Opinion
High healthcare inflation and out-of-pocket expense ratio drive health insurance market growth
India is an underpenetrated market when it comes to health insurance and lags behind the global average. The health insurance market, which constitutes 35-37 per cent of the non-life insurance market, is anticipated to exhibit strong growth until FY29. India’s high healthcare inflation and out-of-pocket expenses (OOPE) as a percentage of current health expenditure (CHE) are structural drivers for this growth. CHE is the sum of public and private health expenditure, excluding capital investment in healthcare infrastructure
Global outlook on transmission and distribution networks
Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDE) have been driving the growth in electricity grid length with rapid expansion from 2001, on increasing electrification. China leads the incremental transmission network put up in the last decade while India leads on the distribution side. India leads in Technical grid losses in T&D when compared with other countries. High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission lines, thus, emerge as the most preferred transmission lines considering their lower losses and their suitability for long-distance power transfer
N. Raghuraman's column: There is no point in living life with bitterness
Arul, a student of class 11, is in trouble because, like his grandfather and teacher father, he also wanted to spend his whole life in his village in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, but now he was leaving the village and courtyard. Due to a joint family dispute, in the year 1996, Arul's entire family was evicted from that big house and came to Chennai. He had then decided that he would never return to the hometown, as much as possible, erasing the memories of home and town from his mind. Now the story comes in the year 2018. Arul is now Arunmozhi Varman (played by Arvind Swami, the hero of the film Roz
N. Raghuraman's column: Vacation trips are meant for fun, not pain or stress.
Everyone has some travel secrets. I'm sure, you will have too. As I complete 40 years this Saturday in my profession, which requires me to travel for about 15 days each month, I have gathered some secrets that make my travel easier than many others. So I consider myself a little more qualified than those who are able to travel only on a special occasion. With winter approaching, many of you would be planning to go out every weekend to enjoy this ideal weather. For the next four months, here are my top five travel hacks you can use: 1. I have at least three duplicate toiletries kits that contai
Pavan K. Verma's column: There should be uniformity in the functioning of the Election Commission
Whatever the critics may say, I have always tried to maintain that the Election Commission of India is not discriminatory in enforcing its constitutional mandate of conducting free and fair elections. But recently I was very disappointed when I found that the allegations being levelled against the Election Commission seem to be true. I tried to contact Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar last week to inform him that the week-long celebrations of Chhath Puja will have a serious impact on the four by-elections in Bihar on November 13. As anyone familiar with Bihar knows, it is the longest ru
N. Raghuraman's column: Can we make one part of the body stronger by exercising?
When it started its first phase of services in 2015, the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) had said that by 2026, 12 lakh people would be travelling on their trains every day. Two years before that timeframe, CMRL's daily footfall today is not even a third of that number. Why don't most people in Chennai take metro services? This is an interesting case-study that every city planner should pay attention to, in order to understand the needs of consumers. CMRL is busy building the metro, but it never asks people what their problems are. Many urban planners feel that if the metro is successful in
Arghya Sengupta and Jay Ojha's column: Some reforms needed in the office of the highest judiciary
On November 11, CJI DY Chandrachud will retire, ending the longest tenure of any person in the last decade. Justice Sanjiv Khanna is preparing to take oath of office as the 51st Chief Justice. As such, it is a good time to reflect on the past, present and future of this high office. After Justice Chandrachud's long tenure at the helm, India will see many short tenures. Of the next six Chief Justices, only one — Justice Surya Kant — will serve for more than a year. Justices Khanna, Gavai, Vikram Nath and Narasimha will all have tenures ranging between six and eight months. Justice Nagarath
Rajdeep Sardesai's column: Election results from all over the world are surprising analysts
The year 2024 has been unique for electoral democracies around the world. This year, elections were held in more than 60 countries and the results of most were shocking. In India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was all set to get more than 400 seats, the BJP lost a parliamentary majority and formed a coalition government. Voters in the UK ousted the young and quick-witted Rishi Sunak, giving the Labour Party an overwhelming majority. And now America has seen Donald Trump make history, while most analysts had predicted that this election would be a tight contest. Despite this, Trump has won
N. Raghuraman's column: Along with modernity, it is important to save the five elements
One of my uncles, who is also an asthma patient, was leaving for Delhi on Wednesday morning for two days on some personal work. Before dropping them to Mumbai airport at around 8 am, I googled what Delhi's position in the Air Quality Index (AQI) was, and it was dangerously 504. So we cancelled the trip. The same AQI page also showed an analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) which said Delhi tops the list of top 10 most polluted cities in October, followed by Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, Hapur, Noida, Meerut, Charkhi Dadri, Greater Noida, Gurugram, Bahadurgarh and all c
Maureen Dowd's column: Trump's victory revealed that the world still belongs to men today!
Now I have forgotten to count. Every time I thought Donald Trump would waver, the same incident made him stronger. For example, I assumed that after the Access Hollywood tapes, he would have to drop out of the presidential race in 2016. I thought he would be deported after provoking rebels at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. I thought his reprehensible move to include religious fundamentalists who had stripped women's reproductive rights in the Supreme Court would thwart his attempt to return. I thought the last few weeks of his uncontrollable campaigning would certainly be enough to defeat him.
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