KATHMANDU, AUGUST 18

Huawei hosted the opening ceremony for Seeds for the Future, the company's global flagship CSR programme for undergraduate level students from all ICT-related disciplines in Kathmandu on Tuesday.

This is the second year of the programme Seeds for the Future in Nepal.

The company shared that it has received 256 applications from all over Nepal. Among the total applicants, seven students were selected on the basis of their GPA, motivation letter and a selection interview conducted by Prof Dr Shashidhar Ram Joshi, Prof Timila Yami Thapa, Prof Dr Subarna Shakya, and Prof Dr Manish Pokharel, in July.

The selected names include Nirman Khadka from Kathmandu University (B. Tech in AI, 1st year), Banshaj Paudel from Madan Bhandari Memorial College (BCA, 1st year), Jatin Bhusal from Khwopa Engineering College (Bachelor's in Computer Engineering, 4th year), Reeya Baidya from IoE Pulchowk (Bachelor's in Computer Engineering, 3rd year), Nadika Poudel from IoE Pulchowk (Bachelor's in Computer Engineering, 3rd year), Pragya Mallick from Kathmandu University (Bachelor's in Electrical and Electronics Engineering – Communication, 4th year

Aju Tamang from Amrit Science Campus (Bachelor's in CSIT, 2nd year).

After selection, the students have been engaged in various classes on the data center business in Nepal, workings of FTTH internet, and have also taken part in Chinese calligraphy and Chinese paper cutting workshop at the China Culture Center in Kathmandu. The students are also being engaged by UNESCO as part of the organization's 'The Next 50' campaign.

They will also be getting an opportunity to participate in the first-ever regional onsite programme going to be held in Bangkok from Aug 19 - Aug 27.

They will also participate in the 'Tech4Good' competition where the students will have to come up with an original idea to combat real-world environmental or social problems. The winning teams from the Tech4Good project will get to join the Tech4Good accelerator camp being held in Singapore from Aug 29 – Sep 2. Upon their return, the students will also visit a Huawei-built base station at Muktinath in late September.

During the event, Secretary at Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Dr Baikuntha Aryal, Chairman of Nepal Telecommunications Authority Purushottam Khanal and the selection committee members thanked Huawei for introducing such a program in Nepal and extended their best wishes to the 7 students for the Tech4Good competition.

Jason Li, Member of the Board, Huawei Nepal, said that Huawei wants to continue to be able to able give talented students a platform for international exposure and learning.