Journos Agrahari, Tamang felicitated

Kathmandu, September 19

Nepal Sports Journalists Forum felicitated senior journalist Sita Ram Agrahari and NSJF member Dil Bahadur Tamang during its 14th annual general meeting here today.

Agrahari, the former chief editor of state-run Gorkhapatra daily and founder convenor of the NSJF, was awarded with NSJF Journalism Award, while Tamang, who is affiliated with Rajdhani daily, received the NSJF Youth Journalism Award.

Nepal Olympic Committee President and Memer of Parliament Jeevan Ram Shrestha, NSJF President Mahesh Acharya and AIPS-Asia Treasurer Niranjan Rajbanshi honoured the duo during the opening session of NSJF’s 14th annual general meeting. Agrahari received felicitation letter along with Rs 15,000, while Tamang got the mini-iPad gifted by AIPS-Asia.

Recalling his days as the sports journalists, Agrahari said it was not easy to work as a sports journalist in the past. “As we did not have a lot of manpower, we had to do reporting in sports beat and handle the desk as well apart from looking after other stories and issues,” said Agrahari. “The situation is different these days and the media houses have started giving priority to sports, which was just a filler in our time,” he added. “I am thankful to the NSJF family for remembering me.” Tamang said he was grateful to the NSJF for selecting him in the first edition of the award. “To be first in any field is an awesome feeling. The award has motivated me to do better in the field of sports journalism in the days to come,” he added.

NOC President Shrestha lauded NSJF’s role in uplifting Nepali sports. “The NSJF has a lot of contribution in Nepali sports and I believe it has a distinct role in promoting sports fraternity,” said Shrestha. He also urged sports journalists to create favourable environment for the overall development of sports through critical writing. “We are very close to organising the 13th South Asian Games and sports journalists need to put pressure on government and concerned authorities to speed up the preparation for the regional meet,” he added.

Meanwhile, the AGM later approved annual report of General Secretary Prakash Timalsina and financial report submitted by Treasurer Prajwal Oli.