Internet Rumour - UNESCO Chooses Indian National Anthem as Best In The World

Outline
Message claims that UNESCO has announced that the Indian National Anthem is the best in the world.

Brief Analysis
Totally unsubstantiated. This rumour has no basis in fact.  

Detailed analysis and references below example. 
Example:
Subject: Our National Anthem is Best in the World

PROUD TO BE AN "INDIAN"


UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)

Announces INDIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM as the BEST National Anthem in the World.

India Best National Anthem
Please forward this to all the Indians.

PROUD TO BE INDIAN!...



Detailed Analysis
According to this story, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), has announced that the Indian National Anthem is the best in the world.

©iStockphoto.com/Björn Kindler
Indian Flag
Claims that UNESCO has chosen the Indian National Anthem as the best in the world appear to be unfounded
The story is currently circulating via email, and has also been posted to many blogs and forums, especially those that target an Indian audience.

However, I could not find any evidence whatsoever that confirms the rather fanciful claim in the message. There is nothing about such an announcement on the UNESCO website, nor are there any credible news reports that back up the claim in any way. If such an announcement was true, it seems very likely that it would have been widely reported - and one would suspect, hotly debated - in media outlets both in India and around the world. 

Thus, it seems apparent that the story is no more than another pointless Internet rumour with no basis in fact.

As its name suggests, UNESCO conducts very important work on an international scale in the spheres of education, science and culture. Therefore, it seems extremely unlikely that UNESCO would waste its valuable time and resources on the rather frivolous, and ultimately meaningless, exercise of nominating the world's best national anthem.

And, in any case, even if an organization did choose a particular country's anthem as the best in the world, it is doubtful that the choice would be given much credence by nations other than the supposed "winner". Just how "good" a particular national anthem might be considered is an extremely subjective matter. Quite understandably, patriots in many nations are apt to view their own anthem as "the best" and are unlikely to be swayed from this opinion by even an organization as prestigious as UNESCO.

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