The cruel cyclone, Nargis, has created havoc in Myanmar, by killing more than 20,000 people, leaving millions of people homeless and submerging thousands of acres of crops, and finally, thrown the country in distress. In fact, this loss was supposed to be faced and suffered by India, if the Nargis crossed the Indian coast. Natural calamities of this kind are not new. India has suffered many a time and the government has shouldered the responsibility to stand by the people during the time of distress.

The wind, water, fire and earthquakes are most powerful natural phenomenon beyond the control of human elements. There is no way to regulate or avoid the natural events. Present technologies, effective planning, timely precautions may help in reducing the after-effects and severity of the events, but, they cannot be totally averted. They may help in reducing the loss of property and save some of the human lives. Loss is inevitable. As the natural calamities are unpredictable in its entirety and unavoidable, the losses are frequent, it will be very difficult to face such losses and they may become very serious hindrances to the economic development of any country.

The natural calamities affect the people and nation by damaging the properties like houses, commercial places, dams and projects. They also impair the infrastructure facilities like the power, power plants, roads, transportation facilities, communication systems, and other basic inputs. The loss caused to the infrastructure is a burden to the government and to the tax payers. Along with taxes, the prices of essential commodities also rise after every calamity making the living of poor and middle class people more challenging and difficult. The victim of the natural calamities is the common man; he cannot protect and compensate himself from the losses. The government may help to certain level, to certain class of people. It may not be in a position to compensate the losses suffered by all the people all the time with its limited resources. The best solution for protecting against the natural calamities is insuring the risk.

The concept of insurance against the natural calamities is not known to common man. Some of them may not be having opportunity to purchase the insurance products as they are financially weak. Most of the victims of the cyclones or earthquakes are the common men having no insurance. It may not be possible for the government to save them from disasters always. At this juncture, insuring the risk is the only acceptable solution. It will be handy to the people and relieves the government from their financial burdens. In many cases, poor people may not be in a position to pay the premium. Hence, there is a need to formulate a common pool of funds to help the victims. The funds may be pooled with the help of contribution from the government, insurance companies and other organizations. As a part of social obligations of insurance companies, they may be advised to contribute certain percentage of their net profits to the fund and such contributions may be exempted from the tax liabilities. The fund will help to insure the uninsured individuals and the property as per predefined amounts. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has to take initiatives in forming the fund under its supervision and issue Regulations to administer the funds.

This issue contains various papers in addition to the regular features such as the Global Executive Summaries, Law Roundup, Law and Regulations, Profiles, Decided Cases, Lexicon and Bookshelf. Madabhushi Sridhar, in the paper, "Uberrimae fidae vs. Self-Destruction Mens Rea: Contextualization of `Moral Hazard Concept' in Life Insurance Contracts", emphasizes the principle of good faith as applied in the life insurance contracts. The author, with the help of decided cases, throws light upon the impact of moral hazards and suicides in the settlement of claims. A V Narsimha Rao, in the paper, "Disclosures and Concealments: Legitimate Reflections on Insurance Contracts", explains the importance of disclosures in the insurance contracts with special reference to life insurance, motor vehicle, health insurance and marine insurance contracts. The author also brings an outlay of results of concealments, misrepresentations and fraud played in formation and during the continuance of insurance contracts. Sharon Tennyson, in the paper, "State Regulation and Consumer Protection in the Insurance Industry", elucidates the issues relating to the insurance policyholders and initiatives taken by the government in protecting the interests of the insurance consumers. Jeffrey E Thomas, in the paper, "The Role of Ambiguity in Insurance Policy Interpretation", discusses about the doctrine of contra proferentum.

- A V Narsimha Rao
Consulting Editor