Media Release

Mangaluru, Dec 12: The Students’ Council members of St Aloysius PU College, here, meaningfully celebrated Human Rights Day on December 10 via a virtual platform. The various human rights were demonstrated in an innovative way which was premiered live at https://youtu.be/vevOyxD4P5E.

Every year, Human Rights Day - a United Nations designated day - is observed on December 10. This year's Human Rights Day focuses on the devastating fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic on the underprivileged people, children, and women and the need to 'build back better by ensuring human rights are central to recovery efforts'. The UN encourages nations 'to create equal opportunities for all' and address the issues of inequality, exclusion and discrimination. Human Rights Day is a great opportunity to spread awareness about the importance of human rights in our communities and worldwide solidarity in re-building after the pandemic.

Harsha Raj Gatty, the assistant professor in the department of Journalism at St Agnes College, was the guest speaker for the occasion. Gatty has served as a journalist for almost a decade; as a crime beat reporter for Deccan Herald, as a state correspondent for The Indian Express and later in the digital media. In 2012, he was awarded Fellowship by the Department of Personnel Training (DoPT), Union Ministry of Home Affairs for his research on the Right to Information Act. In 2017, he established a news media agency Subs and Scribes Media Ventures, catering to the news requirement of media portals such as First Post, Outlook media, The Quint and others. Harsha is also a certified trainer for media houses by Google on the identification of fake news and fact-checking.

In his message, Harsha Gatty stated that the Constitution is the protector of human rights. He emphasized the significance of freedom of speech and expression and how this could be used to effectively to voice opinions on matters of national importance. He felt that digital communication has made it possible for the youth to express their opinions easily and therefore to be used responsibly and constructively.

The event helped the students understand the theme and history of Human Rights Day.