National Press Day is celebrated across the country on 16 November. The day is symbolic of a free and responsible press in India.
It is the day on which the Press Council of India started functioning as a moral watchdog.
It ensures whether the press maintains the high standards and also that it was not fettered by the influence or threats of any extraneous factors.
The Press Council of India was first constituted on 4 July 1966 as an autonomous, statutory, quasi-judicial body established under press council Act 1978.
It started functioning from 16 November 1966 with Justice J R Mudholkar, then a Judge of the Supreme Court, as Chairman.