National Press Day is celebrated on 16 November 2024.

Important Days

National Press Day (NPD) is annually observed across India on 16th November to commemorate the day on which the Press Council of India (PCI) started its function as the moral watchdog to ensure that the press maintains high standards and is not fettered by any form of influence or threats.


      - The 1st Press Commission held in 1954 concluded that a statutory authority body with people connected with the industry should be created to maintain professional ethics in journalism.

      - Following this, the Press Council of India (PCI) was established on 4th July 1966 under the Press Council Act of 1965 and started its functions on 16th November 1966.

      - PCI is a statutory quasi-judicial autonomous authority re-established in 1979 under an Act of Parliament, the Press Council Act, 1978.

Main Points:-   (i) The theme for National Press Day 2024 is "Changing Nature of the Press".

      (ii) According to Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières - RSF)'s 22nd World Press Freedom Index (WPFI 2024), India ranked 159th position out of 180 countries with a score of 31.28.

(iii) Justice Janardan Raghunath Mudholkar (JR Mudholkar) was appointed as the 1st chairman of PCI. He served as the Judge of the Supreme Court of India from 1960 to 1966.
About Press Council of India(PCI)

Chairman : Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai
Headquarters: New Delhi
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