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The present paper elucidates the portrayal of some Hindu deities in the literary creations of Amish Tripathi. In The Immortals of Meluha, The Secret of the Nagas, and The Oath of Vyauputras, Tripathi portrays the wretched condition of some Hindu gods and goddesses. The study explores the causes behind the subordination of Hindu deities. Replacing the canonical thinking of highlighting the supernatural qualities of deities, those texts expose the hidden realities behind the marginalization of some Hindu deities like, Ganesh, Kali, Sati, and all the Nagas, whose real identity was lying behind the curtain. The spotlight of the present research is to answer the causes of the subordination of major Hindu deities in Tripathi's "Trilogy." This issue is explored with the theoretical parameter of the Foucauldian perspective of power, knowledge, and resistance.

प्रस्तुत लेख विद्यार्थीहरूको भाषा सिकाइ उपलब्धि क्षमताको परीक्षणमा केन्द्रित छ । यस लेखमा माध्यमिक तह अन्तर्गत मूलतः कक्षा नौमा अध्ययनरत विद्यार्थीहरूको भाषा सिकाइ क्षमताको परीक्षण गरी सिकाइ उपलब्धिको विश्लेषणसमेत गरिएको छ । प्रस्तुत लेखको उद्देश्य कक्षा नौमा अध्ययनरत विद्यार्थीहरूको भाषा सिकाइ क्षमता पत्ता लगाउनु रहेको छ । यस लेखको तयारीका क्रममा परिमाणात्मक अनुसन्धान ढाँचाको अनुप्रयोग गरिएको छ । यसमा स्थलगत अध्ययन पद्धतिको प्रयोग गरी सामग्री सङ्कलन गरिएको छ । यस लेखको तयारीका क्रममा प्राथमिक र द्वितीयक स्रोतबाट सामग्री सङ्कलन गरिएको छ । भाषा सिकाइ क्षमता सम्बन्धी जम्मा १६ पूर्णाङ्कको प्रश्नावली निर्माण गरी सामुदायिक र संस्थागत गरी चार विद्यालयका जम्मा ८० जना विद्यार्थीमा निर्मित प्रश्नावली परीक्षण गरी प्राप्त तथ्याङ्कको विश्लेषण गरिएको छ । विश्लेषण गर्दा विद्यार्थीहरूमा भाषा सिकाइ उपलब्धि (भाषातत्व पहिचान, प्रयोग र पठनबोध) क्षमता मध्यम खालको रहेको निष्कर्ष प्राप्त भएको छ । प्रस्तुत लेखले निर्दिष्ट विषय क्षेत्रमा अध्ययन, अनुसन्धान गर्न चाहने तथा यस विषयमा सरोकार राख्नेहरूलाई नीतिगत तथा प्रयोगात्मक तहमा सहयोग पुर्याउने विश्वास गरिएको छ ।

Lignocellulose biomass forms an important component of traditional and next generation composite materials. To obtain desired properties, the biomass needs to be chemo‒mechanically processed at different levels. The raw lignocellulose fiber obtained from Sterculia villosa (Roxb.) and Bauhinia vahlii is traditionally believed to have high water stability; and therefore used in rural areas of South Asian regions to secure objects submerged under water. In this research, we systematically studied several material properties of raw Sterculia and Bauhinia fiber samples retted for 0, 20, 30 and 55 days (n=8). Water retting resulted in significant decrease in lignin and extractives content (p0.05). Interestingly, water retting resulted in increased thermal stability in both fiber types. These findings suggested that the fiber studied have excellent water stability. The observed trend in mechanical and thermal properties could have resulted from crystallinity change and/or nominal fiber damage as supported by XRD and SEM imaging data; respectively. These findings suggested that Sterculia and Bauhinia fiber biomass could be an important component of biodegradable composite materials which are intended for high wetting and/or humid conditions.

This study aims to examine the bank-specific factors and banking sector development in Nepal by using the ARDL approach technique with economic time series data ranging from 1995 to 2020. The study employed the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model to avoid the spurious regression problem in the construction of contemporary time series econometrics. The study depends on the co-integration analysis to find out the long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables of the model. Banking sector development is measured by the arithmetic average of the normalized values of banking depth, banking efficiency, and banking stability. This study reveals that banking trade has positive and significant influenced the banking sector development in line with theoretical predictions. Electronic banking and liquidity have a positive and statistically significant role to explain banking sector development in Nepal. In addition, it demonstrates that non-performing loans has a negatively and significantly influenced banking sector development whilst branch network has a marginally negative but insignificant impact on banking sector development. This study reveals implications for policymakers as it sheds light on the importance of raising deposits and lending policies and focused on electronic banking. The authorities of a financial institution should be implied to build systems and skills in liquidity management, assets and liability management, and branch networking management to enhance the banking sector's development.

प्रस्तुत लेख कार्यमूलक व्याकरण र व्याकरण शिक्षणका नवीनतम् अवधारणासँग सम्बन्धित रहेको छ । यसमा कार्यमूलक व्याकरण र व्याकरण शिक्षण गर्दा उपयोग गर्न सकिने उत्तरवर्ती अवधारणासँग सम्बद्ध चिन्तनहरूको विश्लेषण गरिएको छ । साथै कार्यमूलक व्याकरण शिक्षणका क्रियाकलापबारे विश्लेषण गरिएको छ । प्रस्तुत लेखको उद्देश्य भाषा शिक्षणमा प्रतिपादित कार्यमूलक बैयाकरनिक अवधारणा, शिक्षण विधि, व्याकरण शिक्षणका क्रियाकलाप र व्याकरण शिक्षणका नवीनतम् अवधारणाको सिंहावलोकन गर्नु रहेको छ । यसमा गुणात्मक अनुसन्धान ढाँचाको प्रयोग गरिएको छ । यस अध्ययनमा उद्देश्यमूलक नमुना छनोट विधिको अवलम्वन गरिएको छ । यस लेखको तयारीका क्रममा द्वितीयक स्रोतीय सामग्रीको अनुप्रयोग गरिएको छ । व्याकरण शिक्षणमा देखा परेका विविध अवधारणामध्ये एकाधिक अवधारणाको एकीकृत प्रयोग गर्दा यसका अपेक्षा सहजै प्राप्त हुन सक्ने कुरालाई निष्कर्षमा उल्लेख गरिएको छ । प्रस्तुत लेखले निर्दिष्ट विषय क्षेत्रमा अध्ययन, अनुसन्धान गर्न चाहने तथा यस विषयमा सरोकार राख्नेहरूलाई अपेक्षित सहयोग पुर्याउने विश्वास गरिएको छ ।

Due to ongoing global climate change, the glaciers in the Himalaya are shrinking and the glacial lakes are increasing in number and area. This study investigates the glacier area change, mass balance and associated glacial lake evolution in the headwaters of Kawari basin, western Nepal using optical remote sensing images. The results indicate that eleven glaciers in the study area have shrunk by 1.64 km2 between 1994 and 2021. In the same period, due to glacier recession glacial lake formed and expanded by 0.0103 km2 yr-1 reaching 0.34±0.042 km2 in 2021. Surface elevation change of glaciers revealed that the ablation zone of glacier thinned up to -8.18 m between 2000 and 2019. The specific mass balance of eleven glaciers was calculated to be -0.3 m w. e. yr-1 from 2000 to 2019. The study of glaciers is important as they are visible signals of climate change, and their changes often impact water resources and mountain hydrology.

Mastitis is an economically important disease of dairy cattle worldwide. To assess its economic impact, a study was conducted in 384 households from eight districts namely Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Sarlahi, Chitwan, Rupandehi, Makawanpur and Kavre of Nepal having major dairy pockets, higher number of cattle population and higher number artificial insemination records. A semi-structured questionnaire was designed, pretested and asked with the respondents having dairy cattle. A focus group discussion was made with the members of dairy cooperatives, service providers from the government and private sectors including veterinarians, paraprofessionals and development workers. The key informant’s interview was performed with livestock experts from veterinary laboratories, veterinarians from Department of Livestock Services (DLS) and Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) to identify and triangulate the economic loss caused by clinical and subclinical mastitis. The survey results showed that an estimated loss of 8320 million Nepalese rupees (around 64 million USD) for sub-clinical mastitis and 4430 million rupees (around 34 million USD) for clinical mastitis. Dairy cattle suffering from mastitis also showed the higher incidence of infertility. The probability of infertility in mastitis affected cattle is 11% higher as compared non affected cattle. It is recommended to initiate the effective mastitis control program immediately which also helps to reduce the incidence of infertility in dairy cattle.

Rice is a major food, contributing 67% of cereal consumption in Nepal. It is playing a substantial role in food and nutritional security. Rice production is not sufficient to meet domestic consumption, so its import has been increasing. This study aims to explore whether Nepal can be self-sufficient in rice production in the current context of increasing rice demand and changing climate. We assessed the degree to which Nepal can be self-sufficient in rice production by the years 2030, 2040, and 2050, evaluating 12 different scenarios of demand driven by production, population growth, income, and climate change effect. We used compound growth rate estimation for analyzing the growth of rice production and population growth over time. Auto-regressive regression model was used to analyze the relationship of rice import and demand with domestic production, income, and population. A significant (p=0.000) positive impact of income on the import of rice was estimated, whereas significantly (p=0.000) higher impact of production on demand was estimated compared to income. Based on current rice productivity growth of 1.47% and population growth of 1.3% per year over three decades, the country will not achieve self-sufficiency until 2050.The situation would be further worsened in climate change scenarios. However, integrating the population growth rate of the last decade (0.57% per annum) with two productivity growth rate scenarios (current and (ii) 5% annual increment), the country can be self-sufficient by 2040. Based on different scenarios, the estimated demand can be met by increasing current productivity by at least 27–43% by 2030 and 42–85% by 2050. The study identified major gaps and opportunities in the rice production systems of Nepal and provided evidence-based solutions to meet the future demands in the context of increasing population and income, declining land availability, and high vulnerability to climate change.

The present study analyses the gaps and issues in the production and distribution system of potato seeds in Nepal. Households’ survey combined with focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KII) were carried out to collect the information. Gross benefit and descriptive statistics were employed for the analysis of the data. Results revealed that National Potato Research Program (NPRP) and some private companies were responsible for the zero generation Pre-Basic Seeds (PBS) production. National Centre for Potato, Vegetables and Spice Crops Development Program (NCPVSCDP) collects the seed demand and helps in potato seed certification at the farmers’ level. The current production is inadequate to meet the demand. As the present potato productivity is 16.72 mt ha-1 which is less than projected by National Seed Vision (NSV), reducing the yield gap is one of the important ways to meet the demand. The Gross benefit per hectare of first-generation basic potato seed (BS1) was NRs 14, 66,667 ($ 12,759) and second-generation basic potato seed (BS2) was NRs 9, 20, 667 ($ 8,009). However, the potato seed system is not working effectively in Nepal. Therefore, the adoption of improved potato varieties should be extensive through a strong mechanism for maintaining the full seed cycle and its proper distribution. Further, it is equally important to change the perception of farmers by showing the comparative benefit of growing ware potato and seed potato.

Research was conducted to assess the economics of commercial acid lime production and prospects of lime farming in Nepal. Morang, Sunsari, Chitwan and Nawalparasi districts of Nepal were selected as the study area after having consultation with concerned agricultural personnel. Altogether 70 farmers (19% of the sampling population) were randomly selected from the sampling frame to collect the primary information. The financial analysis of acid lime farming per hectare of land estimated NPV (12% discount rate) NRs. 4828734/ha, BCR 2.2, IRR 40% and the Pay-back period of 5 years, 5 months and 26 days. The BCR greater than one, IRR three times higher than discount rate, high NPV (return on investment more than cent percent) and payback period less than one-third of the total productive age of the lime orchard showed the financial feasibility of commercial acid lime farming in Nepal. The regression revealed that the import, production and productive area were found to be increased at the rate of 32, 6, and 8 percent per annum respectively while that of productivity was found to be decreased by 2.4 percent per annum (p< 0.010). There is a huge opportunity for acid lime farming in Nepal as the demand is much higher than the domestic production resulting voluminous import. Agribusiness promotion strategies focusing on market development should be introduced that would contribute to enhance the national acid lime production and promote the domestic market. Int. J. Soc. Sc. Manage. Vol. 10, Issue-1: 10-15.

This study examines the short-run and long-run co-integration of theexchange rate on export of Nepal. Data are extracted from the published source of World Bank from 1975 to 2020. ARDL Bounds test is applied to test the co-integration after the test of unit root. The dependent variable is export and the independent variables are exchange rate, import, money supply and GDP.Augmented Dickey- Fuller test shows the variables are in the order of I(1) where the error correction term is negative and significant. The results show there is long- run co-integrationand the study also supports the short-run dynamic relationship between the dependent and independent variables that show the long-run and short-run impact of exchange rate on export of Nepal.So, the policy makers should focus on increasing export and reducing import and its sound exchange rate policy.

Fall meteorites represents to those meteorites whose fall has been witnessed and are later collected from earth surface for further studies. Mass, number of fall events, types, type mass and mass trend of observed fall meteorites are analyzed over a period of recent century (1922-2021) in this paper. The total number of fall meteorites was found to be 706 with total mass of 42800 kg. Decade 2012-2021 and 1932-1941 had the highest number of recorded fall which was 94 times and 89 times respectively. Type L6 meteorite was found to have the greatest number of falls which is 151 times, followed by type H5 and L5 with 109 times and 55 times respectively. The meteorite of type, Iron III AB had the greatest meteorites mass of 23480 kg followed by H5 and L6 with mass 6615 kg and 2347.362 kg respectively. The massive meteorite fall of this century was of Iron III AB type (1947) which weighed 23 tones. The decade 1942-1951 had the highest fall meteorites mass of 24806kg and 1972-1981 had 4858 kg. Various regression model is fitted for the trend analysis of the mass. Over a period of this century, meteorites having mass greater than 100 kg has struck the earth for 32 times while mass greater than 1000 kg has struck for 6 times. The average time between two impacts of meteorite with mass greater than 100kg was calculated to be 3.12 years while mass greater than 1000 kg was found to be 16.6 years.

Background: The concept of banking sector development is multi-dimensional, and it is difficult to establish a single description for it because it is an interconnected process that encompasses increases in the number and quality of financial services. Objectives: The objective of the study is to examine the impact of macroeconomic determinants on banking sector development in Nepal. Methods: The study applied the vector error correction model (VECM) approach technique with economic time series data ranging from 1995 to 2020. The study employed the VECM model to avoid the spurious regression problem in the construction of contemporary time series econometrics. The co-integration analysis is used in the study to determine the long-run equilibrium relationship between the macroeconomic variable and the banking sector development of the model. Banking sector development is measured by the arithmetic average of the normalized values of banking depth, banking efficiency, and banking stability. Result: This study reveals that per capita GDP and remittances have a positive and significant impact on the banking sector development. Similarly, government expenditure and stock market capitalization have positive and statistically significant roles to explain banking sector development in Nepal. In addition, it demonstrates that trade openness and inflation have a marginally negative but insignificant impact on banking sector development. Conclusion: There is a long-term equilibrium relationship between macroeconomic variables and banking sector development. Macroeconomic policies and institutional quality play an important role in the banking sector development. Implications: For policymakers since it clarifies the significance of sound macroeconomic policies in the development of the banking industry while taking into account the quality of the existing institutional infrastructure.

This study aims to examine the macroeconomic determinants that have influenced the development of the banking sector in Nepal by using the ARDL approach technique with economic time series data over the period 1995 to 2020. The research study applied the ARDL approach for a small number of observations to avoid the spurious regression issue that plagues the creation of modern time series data. The research study used bound test co-integration analysis to determine the long-run equilibrium association between the macroeconomic determinants and the development of banking sector industry. The arithmetic average of the normalised values for banking efficiency, banking depth, and banking stability is used to measure the development of the banking industry. The research study found that per capita GDP and remittances have a positive and significant impact on the development of the banking industry. Additionally, the development of the banking industry was explained by government expenditure and stock market capitalisation. However, the research study reveals that the development of the banking industry is negatively impacted by trade openness and inflation in Nepal.

The aim of the research was to measure the effect of mathematics teachers’ problems in teaching equation and figure, drawing symbols, and use of software on the problems of mathematical content instruction online with respect to educational background and ICT training status. The cross-sectional online survey design was used among 258 secondary level mathematics teachers of Nepal. The path analysis technique was used to analysis the data. The finding of the research shows that the problems in using software and drawing figures are main predictors to the problems in instructing mathematical content with respect to non-educational background and untrained in ICT teachers. Whereas the problems in drawing symbols and teaching equations are main predictors in mathematical content instruction with respect to educational background and trained in ICT teachers.

Critical mathematics education undermines the neutrality of mathematics teaching and learning; it confronts societal barriers and suppression, social justice, and opens up new pathways for students to participate in social and political life. This paper intends to analyze critical mathematics education and how it can be used as a tool to create a bright future for mathematics in Nepal by altering teaching pedagogy and applying it to practice. For this study, the search engine Google, Google scholar, Eric, and ProQuest were used. Three major themes were explored: thoughts of teachers towards critical mathematics education, mathematics education in relation to society, and technology-based teaching. To discuss the result content analysis on the themes were used. This study finds that optimistic attitude, innovation of teachers, and the use of critical pedagogy appear to be too responsible for the bright future of mathematics. To attain the objectives, our teachers must be enthusiastic, knowledgeable about information and technology, and critical and reflective.

This study was carried out to see the indigenous practices and the hidden knowledge of mathematics in the ancientartifacts inthe Limbu community. This study aims to explore,how they internalize the phenomenon related to mathematics in their daily life. The entire research process of the study was guided by the Interpretivism paradigm followed by ethnographic design with the observation of documents and daily used artifacts which can be blended intothe local curriculum. Nepal is a multicultural, multilingual, multiethnic country with diverse flora and fauna. We have many artifacts and local mathematical practices in different communities. The purpose of this paperis to introduce the concept of Ethnomathematics and its relevance to classroom activities.This paper seeks to provide a comprehensive concept of some of the current and recent scholarly literature concerning Ethnomathematics and the applicability of Ethnomathematics as a practical teaching approach, particularly for underrepresented students.

This study explores the role of social media in commercial vegetable farming for rural development. A study of Bharatpur metropolitan city ward no 5 Chitwan district. The objective of the study is to explore the role of social media in commercial vegetable farming for rural development. The use of social media in commercial vegetable farming is increasing rapidly now days. Many agricultural service provider companies are giving better facilities to the farmers. Social media allows users to communicate directly with the customer’s service provider’s information sharing centers etc. Farmers are using social media to increase their produce at each stage. Rural development means as overall development such as social, economic, political and cultural of rural society. Commercial vegetable farmers have been impacted by social media in all aspects of their lives. The research design adopted in this study is exploratory as well as descriptive types. The universe of the study was commercial vegetable farmers in Ward No. 5 of Bharatpur Municipality. Out of the total number of commercial vegetable farmer households, 20 households have been sampled using the quota sampling and purposive sampling methods. The data has been collected from the Rambagh, Gulabbag, Kailashnagar, and Narayanpur areas. Each area 5 respondents has been selected for the study. The study shows that 5 % respondents were used own land and 95% respondents were used leasehold land for commercial vegetable farming. Similarly 40 % respondents were used YouTube, 35 % respondents were used Facebook and 25% respondents were used Tik Tok for agriculture information. In the study area, social media seem to have a positive effect on commercial vegetable farming. Commercial vegetable farming support to livelihood, capacity building, empowerment, increase in living standard, saving habit, access to financial institutions, agricultural inputs services and market in the study area. Commercial vegetable farming has been playing a significant role for rural development in this area.

This study concerns the key factors of performance of the Nepalese microfinance institutions (MFIs). The principal goal of the study is the identification of necessary operational performance of MFIs. The determinants influencing MFIs' performance were identified using descriptive, correlational, and casual-comparative study methodologies. The study's conclusions demonstrated a strong correlation between MFIs performance and information technology, loan lending processes, and regulatory environment. The regulatory Framework seems to be an important factor in Nepal's microfinance performance as well. The study also discovered that MFIs performance is significantly influenced by the loan lending system, regulatory environment, and information technology. The study discovered that the loan lending system, regulatory framework, information technology, loan lending system, employee motivation, management system, effective risk management, and regulatory framework have a positive link with the performance of MFIs and significantly affect it. Additionally, it shows that the operational effectiveness of MFIs in Nepal has no correlation with employee motivation, management system, and effective risk management. The study's findings will be helpful to all parties involved with MFIs, including investors, regulators, legislators, and BFIs. According to the outcome, operational efficiency significantly affects the viability and continuation of service of Nepalese MFIs.

Organic farming is a production system that relies on ecosystem management rather than external agricultural inputs to sustain the health of soils, ecosystem and organisms. This needs enough organic plant protection measures and biological fertilizers by eliminating synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. An attempt was made to review current plant protection measures for organic farming in Nepal. Though some insect pests and diseases are very hard to control without the use of chemical pesticides, this is high time to produce agriculture products organically. There is ample prospect of organic production in Nepal utilizing traditional knowledge of Nepalese farmers and existing agri-biodiversity. The paper is focused on best utilization of local natural resources, indigenous knowledge and bio-control agents for plant protection in organic agriculture. The information related to organic plant protection measures are collected from various sources and are grouped. The authors have listed technologies on organic plant protection measures in Nepal and made some suggestions to improve the organic farming of the country.

Background: Previous literatures have indicated that log-binomial regression model is an alternative for the logistic regression model for frequent occurrence of event of outcome. The comparison of the performance of these two models has been found with reference to clinical/epidemiological data. Nonetheless, the application of log-binomial model and its comparison with the logistic model for poverty data has not been described. Objective: To compare logistic and log-binomial regression model in terms of variable selection, effect size, precision of effect size, goodness of fit, diagnostics, stability of the model, and the issue of failure convergence. Materials and Methods: Cross sectional data of 5988 households of Nepal Living Standard Survey 2010/11 has been used for the analysis. The performance of logistic and log-binomial model has been compared in terms of variable selection, effect size, and its precision for each covariate, goodness of fit using Hosmer - Lemeshow (H-L) test, diagnostics of the model, stability of the model using bootstrapping method, and the issue of failure convergence. Results: Logistic model overestimates the effect size, yields wider 95% confidence interval than that of log - binomial model for each covariate. The greater elevation in risk for covariates varies from 13% to 173%. Logistic model satisfies goodness of fit of the model (p = 0.534), diagnostics tests, and stability of the model. However, log-binomial model grossly violates the goodness of fit of the model (p = 0.0004) but satisfies the model diagnostics and stability criteria. Conclusion: Log-binomial model satisfies all criteria for model development and diagnostics except gross violation in goodness of fit of the model. However, logistic regression model satisfies all the criteria including goodness of fit of the model. On the basis of the entire comparison of model performance, logistic regression model is better fitted than the log-binomial model in fitting the poverty data set of Nepal.

This study was conducted to understand the challenges and prospects of ricemarketing by taking case of central Nepal. Two focus group discussionsalong with eight key informants’ interviewswere conductedinBara and Parsa districts of Nepal.Also, secondary information was collected by reviewing the related literatures.The study revealed that the consumer price of rice is almost double than the farm gate price, possibly due to the presence of several intermediaries in different nodes of the supply chain.Key market actors like large collectors, millers and wholesalers have a dominating role in price negotiation and supply of rice in the market. The rice value chain is not strong enough, which might be due to poor vertical and horizontal as well as backward and forward linkages among the key players. The demand of fine and aromatic rice is gradually increasing due to changing food habits of the consumers and their access to purchasing capacity as well.The high yielding short duration varieties of fine and aromatic rice need to be identified and developed to meet the growing demand of consumers.In addition, to boost productivity and profitability of rice, a better investment climate, risk sharing mechanism and strengthened value chain with efficient research and extension services are required.

This study assessed the forest structure and regeneration at the edge and core parts of two community forests, Ram Janaki and Furkesalli of Surkhet district, Western Nepal, and the forest resources use pattern. Different blocks designated by community forest user groups were considered to designate edge and core strata for stratified random sampling. For vegetation analysis and regeneration of tree 15 circular plots (n = 60) of 10m radii; for shrubs 5m radius subplot and for herbs three 1 m radii subplots within the 10 m radii circular plots were considered. Semi-structured questionnaire approach was employed for the collection of ethnobotanical data. Based on importance value index dominant herbs were Ageratum haustoniaum in edge and Heteropogon contortus core part; dominant shrub were Phoenix acaulis in both community forests (RCF and FCF); and Shorea robusta was dominant tree at edge forest of both RCF and FCF whereas Lagerstroemia parviflora was dominant at FCF coreforest. The species diversity was recorded higher in core parts in both forests. The forests are rich in the diversity of medicinal plants with 26 species under 25 genera and 23 families of which root parts were mostly used as ethnomedicine and mostly for gastrointestinal disorder. Besides medicines, firewood, fodder, fruits, vegetable, timber and bedding material were the other uses of forest resources.

Background: The concept of the banking sector development is multi-dimensional, and it is difficult to establish a single description for it because it is an interconnected process that encompasses increases in the number and quality of banking services. Objective: The major purpose of the study is to examine the impact of bank-specific factors on the banking sector development in Nepal Method: The study applied the vector error correction model (VECM) technique with economic time series data ranging from 1995 to 2020. The study was based on co-integration analysis to determine the long-run equilibrium relationship between the model's variables. Banking sector development is measured by the arithmetic average of the normalized values of banking depth, banking efficiency, and banking stability. Result: The study reveals that banking trade has a positive and significant influence on the banking sector’s development in line with theoretical predictions. Electronic banking and liquidity have a positive and statistically significant role to explain banking sector development in Nepal. In addition, it demonstrates that non-performing loans has a negatively and significantly influenced banking sector development whilst branch network has a marginally negative but insignificant impact on banking sector development. Conclusion: The major conclusion of the study is that there is a long-term equilibrium relationship between bank-specific variables and banking sector development. The dynamic causality of VECM reveals that banking trade, non-performing loans, electronic banking, and liquidity are statistically significant which indicates strong explanatory power to explain banking sector development in Nepal. Recommendation: This study recommends for policymakers as it sheds light on the importance of raising deposits and lending policies and focused on electronic banking. The financial institution authorities should be implied to build systems and skills in liquidity management, assets and liability management, and branch networking management to enhance the banking sector development.

This paper evaluates the knowledge of languages and domains of language use to investigate the factors and forces responsible for language shift (LS) in the Majhi community. The data used are solely based on Chalise (2014). The community became bilingual in Majhi and Nepali several generations ago. A small number of people have knowledge of English, Hindi, etc., but they do not use them in daily life conversations. The patterns of Majhi language competence and its use in different domains in different generations indicate that there was a stable bilingualism in the past, but a notable degree of language shift began around four decades before, and it has been accelerating since then. We do not find any vital changes in the essences of personal factors. But the essences of group factors have been changed because of modernization and globalization. In the last three decades, the nation has adopted a favorable policy for minority languages, but LS has accelerated in this community. It suggests that language policy was unable to withstand the forces of modernization and globalization. We cannot deny modernization and globalization therefore it is our challenge to find out the ways to strengthen language maintenance (LM) in the context of modernization and globalization.

Baram and Thami share seventy-two PTB reflexes. Eighteen of them are identical in both languages indicating a higher level of shared retention. Twenty-four of them are identical in Baram and Thami, depicting a higher level of shared innovations. The similarities in the remaining thirty reflexes show the shared retention, and the similar patterns of phonological changes in Baram and Thami present the situation of shared innovations. Twenty similar roots in Baram and Thami, but not Proto-Tibeto-Burman (PTB) reflexes, present further evidence of shared innovations. All the pieces of evidence justify the very close genetic affinity between Baram and Thami.

The study on action research on solving classroom problems in Janapriya Multiple Campus (JMC) based on a preliminary study on the solutions of existing problems in the classroom. The objectives of the study were to identify the problems and manage to solve them through various interventions. All the students (62) in class 12 who were studying in the Education faculty of JMC were included in the sample through the census method, where the researcher taught two periods daily. It was done within seventy-five days, half of the academic year after the first lockdown and before the second lockdown, using qualitative research with the interpretive paradigm and narrative research design. The researcher observed the situations, listed the problems seen in the classroom, and conducted two FGDs with five teachers and eight students, respectively. Action research procedures for action research, namely planning, implementing, observing, and reflecting, were implemented, and a theory of change was used to evaluate the interventions. Baseline and end-line evaluations were used to find out the change. The researcher used observations, FGD, and tests to collect data. The data obtained were presented mostly qualitatively and less quantitatively. The findings show that regular attendance and keeping parents informed are effective in improving the attendance of the students. Similarly, the attendance in the alternative period help to solve the bunk of class. Proving questions to students make them more attentive and aware of their class activities. This can be seen from the improvements after each cycle. Each and every cycle help students get some progress in solving problems. It is very useful to maintain good relations among teacher, the students and their parents at the end of the cycle.

There are five common philosophical paradigms used in the research and they are: Positivism, Post- Positivism, Interpretivism, Criticalism and Post modernism. Each paradigm has different research methods and analyses. The aim of this paper is to reveal the philosophical underpinning of Positivism, Post- Positivism, Interpretivism, Criticalism and Post modernism paradigms in health education research. In this review, each paradigm has been explained properly with reference to health education research based on the literature reviews available in peer-reviewed academic articles and books. This paper helps researcher especially health education researcher to identify paradigm and their implication in health education. Positivism is a science-based empirical method which yields singular reality used in scientific research. Post-positivism deal with multiple reality which asserts that every theory is revisable and that is used in social science especially in quantitative research. Interpretivism is the study of social phenomena to find out the hidden reality which is within the society and it is one of the main philosophies of qualitative research. Criticalism is considered one of the best methods to use in health education research to liberate people from social injustices through consciousness gained through health education. Post-modernism rejects the all-existing assumptions, beliefs and values and give an emphasis on qualitative research method that is appropriate to carry out the research study.

Inclusive policies lead local governments to function in public service effectively. This study explored the process and inclusive practices during the formulation of policies at a local level. Taking the case of Kirtipur Municipality, one of the local governments in Kathmandu valley, the primary tools, and techniques for data collection were the Key Informant Interview (KII) with municipal executive members, Focused Group Discussions (FGD) with women network members, and Dalit network members, and reviews of policies formulated by the municipality. The finding has shown that inclusive policymaking is imperative in local government, which demonstrate uncovers a system of governance and creates inopportunity to deliver public services inclusively to people in general and priority groups. It concludes that a specific group of people developed local policies with legitimate authority but without comprehensive consultations and engagement with women and disadvantaged people. The participation and representation of women and Dalits in the policy-making process have been ignored and as a result, local policies failed to grasp the inclusive perspective due to the dominance of the patriarchal mindset among policymakers and weak policy-influencing capacities of women, Dalits, and disadvantaged communities. The failure further resulted in continued subordination of women, Dalit, and disadvantaged people, reinforcing existing patterns of exclusion and disengagement.

Along with the emergence of Maoist-insurgency in Nepal ethnic awareness pervaded through the society which advanced to the form of movement even it delivered a sharp stroke at the threshold of Constitutional assembly and till it is under tide passion. The project of nation state (re)structuring of federal Nepal is on the progress. This enterprise essentially demands for some common consensus in understanding the contested notions behind the politics of identity versus difference vis-a-vis ethnic nationalism or a liberal concept of civic state before venturing the most controversial debate in searching the federal-strands in order to form a consolidated nation state. Constitutional assembly and the major political parties found largely engaged with talking about people’s ethnicity, their culture and languages as the major constructive principles pivoting around at which the federal nations were conceived. While the constitution of Nepal was announced without identification of its federal provinces because of these undercurrent emotions. Ethnic classifications are rather arbitrary, they are changing over time - today's ethnicities are yesterday’s races, and they are different in different countries. While the dubiety on those dimensions to the extent of their nature of fluidity and situational applicability may supply sufficient ground for a clear-cut demarcation of a territorial boundary for any ethnic groups in Nepal. It is equally important to remind to this detail that how the globalized forces of hybridization is taking place. Hybridization is considered a powerful blurring process through which the elements of ethnicity, identity and purity with their boundary limitation becomes indistinct. Further, transnational and supranational context of inescapable globalized processes are of the great significant domains to this concern too. In this regard, rendering with some common conceptual references of intellectually satisfying literatures, this paper aims to have recourse in searching common unifying and embracing dimensions of an integral nationalism, a collective overarching Nepalese identity woven within a common national sovereignty through which all the differences and commonalities can be shared, practiced and recognized so that may create pressure to sublimate bare political yearnings and therefore, pleads for the people in public-spheres and the social scientists, intellectuals to broach and share their views.

It has been proposed four schemes of dichotomization for the four household level quantitative variables – area of land holding, geographic accessibility to the nearest market centre, number of children under 15 and number of literate members of working-age – with justification in the selection of threshold value for each variable to dichotomize into disadvantaged and advantaged group of households using the Nepal Living Standard Survey 2010/11 data with 5988 households and 28,670 of their household members. Association of each dichotomized variable with household level poverty status (poor/non-poor) was found highly significant. Finally, the proposed schemes of dichotomization have tested empirically for their ability to differentiate the poor people into two categories - ‘more vulnerable’ and ‘less vulnerable’ - by fist estimating the three measures of poverty – head count index, poverty gap index and squared poverty gap index - of each group of population and comparing the estimated measures between the disadvantaged and advantaged group of populations. Statistical analysis has been performed by using IBM SPSS version 20. To a large extent the proposed schemes of dichotomization have found to differentiate the poor people into two groups; for example, the head count index of the disadvantaged group of the number of children under 15 is 3.1 times higher than that of the advantaged group. The results of this paper are expected to be useful to the policy makers and development planners of Nepal for focusing their poverty reduction program towards the more vulnerable group of population as well as academician. BIBECHANA 19 (2022) 142-149