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Media entrepreneur Dashrath Sunar’s message to the young generation and fellow media professionals is simple: Prioritize honesty, decency, and positivity in your content, regardless of the platform’s size. As humans, we have the power to influence society positively through truthful and ethical media practices.

Despite having no prior experience with traditional media platforms like television, radio, or periodicals, or online channels, his foray into Nepal’s media landscape has grabbed people’s interest. Witnessing the rapid expansion of digital technology motivated Sunar to consider starting an online YouTube talk show.

VFY (Voice For Youth) Talks was started to introduce innovative program formats, focusing on digital innovations for unique content delivery.

“Despite higher production costs compared to television, I launched VFY Talks on YouTube. This entailed booking full five-star hotels, using red dragon cameras, and hiring a crew of 20 to 25 people on a single day of filming,” says Sunar.

In the early stages, guests appreciated his format of facilitating conversational interactions between two guests, rather than acting as a traditional host. This interactive and sometimes interruptive style resonated well with people, encouraging and motivating him further.

“Since then, I have focused on continuously upgrading the content to achieve substantial scalability. My primary goal has been to maintain and enhance the conversational format while improving production quality,” he says.

“I pitched the concept to superstar Rajesh Hamal, aiming to inspire Nepali youth with a unique motivational format. Hamal suggested evaluating guests based on mission alignment, not follower count,” he says. Many brands and companies focus mainly on how many followers a guest has or what other show they have been on.

However, Sunar strives to create a platform that authentically resonates with the audience and fosters meaningful dialogue.

“When I first spoke with Hamal for the initial episode, he agreed without questions. Initially, our show included live audiences, and we hosted many episodes this way, including 12 episodes with 200 attendees,” he says. “The key reason for Hamal’s appearance is his intellect and broad international experience.”

He recalls a memorable incident. “I met a taxi driver who was Hamal’s fan. The taxi driver had always dreamed of meeting him,” says Sunar, adding that his taxi was filled with Hamal’s photos. “I promised myself to make his dream come true and invited him to my show,” he says.

The taxi driver didn’t know Hamal was a guest. When he met Hamal, he cried. “This was the first episode and it moved and motivated me,” says Sunar. “Posting the video on YouTube boosted the channel’s subscriptions by around 20,000.

Sunar believes in thorough research for each episode, which can be challenging when guests don’t get along. He selects two experts for a chosen topic, aiming for great discussions.

His goal is to deliver different information to both national and international audiences, therefore globalizing Nepal’s media and content. He focuses on developing content that has a worldwide impact, promoting Nepal’s tourism, foreign policy, and international relations.

He wants to prepare Nepali content for the global stage, promote tourism in Nepal, and strengthen the country’s international presence. “Success is not my primary goal as my commitment is unbreakable,” he adds.

“I’m pleased by the backing of worldwide celebrities, politicians, and business leaders. It’s a good indication. My focus is on global issues such as climate change as well as promoting Nepal’s tourism,” he says.

Sunar is originally from Kanchanpur district in the Sudurpashchim Province. When he came to Kathmandu, he found that society followed a single script based on history and culture, with minimal openness and extensive discussion. With digitalization, there has been a shift toward more transparency, encompassing both Western and Eastern traditions.

He is currently working on four projects for the talk show. One is ‘Yatra Nepal Ko with Purnima Karki’ that aims to encourage Nepali tourism. There’s the regular talk show covering a range of topics. Under ‘VFY Global with Rajesh Hamal’ there will be more international interviews. The final is delivering content for the Indian audience through ‘VFY Hindi’.

His objective with VFY Talks is to gain worldwide recognition. “While the purpose of the media is to educate, there is always the risk of prejudice or manipulation. As a content producer, utilizing technology properly is critical to conveying accurate and ethical messages, whether they are positive or negative,” he says.

He believes that the media, from a humanitarian standpoint, should emphasize producing honest and positive material regardless of the size of the platform. His purpose is to offer messages that have a good impact on society, while informing, inspiring, and connecting people around the world. 

The government is to provide social security allowance from July 16 in 28 districts, where national identity card number has been made mandatory for social security allowance, if the identity card of beneficiaries is renewed by obtaining national ID number till August 16.

Issuing a press release today, the Home Ministry requested the beneficiaries to get service at their convenient time as national ID number is not required for children, helpless, disabled and senior citizens above 90 years to get allowance. 

The government had made national ID number mandatory for beneficiaries of Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Udayapur, Saptari, Siraha, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Bara, Parsa, Rautahat,  Sarlahi, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Sindhuli, Makawanpur, Chitwan, Kaski, Tanahu, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Surkhet, Kailali and Kanchanpur district from July 16.

With the government's decision, a huge crowd of beneficiaries have started gathering at District Administration Offices to register their details for obtaining the national ID card.

Spokesperson of the Home Ministry, Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, shared that such arrangement has been made after receiving the complaints that senior citizens and disabled persons are facing difficulties to get national ID numbers.

Chief District Officers have been directed to make arrangement of details collection at the related ward offices of the local levels in coordination with concerned local governments targeting the senior citizens and disabled persons, according to the Home Ministry.

The Ministry also requested all local levels for necessary facilitation in the national ID registration process by coordinating with the District Administration Office.  It had deputed 438 detailed registration operators in 28 districts, where national id has been made mandatory, in the first phase in order to provide service in an easy and smooth manner. 

A weather station has been set up in Beni, the headquarters of Myagdi district in Gandaki Province.

The Hydrology and Meteorology Office, Pokhara established the weather station in coordination with the Beni Municipality.

The Office said information on climate change and weather would be available easily and on time from the weather station.

Office Chief Sujan Subedi said information on temperature, precipitation and wind speed would be promptly available by means of the automatic instruments installed at the weather station and this data would be stored.

"Weather-related information available from the automatic instruments installed at the station would be constantly updated and stored in the central server. Arrangements have been made to disseminate the information via the website connected to the server" said Subedi, adding that the stored and archived weather data and information would be useful for disaster preparedness and risk reduction as well as for study and research.

The previous weather station at Beni was closed after it was destroyed during the skirmish between the then Maoist rebels and the security forces on March 20, 2004.

The Beni Municipality has provided the land for establishing the new weather station at its office premises.

There are 26 weather stations, including the one in Beni, in Gandaki province. Automatic equipment is installed at 12 of the 26 weather stations.

The Melamchi Water Supply Board has suspended the water supply from the Melamchi River in Sindhupalchowk to the Kathmandu Valley beginning today.

Board Executive Director Ratna Lamichhane said that with the flood in the river, it turned murky, leading to the closure of the water supply to the Valley. The supply will be restored once the rain thwarts.

Though earlier, the Board had planned to halt the supply from June 13, the schedule was postponed as no significant rains occurred amidst this. Later, the Board also prepared for closing the project last Friday and the supplies continued as water flow in the river did not increase as it was estimated, it is said

The government regularizes the water supplies from Melamchi during the monsoon bearing in mind its possible consequences on its headworks and other structures.

According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division, this year monsoon entered the country on June 10, three days earlier than the tentative date and generally exits on October 2.

The Project management consultants and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) were advising the Board to halt the supplies to save the project's structures from the monsoon-related hazards. "We decided to close it after the river waters turned muddy."