Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul><li>In the last 10 years, the insurance industry has adapted itself to the fast-paced internet world and has become hassle-free. </li><li><keyword id="3463335" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="pushan-mahapatra">Pushan Mahapatra</keyword>, MD and CEO, <keyword id="6400643" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="SBI-General-Insurance">SBI General Insurance</keyword> walks us through the evolution of <keyword id="6512638" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="insurance-sector">insurance sector</keyword> and shares what the future of <keyword id="3779111" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-insurance">digital insurance</keyword> in India will look like. </li></ul>The insurance sector has endured an evolution over the past years, which has largely impacted the direction of the industry and shifted its traditional expectations. Due to a range of dynamic external influences from technology to socioeconomic factors to government policies, these macro trends are poised to continue, changing the insurance industry along with it. Since its inception, insurance industry has grown stronger as the sector adopted itself to increased awareness, innovative products, and more distribution channels. Though there has been a growth in premiums at the industry level, the insurance penetration level in India is still very low as compared to other countries in the world, thereby providing ample opportunity for all insurers in the ecosystem to grow. With over 460 million internet users, India is the second largest online market, ranked only behind China. By 2021, there will be about 635.8 million internet users in India, most of the digital population in India are mobile internet users. This has resulted in people who are adopting more digital mediums to interact and with the backing of the government to push for the digital India movement, the insurance industry is also adopting digital technologies in presence. The use of web-based technologies as an Insurance service delivery medium has added new elements to service dissemination. Escalation in self-service technologies has provided customers with multiple choices for using the services offered by insurers. The online service attributes of ‘convenience’ and ‘ease of use’ are being given priority by insurers for designing web-based services Future of digital insurance New digital platforms support micro duration and atomisation of insurance by item. In a digital era where the customer needs are ever-changing, insurance providers need digital infrastructure to introduce, evaluate, and adopt new products/technologies/business models. Building such infrastructure in-house will be costly and slower. Integrating with third party systems like hospitals to evaluate medical data for underwriting, evaluating the wellness of a policy holder in terms of fitness and his need during the entire customer lifecycle would ensure better products and pricing. Also, use of telematics systems in auto-insurance would change vehicle insurance from class-based pricing to driver behaviour-based pricing. Distribution through E-Tailors, Web aggregators and fintech companies are expected to witness an upward momentum in coming years In addition, Insurers in India are gradually adopting digital medium to provide their services keeping in view the millennials as well as rural penetration. Use of digital medium instead of physical distribution are much more feasible for them to reach out to the end users as well as increase insurance penetration. We are also witnessing improved quality data (IIB, IRDAI) availability for insurers for better underwriting decisions and service efficiency. - By Pushan Mahapatra, MD and CEO, SBI General Insurance Also see: <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="73046703" title="Top stocks to buy in 2020, recommended by experts" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

 <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="73078860" title="Here's why Airtel, ICICI Bank, L&amp;T, and Maruti Suzuki are among IIFL's top picks this new year" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

The future of digital insurance in India

Thousands of people along with their friends came along to celebrate the freedom of homosexual people in Mumbai for the first time after India’s Supreme Court struck down Section 377 — a colonial law that criminalised gay sex in India — on 2 February 2019. Over 15,000 people marched down from Mumbai’s August Kranti Maidan to Opera House, Kennedy Bridge, celebrating their freedom and pushing for wider acceptance. Here are electric photographs from the 11th edition of The Queer Azaadi Mumbai Pride 2019 
	
	



 <div type="Slideshow" msid="67831677" hostid="261" title="The colours of gay pride splash across India’s financial capital—including an iconic monument" firstImageMsid="67831819" slideCount="8"></div>

The colours of gay pride splash across India’s financial capital—including an iconic monument

Indians are way behind the <keyword id="6355055" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="USA">USA</keyword>, when it comes to severance package doled out to the CXOs. Compared to 3-5% Indians getting the severance pay as a safeguard clause in their contracts, it’s almost 60-70% in the USA. The scenario came to light when the exit of <keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> CFO <keyword id="347003" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajiv-Bansal">Rajiv Bansal</keyword> happened. It has been reported that the departing Infosys CFO was gifted the “so-called golden parachutes”. 
 "Most executives in India do not have any severance clauses in their contracts,” <keyword id="1966307" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anandorup-Ghose">Anandorup Ghose</keyword>, partner, talent and rewards, <keyword id="2247343" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aon-Hewitt-Consulting">Aon Hewitt Consulting</keyword> told The <keyword id="6474066" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="economic-times">Economic Times</keyword>. 
 
Except from the star CEOs, majority of who are in a position to dictate terms, most CXOs don’t have the luxury of getting severance packages, which act as an insurance. These are mostly equivalent to CXO’s fixed salary for anywhere between six months and two years. In some cases, according to The Economic Times, these include vested stock options. The global norm is one to three years of fixed salary and includes safeguards for the organisation. 
 “A mid-sized Indian company recently hired a senior executive at a US multinational as its CEO after agreeing to his demand for a severance package of nearly $1 million,” <keyword id="1052400" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arun-Das-Mahapatra">Arun Das Mahapatra</keyword>, partner in charge of <keyword id="808338" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Heidrick-Struggles">Heidrick &amp; Struggles</keyword> in India told the ET. 
 In another ongoing mandate for a real estate firm, <keyword id="272875" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mahapatra">Mahapatra</keyword> told the financial daiy, the candidate is likely to insist on a severance clause because of the risks associated with the job. As perceived risk rise, so does the severance package. Severance for top employees in the technology and ecommerce/startups sectors have started to match global standards, said <keyword id="2091714" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sanchit-Vir-Gogia">Sanchit Vir Gogia</keyword>, CEO of Greyhound Research. 
 
(Image credit: Linkedin)

Indian CEOs are far behind the
US ones in Severance Pay Packages

India has emerged as the world’s fastest growing economy. However, Asia’s third largest economy just ranked 97th among 118 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) released by the <keyword id="108578" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="International-Food-Policy-Research-Institute">International Food Policy Research Institute</keyword> (<keyword id="6557928" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ifpri">IFPRI</keyword>). This puts the country behind even <keyword id="6354759" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</keyword>, <keyword id="41896" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Iran">Iran</keyword>, <keyword id="6355112" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Iraq">Iraq</keyword>, and <keyword id="6354767" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nigeria">Nigeria</keyword> in the hunger map. 
 
India’s policy addressing hunger and malnutrition in all age groups has a feast of questions and a famine of answers. India’s hunger, being worse than any sub-Saharan country, needs crisis management and a long term vision. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Excise-duty-in-cigarette-hiked-Tobacco-farmers-in-india-are-struggling-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/56872791.cms">ALSO READ: Excise duty in cigarette hiked. Tobacco farmers in India are struggling to make ends meet</a> 
 Be it <keyword id="4227644" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="manohar-das">Manohar Das</keyword> of <keyword id="4227647" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tewri">Tewri</keyword> village in <keyword id="6360371" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jharkhand">Jharkhand</keyword>, who works in hundred days of wage-employment or <keyword id="4227646" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="shib-baksha">Shib Baksha</keyword> of <keyword id="4227645" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="amlasol">Amlasol</keyword> village in <keyword id="61773" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="West-Midnapore">West Midnapore</keyword> district of <keyword id="6357783" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="West-Bengal">West Bengal</keyword>, who works as contract labour at nearby village, the thin line that connects them is the ignorance about ‘<keyword id="2209492" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Modi-Sarkar">Modi Sarkar</keyword>’. The only thing they understand by the government is getting staples at Rs 2/kg and free goodies. However, staples alone can’t fulfill nutritional needs, as a result they end up with stunted growth and other diseases. Not everyone is as lucky as them. Their neighbours, unable to procure <keyword id="49514" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="bpl">BPL</keyword> (below poverty level) identity cards and Ration Cards aren’t entitled to these basic facilities and have to starve most of the days. Only feast they can think of is ant eggs roast during the scorching summer months. 
 
 
 
India’s overall GDP growth is expected to end at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Excise-duty-in-cigarette-hiked-Tobacco-farmers-in-india-are-struggling-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/56872791.cms">7.1% this financial year</a>, as compared to 4.6% two years back. While food still counts as the basic requirement of human existence, India is a country that not only produces enough, but ironically, there is never enough for its ever growing population to eat. Funnily, while millions go hungry, for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Excise-duty-in-cigarette-hiked-Tobacco-farmers-in-india-are-struggling-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/56872791.cms">India storage of surplus food</a> has always been a problem. 
 
 
 
India’s hunger-management disaster 
While development in many sectors is acknowledged, what is lesser known is that India has also made considerable progress on many social fronts, such as fertility decline, expansion of schooling and bridging the gender gap in education, especially at the primary and lower secondary levels. However, there is one <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Excise-duty-in-cigarette-hiked-Tobacco-farmers-in-india-are-struggling-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/56872791.cms">area of human development</a>, where India has been a disaster: tackling hunger and malnutrition. 
 
Child malnutrition rates in India are extraordinarily high- among the highest in the world, with nearly one-half of all children under 3 years of age being either underweight or stunted. Indeed, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Excise-duty-in-cigarette-hiked-Tobacco-farmers-in-india-are-struggling-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/56872791.cms">child malnutrition rates </a>are higher in India than in many countries of sub-Saharan <keyword id="12925" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Africa">Africa</keyword>, even though income levels are significantly higher and levels of infant and child mortality are lower in India. 
 
 
 
Pediatric malnutrition Prevalence of child malnutrition in India has remained stubbornly high even after nearly a half-century of respectable agricultural productivity growth and two decades of post-reform economic growth and prosperity in the country. Adding more support to the view that child malnutrition is weakly correlated with income is the finding that among children of mothers with 10 or more years of schooling as well as mothers from the top income quintile, around one-quarter are underweight. Even in a relatively prosperous and dynamic state like <keyword id="6354766" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gujarat">Gujarat</keyword>, child malnutrition rates have been stagnant over the past decade. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-indepay-is-making-rural-india-cashless/articleshow/57232771.cms">ALSO READ: HOW INDEPAY IS MAKING RURAL INDIA CASHLESS</a> 
 The <keyword id="121300" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Family-Health-Survey">National Family Health Survey</keyword> (NFHS) found that a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-indepay-is-making-rural-india-cashless/articleshow/57232771.cms">significant number of adults</a> in India suffer from malnutrition. Almost 58 per cent of pregnant women aged 15-49 were found to be anaemic. The Global Food Security Index also revealed that Indians lack adequate quantities of iron, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-indepay-is-making-rural-india-cashless/articleshow/57232771.cms">Vitamin A and protein in their diets</a>. 
 
 
 
“Half of the children who die before five years of age have malnutrion as a cause in their pathogenesis. If we look at proportion of weight at birth, 23 per cent of children weigh less than 2.5 kg, which is below normal. This low birth weight has its reason in the womb, which is where they are malnourished already before being born. Low birth weight increases over time and so by the time they are three-years-old, half the children are malnourished. Because of poor sanitation we have widespread <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-indepay-is-making-rural-india-cashless/articleshow/57232771.cms">faecal oral contamination</a>. Water and food sources have high degrees of contamination and it results in diarrhoea and other gastro intestinal illnesses, which increases the child mortality rate,” said renowned public health specialist and activist Dr <keyword id="43944" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Binayak-Sen">Binayak Sen</keyword>. 
 
 
 
State of famine 
In 1943, three million people died in the infamous <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841">Bengal famine</a>. There was no shortage of grain in <keyword id="6356978" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bengal">Bengal</keyword> at that time, yet people had nothing to eat. Interpreting the Famine of 1943,<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841"> Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen </a>suggested that the reason for it was the breakdown of the social arrangement in distributing food. To put the matter in a world context, every three seconds somewhere around the world, a child dies of causes related to avoidable malnutrition. "In those three seconds, the world armaments industry spends 120,000 USD in order to keep the system responsible safely in place,” Binayak Sen told <keyword id="824043" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-Insider">Business Insider</keyword>. 
 
 
 
Ignorant policies that do the most harm Skyrocketing prices of daily food items spell more woe for the people, who are already paying "too much" to survive. International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (<keyword id="1367836" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IFAD">IFAD</keyword>) Rural Poverty Report-2011 states, “While international food prices have declined since mid-2008, they are still substantially higher than prior to the price surge, and they are likely to remain at 2010 levels or higher for the next decade.” The report has suggested that about 100 million of world’s rural and urban people have to remain hungry. 
 “It will remain high, the era of cheap food is over," said <keyword id="669006" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Richard-Mahapatra">Richard Mahapatra</keyword>, managing editor of Down to <keyword id="6359982" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="earth">Earth</keyword>. "This is because productivity of agriculture is low and thus impacts production. This is the supply side issue. Also the rainfed areas that contribute a signifcant amount of foodgrain is not getting the policy focus. Even though the new second Green <keyword id="24385" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="revolution">Revolution</keyword> is aimed at that, it seems to be flawed. Now, the demand side. Demand is increasing but we don't have robust distribution mechanism. So, it creates further price rise. Also, there is huge diversion of agricultural lands to other uses. Combined with low productivity, less lands and absence of distribution mechanism, we are set for high price rise.” 
 Due to the PDS (<keyword id="89442" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Public-distribution-system">Public Distribution System</keyword>) and the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841">public wage programmes</a> starvation deaths have definitely come down, he contended. Often we call cheap food grain programmes as populist. They are indeed popular as poor find them useful and their starvation is avoided with this entitlement. 
 
 
 
Adult malnutrition 
“Roughly 33-35 per cent of the entire Indian population have a BMI below 18.5, which is indicative of calorie malnutrition. They aren't getting enough food to eat. More than one-third of India is on a chronic basis not getting proper food to eat. Low BMI is also restricting people’s immunity,” said Binayak Sen. 
 “Without addressing nutritional status, there can be no adequate development. Food Security Act does nothing for betterment of nutritional status of the poeple as such. <keyword id="250148" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Bill">The Bill</keyword> is like 'something is better than nothing'. Five kilos of wheat per person per month make two chapattis per day. With two chapatis the nutritional question isn’t answered. This terrible nutritional deficit is yielding polarization in society,” he added. 
 
Urban malnutrition 
In villages, people stay in close bond with each other, who can be approached for help in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841">times of crisis</a>. Migrating people in cities start living in slums and ghettos, where they have to live with people unknown and untrustworthy. Moreover, people fight here to make ends meet, which actually leads to self-centric attitude. 
 
Red corridor hunger 
“People who are in chronic situation and stable famine are able to withstand only because of their access to natural resources like land, water and forest," opined Binayak Sen. "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841">Access to this resources was unrestricted</a>. Designating the common properties as commodities that can be owned by corporates is restricting poeple’s right to access and in a way right to live. Any form of resistance is labelled as insurgency. First they try civil ways and then take recourse in military measures. People have to confront. Application of eminent domain needs to be questioned. Under 5th schedule, govt has to ensure people’s access to natural resources but there is not a single instances of government intervening.” 
 
“They have mapped it as red corridor but poeple’s deprivation hasn't been mapped yet," said Sen. 
 
"We need to relook at the arm forces and UAPA laws. Whole discourse in election has become restricted to attitudes to development. Development is about accessing resources. Nobody is saying there are vital issues involved. What is going to happen to the poeple whose right has been denied? State will not be thwarted in its course. There needs to be a contestaion in the level of people. They need to raise the issue.” 
 
Business Insider’s Take 
Agriculture contributes around 16 per cent to<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841"> India’s GDP</a>; it is coming down over the years. But still 60 per cent people depend on this. What does this mean? Is it that it is reliable as a source of livelihood or people don't have any other source thus depend on agriculture? In both the cases, shifting people out of agriculture is going to be a tough challenge. Industries or the service sectors have their own limitation and can't absorb such a huge number of people. Strategically, this will be a blunder as we kill out food self-sufficiency.

BI Investigation: India’s food nightmare is killing millions of
children across the country every day

In what is a plot straight out of a movie, an 11-year-old football prodigy living in an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=odisha&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Odisha</a> slum has defied all odds to be selected to train at the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=bayern+munich+academy&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Bayern Munich Academy</a> in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=germany&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Germany</a> for two months. 
 <keyword id="1073457" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chandan-Nayak">Chandan Nayak</keyword>, who lives in the <keyword id="3590986" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sabar-Sahi-slum">Sabar Sahi slum</keyword> in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=bhubaneshwar&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Bhubaneshwar</a> is one of the lucky ones to be selected for an all-expense-paid junior football camp to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=munich&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Munich</a>. 
 
On hearing the news, an ecstatic Chandan who is a self-confessed <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=lionel+messi&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Lionel Messi</a> fan said that he wished to become a player for the Indian team one day and thanked his coach for the support. 
 Talking to ANI, his coach <keyword id="3590984" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="jayadev-mahapatra">Jayadev Mahapatra</keyword> shed light towards the plight of Chandan’s underprivileged family. 
 
"His family is a broken one. His father had deserted him at a very young age. His mother works as a servant at various places and is able to manage the family. She has sacrificed a lot to ensure that her children are brought up in a proper way. Chandan coming from a poor family stands as a sign of bravery because against all odds, he has proved his talent," said Jayadev. 
 
 
 
According to him, Chandan was spotted when he was very young due to his talent and has been training with him for the last four years- with the past year consisting of some rigorous training akin to the ones seen in international clubs. 
 
That’s not all. At 11 years old, Chandan is also the youngest player to be selected for the academy. 
 
“The selection criteria says that the age should be between 14 to 16 and being an 11-year-old kid he was not allowed but we asked them to give him a chance, he surprised everyone,” stated Jayadev. 
 
One can only hope that the sky is the limit for this young genius. 
 
Image credit: ANI

This 11-year-old football prodigy from an Odisha
slum is going to train at Bayern Munich Academy

The <keyword id="6354977" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Supreme-Court">Supreme Court</keyword> today struck down the hugely controversial Section 66 A of the <keyword id="6354751" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Income-Tax">Income Tax</keyword> Act, stating that the Act was not only ‘vague’ in the way it was worded, but it was also ‘unconstitutional’. So what does <keyword id="823722" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="the-section">the Section</keyword> say that created such a huge backlash from the public in general? Since the Section came to power, several petitions were filed at various courts challenging the section on the basis of what constituted ‘grossly offensive or menacing character’? The main contention has been that who is it that will decide what action or ‘post’ or ‘comment’ constituted ‘offensive’ enough to be put behind bars. Many an individual and political party has on several occasions used or rather misused the provisions within the section to jail individuals who aired their opinion on social media websites such as <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword> and <keyword id="6354616" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Twitter">Twitter</keyword>. 
 
Cases in point: 
 · <keyword id="6361218" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Jadavpur-University">Jadavpur University</keyword> <keyword id="6356384" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Professor">professor</keyword>, <keyword id="1009588" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ambikesh-Mahapatra">Ambikesh Mahapatra</keyword>, was arrested in <keyword id="6354925" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kolkata">Kolkata</keyword> for forwarding a cartoon about <keyword id="5269" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Chief-Minister">Chief Minister</keyword> <keyword id="43868" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Mamata-Banerjee">Mamata Banerjee</keyword>. · A class 11 student from UP was jailed for posting on Facebook a comment on UP <keyword id="6356245" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="minister">minister</keyword> <keyword id="6355085" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Azam-Khan">Azam Khan</keyword>. Khan belonging to the ruling <keyword id="6354265" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="samajwadi-party">Samajwadi Party</keyword> ensured he was behind bars in no time. · In UP again, a Varanasi <keyword id="299752" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="tourism-officer">tourism officer</keyword> was arrested for uploading “objectionable” pictures of Mulayam Singh Yadav, <keyword id="6355031" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Akhilesh-Yadav">Akhilesh Yadav</keyword>, and Azam Khan on Facebook. 
 So what exactly does Section 66 A of the <keyword id="6379296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="IT-Act">IT Act</keyword> say? 
 The Information Technology Act, 2000 was amended in 2008. The amended Act which received the assent of the <keyword id="2540" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="President">President</keyword> on February 5, 2009, contains section 66A. 
 
66A-Punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service, etc. 
 
Any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or a communication device,— 
(a) any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character; or 
(b) any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred or ill will, persistently by making use of such computer resource or a communication device, 
(c) any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine. 
 
For the purpose of this section, terms “electronic mail” and “electronic mail message” means a message or information created or transmitted or received on a computer, computer system, computer resource or communication device including attachments in text, images, audio, video and any other electronic record, which may be transmitted with the message.

What is Section 66A of the IT Act?

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An illegal trade in greenhouse gases is threatening <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-gas-prices-energy-oil-2022-7">US climate goals</a>.</li><li>Refrigerant smuggling has persisted since the 1990s, when regulations arose to close the ozone hole.</li></ul>Plenty of legitimate business drives <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-residents-moving-leaving-climate-change-refugees-hurricanes-flood-2023-2">the climate crisis</a> — any industry that runs on fossil fuels or cow burps is helping raise our planet's temperature, endangering lives and economies for decades to come. But there's also a blooming black market in greenhouse gases.The shadowy trade had a moment in the sun on Monday, when the Department of Justice brought charges against a San Diego man, saying that he <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-man-india-arrested-trying-to-smuggle-gold-wig-rectum-2022-4">smuggled</a> hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) into the country.HFCs are commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners, but they're also potent greenhouse gases. In the atmosphere, their warming effect can be hundreds to thousands of times as powerful as that of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-celebrities-ranked-on-private-jet-co2-emissions-2022-7">carbon dioxide</a>. That's why their import is strictly regulated.<div type="image" title="man wearing blue shirt and hat works on panel on the side of a large outdoor air conditioning unit" height="1500" width="2250" msid="108353745" hostid="261"></div>The indictment alleges that Michael Hart bought the chemicals in Mexico, hid them in his truck under a tarp as he drove back to the US, posted them on OfferUp and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-sell-on-facebook-marketplace-beginners-side-hustle-2022-11">Facebook Marketplace</a>, and sold them for profit."This is the first time the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-pardon-kushner-drug-smuggler-jonathan-braun-doj-predatory-lending-2023-11">Department of Justice</a> is prosecuting someone for illegally importing greenhouse gases," US Attorney Tara McGrath said in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/san-diego-man-first-nation-be-charged-smuggling-potent-greenhouse-gases-united-states">statement</a>. "It will not be the last."There's been a thriving black market for climate-altering refrigerant chemicals since the 1990s, at times as lucrative as selling cocaine. As time runs out to avoid catastrophic levels of climate change, Hart's case is just the first in the government's new concerted effort to end this <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/show/how-crime-works">illegal business</a> once and for all.<h2>New chemicals have brought new problems</h2>Unlike in the Hart case, greenhouse gases often come in on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/freight-recession-rocks-global-shipping-container-rates-plunge-75-percent-2023-7">shipping containers</a>, intentionally labeled as something else, experts told Business Insider.<div type="image" title="wall of blue and red shipping containers" height="1500" width="2250" msid="108353746" hostid="261"></div>This smuggling method has persisted over two decades and three generations of refrigerants, starting with chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Those chemicals famously made a hole in the ozone layer, until the 1987 Montreal Protocol, when 24 countries agreed to phase them out. The following generation of refrigerants, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), have now been replaced with HFCs."They're all produced in the same factories. They're all used in the same types of products. They're all distributed to the same channels," David Doniger, a senior federal strategist at the Natural Resources Defense Council who has championed efforts to stop production of each of these chemicals, told Business Insider.Unlike their predecessors, HFCs don't create holes in the ozone layer, but they're still considered super pollutants for their aggressive heat-trapping capacity. That's why countries are now phasing them out, too.<div type="image" title="ozone layer hol in a green global earth view showing Antarctica with a giant blue patch over it" height="1535" width="2048" msid="108353747" hostid="261"></div>Ditching HFCs could help avoid up to 0.5°C of global warming by 2100, according to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-enforcement-actions-control-hydrofluorocarbon-imports">EPA</a>. That may sound small, but remember that world leaders aim to limit warming to 1.5 degrees since 2 degrees would be far more catastrophic to human health and political and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-gen-z-no-point-saving-climate-change-inflation-homeownership-2022-5">economic stability</a>. That half-a-degree matters.Smuggling puts this goal in jeopardy, Avipsa Mahapatra, a climate campaign lead with the Environmental Investigation Agency, told Business Insider.<h2>A new anti-smuggling task force is cracking down</h2><div type="image" title="man in surgical mask and protective eyewear holds a refrigerant gas tank at a lineup of tanks hooked up to pipes" height="1500" width="2250" msid="108353748" hostid="261"></div>In 2021, the EPA, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of Justice, and other government agencies <a target="_blank" href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/us-takes-aim-violators-greenhouse-gas-phasedown-and-reporting-programs">created</a> an interdepartmental task force aimed at stopping the illegal importation of HFCs.In 2022 alone, the task force <a target="_blank" href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-enforcement-actions-control-hydrofluorocarbon-imports">seized</a> enough illegal HFCs to emit 889,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide — the equivalent of powering 173,000 homes with electricity for a year."That just gives us a tip of the iceberg," Mahapatra said.Since both the task force is relatively new, it's difficult to say how much HFCs smugglers are bringing into the US.In addition to Hart's case, this month the DOJ announced charges that a woman attempted to smuggle four 24-pound HFC cylinders. The indictment alleges she was paid $100 for taking them across the border from Mexico.The two recent US-Mexico border cases could be, in part, because Mexico's HFC phase-out timeline is slower than that of the US and there's a greater stockpile of the chemicals there. That creates a new route in addition to shipping container smuggling."It appears that a black market has arisen due to the regulatory scheme in the treaty which provides for differing phase out schedules for the United States and Mexico," a spokesperson from the US Attorney's Office Southern District of California, which is prosecuting both cases, told Business Insider in an email.This landscape "creates a significant price differential due to the restrictions on supply in the United States that do not exist in Mexico," the statement added. "We will continue to prosecute these cases.""Ultimately, illegal trade in HFCs is fueled by the ongoing consumer demand," Mahapatra said. Sometimes appliance servicers might purchase them to fill up a customer's air conditioner refrigerant, for example.The EPA has allowed some importers to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-hfcs-reduction/frequent-questions-phasedown-hydrofluorocarbons">continue</a> bringing in HFCs legally, and there are no requirements for consumers to give up existing appliances just because they run on HFCs.<h2>The next generation of refrigerants</h2><div type="image" title="yellow and grey gas tanks lined up on a warehouse floor" height="1500" width="2250" msid="108353750" hostid="261"></div>The black market "comes with the territory" of regulation, Doniger said. The same thing happened in the 1990s, when the US was phasing out CFCs.A 1996 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/10/us/a-chilling-change-in-the-contraband-being-seized-at-borders.html">New York Times story</a> said CFC smuggling was "more profitable than cocaine." A $42 canister of Freon could sell for as much as $550.By 2002, the US had <a target="_blank" href="https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2002/March/02_enrd_129.htm">convicted</a> 114 people of illegally importing the chemicals. One refrigerant company was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.epa.gov/archive/epapages/newsroom_archive/newsreleases/e9f3b8f71138963e852565020067235a.html">fined</a> over $37 million for importing more than 4,000 tons of CFCs.At the height of the CFC black market, many cars still used those refrigerants for their air conditioners. With fewer pre-1993 vehicles on the road, the demand for these refrigerants has dropped.Eventually, something similar could happen with HFCs. Some of the proposed <a target="_blank" href="https://drawdown.org/solutions/alternative-refrigerants">alternatives</a> for refrigerants include ammonia, propane, isobutane, CO2, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-08/documents/new_climate-friendly_motor_vehicle_air_conditioning_refrigerants.pdf">hydrofluoroolefins</a> (HFOs), many of which are currently <a target="_blank" href="https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/fluorinated-greenhouse-gases/climate-friendly-alternatives-hfcs_en">used</a> in refrigerators and air conditioners in Europe."We think that the real solution is to find systemic changes," Mahapatra said. "We cannot keep using these super pollutants in our refrigerators, in our air conditioners, in our cars."

Greenhouse gas smuggling was as lucrative as cocaine in the '90s. It's back &mdash; and the US government is cracking down with 2 new arrests.

<ul><li>Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma is in hot waters yet again for making derogatory comments about women. And this time, it is about <keyword id="2848422" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="droupadi-murmu" source="Orion">Droupadi Murmu</keyword>, the BJP’s <keyword id="159173" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="presidential-candidate" source="Orion">presidential candidate</keyword>.</li><li>Varma has tweeted: "If Drapaudi is the President, who are the Pandavas? And more importantly, who are the Kauravas?"</li><li>This isn’t the first time that director Varma has gotten into trouble because of his big mouth.</li></ul>Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has been at it yet again. Only this time, his sexist and derogatory comments against Droupadi Murmu, the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential candidate, have landed him in legal trouble. In a tweet on June 22, Varma had said, “If Draupadi is the President, who are the Pandavas? And more importantly, who are the Kauravas?” This is not the first time that the director has stirred trouble by making sexist remarks against women. From Aishwarya Rai to Sunny Leone, his comments have put him in the limelight. Two days after commenting on the Presidential candidate, he said, “This was said just in an earnest irony and not intended in any other way...Draupadi in Mahabharata is my favourite character but since the name is such a rarity I just remembered the associated characters and hence my expression. Not at all intended to hurt sentiments of anyone.” While Varma did try to save face with two subsequent tweets that said candidate Murmu is an ‘incredible icon,’ a Mumbai-based lawyer has filed a criminal defamation complaint against the director for his ‘offensive’ tweets. According to the lawsuit, Varma's tweets intended ‘to insult women's respect on social media and also amount to disrespect towards the scheduled caste (SC) community.’ Varma is no stranger to controversies, which are largely triggered by himself through his tweets. Varma kicked up a storm on Twitter in 2020 for his sexist comments about women buying liquor. Varma’s comments invited the wrath of singer Sona Mahapatra who said that the tweet ‘reeks of sexism’ and ‘misplaced morality.’ In 2019, on international women’s day, director and producer Varma <a href="https://twitter.com/RGVzoomin/status/839290164765732869">tweeted</a>, “Is there no Men’s Day because all days in the year belong to only men and the women were given just only one day. Women’s Day should be called Men’s Day because men celebrate women much more than women celebrate women.” “I don’t know what men should be doing to women that day but I wish one day in a year is celebrated as Men’s Women’s Day,” he added. Two years ago, again on international women’s day in 2017, Varma made a derogatory comment about film actor Sunny Leone. He said, “I wish all the women in the world give men as much happiness as Sunny Leone gives.” A <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/bollywood-news/article/female-activist-files-police-complaint-against-ram-gopal-varma-over-sunny-leone-tweet-18059185">complaint </a>was later filed by a Goa-based activist under the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act. In 2018, a case against Varma was <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/god-sex-and-truth-ram-gopal-varma-booked-for-obscenity-a-day-before-the-film-s-release/story-OIdtKpCwlWjlhX71C1Z0PJ.html">registered </a>under section 67 of the Information Technology Act for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form. Another actor at the receiving end of his sexist and derogatory <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/i-hate-beautiful-women-getting-pregnant-ram-gopal-varma/articleshow/8973301.cms">comments </a>was Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in 2011. When the actor announced her pregnancy, Varma tweeted, “I worship beautiful women and I hate to see them ever become mothers. In case of Aishwarya, since she’s the most beautiful, I hate it even more!”

Ram Gopal Varma’s epic foot-in-the-mouth act gets him in trouble, yet again

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Cabinet on Friday approved an electric vehicle (EV) policy that aims at promoting such automobile manufacturing and the adoption of pollution-free transport. Odisha <keyword id="6248507" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="electric-vehicle-policy" source="Orion">Electric Vehicle Policy</keyword>, 2021 got the go-ahead during the meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. "The objective of the policy is to achieve adoption of 20 per cent electric vehicles of all automobile registrations by 2025 and to promote manufacturing of such vehicles and its components, including battery, in the state. This also aims at facilitating innovation, research &amp; development," Chief Secretary SC Mahapatra said. He stated that it is now necessary to reduce vehicular pollution and carbon emission. "It is high time to reduce the emission by curbing the use of vehicles that consume fossil fuel and accelerating the pace of adoption of electric vehicles," he said. Various incentives will be available for industries for manufacturing electric vehicles and for individuals for purchase, another official said, adding that interest subvention in loans, waiving of road tax and registration fees were also proposed. Incentives under the startup policy of the MSME Department will also be extended for making pollution-free vehicles. As per the policy, a 15 per cent subsidy for buying electric motorcycles, three-wheelers and four-wheelers will be provided with a maximum amount of ₹5,000, ₹12,000 and ₹1,00,000, respectively. The Cabinet also approved the Odisha Sand Policy, 2021 which will ensure sustainable mining of it in the state. The policy has been framed considering the demand-supply situation, identification of sources, mining plan, environment and other statutory clearances, Mohapatra said. "It is in accordance with the environmental regulations and to ensure adequate supply of sand for development and welfare projects," he said. This will help prevent illegal mining of sand and make sure a robust monitoring mechanism with the IT-enabled regulations. The Cabinet also cleared several proposals pertaining to various departments ranging from social security and empowerment of persons with disabilities, water resources, commerce and transport to fisheries, revenue and disaster management. It approved a tender worth Rs199.60 crore for the construction of a wall at the Kanpur irrigation project site in Keonjhar district. The work would be completed in 11 months, he added.

Odisha government will promote electric vehicle manufacturing under its latest policy

New Delhi, Mar 25 () State-owned Syndicate Bank will provide special paid leaves to its physically disabled and pregnant employees as the world grapples with the deadly coronavirus disease which has forced people to stay indoors. "As an employee friendly meaure during the crisis, in @syndicatebank, all physically challenged, visually impaired and pregnant employees have been allowed special leave with pay till further orders. #syndians, Please stay safe and maintain social distance," the bank's MD and CEO Mrutyunjay Mahapatra said in a tweet. Also, he said the bank has decided to stop calls and visits to customers for loan recovery till further orders. "Customers coming voluntarily or repayment or OTS will be serviced in the normal manner," he tweeted. Syndicate Bank in a statement said despite the impact of Covid-19 and minimal staff availability it is undertaking essential services such as cash deposits and withdrawals, clearing of cheques, remittances and government transactions from March 23 untill further orders. It also urged customers to use digital channels of the bank to undertake necesary transactions. KPM MRMR

Syndicate Bank to give special paid leaves to disabled, pregnant employees

Mumbai, May 11 () SBI General Insurance on Monday reported a 23 per cent jump in its net profit to Rs 412 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2020.It had reported a profit after tax of Rs 334 crore in the previous financial year.The company's underwriting profit declined by 23 per cent to Rs 61 crore as against Rs 79 crore reported in FY19.Its gross written premium (GWP) stood at Rs 6,840 crore in FY20 compared to Rs 4,717 crore in the previous fiscal."We have maintained a steady growth in FY20, we have managed a growth of 45 per cent as compared to an industry growth of around 12 per cent for FY20. Growth has been evident across all lines of businesses," its managing director and CEO Pushan Mahapatra said in a release.New tie-ups and improved business from existing tie-ups in motor, higher branch activations/better penetrations across bancassurance network, robust growth in corporate, SME and crop business has also contributed to the growth, he added.The company reported an incurred loss ratio of 71.1 per cent and a combined ratio of 98 per cent in FY20.Its solvency ratio stood at 2.27 as on March 31, 2020. HV BALBAL

You Searched For "Mahapatra" and got 11 results

The future of digital insurance in India

Guest Author

The colours of gay pride splash across India’s financial capital—including an iconic monument

BI India Bureau

Indian CEOs are far behind the US ones in Severance Pay Packages

BI India Bureau

BI Investigation: India’s food nightmare is killing millions of children across the country every day

Suchayan Mandal

This 11-year-old football prodigy from an Odisha slum is going to train at Bayern Munich Academy

Poulomi Das

What is Section 66A of the IT Act?

Debdatta Das

Greenhouse gas smuggling was as lucrative as cocaine in the '90s. It's back and the US government is cracking down with 2 new arrests.

Morgan McFall-Johnsen,Jenny M…

Ram Gopal Varma’s epic foot-in-the-mouth act gets him in trouble, yet again

Karuna Sharma

Odisha government will promote electric vehicle manufacturing under its latest policy

PTI

Syndicate Bank to give special paid leaves to disabled, pregnant employees

PTI

SBI General Insurance FY20 profit rises 23 pc to Rs 412 cr

PTI

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides