World Press Freedom Day
context :
World Press Freedom Day is celebrated on 3 May every year.
The day aims to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom and pay tribute to journalists who have laid down their lives in the exercise of their profession. The day also focuses to assess its state around the world, defend the media from attacks on their independence.
Theme :
The theme of 2020 World Press Freedom Day is “Journalism Without Fear or Favour.” The theme creates awareness on specific issues about the safety of journalists, their independence from political or commercial influence, and gender equality in all aspects of the media.
As the world fights the COVID-19 pandemic, journalists and media workers are crucial to helping the public make informed decisions, which can make the difference between life and death.
History :
The World Press Freedom Day was started by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1993, on a recommendation from UNESCO. The observation of World Press Freedom Day was marked on the jubilee of the Declaration of Windhoek. It holds a statement of fundamentals of press freedom assembled in 1991 by the African Journalists to encourage an independent African press.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) :
UNESCO was established on 4 November 1946. It is headquartered in Paris, France. It functions under the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNSC). It also aims to promote international collaboration through educational, scientific, and cultural reforms.
Tripura groups protest Bru settlement
Context :
Amid Covid-19 lockdown, two community-specific groups have renewed their opposition to the permanent settlement of Bru refugees from Mizoram in Tripura.
The two groups namely, Nagarik Suraksha Mancha (mostly representing Bengali people displaced from erstwhile East Pakistan post-partition in 1947) and the Mizo Convention have submitted a memorandum protesting against the proposed settlement of the displaced Brus in Tripura.
Background :
- Bru or Reang is a community indigenous to Northeast India, living mostly in Tripura, Mizoram and Assam. In Tripura, they are recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group.
- In Mizoram, they have been targeted by groups that do not consider them indigenous to the state. In 1997, following ethnic clashes, nearly 37,000 Brus fled Mamit, Kolasib and Lunglei districts of Mizoram and were accommodated in relief camps in Tripura.
- Since then, 5,000 have returned to Mizoram in eight phases of repatriation, while 32,000 still live in six relief camps in North Tripura.
- In June 2018, community leaders from the Bru camps signed an agreement with the Centre and the two state governments, providing for repatriation in Mizoram. But most camp residents rejected the terms of the agreement.
- The camp residents say that the agreement doesn’t guarantee their safety in Mizoram.
- The Centre, the governments of Mizoram and Tripura and leaders of Bru organisations signed a quadripartite agreement in January (2020) to let the remaining 35,000 refugees who have stayed back to be resettled in Tripura.
- The rehabilitation package offered included financial assistance of ₹4 lakh and land for constructing a house for each family.
Remdesivir drug for severely ill COVID-19 patients
Context :
The United States Food and Drug Authority (USFDA) has allowed emergency use of the antiviral drug, Remdesivir for treatment of severely ill COVID-19 patients.
Remdesivir for COVID-19 patients :
- A study by Gilead Sciences in the US showed that Remdesivir shortens the recovery time by 31% or about 4 days on average, for hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
- The reports also stated that the clinical trials of Remdedivir were conducted on 1,063 patients. When the patients were given the drug, they were able to leave the hospital in 11 days on average versus 15 days for the comparison group.
- The drug has not yet tested on people with the milder illness. The medicine is currently given through an IV in a hospital.
- Remdesivir would become a new standard of care for severely ill COVID-19 patients.
RBI Cancels Licence of CKP Co-op Bank
Context :
Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the licence of Mumbai-based CKP Co-operative Bank.
Key Points :
- RBI has cancelled the licence of the bank as the financial position of the bank was highly adverse and unsustainable.
- The bank is not in a position to pay its present and future depositors.
- The bank failed to meet the regulatory requirement of maintaining a minimum capital adequacy ratio of 9% and reserves.
- RBI has asked the Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Maharashtra to start the process of winding up operations of CKP Co-operative bank and appoint a liquidator.
- On liquidation, every depositor of the bank is entitled to get up to Rs 5 lakh from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation.
- In September last year, RBI had imposed restrictions on Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank not to do any business for six months after it found major irregularities, which included financial irregularities, complete failure of internal control and systems, and wrongdoing and under-reporting of its lending exposure.
Capital Adequacy Ratio :
- Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) is the ratio of a bank’s capital in relation to its risk weighted assets and current liabilities. It is also known as Capital-to-Risk Weighted Asset Ratio (CRAR).
- It is decided by central banks to prevent commercial banks from taking excess leverage and becoming insolvent in the process.
- The Basel III norms stipulated a capital to risk weighted assets of 8%.
- However, as per RBI norms, Indian scheduled commercial banks are required to maintain a CAR of 9%.
Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation :
- DICGC came into existence in 1978 after the merger of Deposit Insurance Corporation (DIC) and Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd. (CGCI) under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act, 1961.
- It serves as a deposit insurance and credit guarantee for banks in India.
- It is a fully owned subsidiary of and is governed by the Reserve Bank of India.
- DICGC charges 10 paise per ₹100 of deposits held by a bank. The premium paid by the insured banks to the Corporation is paid by the banks and is not to be passed on to depositors.
- DICGC last revised the deposit insurance cover to ₹5 lakh in Feb, 2020, raising it from ₹ 1 lakh since 1993. The protection cover of deposits in Indian banks through insurance is among the lowest in the world.
- The Damodaran Committee on ‘Customer Services in Banks’ (2011) had recommended a five-time increase in the cap to ₹5 lakh due to rising income levels and increasing size of individual bank deposits.
- Banks, including regional rural banks, local area banks, foreign banks with branches in India, and cooperative banks, are mandated to take deposit insurance cover with the DICGC.