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Here is a masonry blog layout with no sidebarSemiconductor 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...
ELEMENT and Parametrix launch innovative cloud outage insurance in Europe
Parametrix developed this unique insurance solution based on its proprietary monitoring technology that analyses the global performance and availability of cloud service providers’ down to the millisecond level. The highly advanced parametric system ensures an accurate and precise overview of risk accumulation and concentration across different IT-services and regions. Also, the monitoring system detects insured events in real time and triggers compensation with waiting periods as short as only one hour. This new insurance solution in the field of cyber and tech-related insurance is an innovative answer for companies to financial losses due to cloud outages.
New Zealand’s Auckland stays in lockdown, officials report Pfizer-linked death
The health ministry on Monday announced a woman had died due to myocarditis, which is known to be a rare side effect of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle that can limit the organ’s ability to pump blood and can cause changes in heartbeat rhythms. The health ministry did not provide the woman’s age. Pfizer in New Zealand did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment.
Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine contamination woes in Japan have widened with another million doses being suspended after foreign substances were found in more batches and two people died following shots from affected lots.
Genetic risk scores can aid accurate diagnosis of epilepsy: Study
Maha health survey: Prime focus on COVID-19, staff shortage affected patients most
Highlighting the shortage of staff at health facilities, the survey report informed that only 51 percent of the surveyed PHCs had one permanent medical officer, which meant only one doctor for around 30,000 people, and only 53 percent had permanent nurses. ”Around 46 percent of rural hospitals and 30 percent of sub-districts hospitals do not have specialist doctors. As many as 81 percent posts for psychiatrists, 63 percent posts for surgeons, 47 percent posts for anesthetists, 26 percent posts for gynecologists, 23 percent posts for pediatricians and 47 percent posts for dentists are lying vacant in rural hospitals,” the report said.
Researchers find combination therapy cuts risk of heart attacks, strokes in half
Approximately 19 million people worldwide die of CVD and twice as many experience heart attacks or strokes every year. About 80 per cent of cardiovascular events occur in individuals without a prior history of such illness, meaning effective preventative strategies including medications in people without CVD is essential, if the majority of heart attacks, strokes and related deaths in the world are to be prevented, the authors of the study state.
U.S. reports world’s first deer with COVID-19
India’s coronavirus vaccine supply jumps, raising hopes of export
India’s daily vaccinations surpassed 10 million doses on Friday, with national vaccine production more than doubling since April and set to rise again in the coming weeks. New production lines have been set up, a vaccine developed by Cadila Healthcare won recent approval, and commercial production of Russia’s Sputnik V is starting in India.
The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s biggest vaccine maker, is now producing about 150 million doses a month of its version of the AstraZeneca shot, more than twice its April output of about 65 million, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
Covid destroyed lives, heart-wrenching to see survival of kids at stake: SC
“We are glad that the UoI (Union of India) and the state governments/Union Territories have announced schemes to provide succour to the children in need. We have no doubt that the authorities concerned would leave no stone unturned to attend to the immediate basic needs of the crestfallen children, said a bench of justices L Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose.
The top court, which was hearing a suo motu matter on ‘Contagion of COVID-19 on children protection homes’, noted in its order that over one lakh children have lost either or both parents during the pandemic.