KATHMANDU: Department of Information (DOI) on Sunday awarded scholarship to five Plus Two graduates who are pursuing journalism studies in different colleges. DoI Director General Bir Bahadur Rai handed over a cheque worth Rs 25,000 to each of the selected students. This is the first time DoI ever provided scholarship to journalism students. The awardees include Pratikshya Banstola (women’s category) of Kaski, Nirmala Bishwakarma (Dalit’s category) of Nuwakot, Samikshya Kumar Bista (backward region’s category) of Bajura, Saroj Kumari Chaudhary (Madhesi’s caregory) of Saptari, and Ledan Rai (indigenous nationalities’ category) of Okhaldhunga. According to DoI, students were selected on merit basis from among the applicants.