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The Narayangadh-Muglin road section has been blocked since early morning today following a dry landslide near Tuinkhola of Ichchhakamana Rural Municipality-5 in Chitwan district.

Police Inspector of Area Police Office, Muglin, Pratik Singh said that the road is fully obstructed due to the dry landslide. 

Currently, a team of police personnel has been deployed to clear the debris in coordination with the Road Division Office.

The Annapurna Climate Conference and Machhapuchhre Dialogue concluded in Pokhara on Wednesday with the issuance of the 15-point “Kharapani Declaration 2026,” focusing on climate risk reduction and environmental resilience in Nepal’s Himalayan region.

Organized under the initiative of Save Our Himalaya First (SOHF) Nepal in collaboration with the Gandaki Province Ministry of Forest and Environment, Pokhara Metropolitan City, Machhapuchhre Rural Municipality, and Annapurna Rural Municipality, the two-day conference brought together local, national, and international researchers, experts, and stakeholders.

The declaration was issued after participants visited Kharapani in Ward No. 2 of Machhapuchhre Rural Municipality, one of the areas worst affected by the devastating Seti River flood of May 2012.

The conference emphasized strengthening community-based forest management to reduce forest fires and climate risks, promoting sustainable forest management, and encouraging the use of biochar and biocompost made from agricultural and forest residues to improve soil fertility and minimize fire hazards.

Participants also called for the establishment of an “Annapurna Climate Disaster Memorial Center” for research and monitoring of climate-induced disasters in the Himalayan region. The declaration further stressed the expansion of weather information centers and early warning systems, the development of climate education at the school level, the preservation of indigenous knowledge, the promotion of climate-friendly agriculture, and environmentally sustainable tourism and infrastructure development.

The declaration highlighted the need for stronger coordination among all three levels of government, educational institutions, conservation organizations, and the private sector to address the growing climate crisis.

Inaugurating the conference, Gandaki Province Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey said the province has increasingly suffered from floods, landslides, droughts, and extreme rainfall due to climate change. He stressed the importance of collective action to protect the region’s globally significant natural heritage.

SOHF Nepal President and conference coordinator DB Nepali said the event aimed to raise climate change as a major concern in the ecologically sensitive Gandaki region.

Around three dozen research and working papers were presented during the conference on the impacts of climate change on weather, forests, water resources, health, tourism, agriculture, biodiversity, and local livelihoods by researchers from Nepal and abroad, including experts from the University of Calgary, Canada.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s Executive Board has decided to extend the timeline of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement implemented for Nepal by an additional two months. 

According to the press release issued by the IMF on Wednesday, the program would continue up to  July 11, 2026 with the extension. 

The timeline has been extended to allow sufficient time for the completion of the seventh and final review of the ECF arrangement, the IMF informed. 

The 38-month IMF arrangement for Nepal was approved on January 12,  2022. 

Under this program, Nepal obtained access equal to 180 percent of its 'Special Drawing Rights' (SDR) quota, amounting to 282,42 million US dollars. 

According to the IMF, two additional months were added to provide sufficient time for the seventh and final review under the IMF program. 

Nepal has committed, through the IMF program, to maintaining financial stability, strengthening foreign exchange reserves, improving public financial management, and advancing economic reform programmes.

Two Indian trekkers, who were stuck due to snowfall in the course of trekking to Mustang, have been safely rescued.  

A joint team of Nepal Army and Nepal Police rescued them on Wednesday night. They were heading towards Mustang from Manang. 

A heavy snowfall took place in the Muktinath and Thorang La Pass area on Wednesday. 

Phanik Tony (29) and Mitra Bindu (30) of Kerala in India, were stranded after they were unable to locate the trail at Chisapani of Baragung Muktichhetra-2.  

A trekker Mitra Bindu had informed the District Police Office, Mustang, about their condition. 

The joint team had safely rescued the Indian trekkers from Drum Camp in the lower area of Thorang Pass, said Lieutenant Colonel at the Indra Baks Battalion, Gaurav Dhoj Khand.