December 3, 2004
KATHMANDU: Nepal F. M. 91.8 – a private sector radio station focused on news and current affairs– has been launched officially in the capital, Kathmandu, on Friday.
Launched by Rainbow FM Pvt. Ltd.-promoted by nine F. M. radio stations around the country and Communication Corner-a radio software production house-Nepal F. M. has started round-the-clock transmission of its programmes for the Kathmandu audience from Friday.
Formally launching the FM station in the capital Friday, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said that media is the most flourished sector after the restoration of democracy in the country in 1990.
He urged the media to pressurize the Maoist rebels to come to the table of negotiations. “We are working relentlessly to establish peace in the country,” he said. He even claimed that if there were a Maoist regime, all the media outlets would be closed down.
Addressing the live inaugural function, managing director of Nepal F. M. Gopal Guragain, said the new radio station was a joint initiative to end what he said one-way flow of information from the capital to the rest of the country. “Nepal F. M. will try its best to engage in a healthy and professional competition (with other radio stations),” he added.
News editor of the Nepal F. M., Suresh Acharya, said the F. M. would air hourly news bulletins and current affairs programmes for its audience. He said the FM was launched at a time when Nepali journalists were facing undue pressure from both the security forces and Maoist rebels.
The programmes of the Nepal F. M. will also be relayed by its nine partner FM stations around the country. Saptakoshi FM, Itahari; Sapta Koshi FM, Biratnagar; Manakamana F. M., Hetauda; Radio Palung, Makwanpur; Kalika F.M., Chitwan; Butwal F. M., Butwal; Community Radio, Madan Pokhara Palpa; Machhapuchhre F. M., Pokhara; and Dhaulagiri F. M. Baglung are partner organisations of the Nepal F. M.
The Radio Station has appointed former justice at the Supreme Court, Krishna Jung Rayamajhi, as its ombudsman. Rayamajhi also heads the Citizen’s Peace Commission.
The government has granted license to launch 56 radio stations in different parts of the country. Of them, over 40 radio stations are already in operations.
Nepal F. M. has become the 13th FM station to be launched in the capital valley.