Kathmandu, August 11
The much-anticipated list of Nepal’s “40 Under 40” will be unveiled today at 5 pm, recognising 40 exceptional individuals under the age of 40 who have made significant contributions in their respective fields.
Organised by Onlinekhabar and presented by Global IME Bank, the “40 Under 40” awards aim to celebrate young achievers whose work has had a transformative impact on society, business, arts, innovation, and other sectors. The event carries the theme Chalis Muniko Chalis – 2082 (40 under 40 – 2082).
This year’s edition is powered by Asian Paints Nepal, with Vatsalya as the in-association partner. Associate sponsors include Everest Bank, Honda, and Skywell. Aloft Kathmandu Thamel is serving as the hospitality partner.
The announcement is expected to highlight a diverse group of entrepreneurs, innovators, professionals, and changemakers from across the country. Organisers say the selection process involved careful evaluation of the nominees’ achievements, leadership qualities, and social impact.
The event has become a highly regarded platform to spotlight Nepal’s emerging leaders, inspiring the next generation to pursue excellence and innovation. Full details of the honourees will be available on Onlinekhabar from 5 pm onwards today.
Selection process
Before finalising the list of ‘40 Under 40’ youth, Onlinekhabar had prepared a list of potential candidates collected from its newsroom in Kathmandu and the provincial offices across all seven provinces. Additionally, suggestions and assistance were sought from several experts and sources outside the newsroom.
Moreover, this time, Onlinekhabar publicly called for name submissions to prepare the ‘40 Under 40’ list.
From all sources, a list of over 500 names was received, which the Onlinekhabar newsroom then divided into categories such as politics, society, art/literature, culture, youth and sports, science, entrepreneurship, and diaspora. Keeping in mind geographical and societal diversity, clear criteria were set, and the list was thoughtfully narrowed down to 80.
The 80-person list thus prepared was then presented to an independent jury. According to the decision made at the jury meeting held on May 27, the final list of 40 was prepared.
The jury for the final name selection was chaired by former Supreme Court Justice Anil Sinha, with members including Chhaya Sharma, Chairperson of the Women’s Leadership Forum at Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), scientist and researcher Uttam Babu Shrestha, and Onlinekhabar’s Editor-in-Chief Basant Basnet. The ‘40 Under 40’ package was coordinated by Onlinekhabar’s Associate Editor Sudarshan Khatiwada.
When selecting the 40 names, if any chosen candidate was unavailable due to circumstances beyond their control or declined, the jury also selected an alternative list of five names from which replacements could be chosen.
Purpose of selection
To identify young people actively working and producing impactful results in various sectors of society and to publicly record their distinctive contributions and social influence as a national achievement.
Selection criteria:
- Youth under 40 years of age who have done remarkable work for social transformation in the past year.
- Youth who encourage society, inspire and energise others through their actions/thoughts, whose stories can positively influence a significant portion of society.
- Youth with outstanding contributions and continuous struggle in a particular field uniquely benefit society and communities.
- Youth who have challenged prevailing superstitions and harmful or wrong traditional beliefs and benefited society.
- Youth who have introduced innovative ideas or good practices whose deserving work has not yet attracted mainstream attention.
- Youth were selected with consideration of the diversity of Nepali society, including age and geography.
