Latest news with #Bhalerao
Time of India
20 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Life insurance industry's new business premiums up 13% in May 2025
The life insurance industry recorded nearly 13% year-on-year rise in new business premiums (NBP) in May 2025 to Rs 30,463 crore, up from Rs27,034 crore a year earlier, according to data released by the Life Insurance Council . The month saw a 10.4% fall in the number of life insurance policies sold by the companies as the industry continued to navigate the new surrender value guidelines that kicked in October last year. The growth was primarily driven by the private sector insurer, which reported a 16.6% increase in NBP to Rs12,058 crore. State-run Life Insurance Corporation ( LIC ) posted 10.3% increase to Rs18,405 crore, the data showed. Among listed private players, HDFC Life reported a 33% jump in premiums to Rs3,022 crore, while SBI Life 's total premiums grew over 25% to Rs2,950 crore. ICICI Prudential Life reported a near 7% growth to Rs1,407 crore. 'Typically, the first quarter is a weak season for the life insurance segment as it immediately comes after the fiscal end, where most retail customers rush to buy policies. In May, the YoY growth has come down compared to 15.1% in the same month a year ago mainly because of the impact of revised surrender value guidelines,' said Saurabh Bhalerao Associate Director – BFSI Research, CARE Ratings . In May, the overall industry growth was led by group business, whereas individual business reported a muted number. The growth was led by group single premium, which grew 13% YoY to Rs18,068 crore. The month also saw a fall in volume of policies sold. The fall in the individual non-single segment, which is the regular premium paid by retail customers, was at over 10% with LIC and private life insurers reporting a fall of 14% and 2%, respectively. However, despite the fall in volume in individual non-single premium segments, private insurers reported a premium growth, indicating that they have moved to higher value policies amid changes in surrender value regulations, Bhalerao said. The Life Insurance Council data shows that LIC's individual non-single premium income fell to Rs2,060 crore in May compared to 2,236 crore in the same month a year ago. Meanwhile, the premium income in the same segment for private life insurers stood at 5,025 crore compared to Rs4,681 crore a year ago. Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
Indian Express
02-06-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
Year later, all 42 Zika-infected pregnant women deliver healthy babies
Dr Nameeta Mokashi Bhalerao, a gynaecologist and fertility consultant at Baner, recalled how she would double-check each image of the foetus's brain, heart, spinal cord during the ultrasound examination, knowing what was at stake. 'This was a precious pregnancy for my patient as the 36-year-old woman had a previous miscarriage, three failed IVF cycles and had finally conceived. But to her extreme dismay, she had contracted Zika virus infection,' Dr Bhalerao said. Zika virus infection during pregnancy, as per various studies, can lead to microcephaly, a condition where the baby is born with a smaller than expected head size. There was visible concern when a year ago Pune battled a challenging outbreak of Zika virus infection with nearly half of the 109 cases reported among pregnant women. While health authorities-maintained vigilance and monitored the pregnant women, a year-on data with Pune Municipal Corporation shows that barring one woman who had voluntarily decided to terminate her pregnancy, all the 42 other women have given birth. The 36-year-old woman who gave birth to a healthy boy is among this group and when contacted, her husband who requested anonymity, told The Indian Express that it was an extremely stressful situation. 'It was towards the end of the first trimester when my wife developed a rash and had a mild fever. We remember reading about Zika virus infection in the newspapers and our worst fears turned true when her blood report was positive for the virus. We consulted several doctors including paediatric specialists and neurosurgeons. We were given options on terminating the pregnancy, but it was too hard to digest that this was happening to us. It is indeed a precious pregnancy, and we decided to go ahead with it,' he said. On December 31, 2024, his wife gave birth to a 3.5 kg healthy baby and post-delivery too scans were taken to rule out any deformity. Dr Bhalerao, who handled this case, remembered how excited the couple was and then the woman got a rash and itch that was not settling. 'She had contracted Zika virus infection in the first trimester–a period where organ development occurs in the foetus. The first three months are crucial and naturally the couple was extremely worried. On my part, we sent out messages to gynaecologists' WhatsApp groups seeking more information. While the Zika virus infection was treated, the couple decided to continue the pregnancy and several investigations were carried out including brain MRI of the foetus, doppler studies and others. Eventually a C-section was planned, and the woman gave birth to a healthy baby,' Dr Bhalerao recalled. When contacted, Dr Rajesh Dighe, Assistant Health Officer, Pune Municipal Corporation, said cases of Zika were reported mainly from Erandwane, Kothrud, Ghole Road, Wadarwadi, Pashan, Mundhwa, and Kharadi. Of the total 43 Zika-infected pregnant women, one decided to voluntarily terminate her pregnancy. 'However, all the others have given birth to healthy babies,' Dr Dighe said. Anomaly scans were done after 23-24 weeks of pregnancy, and they were normal. Accredited Social Health Activists and Auxiliary Nursing Midwives have also conducted home-based follow-up visits to ensure newborn care, the official said, adding that surveillance activities were intensified as part of their preparedness levels this monsoon season. Anuradha Mascarenhas is a journalist with The Indian Express and is based in Pune. A senior editor, Anuradha writes on health, research developments in the field of science and environment and takes keen interest in covering women's issues. With a career spanning over 25 years, Anuradha has also led teams and often coordinated the edition. ... Read More
Time of India
17-05-2025
- Time of India
Culpable homicide charge against SUV driver for wrong side driving after lawyer's death
Pune: The Pune Rural police on Friday invoked the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against an SUV driver in a wrong-side driving case that resulted in the death of a lawyer (35), Aniket Bhalerao, in Khanapur around 4pm on May 14. Bhalerao's bike collided head-on with the SUV, being driven by businessman Raj Chorge (24) from Kondhwa Budruk on the wrong side. Bhalerao died on the spot. Chorge sped away after the accident without informing the police. Initially, a case of negligence causing death was registered. Chorge was arrested on Friday and produced before the court, seeking his magisterial custody. Bhalerao's brother, Shantaram (52) from Vardade village in Haveli tehsil, through his lawyer Prakash Chavan and members of the Pune Bar Association, represented by its president Hemant Zanjad, intervened and opposed the police plea on the grounds that it was a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. They pointed out that there was enough evidence to show that the car driver deliberately entered the wrong side before colliding with Bhalerao's bike. Sub-inspector Sanjay Koli from the Haveli police, the investigating officer in the case, withdrew the remand report invoking bailable sections related to causing death due to negligence and rash driving under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Motor Vehicles Act. He later sought permission from judicial magistrate first class L K Sapkal to invoke the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under the provisions of Section 105 of the BNS. He filed a fresh remand report invoking the new charge and prayed to send Chorge to custodial remand for three days. Assistant public prosecutor Dilip Gaikwad argued that the custodial interrogation of Chorge was essential because he knew driving on the wrong side could cause an accident, endangering his life and that of others. He submitted that the intention to cause the victim's death was not essential to invoke the charge of culpable homicide. "This is because only knowledge was essential to prove the ingredients of culpable homicide," he added. Chorge's lawyer, Abhijeet Khandare, termed the police action of invoking the stringent charge of culpable homicide against his client an afterthought because the victim's brother had not disclosed the details of wrong-side driving in the FIR. He submitted that the police had rightly invoked the charge of causing death due to negligence. The charge of culpable homicide was wrongly invoked, he said, adding that his client had surrendered before the police. After hearing both sides, the court granted permission to the police to invoke the charge of culpable homicide and ordered the custodial remand of Chorge till May 19.
The Hindu
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
NCLT gave nod for resolution plans to the tune of over ₹67,000 crore in FY2024-25 under bankruptcy law
As many as 284 resolution plans were approved under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in 2024-25, which would result in settlements to the tune of ₹67,176 crore in FY 2024-2025, which is about 42% highest than the ₹47,206 crore resolved through 275 resolution plans in 2023-2024, as per the data from National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). India enacted the IBC, its first comprehensive bankruptcy law in 2016, to improve the overall corporate insolvency resolution process. The amount recovered through insolvency resolution in FY 2024-2025, is the second highest after ₹1,19,993 crore recovered in FY2018-19 from 81 cases, as per the data. As many as 1,346 companies were admitted for the corporate insolvency resolution process in 2024-25, when compared to 1,318 companies in 2023-2024. 'Higher levels of recoveries generally indicate that the code is generally better compared to other methods for resolution. However, we should also keep in mind that the data can be skewed by a few high value recoveries,' Saurabh Bhalerao, associate director, BFSI Research, Care Edge Ratings said. Further the amount has to be considered against the quantum of admitted claims of over ₹11 lakh crore (as of December 2024). This higher resolution can also be attributed to lower vacancy at the NCLT where new members have been added boosting its capacity as well as streaming of regulatory processes, he added. IBC has gained prominence in the past few years with a recovery rate of around 31%. Meanwhile, ongoing cases have hovered slightly below the 2,000-case mark for the last few years, Mr. Bhalerao said. However, the quantum of time required to resolve a case adequately remains elevated due to ongoing litigation at NCLT and other forums. Several measures are being contemplated to preserve the business value of the underlying asset and reduce the timeline (as faster resolutions typically generate higher recoveries), such as formal out-of-court solutions such as Mediation, an extension of the pre-pack resolution mechanism to larger firms (currently available for MSMEs), and insolvencies of group companies, he pointed out. A measure of the effectiveness of the IBC is the ratio of liquidation to resolution. With several initiatives to improve outcomes, the ratio has improved from 5.06 in FY18 to 1.32 in the nine months of FY25, Mr. Bhalerao added. EOM
