By A Staff Reporter , Kathmandu, Apr. 14 : The Nepal Sports Journalist Forum on Tuesday felicitated senior sports journalist and former Editor of The Rising Nepal Ajay Rana with the NSJF Sports Journalism Award.

The forum also feted Sanjay Thapa of Nagarik Daily with the Suman Bhomjon Memorial Youth Sports Journalism Award.

Minister for Youth and Sports Dawa Lama, President of Nepal Olympic Committee Jeevan Ram Shrestha presented the award to both Rana and Thapa. Rana received cash of Rs. 25,000 while Thapa bagged a laptop in the award.

NSJF has been felicitating the senior and youth sports journalist every year. The Forum already has honoured Senior Sports Journalists P Kharel, Shyam Chitrakar, Puskarlal Shrestha, Gopal Basnet, Sitaram Agrahari and Raju Silwal.

Meanwhile, NSJF also feted the recently elected central committee members of the Federation of Nepalese Journalist.

Addressing the opening session of the assembly Minister Lama said the government will make a scientific and practical decision to curb the infection of Covid-19 and continue the sporting activity in the nation.

Minister Lama said the government is consulting with all the stakeholders before making the decision. “As the sporting activities are slowly gaining pace, COVID-19 cases have again increased.

We have already lost almost a year of being inactive. So it is high time we should come up with the decision which will keep sporting activity running and help on reduction of COVID cases.”

Nepal Olympic Committee President Jeevan Ram Shrestha also stressed taking a timely decision to continue the sporting activity in the time of COVID-19.

Shrestha said the second wave of Covid pandemic is again likely to disrupt the sports. He also asked the government to manage separate isolation and quarantine facility for the players.

“We have already lost one year so there is no other option than to practice living with COVID. There is a huge challenge to keep player fit. So, the government should come up with a concrete plan to give regular training,” said Shrestha.

President of Nepal National and International Players Association Deepak Shrestha also stressed the plans to keep sporting activity functioning despite the COVID-19 threat.

On the occasion, NSJF president Durga Nath Subedi said the pandemic has given a big lesson to sports journalist too.

“To cope with all the challenges, the recently established NSJF Academy will work on providing the survival skills and other training to hone the skills of Sports Journalists,” Subedi said.