President Ram Chandra Poudel of Nepal has honored mountaineers and social workers, including Mingma Sherpa, Phunjo Jhangmu Lama, Shiva Bahadur Sapkota, Maya Sherpa, and Rishi Prasad Nepal, for their contributions to the country. Mingma Sherpa, who is the first South Asian to summit all 14 highest peaks in the world, and his brother, Chhang Dawa Sherpa, hold the world record of being the first two brothers to successfully summit 14 of the world’s highest mountains. Phunjo Jhangmu Lama, who set the world record for the fastest woman to scale Mt Everest from Nepal side in 2018, is the first Nepali female helicopter long-line rescuer. Maya Sherpa is one of the six Nepali women who scaled Mt Annapurna I, becoming the first Nepali women to stand atop the 8,091-metre peak in 2021. Shiva Bahadur Sapkota is the general secretary of the Everest Summiteers Association and has also been awarded the Sagarmatha Medal in 2021. Rishi Prasad Nepal is the Managing Director at Encounters Nepal Pvt Ltd. The recipients of the awards were announced during Republic Day last year.