Quezon City, Philippines, 22 July 2011. For investigating the red passport scam in Nepal that led to the arrest of three of the country’s lawmakers and suspension of other government officials, Rajneesh Bhandari, a multimedia student from Nepal, was cited for his outstanding performance in in-depth reporting. He was awarded the Kantipur TV Journalist (Employee) Award for 2010-2011.
The awarding ceremony took place during the 8th anniversary celebration of Kantipur TV on 16 July 2011. Kailash Sirohiya, the station’s managing director, presented the award to Rajneesh. Kantipur TV is one of Nepal’s leading privation TV networks.
Rajneesh’s investigative report moved the Nepalese government to file a case in court against the three lawmakers who were involved in misusing their diplomatic passport.
http://www.ekantipur.com/np/multimedia/video-detail.php?video_id=608&cat_id=7
Aside from his work at Kantipur TV, Rajneesh is a special correspondent for Los Angeles Times and TV Today Network.
In 2010, he was selected among eight Asian journalists as the Transparency International’s Young Anti-corruption Journalist, paving the way for the opportunity to cover the 14th International anti-corruption conference in Bangkok. In 2007, he was also awarded Ashoka Nepal’s Young Social Entrepreneur for using new media in the preservation of Nepal’s national heritage.
