Rabi Lamichhane is a Nepalese television presenter who set the world record for hosting the longest-ever television talk show broadcast in April, 2013. He hosts a popular television show, Sidha Kura Janta Sangha, which "addresses the root causes of different problems inside the country". He is best known for his "detective-style" journalism and raising direct questions to Nepal's bureaucracy regarding the problems of their offices in various sectors.
Career
Rabi Lamichhane stayed on the air for more than 62 hours during a live broadcast by News24 Television. To set the world record for the longest talk show, he interviewed politicians, journalists and celebrities on the theme "Buddha was born in Nepal", and took phone calls from viewers. The previous record was set by two Ukrainian presenters who stayed on the air for 52 hours in 2011. Before moving to the U.S., he hosted Ma Rastrako Sewak. He also hosted a show on Nepal Television. He wrote the lyrics for Nabin K Bhattarai's song "Timilai Man Paraunchhu" and the song "Timro Aagamanle feri" sung by Ram Krishna Dhakal. Currently, he hosts Sidha Kura Janta Sanga in News 24 television. In 2019, it reached its 400th episode.
On 15 August 2019, Police arrested Lamichhane in his News 24 office in connection to the death of journalist Shalikram Pudasaini, which appeared to be a suicide. Video footage recorded by Pudasaini — which was made public by an online news portal — accuses Lamichhane, along with two others for his death. According to Chitwan DistrictPolice Office, they were remanded to custody, with effect from 16 August. Lamichhane’s fans and journalists picketed the police office. Lamichhane’s supporters demonstrated outside the court and police office throughout the day, demanding his unconditional release. People from as far as Pokhara and Butwal came to participate in the demonstration. He was released from custody with Rs.5,00,000 bail on 26 August. On 27 August, amid the mass of his supporters stated that he would pull up his acts against corruption in the country.
