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Kathmandu University (KU) has been appointed as the chair of the Interim Executive Committee of the Himalayan University Consortium (HUC), a multilateral group of universities from the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region. 

The Interim Committee has been mandated to oversee HUC’s tasks, including the adoption of the new charter and byelaws and renewal of memberships. 

KU is represented by its Vice-Chancellor Prof. Achyut Wagle, who will serve as the chair of the Interim Executive Committee until a General Assembly, to be held within a year, elects a new committee, reads a statement issued by the KU. 

The decision was taken during the two-day retreat of the HUC in Kathmandu last week. 

Hosted by KU, the retreat convened 70 international guests, including 29 Vice-Chancellors of the HKH region, to establish a roadmap for the future and ensure the financial sustainability of the Himalayan University Consortium (HUC) in a global, multilateral context. 

Participants from Thailand, India, China, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Bhutan took part in  the event. 

Prof. Dr. Vibha Dhawan, Chancellor of The Energy and Resources Institute School of Advanced Studies, India, delivered the keynote address during the program. 

Prof. Dhawan emphasized bridging the gap between scientific research and traditional wisdom to build climate-resilient communities, ensuring that indigenous knowledge systems are integrated into a transboundary roadmap for the Hindu Kush Himalaya, according to the statement. 

"By enhancing academic collaboration, universities can reverse environmental degradation and protect our global biodiversity hotspots from the escalating threats of the Anthropocene," Prof. Dhawan said.

Former justice of the Supreme Court Dr. Ananda Mohan Bhattarai served as the event's special guest. 

He called for moving beyond parochial laws to align with global legal frameworks, such as the Paris Agreement. 

“We must protect the vital ecosystems like the Shivalik and Karnali regions and ensure that ecosystem service budgets reach local communities, and transform environmental conservation from a legal promise into a sustainable reality for the entire Hindu Kush Himalaya,” Bhattarai said.

Vice Chancellor of Kathmandu University, Prof. Achyut Wagle, highlighted that not only our ecology but the culture of our indigenous communities and the existing flora and fauna are under immense threat, the statement further reads. 

"It is the urgent responsibility of university scholars to utilize data-driven inferences to bridge the gap between academic research and effective policy-making to safeguard the Hindu Kush Himalaya," said Professor Wagle.

The participants deliberated on the pressing issues of the HKH region across seven technical sessions, including HUC’s financial sustainability, multilateral academic and research collaboration, HUC's global positioning, and the initiation of a vice-chancellors’ forum for regional cooperation. 

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a second corruption case at the Supreme Court over alleged irregularities in the construction of the Pokhara Regional International Airport.

According to the Commission, the case has been filed against 21 individuals and two companies, including then Tourism Secretary Kedar Bahadur Adhikari.

The government is set to launch a 'Human Papillomavirus' (HPV) vaccination campaign against cervical cancer in four districts of the country this week.

Head of the Child Health and Immunisation Branch of the Department of Health Services, Dr Abhiyan Gautam, said that the vaccination campaign will be conducted in Dolpa, Humla, Jumla and Manang, where schools were closed due to snowfall in February when the vaccination campaign was conducted across the country.

HPV vaccines were administered to 6th-grade students and 10-year-old girls outside school throughout the country from February 8 to 27, except in those four districts.

Similarly, children from grades 7 to 10 and out-of-school girls aged 11 to 14 were also vaccinated. 

Dr Gautam, the head of the vaccination branch, stated that during the campaign, 323,000 girls in 73 districts were given the HPV vaccine.

Dr Gautam said instructions have been given and health workers trained in those districts to make the necessary preparations for the vaccination campaign.

He stated that the main cause of increased risk of cervical cancer is infection from the human papillomavirus, which is why the government has launched a vaccination campaign against it.

At least seven people died in separate road accidents in the country. 

These fatalities occurred in Rupandehi, Kanchanpur, Palpa and Morang districts, according to police. 

A person died in a road accident that took place in Rupandehi, one in Kanchanpur and four in Palpa and one in Morang. 

Similarly, a person who was injured in a road accident at Rangeli Municipality-7 of Morang, is undergoing treatment at Nobel Hospital, Biratnagar.

Police have been carrying out necessary investigations into the accidents, added police.