👨 Elon jokes, $DOGE plunges
EVs won't hit 1% adoption rate till '24: Hyundai, $DOGE drops amid Elon's SNL appearance, Insurers puzzle over making pandemics insurable again
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First up,
Market Snapshot 📈
Sensex: 49,502.41 (+0.60%) ↑
Nifty 50: 14,942.35 (+0.80%) ↑
Dow Jones: 34,777.76 (+0.66%) ↑
Nasdaq 100: 13,719.63 (+0.78%) ↑
Bitcoin: $58,188.24
Top Stories 📰
1. $DOGE crashes during Elon Musk's SNL appearance 📉
Once upon a time, it was all going great for Dogecoin.
Weeell…
That was until Elon Musk appeared on Saturday Night Live.
During the show's parody news segment called 'Weekend Update,' Musk explained to Michael Che and Colin Jost what a Dogecoin was and jokingly calling the meme-inspired cryptocurrency a "hustle."
Shortly after the remark, the fifth most valuable cryptocurrency reported a 35% drop, going from 73 cents before the show to 46.01 cents...all within 24 hours. The flood of selling activity affected the popular trading platform Robinhood, which said it was having some issues with crypto trading due to high volume and volatility.
The Dogefather also delivered a 6-minute monologue where he talked about his vision for the future of renewable energy, and reaffirmed his life-long ambition of making humanity "a multi-planetary, spacefaring civilization."
Why it matters? While all this was happening, Elon Musk tweeted that his aerospace company SpaceX will now accept Dogecoin as payment, and is planning to send the crypto-funded satellite named DOGE-1 to the moon in 2022.
Dogecoin to the literal moon 🚀 🚀🚀
2. Hyundai predicts EVs may not form 1% of cars in India by 2024 🚗
We come bearing some sad news for all Electric vehicles (EVs) enthusiasts.
According to Hyundai Motors India President S S Kim, the adoption of electric vehicles in the Indian car market will be sluggish and may not reach 1% of overall car sales in the next three years.
Some of the reasons for the delay include the high cost of lithium-ion batteries and limitations on affordability and single-charge running range. Kim’s comments come despite the Centre's efforts in pushing for the adoption of green technology by offering special benefits and tax breaks to electric car manufacturers.
As of 2020, India's passenger vehicles sales (cars and SUVs) stands at 2.5 million units, and 1% of this would be 25,000 (actual EVs sold was around 3,500 units). Hyundai estimates that even if the market expands to 4 million units by 2024, the sales of EVs would be less than 40,000.
Why it matters? The Indian government has shortlisted 11 cities across the country for introducing EVs into the public transportation system and is also planning to set up incubation centres for startups working in the EVs space. The Delhi government in February started setting up 100 charging points to promote EV adoption in the state.
3. How to make pandemics insurable again? 💉
Last year, when lockdown brought much of the global economies to a halt, insurers faced over $100 billion in losses. So, naturally, they did everything in their power to mitigate their losses, which was basically striking all pandemic-related cover from its new business policies.
Now, as the countries return to a new normal, insurance underwriters are puzzling over one question: How do you put pandemic risk back in policies without making them prohibitively expensive?
One US firm has managed to do just that.
SpottedRisk, a leading provider of entertainment insurance, has created a pricing mechanism for the film and television industry to cover the risk of production stopping amid the pandemic. The company built its model using last year's COVID-19 shutdown data along with the years of data obtained on the political and economic environment of film locations in 150 countries.
While the entertainment industry's risks are relatively minimal, insurers have said that a comprehensive cover for industries with high potential losses such as airlines can be achieved if governments granted similar support they offered during terror attacks and natural disasters.
Why it matters? The US, the UK, and the European Union are now looking for possible arrangements wherein cover from commercial insurers would be supported by government reinsurance schemes as they could be cheaper than providing business bailouts.
Top Reads 📑
Asia's iron ore futures hit record 10% in minutes as prices jumped amid growing Chinese demand and a wider surge in commodity prices as global economies regain health.
Good news for Android users! Clubhouse has made the social audio platform now available on Android...but only in the US.
Centre defends differential pricing of COVID-19 jabs, says it will create incentivized demand for private manufactures and invite offshore players to ensure increased vaccine availability.
Petrol, diesel prices hit Rs. 100-a-litre mark across India after states increased rates for the fifth time in a week.
India's largest cryptocurrency exchange WazirX responds to users after receiving complaints about payment difficulties, calling it a "network issue at our banking partner's end."
Tweet Of The Day 🌟
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, a region that once experienced the worst nuclear disaster in human history, is now home to a host of rare and endangered species.
Well, that's all from us. Until next time 👋
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