Amit Shah salutes those 'upholding fair journalism' in India on World Press Freedom Day

While the Indian Army salutes the nation's Coronavirus (COVID-19) warriors, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Sunday, applauded the role of the media on World Press Freedom Day. He saluted to those who worked tirelessly to uphold values of fair journalism and further strengthened the fourth pillar of democracy. Currently, India ranks 142 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index 2020.

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Amit Shah salutes the media on  World Press Freedom Day

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What is World Press Freedom Day?

The United Nations General Assembly declared May 3 to be World Press Freedom Day to honour the freedom of the press and to remind governments to abide by the rights to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. May 3 also marks the anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in Windhoek in 1991. World Press Freedom Day is a day of support for media which are targets for the restraint, or abolition, of press freedom and remembers journalists who lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.

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India and Press Freedom

While India has Freedom of expression enshrined as a fundamental right in the Constitution, the past few years have seen India slip from 133 in 2016 to 142 in 2020, according to Reporters without borders. The Modi government has maintained that media enjoy "absolute freedom" in India, but has warned that they 'will expose those surveys that tend to portray a bad picture about "Freedom of Press" in India'. Opposition leaders have often criticised the Centre's curb over the media on various sensitive issues.

Currently, Norway maintains its top rank on press freedom, while the US ranks at 45 and the UK at 35. Authoritative regimes like China and Russia rank at 177 and 149 respectively, while North Korea ranks the last at 180. Our neighbour - Pakistan ranks at 145 while Afghanistan ranks at 122. 

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