KATHMANDU, Sept 1: Pushpa Raj Acharya has been elected president of the Society of Economic Journalists (SEJON), Nepal, on Friday. 

The 18th general assembly of the umbrella body of economic journalists elected new leadership for a term of two years. 

Acharya, who was the incumbent vice president, secured 118 votes while his competitor Modnath Dhakal got 106 votes. Acharya is associated with The Himalayan Times national daily. 

Likewise, Prabhat Bhattarai got elected to the post of vice-president with popular votes of 137, beating his opponent Raj Ram Shrestha, who got only 88 votes. 

Bhim Gautam, Sujan Oli, and Bhagwat Bhattarai have been elected as general secretary, secretary and treasurer with the votes of 106, 130, and 123 respectively. 

Likewise, Sagar Ghimire, Himal Sharma, Elija Upreti, Krishna Rijal and Shiva Bohora have been elected as members. Ghimire works for Republica daily. 

Speaking at the inauguration of the AGM, Finance Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that the country was heading towards economic prosperity and the time is favorable now for investment. “Today’s need is to create more jobs and promote economic activities both in rural and urban areas,” said Minister Karki. 

Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Chiranjibi Nepal lauded the role of journalists on getting the Banking and Financial Institutions Bill endorsed as expected. The media had rigorously reported on the law exposing the conflict of interests in the law. Nepal also said that the country’s economic indicators were positive with record 6.9 percent growth and 4 percent inflation.

Former SEJON presidents Prateek Pradhan, Gopal Tiwari, and Bigyan Adhikari also addressed the gathering.

 
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