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Here is a masonry blog layout with no sidebarMore than 4 billion people still lack any social protection, ILO report
Social protection includes access to health care and income security, particularly in relation to old age, unemployment, sickness, disability, work injury, maternity or loss of a main income earner, as well as for families with children.
There are significant regional inequalities in social protection. Europe and Central Asia have the highest rates of coverage, with 84 per cent of people being covered by at least one benefit.
The Americas are also above the global average, with 64.3 per cent. Asia and the Pacific (44 per cent), the Arab States (40 per cent) and Africa (17.4 per cent) have marked coverage gaps.
Government spending on social protection also varies significantly. On average, countries spend 12.8 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on social protection (excluding health), however high-income countries spend 16.4 per cent and low-income countries only 1.1 per cent of their GDP on social protection.
UN hails end of poisonous leaded gas use in cars worldwide
Petroleum containing tetraethyllead, a form of lead, was first sold almost 100 years ago to increase engine performance. It was widely used for decades until researchers discovered that it could cause heart disease, strokes and brain damage.
UNEP said studies showed leaded gas caused measurable intellectual impairment in children and millions of premature deaths.
“The cost of environmental degradation is real,” said UNEP’s executive director, Inger Andersen, citing what she described as a “very, very ballpark number” of USD2.45 trillion in damage to the global economy prevented by the ban.
Construction industry accelerating innovation, risk management: KPMG
Risk management is central to improving organisational resilience. Nearly 60 per cent of survey respondents say they want to gain a more holistic view of risks by increasing integration and visibility between enterprise risk management, portfolio risk management and project risk management. And two-thirds plan a moderate or high level of investment in risk management.
Suneel Vora, Partner for major projects advisory at KPMG in India, said the pandemic has taught important lessons to businesses implementing capital programmes and construction projects around resilience, integrated approach to risk, portfolio management, leveraging diversity and putting technology to work. KPMG’s Global Construction Survey 2021 reflects on the views of over 186 global industry leaders to provide specific answers to these aspects.
Covid 19 Pandemic: Almost 1 in 3 affected due to work stress, ICICI Lombard survey
Sanjay Datta, Chief – Underwriting, Reinsurance & Claims, ICICI Lombard General Insurance , said, “With the transformed perception of the masses, our consumer base today looks at a health insurer not only for financial immunity during times of ill-health but we are now looked up as a partner in their holistic wellness journey. Additionally, through this survey, we observed a mindset change taking place with 47% of people and 42% of the younger age group (25-35 years) wanting to adopt a healthy lifestyle to not just get a better appearance but also feel better about themselves. Therefore keeping overall wellness as a focus, ICICI Lombard intends to act as a conduit towards a health-conscious India.”
Tesla closer to making its official debut in India
Tesla has had its vehicles certified as being roadworthy in India, a posting on the website of the nation’s ministry of road transport and highways showed.
“The tests ensure the vehicle matches the requirements of the Indian market in terms of emission and safety and road worthiness,” according to the site. A Tesla fan club earlier tweeted about the development, saying the cars were probably Model 3 and Model Y variants.
India to China: Where investors managing $3 trn are putting their money
Bloomberg News spoke with institutional investors with $3 trillion in combined assets under management to ask how they’re navigating economic turmoil caused by unpredictable recoveries and China’s shifting rules, which have frozen U.S. listings and almost erased the online education sector.
All recommended heightened caution and warned of a difficult recovery ahead.
30 kph max: Paris shrinks speed limit to protect climate
Govt examining public comments on draft Consumer Protection (e-commerce) Rules
Semiconductor shortage hurting production, may impact Aug-Sep automobile wholesales: Report
Noting that chip shortages are hurting production and should impact August-September wholesales, Jefferies said, ”companies such as Maruti, Bajaj and Royal Enfield have seen an increased impact in the September quarter.” The recent pandemic-related lockdown in Malaysia might add to the constraints, it added.
Semiconductors are silicon chips that cater to control and memory functions in products ranging from automobiles, computers and cell phones to various other electronic items.
Hong Kong’s strict quarantine rules threaten to erode allure of financial hub
Hong Kong’s decision in August to increase mandatory hotel quarantine to three weeks for arrivals from most countries has prompted a backlash from banks, hedge funds, and traders who say it is hampering new investment into the asset management market and risks setting off a brain drain. Financial services contribute around 20% to Hong Kong’s gross domestic product, government statistics show.
20 APAC re/insurers record a higher premium of $821.4bn in 2020, COVID induces demand for life & health products, GlobalData
Seven players reported more than 5% rise in premiums earned. In addition, the top companies maintained financial robustness through flexible hedging of assets under management.The most notable performers in the region were Japan-based insurer Dai-ichi Life, China-based New China Life Insurance and China Reinsurance; and Taiwan-based Cathay Financial.Dai-ichi Life outperformed the top players, with its revenue growth surpassing 20%, as the weaker Yen allowed the company’s returns from its investments soar significantly over the previous year.
China Reinsurance reported 19.2% increase in y-o-y revenue owing to swift growth in savings- and protection-type life, domestic P&C reinsurance, and health reinsurance business, which led to 16.2% growth in premium income; and obtaining surplus investment returns by surpassing the market benchmarks.
Facebook, Xiaomi want a slice of India’s $1 trillion digital loan market
Amazon.com also made its maiden investment in the country’s wealth management sector this month, participating in a $40 million round by fintech startup Smallcase Technologies Pvt.Alphabet Inc.’s Google is also upping its game. After offering wealth management products such as digital gold, mutual funds on its popular Google Pay platform, it’s now tied up with small Indian lenders for opening time deposits for its customers.
India’s digital payments market is drawing the attention of some of techs biggest names after online transactions surged during the pandemic and traditional lenders turned cautious following a rise in bad debt. Digital lending is expected to treble to $350 billion by 2023 and reach a total of $1 trillion in the five years since 2019, according to estimates from the Boston Consulting Group.
Prosus doubles down on India with $4.7 bln deal for BillDesk
PayU processed $55 billion in payments in the year ended March 31, 2021, a 51% increase on the previous year.
“This is really a transformative transaction for PayU and its position as one of the leading payment and fintech providers in India and actually in the world,” Prosus CEO Bob van Dijk said on a media call.
LIC’s total assets swell 22 % to Rs 38 trillion in FY 2021
The corporation’s total Life Fund(total investment) has gone up by 10 per cent y-o-y to the tune of Rs.34,36,686 rores in Fy 2020-21.
The total funds of the corporation, invested across the sectors of the economy, are Rs 36,76,170 crores as on 31st March 2021.
In 2020-21 LIC has settled 229.15 lakhs claims amounting to Rs. 1,47,754 crores.
Indian growth jumps in April-June, helped by looser pandemic curbs
Japan tests first autonomous cargo ship
The Nippon Foundation estimates that taking into account factors like artificial intelligence, which should improve efficiencies, the development of unmanned ships will have a positive impact of about 1 trillion yen ($9 billion) for Japan’s economy in 2040.
There are other foreseeable benefits too, such as lower insurance premiums and improved safety,Satoru Kuwahara, a general manager at Nippon Yusen subsidiary Japan Marine Science Inc, said.
Studies on shipping industry safety show that around 70% of maritime accidents are caused by human error. “With the issue of Japan’s shrinking workforce in mind, there’s growing need for these technologies to uphold safety,” he said.
More than $19B in PE insurance sector M&A already at record high
This year’s disclosed deal value is nearly double that of the $10.61 billion in 2019 and is the highest amount on record for at least a decade.First half highlights include two large publicly listed PE firms buying insurance assets.
The largest deal was Apollo Global Management Inc.’s planned merger with retirement services company Athene Holding Ltd. in an all-stock transaction that implies a total equity value of roughly $11 billion for Athene.
The five big public PE firms — Apollo, Blackstone, The Carlyle Group Inc., KKR & Co. Inc. and Ares Management Corp. — have all bought into insurance companies over the past two years. The acquisitions are not all typical deals for sector exposure. Some of the firms have said their insurance company buyouts will sit on the balance sheet, provide synergies with PE and become a source of permanent capital.
M&A in global insurance sector remain subdued during H1
Despite witnessing robust U.S.Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities, the global insurance industry fell 3% in the first half of 2021. There were 197 completed deals worldwide, down from 206 in the second half of 2020, said Clyde & Co.’s...