touch points
▪ Synergies to enhance shareholder value with potential to improve new business margins via operating leverage and
product mix optimisation
Pollution likely to cut 9 years of life expectancy of 40% of Indians
More than 480 million people living in the vast swathes of central, eastern and northern India, including the capital, New Delhi, endure significantly high pollution levels, said the report prepared by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).
“Alarmingly, India’s high levels of air pollution have expanded geographically over time,” the EPIC report said.