Himalayan News Service

Lalitpur, March 27:

Vice-chancellor of the Royal Nepal Academy, Prof Basudev Tripathi, today felicitated folk artiste Kumar Basnet at the third Rupak Memorial Kala Samman Puraskar. The programme was organised by Rupak Memorial Foundation (RMF) to mark the 47th birth anniversary of late Rupak Raj Sharma. At the programme, Basnet was awarded with a cash prize of Rs 10,000. Basnet was honoured for his contribution to music for five decades. He entered the field in 1952 and since then has been consistently prolific. Speaking on the occasion, film director Yadav Kharel said, “The foundation established in the memory of late Rupak Raj Sharma, who was an art lover himself, is a tribute to the deceased and the felication is an honour to him.” Keshav Marahatta, general secretary of RMF said, “It is an honour for the foundation also to felicitate such an artist who is still active and enthusiastic, even in his sixties.” RMF president Deep Kumar Upadhyaya said, “Late Sharma was a versatile personality who contributed to many fields, such as education and mainly sports in the short span of life.” Upadhyaya shed light on the activities of the foundation in social activities, which also includes running the Rupak Memorial Internation School, and organising educational and sports programmes annually.