Contemporary Research: An Interdisciplinary Academic Journal

Pre-reading Activities: University ESL/EFL Teachers’ Practices and Views

Bal Ram Adhikari — 2023-12-05

The literature on reading pedagogy has recognized the pivotal role of pre-reading activities in preparing students as readers for the actual act of reading. In this regard, the current paper aimed to investigate University ESL/EFL teachers’ use of pre-reading activities in teaching B.Ed. English major reading courses at a constituent campus of Tribhuvan University. To this end, a case study design was adopted comprising classroom observation and semi-structured interview methods to collect data from four purposively selected English teachers. The findings show personalization of the topic, contextualization of the topic, digging into the title, pre-teaching key vocabulary items, and knowing the author as the most frequently used pre-reading activities. Despite this, students were found to be inadequately engaged in the pre-reading stage for want of variety in pre-reading activities and students’ poor participation. Moreover, coursebook pre-reading activities did not form part of reading lessons for several reasons. Finally, implications are considered for the integration of pre-reading activities for effective reading pedagogy.

The Contribution of Micro-Enterprises in Nepalese Economy

Bishnu Bahadur Khatri — 2023-12-05

Micro-enterprises in Nepal are vital, fueling employment, GDP growth, exports, and more. In this context, this paper aims to deal with investment, income and employment (IIE) analysis of Micro-enterprises in Nepal. Using descriptive statistics and multiple regression model, the study has employed cross-sectional data set collected from enterprises survey in the Ward No.14 of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. In the survey, the sample size was 30 small enterprises including tea stall, sweets, haircutting, meat shops, and vegetables. In the enterprises, high investment that is 80 percent have generated high income level that is multiple times of investment in retail enterprises, except hair cutting, meat shops, boutique, sweets and vegetables. In employment generation, all enterprises have positive implications. Besides, the model shows positive relationship between income, investment and employment. However, it is statistically insignificant because p value is greater than 0.05. However, in real life, this is significant because the main attractive investment fields are hair-cutting and meat shops. It is clear that investment output depends on the presence of such business units in their vicinity. The relationship between income and investment is statistically insignificant (p-value 0.416 > 0.05), and the same is true for income and employment (p-value 0.445 > 0.05). The number of employees and the type of business are closely related (p-value 0.000 to 0.01). Therefore, the micro-enterprises are a prominent economic activity to generate self-employment, income generation and promoting small scale investment. This study result significantly contributes on generic perception of the policy makers on enterprises development statistically to continue enterprises development programs and policy of the government of Nepal and Kathmandu Metropolitan city to boost up local economy as well as national economy. Furthermore, the study result provides a valuable lesson learnt to create doing business environment of micro-enterprises within Kathmandu for building a strong local supply and value chain system rather than prohibition policy.

The Liquidity Management and Profitability of Joint Venture Banks in Nepal

Chet Raj Pant — 2023-12-05

The main objective of this study is to establish a connection between liquidity management and the effect of profitability of joint venture banks in Nepal. We observed the data from Nepal's top five joint venture banks over ten years, from 2012 to 2021. We used financial statements to collect information. In our analysis, we used different indicators like the current ratio (CR), loan-to-total deposit (LTD), capital-to-asset ratio (CAR), and non-performing loans (NPL) as measures of liquidity. We treated these as independent variables and Return on assets (ROA) as dependent variable. Our findings show the positive link between ROA and CR, meaning higher CR is connected to greater ROA. However, the study reveals an unfavorable relationship between NPL and ROA, suggesting higher NPL leads to lower ROA. As a result, our research advises banks to keep liquidity only as long as necessary for specific liabilities, avoiding unnecessary holding of liquidity, which could reduce profitability.

Measuring the Relationship between Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty in the Banking Sector of Nepal

Chhemanand Joshi — 2023-12-05

This study aims to examine the mediating effect of customer satisfaction in the relationship between service quality and customer loyalty in the banking sector of Nepal. Tangibility was taken as hard aspect and two dimensions; responsiveness and assurance were taken as soft aspects of service quality to measure customer satisfaction and loyalty. 384 customers of three commercial banks operating in Kailali district i.e. Rastriya Banijya Bank, Nabil Bank and Global IME bank were surveyed using structured five-point Likert scale questionnaire. Data was collected via online and field surveyusing convenience sampling method.The research hypotheses were tested using Structural equation modeling (SEM) with the help of AMOS-22 software. The findings of this study revealed that there is significant positive relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. It means higher the service quality helps to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. Customer satisfaction has partial mediation effect in the relationship between service quality and customer loyalty. The results of this study will help bank mangers to focus on their customer’s satisfaction and loyalty in order to develop the strategy for competitive advantages. Future researchers can conduct their study on serial and parallel mediation effect of customer satisfaction in service quality and customer loyalty.

Study of Climatic Pattern and Water Resources from Citizen Science’s Perspective in Namobuddha Municipality, Kavre, Nepal

Jamuna Thapa — 2023-12-05

This study has been initiated to carry out the research on climatic patterns along with water resources from local communities’ perspectives in Namobuddha Municipality, Kavre, Nepal. The study area is located in the eastern part of Kathmandu which is about 35 km away from it. This study has focused on investigating climatic patterns and water resources available in the study area. It was especially carried out utilizing citizens’ perspectives. Mixed qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this study. Total 66 questionnaire surveys and two key informant interviews were conducted in the Simalchaur Sympati area of Namobuddha Municipality which has about 600 households. Required Meteorological data were taken from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Nepal. Results from this study showed that the average, minimum and maximum temperatures were in the increasing trend. However, the average annual along with the monsoon rainfalls were in the decreasing trend. The inhabitants have experienced warmer summer and winter, scarcity of water for domestic as well as for agriculture purposes. Local communities also deplored less ground water flow in their springs. This study has clearly signified the drying up of surface and ground water resources. In overall context, this study output was similar to the global pattern as temperatures are in increasing trend whereas precipitation is in decreasing trend. It signified the need for effective adaptation strategies to combat against the adverse impacts of changing climatic patterns especially for the management of water resources in the study area.

The Impact of Dividend Policy on Stock Prices: Evidence from Nepalese Banking Sector

Jas Bahadur Gurung — 2023-12-05

The study examined the impact of dividend policy on market price of share in banking sector of Nepal. Out of 27 commercial banks, 10 banks have been selected under convenience sampling with ten years data for the period 2068/69 to 2077/78 were taken for the analysis. Panel data regression models (random effect model) has been utilized to analyze the data as the Hausman test suggest the random effect model is the most appropriate for describing the relationship among the given variables. The result indicates that earning per share, dividend per share, price-earnings ratio and retained earnings have a positive relationship on stock prices of commercial banks. The study concluded that dividend payments lead to a rise in the market price of a stock. Hence, it can be inferred from the outcome of the random effect regression model that it is consistent with the applicable methods related to dividend policy, indicating that there is a noteworthy impact of dividend policy on the stock price of companies. The findings of this study will contribute to the existing literature on dividend policy and market price of share, especially in the context of Nepal. The study will also provide important implications for investors, policymakers, and companies in making decisions regarding dividend rules and its impact on the stock prices.

Effect of Seed Tuber Size on Growth and Yield of Potato (Solanum Tuberosum L.) Variety Desiree in Dadeldhura

Lokendra Bist — 2023-12-05

A field study was carried out on potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) variety Desiree to determine the effect of seed tuber size on growth and yield performance in Dadeldhura district in 2023. The experiment was carried out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) using four replications and five treatments. Treatments used were different weighed seed tubers viz.T₁:(11-20g),T₂:(21-30g), T₃:(31-40g), T₄:(41-50g), and T₅:(51-60g) . The results showed significant effect of the size of seed tubers on the growth and yield of potato. The treatment 51-60g seed tuber proved to be superior in terms of plant height, number of leaves/plant and tuber weight/hill followed by the treatment 31-40g seed tuber. Similarly, at harvest, 31-40g seed tubers yielded maximum number of tubers/hill, number of tuber/m², total yield, total marketable yield, and average number of stem/hill followed by the treatments 51-60g and 21-30g seed tubers respectively. On the basis of potato tuber grading 21-30g seed tuber yielded bigger sized potato tubers followed by 31-40g and 51-60g respectively. The treatment 31-40g proved to be the best among all the treatments in yielding maximum total yield, total marketable yield and less number of unmarketable tubers. Similarly, the benefit cost ratio obtained from 31-40g seed tuber is significantly higher (3.82) than all other treatments. Hence, 31-40g seed tuber is suggested to farmers for profitable production of potato.

Wall Painting of Pujari Math of Bhaktapur: An Exploration

Lok Nath Dulal — 2023-12-05

Historical evidences prove that painting is considered as the mother of all other forms of art and crafts. While artists start to sculpture the icon and any art objects, very first, they sketch the drawing of concerning deities and specimens, therefore, a painting is said to be the mother of all other sculpture arts. Therefore, the history of creation of painting is older than other forms of arts. On the basis of creating materials, mediums, instruments, technologies, and nature, painting can be classified into three different forms such as fresco, miniature and painted scroll. This article has analyzed the fresco painting of Pujari Math of Bhaktapur. This is an example of polychrome painting which displays an excellent craftsmanship of the artist. Through the perspectives of religion, culture, social values, art skill and technology this art object is known as the representative fresco paintings of Nepal which reveals the fine handiworks of the artists of the medieval period. In painting where people can observe several secular and religious figures of deities and social events associated with the myths of religious scriptures especially Ramayan and Mahabharata the great epics of Hindu. Despite all its amusing qualities, unfortunately, this painting is still not properly considering as the subject of research and study. It is its academic problem and research gaps as well. Thus, raising the research questions such as what types of paintings are painted on the walls and beams of Pujari Math? Why the painting of Pujari Math is considered wonderful work of art? And what are the major features of the painting of Pujari Math? Likewise, this paper fulfills the certain specific objectives such as to examine the paintings of Pujari Math; to explore the significance of the work of art and to analyze the major features of the fresco paintings. It is qualitative research based on primary data and secondary information. Primary data have been obtained from the field using observation and interview method whereas the required secondary information has been collected from different reliable literatures such as journals, documents, books, published and unpublished relevant reports. Thus, for fulfilling the research gaps and problems this paper has been prepared.

Marketing and Value Chain Analysis of Mandarin at Jorayal Rural Municipality of Doti, Nepal

Pawan Kathayat — 2023-12-05

The yearly decline in mandarin production, one of the important citrus fruit in the mid-hills of Nepal could be attributed to underdeveloped and non-systematic market and lack of value-chain participation by farmers leading to low profitability and hence reducing their motivation. So, this research explores market and value chain of mandarin sub-sector through survey of 100 households from Jorayal rural municipality of Doti district using semi-structured questionnaires. Results showed that the average production of selected mandarin farmers is 1.8 Mt with income of Rs. 24,059 but considering family labor gross margins are negative. The dominant marketing channel is FarmersàCollectors, with around 92% of sales volume. Among the different types of collectors, local ones are dominant market players although price offered is higher for those coming from outside the district (Rs.58/kg) compared to local collectors (Rs. 50/kg), with producer's share being 40% and 35%, respectively. Monopoly of local collectors is high but for local relationship farmers are compelled to sell to them. Due to remoteness of the area, there are low/no value chain actors and hence marketing efficiency is also low. The major problem in marketing is found to be the low market price along with the unavailability of storage facilities or collection centers. Low networking of farmers is also contributing to reduction of the marketing efficiency and hence they are found not to be interested to scale-up their mandarin farms. Cooperative marketing may be one of the best options to increase the bargaining power of small-scale and scattered farmers.

Customer Satisfaction towards E-Banking Service offered by Prabhu Bank Limited

Pradip Timilsina — 2023-12-05

In recent times, the internet has become very important in human life. Due to the hastily growing technology in the global market, banking sector has provided the e-banking services to minimize their cost, and digitization strategies in today’s competitive market. This study aims to analyze the association between e-banking service quality and customer satisfaction; and measuring the impact of e-banking service quality on customer satisfaction. The sample size of the study was 100 customers of Prabhu bank operating in Kailali district. Data was collected using a structured five point Likert scale questionnaire conveniently surveyed the customers of Prabhu Bank Limited from study area. Pearson’s correlation and regression analysis was used to analyze the data with the help of statistical package for social science (SPSS-29). The findings of the study concluded that, there is statistically significant positive association between e-banking service quality and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, all the e-banking service quality factors i.e., perceived cost, security and privacy, perceived ease of use, computer self-efficiency and responsiveness has significant positive impact on customer satisfaction. Out of these e-banking service quality factors, perceived ease of use (PEU) has highest impact on customer satisfaction (CS). The findings of this study will help the bank management in improving the e-banking service quality focusing on development of easy and understandable e-banking service for increase their customer’s satisfaction. This study covered only e-banking service quality, future researchers can conduct their study concentrating on overall banking service quality and its impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty.

India - Nepal Foreign Relations in the Context of Economics: Late 20th- Early 21st Century

Sayedur Rahman — 2023-12-05

In the context of the economy, India's foreign policy toward Nepal is defined by a complicated mix of cooperation and rivalry, with both nations attempting to strike a balance between their different interests while navigating a variety of political, economic, and strategic problems. Through a number of initiatives over the past few years, including the extension of a line of credit to support infrastructure development, the creation of an India-Nepal Joint Economic Commission, and the promotion of cross-border trade and investment, India has sought to deepen its economic ties with Nepal. These efforts have been aimed at boosting economic growth and development in Nepal while enhancing India's regional influence. However, India's foreign policy towards Nepal has also faced criticism, with some arguing that it prioritizes its own interests over Nepal's. This has led to tensions between the two countries, with Nepal seeking to diversify its economic and diplomatic ties beyond India. In this study, the trade, investment, aid, and tourism relations between India and Nepal are examined. It looks at how the economic hegemony of India and Nepal shaped the two countries' economic ties. The study also looks into the challenges and opportunities for the India-Nepal economic partnership. It investigates the issues related to trade barriers, infrastructure development, and energy cooperation. Additionally, this study examines the impact of political and diplomatic factors on the economic relationship between India and Nepal. The research is based on a combination of primary and secondary sources, including interviews with key stakeholders, economic data analysis, and a review of relevant literature. The findings of this study suggest that the economic relationship between India and Nepal has been significant and mutually beneficial, but there are several challenges that need to be addressed to realize the full potential of the partnership. Overall, this study offers insights into the prospects and challenges for deepening the economic relationships between the two countries as well as a better knowledge of the economic aspects of India-Nepal foreign relations.

Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Job Performance: Evidence from the Employees of the Commercial Banks in Dhangadhi

Shiba Prasad Sapkota — 2023-12-05

The ability to recognize our feelings and those of others and manage emotions well in ourselves is the major contributing factor to employees’ performance. Emotional intelligence is relevant for predicting employees’ work performance because most jobs require the ability to manage emotions. The objective of the study is to examine the impact of emotional intelligence on employees’ performance in the commercial banks in Dhangadhi City. This study adopted quantitative research design and used descriptive as well as inferential statistical tool to analyze the data. 100 questionnaires were randomly administered to respondents out of which 82 were returned that were used for analysis. Regression analysis was used to analyze the collected data. The study revealed that there was a significant relationship between employees’ emotional intelligence and employee’s job performance. The coefficient of determination between EI and employees job performance was 82 percent. Similarly, the regression analysis also depicted that he emotional intelligence factors positively impacts the performance of employees in the organization. Hence, it is recommended that organization should introduce various training programs and developmental activities related to EI in their workplace for employees at every level in order to create better management of talent and performance on the one hand, and more effective team outcomes, service outcomes and relationship outcomes on the other.

Voice of Emancipation from Caste Discrimination: Reading Untouchability and Injustice in Dulal’s Gahugoro Africā

Shyam Lal Magarati — 2023-12-05

This paper attempts to analyze the issues on the untouchability, injustice and voice declaration of emancipation from caste discrimination in Bishowbhakta Dulal’s Gahugoro Africa. Dalits as Africans are primarily artisans and utilize their skills and perform the imposed duties. However, they get fewer wage and they are hated, humiliated, discriminated, exploited and traumatized in the society by the upper caste people and the nation even in the twenty-first century. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to analyze the voice of emancipation from various evil cultural practices like caste discrimination, untouchability and injustice. The text was chosen purposively and the research was conducted using a library-based qualitative approach, utilizing relevant texts and sources to analyze the objective. The researcher has implemented cultural studies perspective and the discursive approach of Stuart Hall as main and other theorists’ ideas as supporting tools for theoretical parameters. The data were collected by text information, description and record keeping. The researcher examined that Dalits have been considered untouchable, distanced and humiliated despite their vital role in the society. The imposed professions that were assigned to them could not suffice their needs. Dalits have presented themselves everywhere still they have been the victims of socio-cultural biasness and injustice. So the speaker strictly declares emancipation from every type of cultural shackles. Freedom from such evil practice is inevitable for Dalits in Nepal. So, it is the representative voice of Dalits (Kami, Damai, Sarki, Badi, Gaine, Mushahar and Cyame) in general. The research is significant due to its focus on the inhuman treatment and miserable existence of Dalits in the context of Nepal. The exploration on the voice of emancipation from the caste discrimination in the diverse cultures and cultural practices is valuable to academia.

An Analysis of Approved Foreign Direct Investment in Hydropower of Nepal

Tek Raj Binadi — 2023-12-05

Hydropower is the major economic sector of Nepal. This paper analyzed approved FDI in hydropower sector based on secondary data 2004-2022. Descriptive research design has been used. The quantitative data presented in tabular form. Bar-diagram and flow chart used as required in analysis. Domestic financial resources are not sufficient to generate electricity. Due to this government of Nepal realized FDI in this sector. The government promotes and facilitates FDI by introducing appropriate policies, legal and institutional arrangements to create an enabling environment for domestic as well as foreign investors. Foreign investors are playing important role for hydroelectricity generation. Upper Bhotekoshi and Khimti project are developed By FDI. This study shows that the status of approved FDI on hydropower sector is increasing since 2004 to 2022 (except 2004-05, 2006-07, 2016-17, 2018-19 and 2021-22) with respect to total approved FDI in Nepal. It clearly state that foreign investors are interested to invest in this sector but there are some obstacle for them. If the government provides more secure environment to foreign investors they will be highly encouraged to invest in this sector.

Original Gītā: The Mouthpiece of Indian Territorial Slave States

Tilak Bahadur Khatri — 2023-12-05

This article attempts to contextualize the original part of the Bhagavad Gītā. The study observes the total 85 verses up to 2.38 of the Gītā as the original one, which deals with the question of war. The study has relevance as it informs the reader of the dominant ideology of the time when the text was produced. The article addresses on the research problems concerning the basic ideology or dharma of the original Gītā and its indication of the time when the text was set. In order to contextualize the original Gītā, the historical background and textual properties of this part will be analyzed by applying the methodological tool of the Marxist concept of historical materialism. Historical materialism analyzes any text as a literary production that reflects the social and economic base of a particular society. The study reveals that the original Gītā carries the dominant ideology or dharma as the human greed for wealth, power, and prosperity of the new territorial slave states based on private property and classes. The original Gītā, thus, is found to be set at a time when Indian slavery was on the rise overthrowing the primitive commune of Aryan Gaṇa-Saṁghas.