The journalists are Hasan Jahid Tusher of The Daily Star, Kamrul Hasan of the Prothom Alo, Abu Sufian of BDNEWS, Nurul Karim Bhuiyan of BSS, Alpa Arzu of the New Age, Munni Saha of ATN Bangla, Kishowar Laila of Bangla Vision, Mahbub Matin of Channel-I, Fahmida Mahbub of Ntv, Ahmed Mushfika Naznin of BTV, Tusher Abdullah of Rtv, Sankar Kumar Dey of the daily Janakantha, Shafiul Alam Raza of the daily Jugantor, Rozina Islam of the daily Sangbad, Anwar Aldin of the daily Ittefaq, Shamsus Saleheen of the Amar Desh, and Shamsul Islam of the daily Inqilab.

Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Barrister Moudud Ahmed distributed certificates and crests to the journalists following a discussion on `Role of the media to eradicate poverty'.

The association organised the discussion to mark the World Press Freedom Day at the conference hall of Banbeis Bhaban in the city.

Addressing the discussion as chief guest, the law minister said the mass media today have been playing important role in poverty alleviation in the country through focusing achievement of the people.

Terming freedom of press as the main component of democracy, Moudud said freedom of press is vital to strengthen democracy.

Emphasising right to information, the minister said they are going to enact a law soon in this regard.

He called upon newsmen to publish news objectively and in transparent and accountable manner,

Presided over by Dhaka University Professor Masuda M Rashid Chowdhury, the discussion was also addressed by Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Dr M Asaduzzaman, DU Professor Dr Aminul Islam, Secretary of Bangladesh National Commission for Unesco ANM Bazlur Rahman and Adviser of the organisation M Aziz Khan.

Meanwhile, Department of Mass Communication and Journalism of Dhaka University (DU) also observed World Press Freedom Day yesterday by bringing processions and holding seminars.

They urged the government to enact Right to Information Act soon for the sake of free journalism.