Kathmandu, September 8:

The Rs 50,000-cash purse Samana Banking Puraskar has been awarded jointly to Dr Rama Basyal and senior journalist Bharat Bhurtel.

The award was jointly awarded to Dr Basyal for her book ‘Micro Finance: Access to Finance for Nepalese Rural Poor’ and journalist Bhurtel for his book ‘Garibi Birudha ko Aandolan’, according to a press release.

At the recommendation of the annual meeting of the Samana Banking Puraskar Guthi, of 10 books received on banking and finance, these two books were chosen, said the release.

The Guthi was founded in 2062 BS with a fund of Rs 1 million by economist Rewat Bahadur Karki to honour the best book written on banking and finance. The prize is given every two years with the purse of Rs 50,000.

Since 2063 BS the Guthi also started giving scholarship and a cash prize of Rs 10,000 to any student securing the highest marks in Economics.

The award was set up to to encourage research on banking and financial sectors.

Karki is general manager and chief executive officer of Nepal’s sole secondary market — Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse).