BEEMA BEEKSHAN A JOURNAL OF THE INDIAN INSURANCE INSTITUTE

JUNE 2019 # VOLUME 50 # ISSUE 10

(FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY)

EMOTIONAL MERGING
Editor:
Of late, Emory University, USA, along with the Vana Foundation and the Dalai
Amar Kumar Goswami Lama Foundation, facilitated the global launch of a curriculum for Social,
Emotional and Ethical Learning (SEE Learning), at Gurugram, which was
attended by educators from 37 countries.
Associate Editors: SEE Learning is based on three dimensions: Awareness, Compassion and
Debarati Chakraborty Engagement. However, the framework is based on compassion, a way to
Gargi Singha Roy relate to oneself and humanity as a whole, through kindness, empathy and
concern for happiness as well as suffering.

Photography: To be social, ethical and

Sudipto Sarkar
Sukumar Mondal
THIS ISSUE CONTAINS:

EMOTIONAL MERGING

Life Insurance Business as
on 30TH. April, 2019

Foundation Day
Celebration, Health Check-
up programme & Seminar

Shaking the soul

Insurance News

LIC’s market share during
2018-19

The Last Page
The views expressed in this magazine are not
necessarily those of the Indian Insurance
Institute, Kolkata or its Editorial Board.
Please send your suggestions and comments
to our E-Mail ID: calcuttainst@gmail.com
sensitive to emotions
are the core qualities of
a life insurance
salesperson. While the
former two may be
fostered through
materialistic virtues,
compassion emanates
from soul, and is the
mother of empathy.
Compassion is all about
taking care of others. Practicing emotional awareness, to reach the others
soul and the feeling of oneness, is a sublime sense of inter-connectivity. It is
much different from sympathy. Empathy or compassion is in the domain of
emotional merging.
The essence of selling life insurance is to relate with customers. Concern for
others, thinking positive to his/ her needs, awareness and being alive to their
emotions are not only to be practiced, but to be internalised. Understanding
others is in the domain of spirituality and inner engineering. Every person
has a different set of needs, different emotional quotient and unique
perception of the outer world.
Almost a century ago, Abraham Maslow said that humans have five different
needs: physiological needs, need for safety, love or belongingness, need for
self esteem and self actualisation needs. The earlier three needs can be
visualised through bare eyes. But the later two needs self realisation and a
differentiated visionary approach. The end point of compassion is soul
connect, which involves deep understanding.
 LIFE INSURANCE
BUSINESS
as on 30th. APRIL, 2019:

FIRST YEAR PREMIUM (in crores):

Individual: Individual: Individual: Gross premium
Single Premium Non- Single premium Single + Non-single including P&GS
Premium
Absolute Growth Market Absolute Growth Market Absolute Growth Market Absolute Growth Market
volume % share% volume % share% volume % share% volume % share%
LIC 1106.59 19.40 71.64 1359.21 18.52 44.14 2465.80 18.91 53.33 5267.94 20.96 52.78
TOTAL 1544.74 20.58 3079.23 18.41 4623.97 19.12 9981.88 37.11

No. 1 private life insurance co.: HDFC Standard Life 1422.29 85.98 14.25

NUMBER OF POLICIES:
Individual: Individual: Total No. of Policies
Single Premium Policies Non- Single premium Policies (Single+ Non single)
Absolute Growth Market Absolute Growth Market share% Absolute Growth Market
volume % share% volume % volume % share%
LIC 46302 -0.75 67.23 886693 17.02 73.12 932995 15.99 72.80

TOTAL 68874 14.72 1212636 15.34 1281510 15.30

No. 1 private life insurance co.: SBI Life 74290 41.42 5.80

Source: IRDAI
Foundation Day ceremony,
Health Check-
Check-up Camp &
Seminar on “Stroke Management in Emergency
and Role of Health Insurance”
The 90th Foundation Day (Established in 1930) of Indian
Insurance Institute was celebrated on 8th May, 2019 at
the Institute premises through various events.

The celebration was inaugurated with lighting of

ceremonial lamp by Sri P. Bandyopadhyay, President, Sri
A.K. Mahato, ex-President, Sri S.Das, senior most staff of
the Institute and Smt. H.Sekar, member of the Institute.
Sri P.Bandyopadhyay in his speech said I.I.I.- Kolkata is
the symbol of Bengal’s leadership in every activity in pre-
independent era. The first University of India, the first
Medical College of India, the first Football Federation of
India and many more firsts were in Bengal. Hence it is
no surprise that the first Insurance Institute was also established in Kolkata. He cherished to be present
at the Centenary Celebration of the Institute which is barely 10 years away. The ex-President thanked
the Council for celebrating the event in such a nice way. He
underlined the importance of taking regular activities
commensurate with its rich past. The General Secretary Sri S.
Sarkar welcomed all members present and requested everyone
to participate in other two events scheduled viz., Health Check-
up Camp and a Local Seminar titled “Stroke Management in
Emergency and Role of Health Insurance”. He also announced
that a formal Farewell would be given to Sri Satyen Das who
retired from the service of the Institute on 30th April last.

The Health Check-up Camp was organised in association

with AMRI Hospital- Dhakuria, Kolkata. Tests arranged were:
BP measurement, Blood Sugar [random], Oxygen Saturation,
ECG and Eye Examination. Based on these tests, Doctor’s
consultation/ advice was also available. More than 70 persons
availed of the Free Health check-up camp, majority being
members of the Institute. Our office staff assisted by a few
lady members managed the entire event nicely within less
than three hours.
 It was immediately followed by the formal Farewell
function of Sri Satyen Das, fondly called ‘Das-da’, Office
Superintendent of the Institute who retired from service of
the Institute on 30th April, 2019 on completion of 65 years
of age. Our VP Sri DK Ghosh, who had worked closely with
Sri Das in connection with conducting Professional
Examinations of I.I.I.- Mumbai as Centre-in-charge said: at
that time, President, Secretary or Joint Secretaries were not
that much popular as Mr. Das. Another VP Sri AK Goswami
recalled the sincerity and care to minute details that Sri Das
used to have with respect to his service to the Institute.
Council Member Sri M.Nahata appreciated Das-da’s
punctuality and concern to make prestigious programmes
like Annual Convocation successful in all respect. President
Sri P.Bandyopadhyay said- the gathering of so many people itself testify the popularity enjoyed by Mr.
Satyen Das. He wished Sri Das a happy, healthy and peaceful life ahead. Apart from retirement benefit
sums, Sri Das was presented with a bouquet, a sweet packet, a gift from Institute’s members and a framed
‘retirement message’ beautifully written by the Working President Sri S.K.Ghosh.

The last programme of the Foundation Day Celebration was a

Local Seminar titled “Stroke Management in Emergency and
Role of Health Insurance”. Sole speaker of the Programme
was Mr. Kaushik Dutta, MD., DM renowned Neurologist
attached with AMRI Hospital- Dhakuria and also a very famous
specialist practitioner in the field of neurology. He started
with the very basics of a ‘Brain Stroke’ – its early symptoms,
detection, main reasons, do’s & don’ts to a little deep like
procedures and drugs administered to revive and/or treat the
patient, the prognosis of the disease and its prevention etc. His
speech was so lucid and equally supported by an easy to
understand slides that kept hall full of audience on full attention for entire duration of the programme. Dr
Datta very lucidly explained how a block in the supply of blood to brain or a haemorrhage can cause
irreversible damage to the brain. The patient may lose his speech or be invalid for the rest of life. In a
brilliant Power-Point presentation the speaker
explained the anatomy of brain. In the course of the
programme we came to know that Brain Stroke is the
result of ruptured tiny vessels in the brain due to
clotting of blood or fluctuation in BP. It leads to dying
of brain cells due to lack of oxygen and other
nutrients carried through blood. Closure of blood
supply to brain cells even for a few seconds may
severely damage the brain and the effective age of the
brain may increase by several years- e.g., if a youth of
20 years suffers stroke, effectiveness of his/her brain
may be reduced to that of a person of 40 years.
 The most important factor in stroke management is ‘time’. From
the onset of stroke, if the patient can be taken to a hospital/
healthcare centre ‘equipped with’ managing stroke patients,
his/her life can be saved and loss minimised. Stroke
Management facility is nothing but having specially trained
doctors, nurses and even non-core staff like trolley boy who
know value of every minute and what to do to save the life. Even
if such hospitals/ nursing homes are a bit more distant and
costly, attempt should be made to reach there instead of a normal
healthcare facility since time is very crucial. And here comes the
role of Health Insurance or Mediclaim – Dr. Dutta added. It is
seen that people under coverage of Health Insurance readily take the benefit of good and reputed
hospitals competent to treat stroke patients. Hence along with preaching importance of cultivating
healthy habits to minimise risk, attempt should be made to
popularise Health Insurance and importance of taking proper
and sufficient cover. Incidence of brain stroke is more among
young- especially engaged in the field of IT, target oriented
marketing assignments etc due to stress in workplace and
insufficient rest and sleep taken. Unfortunately, there is lack
of interest and realisation about necessity of Mediclaim
policies among this age group also. This needs to be
addressed underlining immense benefit such policies may
offer at the time of crisis.

President Sri P.Bandyopadhyay enquired whether a person

after fully recovering from stroke may be treated as a normal
person by an Insurer. Dr Dutta replied that if a patient gets
right treatment at right time, he /she can live a normal life for
many more years. However, a person with history of stroke is
prone to suffer one in future. As such, it will depend on the
underwriting practice of the Insurer to give him coverage. He
opined that in such cases insurers should not decline the lives if
the other parameters are satisfactory. He gave some useful tips
on diet and healthy
habits as preventive measures. Periodic monitoring of blood
pressure blood sugar etc is essential for living a healthy life.
The seminar ended with a hearty vote of thanks to the learned
speaker.

Report compiled by: Sri Sudipto Sarkar

 Our beloved and senior employee Sri Das
da, as he was popularly known to all,
retired from the services of the Institute
on 30th. April, 2019, after putting in 19
years of valuable service.

Sri Satyendra Nath Das joined the

services of Institute in 2001. Born in
Kolkata on 18th. April, 1954, he had earlier
worked in a media company at
Bhubaneswar from 1976 to 2000.

His contribution to the Institute will be

remembered for many years.

We, wish him a happy post retirement life.

SHAKING THE SOUL.....

After an intense prayer of a farmer, GOD appeared
before him and told that, being satisfied on him, He
would fulfil one of his wishes. Puzzled with the
natural calamities, and consequential poverty, the
farmer asked God to gift him trouble-free and
smooth farming round the year. The God said that
his wish would be fulfilled for one year.

Accordingly, the farmer was favoured with best of

weather, and a comfortable situation conducive to
farming. There was no thunder, no strong wind, sufficient rainfall, and nothing that may
endanger the crop. Everything was comfortable and cozy, and the farmer was very happy.
Whenever, he wanted rain, there was rainfall. He was glad to see his wheat growing as per
his desire. But at the end, he found that there was no wheat inside.

The farmer was surprised and asked God as to what went wrong.

God said, “Since you have avoided all that was bad, the wheat remained impotent. A little
struggle is a must. Storms, thunder and lightning are needed. Adverse situations are
important. They shake up the soul inside the wheat.”
GLIMPSES OF HEALTH CHECK-UP PROGRAMME:
 Insurance News

Insurers breach expense limit, seek tweak in norms:

Industry chief want expense limit to be put at an aggregate level rather
than at the segment level

Mumbai: Many insurance companies have breached their expense limit set by the
regulator in par endowment products, and are now seeking exemptions in meeting the
norms.

Industry CEOs took up the matter at a recent meeting with the regulator, and called for
putting the expense limit at an aggregate level rather than at the segmental level.

As of now, the expense caps are described according to product categories and the
number of years a company has been in operations.

For regular premium policies, up to 100% of the first year’s premium and 20% of
renewable premiums can be spent in expenses for companies that are in operation for
four years. But if the company is in operation for 8-10 years , then the limit on expenses in
first year is capped at 93% of the first year premium and 19% of the renewable premium.

Now industry insider said, if a 10-year-old company starts health business or pension
business, it starts to breach the EOM(expense of management) norms.

“EOM is supposed to be seen at the maturity stage,” said the CEO of a life insurance
company who requested not to be named. “Invariably many people are failing in the
pension EOM.”

Under Section 17D of Insurance Rules 1939, the regulator defines the expense of
management for life insurance companies, to protect the participating policyholders. For
other parts of the business, which are non-participating, shareholders incur expenses.

In the last set of norms, the regulator laid down norms for immediate annuity, deemed
annuity and single premium. Under participating products , policyholders pay for 90% of
the cost while 10% is borne by shareholders. In case of non-participating products, 100%
expense is paid by shareholders.

Term plans, which are pure protection, are non-participating, while savings and money
back plans fall under the participating categories.

Courtesy: The ET: 08.5.2019

IDBI Sees Early Synergies with LIC:

The bank is targeting Rs. 500 crore in revenue this fiscal through cross-
selling opportunities

Mumbai: IDBI Bank is targeting Rs. 500 crore in revenue this fiscal through cross-selling
opportunities and expects to double that in the next financial year, a top executive said, as
the purchase of a majority stake earlier this year by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)
shows sign of success, especially on the retail front.

The bank is using its network to sell insurance policies and in turn planning to offer home
loans to LIC’s customers. In March, IDBI Bank sold 26,116 policies policies worth Rs. 160
crore from across 1,800 branches, raising hopes that other retail products of both could be
cross-sold to their respective customers.

“We have had a big-bang start in bancassurance. This even surprised LIC and is a kind of a
record,” said Jorty Chacko, executive director in charge of retail assets and third-party
distribution at IDBI. “We have identified over 100 such synergies in corporate and retail
segments and will slowly roll them out.”

IDBI Bank is already offering 15 basis point discount to LIC employees on their home
loans and plans to offer a 10 basis point discount on home loans for LIC policyholders, said
Chacko, who heads a special implementation team created by IDBI to look at synergies
with LIC and is also the member of a 12-member task force set up to oversee the execution
of that process. IDBI also plans to offer cash management and payroll products to the
insurance behemoth. LIC collects Rs. 1.35 lakh crore in premium and redeems Rs. 1.24
lakh crore worth policies each year, according to the bank estimates.

These large withdrawals and disbursements will give us float money. Then, there are 12
lakh LIC agents and crores of policy holders we can tap, besides the more than one lakh
employees,” Chacko said. “The synergies are more in retail, which we want to tap to the
fullest, but we also can extend our services to the corporate side, like investments and
broking.” In January, LIC completed the acquisition of a 51% controlling stake in the bank.

Courtesy: The ET: 08.05.2019

Insurers can’t deny cover for mental illness, adventure
sports enthusiasts:
Bengaluru: Insurance regulator IRDAI on Friday came out with new rules that will have
widespread ramifications for health insurers and the general public. Insurers henceforth
cannot decline coverage to those who have used opioids or anti-depressants. Nor can they
exclude those with a history of clinical depression, personality disorders, sociopathy,
psychopathy or neurodegenerative disorders.

They cannot exclude kids suffering from development disorders such as Down’s
syndrome, cerebral palsy, and autism, or those suffering from dyslexia, stammering and
other disorders of speech and language. Batting for the LGBTQ community, IRDA has said
that insurers cannot discriminate on the basis of gender and identity. Insurers cannot
refuse to provide coverage or reject claims if a person is on life support. Insurers can
reject claims only if the patient is certified in a vegetative state, but even then insurers will
be required to provide coverage/ pay expenses till that date.

For young girls and older women who suffer from excessive bleeding, hormonal changes
due to onset of puberty or menopause, insurers can no longer exclude coverage or
payment for treatment costs. Insurers cannot deny coverage to geriatric patients,
suffering from age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) and those suffering from rare or
orphan diseases.

Insurers will have to cover adventure sports such as dirt biking, paragliding, white-water
rafting, go-karting, F1 racing and ethnic sports like jallikattu and kambala. This would be a
rare relief to sports enthusiasts, clubs and adventure trip organisers.

Another decision is that at the point of claims if the person is discovered to be smoker or
suffering from a disease / pr-existing condition, the insurer cannot reject the claim if he/
she has been availing of insurance for eight years in continuity.

IRDAI said insurers cannot exclude coverage or reject claims if the policyholder has “failed
to seek or follow treatment.” Often patients undergoing treatment for a condition stop the
treatment towards the final stages or stop taking drugs midway. Insurers have been
known to penalise patients for failure to follow through on a prescribed regime.

Courtesy: The TOI: 18.05.19

LIC’s Market Share(%) during 2018-19:
MONTH FIRST YEAR PREMIUM INCOME NO. OF POLICIES
(FROM 1ST. Individual Individual Individual Gross Individual Individual Individual
APRIL upto Single Non-Single Single + Premium Single Non-Single Single +
the end of Premium Premium Non-Single including Premium Premium Non-Single
respective Premium P&GS Premium
month)
APRIL
18
72.35 44.10 53.42 59.83 77.70 72.07 72.37
MAY
18
74.55 46.16 55.48 67.40 83.08 73.05 74.27
JUNE
18
75.14 44.73 54.28 67.32 83.14 73.54 74.05
JULY
18
75.24 43.82 53.52 69.50 82.68 73.61 74.07
AUGUST
18
75.36 43.06 53.06 69.72 82.20 74.30 74.70
SEPTEMBER
18
76.21 42.04 52.82 68.20 81.94 73.71 74.31
OCTOBER
18
77.03 41.99 53.33 67.88 81.47 73.55 73.95
NOVEMBER
18
77.77 41.83 53.64 67.41 81.50 73.29 73.70
DECEMBER
18
77.87 40.60 52.84 66.49 81.59 72.88 73.32
JANUARY
19
77.88 40.33 52.74 66.26 82.06 73.07 73.51
FEBRUARY
19
77.37 40.25 52.52 66.26 81.20 73.18 73.60
MARCH
19
77.03 40.32 52.22 66.24 81.26 74.37 74.71

Source: IRDAI
 THE LAST PAGE
one night, while sleeping, a man was restless as there
were a lot of mosquitoes attacking him. His wife was
snoring next to him. When he found too many
mosquitoes sucking his blood, he got up in disgust,
switched on the light, and sat up. One mosquito was
bloated after having a full quarter of his blood. He
caught it and asked, “Why the hell are you sucking only
my blood and not my wife’s?”

Because I like O+ and relish that brand. Your wife has

B-, which does not agree with me.”

“But you must try B- also,” he pleaded.

“Oh no! You know flying becomes difficult if you mix drinks.”

In her quest for the real India --

in the GHATS OF VARANASI

Published by Sri Sudipto Sarkar, General Secretary, Indian Insurance Institute, Kolkata (FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY)