Kantipur Foundation, a non-profit philanthropic organisation of Kantipur Media Group, has announced Kantipur Icons under four different categories.

The leaders and inspirational personalities making significant contributions in Science and Technology; Arts and Literature;  Business and Economy; and Socio-Political field, will be celebrated during a special ceremony on February 18 in Kathmandu.

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President Bidya Devi Bhandari, who will inaugurate the ceremony marking the 26th anniversary of KMG, will present each Kantipur Icon winners with a gold medal worth Rs500,000.

Under each category, an independent panel of judges—all of whom are considered experts in their fields—assessed hundreds of nomination forms and applications received through post and email. The collected names were then rigorously scrutinised to meet the various criteria set by the judges.

The panel of judges included Pitambar Sharma, Ganesh Gurung, Bandana Rana, Abhi Subedi, Nayan Raj Pandey, Dr Sanduk Ruit, Ajaya Dixit, Suresh Karna, Sujeev Shakya, Bidhyadhar Mallik, Kailash Sirohiya, Sudheer Sharma and Akhilesh Upadhyay.

“I am delighted to announce Kantipur Icon on behalf of the foundation,” Kailash Sirohiya, chairman of Kantipur Media Group, said on Tuesday.

The winners are being announced in The Kathmandu Post and Kantipur daily, one-by-one for the next four days.

The winners of Kantipur Icon are:

— Mukunda Ranjit, the winner of Kantipur Icon in the Science & Technology category

— Dhurmus-Suntali, the winners of Kantipur Icon in the Socio-Political category

— Sunil Pokharel, the winner of Kantipur Icon in Arts & Literature category

— Kulman Ghising, the winner of Kantipur Icon in Business and Economy Category