Addressing the function, Chairman and Managing Director of the Publications Kailash Sirohiya said teamwork and innovation have brought the media house to the present status. He also thanked and congratulated the employees of the media house, readers, distributors and well-wishers for their dedication and constant support. Stating that 21 years is a long time in history of any institution, he said it is a challenge to maintain and take the prestige of the publications to new heights in the future.

On the occasion, Sirohiya lauded the editorial teams of the entire sister publications for maintaining fairness and balance in the news content which is crucial to increase the public trust and credibility. “Our strength is fairness and we should work responsibly to maintain it in the coming days,” he said. “We have been playing a role of watchdog and our role is more crucial at the present transition.”

Stressing that constitution is necessary to strengthen the democracy and to shape the path for economic prosperity, Sirohiya urged everyone concerned to play a constructive role in the constitution drafting process and timely promulgation of the new constitution.

Sirohiya also committed to continue the construction of community schools every year under the publications’ Corporate Social Responsibility. The publications constructed a two-story building of a community school in Illam this year and will construct one in Dhanusha next year. He however, said that the Publications could not confer the Democracy Icon Award this year as the Constituent Assembly was dissolved without promulgating a new constitution. “The commitment of the political parties to deliver constitution in a year is an excitement and we are hoping to confer the award from next year,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Editor-in-Chief of The Kathmandu Post Akhilesh Upadhyay said the revamp of the Post was a revolutionary step this year. He added the new look of the Post, together with the launch of new supplement Movers and Shakers (M&S), has increased the popularity of the paper among youth demographics. “We have received an excellent feedback from our readers both for the content and new look,” he said.

Editor-in-Chief of Kantipur daily Sudheer Sharma said the publications is a trend-setter in Nepal’s media sector and competing with itself to maintain prestige. “It’s a time for change and we should be more focused on in-depth and investigative news. We’ve got to prioritise the content from outside the Valley by mobilising district reporters more effectively,” he said.

Similarly, Editor-in-Chief of Kantipur Saptahik and Nari Subash Dhakal, and Editor-in-Chief of Nepal magazine Prashant Aryal while mentioning the publications’ journey as inspiring suggested the need to catch up with the changing times to match up with readers’ expectations.

On the occasion, the staff from various departments of the publications were awarded for their outstanding performances over the past one year.

Similarly, Max Media Pvt. Ltd, Thomson Nepal, Enigma Advertisers, Adbox Pvt. Ltd and Media Solutions too got the awards as the best media advertising company.

Roll of honour

KATHMANDU: Roshan Sharma Nepal with the Business Desk and Roshan Sedhai from News Bureau of the Post were awarded with a cash prize for their remarkable performance.

Krishna Gyawali and Parshu Ram Regmi of Kantipur Daily, Bimal Khatiwada and Arjun Shah from District Bureau, Upasana Ghimire and Aswini Koirala of Nari and Saptahik while Man Bahadur Basnet of Nepal weekly too were felicitated on the occasion. In addition, Sanjog Manandhar from Photography, Rabi KC and Saroj Nepal from Marketing, Briden Subba from IT, Suvechha Adhikari and Ganga Bhandri from the Circulation too got the excellence award.