Sarthak Kanjilal
Port Blair, Nov 16: Together with the rest of the country, National Press Day was celebrated in Andaman and Nicobar Islands today in a befitting manner.
National Press Day is observed every year on November 16 as it was on this day, the Press Council of India started functioning as a moral watchdog to ensure that the press maintains the high standards expected from this powerful medium.
To commemorate the day, a seminar on the theme chosen by the Press Council of India i.e. ‘transparency in public affairs: the role of press’ was organised by IP Division, in the conference hall of the Andaman Teal House today.
The Secretary (IP), Mr. S.N. Mishra graced the occasion. The Deputy Chief Engineer, ALHW, Mr. T.N. Krishnamoorthy was the chief guest of the seminar while the Associate Professor, JNRM, Dr. Vyas Mani Tripathi presided over the programme.
In his address Mr. T N Kishnamoorthy said that Media is a powerful tool and hence one has to be very careful while reporting news. He said that RTI has made things easy for media persons and information published by media must be exact and accurate.
Giving example of various well known Journalists, Dr. Vyas Mani Tripathi said that Media has evolved over the years. He said earlier Journalists are also used to be literary person but now that trend has gone missing. He cautioned media about the growing economic interest of business houses over media.
During the programme papers on the theme ‘transparency in public affairs: the role of press’ were presented by Mr. Rakesh Chander Lal, News reader, AIR Port Blair, Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Sahil ki Oar, Mrs. Kasturi Sarkar, Reporter, The Daily Telegrams, Miss Mary Pee, Reporter , The Daily Telegrams, Mr. Jay Singh, PIB, Port Blair, Mr. Durg Vijay Singh ‘Deep’, RNU, Port Blair. Mr. Sanjib Kumar Roy, Editor, Andaman Sheekha, Mr. I A Khan, The Light of Andamans, Mr. S.P. Karikal, Editor, Andaman Murasu also spoke on the occasion. Mr. V K Mishra, Director of IP Division urged the media to practice self regulation and encouraged media to go for healthy criticism. The programme was coordinated by Mr. Ashok Kumar Singh. The vote of Thanks was proposed by Mr. A. K. Dutta.
