KATHMANDU: Journalist Jagdishor Panday was awarded the Press Council Youth Journalism Award this year presented by the Press Council of Nepal, the supreme body for monitoring the media of Nepal. The award was announced by the Council with the press statement on September 21 on the occasion of its 54th anniversary.
The award was handed over by Council Chair Balkrishna Basnet to Panday on Friday. The award was supposed to be handed over by President Ram Chandra Poudel to Panday three weeks before with other different award catogories winners. But Panday was out of the country for a United Nations Fellowship in New York, USA, from where he also did reporting of the 78th General Assembly. On the behalf of Presisent Poudel, Chair Basnet handed the award and Rs. 10,000 to Panday.
Panday is currently deputy chief sub-editor of the Kantipur Daily newspaper and ekantipur.com. as a foreign affairs and defense correspondent, he has been working for more than 12 years and following the foreign affairs, geo-political and security issues of Nepal closely. Panday worked for The Himalayan Times during 2018-019 as a principal correspondent. Panday also contributes The Kathmandu Post, the sister publication of The Kantipur Daily.
Panday has been closely following and leading people on crucial agendas like the Indo-Pacific Strategy brought by the US government, Chinese-backed Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI), and India's neighborhood first policy past few years. He also reports on UN agencies, climate change, and other geo-political issues.
Moreover, the United Nations awarded Panday the Raham Al-Farra (RAF) Memorial Journalism Fellowship two times. In 2021 he got a fellowship virtually and in 2023 he was awarded the same fellowship in person in New York. He covered the 76th and 78th General Assemblies respectively. In 2021 he was selected as one of the 19 fellows from the world whereas in 2023 Panday became one of the 12 fellows selected for the RAF program.
Panday contributed as a mentor and jury for the Asian American Journalists Association AAJA-Asia's N3ConU Mentorship Program between April 15 and May 15, 2023. Under the AAJA program, he mentors a few new students from this region.
Moreover, Panday also did a field report from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) from January 16-22, 2023, where he wrote a story on Nepali and other UN peacekeepers role and contribution in sensitive 'Blue-Line' areas between Lebanon and Israel.
Panday contributed to a research report called 'Nepal Efforts to Address Covid-19 Crisis through International Engagement' for the Institute of Foreign Affairs, the government think-tank. He is also a part-time lecturer of Mass Communication and Journalism including media literacy. He also teaches security agencies about media literacy.
Likewise, Panday was the editor, author, and jury of a book named "Sankatka Yuwa Sarathiharu-2021", a book based on 12 profiles of Nepali youths who have contributed to Nepali society during the Covid-19 pandemic. The book was published by the Youth Council of Nepal under the Ministry of Youth and Sports and AAYON, the popular youth organization in Nepal. He also authored a book on cricket 'Bishwa T20 Cricket Ka Sarathiharu' in 2014.
Moreover, Panday also participated in the 7th Advanced Course on National Security, from 06 to 25 March 2022, jointly organized by the Defense Ministry of Nepal and the Nepali Army. This is the highest level and only one of the national security courses in Nepal.
