KATHMANDU, Oct 25: The Federation of Nepali Journalists' Nepal Republic Chapter paid tribute to Nepal's pioneer in promoting professional media and the founding Chairman of Nepal Republic Media (NRM), Hemraj Gyawali.

Gyawali breathed his last while undergoing treatment at Shahid Gangalal National Heart Center where he had been taken to after complaining of chest pain on October 13 at the age of  79.   Born on Chaitra 17, 1995 BS in Gulmi, Gyawali worked as a government official for 27 years and retired as a joint secretary.

Following the people’s movement and restoration of multiparty democracy in 1990, he played a crucial role in promoting professional journalism in Nepal. The Nepali media which was being run largely in a traditional manner was radically professionalized in terms of the quality of content as well as quantity following the establishment of Kantipur Publications.

Following the introduction of a federal republic system in the country in 2008, the NRM was established with Gyawali as its founding chairman with a vision of taking the Nepali media to a further new height. NRM which initially published Nagarik and Republica dailies along with their online editions now publishes the weekly tabloid Shukrabar, monthly magazine Paribar and runs Radio Nagarik.

FNJ's Nepal Republic Media Chapter mourned the chairperson's death and offered flowers for the departed soul.  

 
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