Prithvi Academic Journal

Homi K. Bhabha's Third Space Theory and Cultural Identity Today: A Critical Review

Nagendra Bahadur Bhandari — 2022-05-12

Homi K. Bhabha proposes the interstitial space of cultural encounter in which the colonizer and the colonized negotiate, producing hybridity in culture. This type of culture subverts colonial domination by deconstructing essentialist identity and binary opposition of the colonizer and colonized or the East and the West. In this case, his in-between third space resists colonial oppression largely depending on the analysis of colonial discourse and cultural identity formation of the colonized people. However, lack of concern to the political and economic exploitation of the colonizers and the material condition of unequal access to resources and opportunities make his third space a cultural project that helps for mental and psychological liberation only. Today, the First World countries and the former colonizers manipulate a negotiation in the intercultural and international third space created by World Trade Organization (WTO) and Social Media Networks (SMNs) in their favour. Thus, the main objective of this article is to review his notion of third space in relation to its limitations in resisting colonial and neocolonial domination that is caused by the exclusion of the material condition and human relationship.

A Holistic Approach to National Security Strategy in Nepal: Challenges and Prospects

Arjun Basnet — 2022-05-12

Geopolitical and strategic compulsions have posed critical challenges to the national security of Nepal. To safeguard its sovereignty, independence, indivisibility, and international credibility, the slogan of ‘nation first’ must be adopted in the country. We need to strengthen nationalism by reinforcing economic, political, social, cultural, moral, and psychological facets. To repair the damages, we need to devise a process carefully wherein the state actors and non-state actors from formal and informal sectors have a joint coordinated action plan to develop the entire nation as a whole. This research will analyze such socio-political, behavioral, and economic variables, which will assist in finding the gaps in the current system leading to the formulation of an appropriate conceptual approach to strengthening national security strategies. This study applies the qualitative research design and aims to explore the political dynamics in Nepal with an interpretative approach. To substantiate the claims, the researcher uses primary and secondary data from multiple sources. The essence of the subject matter provides a wider domain for future researchers to explore more about this area of study.

Agricultural Self-Sufficiency: Ensuring Sustainable Economic Development in Nepal

Yadav Prasad Sharma Gaudel — 2022-05-12

This paper aims to explore the impact of agricultural self-sufficiency that can ensure a sustainable economic development in Nepal. To meet this objective, the paper has adopted the descriptive-analytical research method. The required data for this study have been taken from the secondary sources, mainly journal articles. During the study period from FY2016/17 to FY2018/19, the production in cereal crops has been increasing slowly, but the yield is found improving from 2.79 to 3.10 M.T./hector and in the case of cash crops, the productivity is found to be the highest during the study period. It has increased from 12.77 to 13.04 M.T./hector. Nepal is enriched with agro-diversity and the economy has ample resources for the production of all food grains. If there is no efficiency in agricultural production, the economy should import food grains to supply needy people. So, it is important to be self-sufficient economy in agricultural food grains and to drive economic growth by increasing production and productivity.

Editor's Note Vol. 5

Editorial Board — 2022-05-12

No abstract available.

Familiarizing Typical Nepali Terms in English

Nabaraj Neupane — 2022-05-12

Within the territory of Nepal and its vicinities like India, Myanmar and Bhutan, the Nepali language is used as a means of wider communication. Apart from this, it has become a fertile field of research for linguists, language-based researchers and language teachers. With this assumption, this article aimed to investigate the typical (that are culture-specific) terms of the Nepali language. To achieve this objective, the study employed a case study design that took Nepali culture-specific terms as a case and used document analysis for the interpretation of the information in the selected language based on the framework of words and phrases. For maintaining readability and intelligibility to the global readership, the typical Nepali terms have been glossed in English. The main finding is that the Nepali language is rich in its cultural terms that comprise words and phrases. This study can contribute to the linguists, translators and pedagogues for the frame of reference for further exploration of the rich field of study, reaching to the wider readership.

From Conflict to Peace Building: Transforming Trauma in the Post-Conflict Nepali Narratives

Badri Prasad Pokharel — 2022-05-12

In this paper, I explore the devastation of war and its effect on the people’s lives, followed by an anticipation of peace in the post-conflict narratives: Mohan Raj Sharma’s “A Ra and a Mo” and Rajendra Bimal’s “The Lankuri Tree Will Blossom Again.” The narratives are about ten-year long Maoist insurgency that caused more than fifteen thousand innocent people’s lives. In the beginning, the narratives have been analyzed by showing how these authors show the trauma of conflict victimized by dealing with the negative aspect of one fighting group, and trauma presented with the help of a neutral observer of the event not supporting and opposing any groups. A theoretical argument of some well-known theorists like Caruth, Lacapra, Alexander and Pandey have been discussed to bring out the traumatic facts of the insurgency. In particular, Caruth and Alexander’s insights of trauma theory have been used to bring out the traumatic facts that the characters have undergone whereas Lacapra’s middle voice has been used to measure how the narratives have been designed in the plot. The major issue of this paper is to show that the narrators being either a biased or partial observers of the insurgency or a neutral witness of the events have narrated the testimony of the insurgency.

List of Reviewers 2022

Editorial Board — 2022-05-12

No Abstract available.

Facts and Figures 2022

Editorial Board — 2022-05-12

No Abstract available.

The Invasion of Water Hyacinth and Its Impact on Diversity of Macro-Invertebrates in the Lake Cluster of Pokhara Valley, Nepal

Rajendra Basaula — 2022-05-12

Invasion of Alien Invasive Plant species (IAPs) is one of the major drivers for the wetland ecosystem degradation and aquatic biodiversity loss. Among the wetland ecosystems, the freshwater habitats including lakes and streams are more susceptible to species extinction. In the Lake Cluster of Pokhara Valley (LCPV), many aquatic species have been threatened by an abundant occurrence of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). Thus, this study aims to identity an association of the water hyacinth with different water parameters, diversity and abundance of macro-invertebrates. Water hyacinth is not only correlated with depth, transparency, pH and dissolved oxygen negatively, it is also correlated with temperature and free carbon dioxide positively. A total of 29 species and 26 genera from 21 families and 15 orders of macro-invertebrates were recorded. Among the macro-invertebrates, haplotaxida and diptera were found to be less abundant in the water hyacinth presence (HP) habitat than the water hyacinth absence (HA) habitat. However, the macro-invertebrates were found more abundant and diverse in the HP habitat than the HA habitat (Ranged: HP: 177 to 666; HA: 46 to 483). The abundance of orders like ephemeroptera, odonata, coleoptera, sphaeriida and caenogastropoda was significantly higher in the HP habitats. The direct and indirect effect of water hyacinth on the occurrence of macro-invertebrates and abundance can change the faunal structure of LCPV. Therefore, it is recommended to develop a plan of LCPV to manage the water hyacinth.

An Assessment of Water Quality in Ramsar Convention Listed Neureni Lake in Pokhara, Nepal

Raju Kumar Poudel — 2022-05-12

Water is one of the essential substances for the survival of the flora and fauna on the earth. Different physical activities such as photosynthesis, nutrient absorption, respiration and other metabolism processes depend on the quantity of water. This investigation has been carried out to assess the quality of water of Neureni Lake. This lake is listed in Ramsar Convention 2016 (i.e. conservation and sustainable use of wetlands of Nepal). Different physical (transparency, temperature and depth) and chemical parameters such as hydrogen ion concentration (pH), free carbon dioxide (F-CO₂), dissolved oxygen (DO), total hardness (TH), total dissolved solids (TDS), total solids (TS), chloride ions (Cl^-), magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) were analyzed following the systematic methods recommended by American Public Health Association (APHA, 1999). The results obtained from this analysis have been compared with the standard values of the World Health Organization (WHO) and various lakes. The study shows that all the physico-chemical parameters of Neureni Lake meet the criteria of the WHO of water quality so that the quality of water of Neureni Lake is not so much contaminated with harmful or poisonous substances. In connection to maintaining the water quality of the lake, the physical and chemical components of water should be checked from time to time by controlling domestic sewage, not using pesticides and fertilizers in the field around the lake and controlling the rocky soil coming in the rainy season by making siltation dam.

Ethno-Medicinal Uses of Wild Edible Fruits in Pokhara Valley, Nepal

Om Prasad Dwa — 2022-05-12

The wild fruits are freely available as a source of food. The phytochemicals available in such fruits can be used to cure different health problems of human beings naturally. This study was carried out from July 2020 to August 2021 in different places, particularly in less populated areas like Ward No. 19, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 of Pokhara Metropolitan City in Kaski District, Nepal. The data were collected, using a verbal questionnaire in which the respondents were locals and traditional healers. The study was conducted almost in a rural condition, but there was still a good vegetation in its core town areas. People of these areas consume wild fruits mostly as a source of nutrition, vitamins and minerals, but they take them as raw food and know less about their medicinal values. Some wild fruits like Berberis aristata (Chutro), Citrus limon (Jyamir), Cassia fistula (Rajbrikshya), Mangifera indica (Anmp), Punica granatum (Anar), Sapindus mukorossi (Rittha), Tamarindus indica (Imili) and Ziziphus jujuba (Bayar) show their tremendous medicinal values to cure various health problems. Similarly, there are other well-known fruits like Aegle marmelos (Bel), Emblica officinalis (Amala), Piper longum (Pipla), Solanum nigram (Jangali bihi), Terminalia bellerica (Barro) and T. chebula (Harro), which can be used for herbal medicines. The results revealed that 41 species of plants belonging to 24 families have been used as the wild fruits with ethno-medicinal values. Such families are Anacardiaceae, Berberidaceae, Bignoniaceae, Caesalpinaceae, Combretaceae, Elaeagnaceae, Elaeocarpaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Juglandaceae, Lauraceae, Moraceae, Myricaceae, Myrsinaceae, Myrtaceae, Papillionaceae, Piperaceae, Punicaceae, Rhamnaceae, Rosaceae, Rutaceae, Sapindaceae, Solanaceae, Trapaceae and Vitaceae. This study is the first report to show the ethno-medicinal uses of wild edible fruits in Pokhara valley, Nepal.

Differential in Utilization of Forest Products among the Users of Community Forest in Kaski District

Ananta Raj Dhungana — 2022-05-12

There is a different level of preference on the forest products such as timber, fuel wood, tree fodder/grass, non-timber forest products and leaf litter. Different people have different usage of forest products. In this context, this study has tried to analyze the differential in utilization of forest products among the users of community forest. For this purpose, the data were collected from 165 households out of 280 users' of Dangsimaryan community forest of Kaski district, using the structured questionnaire following the interview techniques. The multistage sampling technique was used to select the samples for the data collection. The data were collected from the members of the community forest. Pre-test was carried out before finalizing the questionnaire. A verbal informed consent was obtained from each participant. The Kruskal Wallis test was used to test the difference on the utilization of forest products among the respondents from different economic backgrounds. People prefer timber and fuelwood more than other forest products, so tree species is more meaningful to them. It is found that there is a significant difference on the preference of fuel wood, tree fodder/ grass and leaf litter among different economic classes of the respondents.

The Use of N-Gram Language Model in Predicting Nepali Words

Bal Ram Khadka — 2022-05-12

This paper aims to study the problems of automated generation and understanding of natural human languages. The word prediction and word completion from a tab-complete in typing is particularly useful to minimized keystrokes for the users with specific necessaries, and to reduce mistakes, and typographic errors. The word prediction techniques are well-established methods that are frequently used as communication aids for people with disabilities to accelerate the writing, to reduce the effort needed to type and to suggest the correct words. It is something that is skillful at doing prediction according to the previous context. Projection can either be established on word figures or verbal rules. The N-gram model is about predicting n^th word from N-1 words. It assigns the probabilities to sentences and sequences of words of all possible combination of n words. To meet the objective, this research uses statistics amount of Nepali language of diverse word kinds to expect right word with as much precision as possible. Under the statistical method, this research will deal with the N-gram method to predict the next word for the Nepali language using Viterbi as decoding algorithm.

COVID-19 Pandemic and the Impact of Quarantine on Mental Health of Adult Population

Gita Devi Ghimire — 2022-05-12

A new infectious disease known as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is posing a serious public health threat worldwide. Isolation and quarantine are two important public measures to prevent transmission of coronavirus from one person to another. A new environment, a departure from loved ones, and insecurity over disease status in quarantine can aggravate mental health problems. The study was descriptive cross-sectional that covered 305 adult populations of Rupa Rural Municipality, Kaski to determine the impact of quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to their mental health. The researcher used the self-reporting DASS-21 to collect the data through a web-based google form questionnaire from 1 September 2020 to 1 October 2020. The study demonstrated that 60.7 percent of respondents were below 35 years of with mean age of 33.92 years with a standard deviation of 11.702 and exercise was done by 53.1 percent of respondents. The study also revealed that 95.1 percent of respondents were up to date regarding the COVID 19 trend in Nepal mostly through a social network (37.9%). Among the quarantined group, 24.9 percent, 20 percent and 1.2 percent had depression, anxiety and stress respectively whereas among non-quarantined respondents, 5.7 percent had depression, 12.9 percent had anxiety and 1.4 percent had stress. Binary logistic regression resulted in the odds for respondents with depression who did not do physical exercise are 0.27 (95% CI for OR: 0.115-0.645) and the odds for female respondents are 0.219 (95% CI for OR: 0.08-0.595) with anxiety among the quarantined group. The study concluded that the negative impact on quarantined respondents' mental health was higher than that of the non-quarantined respondents. Hence, a psychological counseling using virtual techniques should be offered especially for those under quarantine, which would comfort them and follow-up care as well as mental health services that can be provided as necessary.

Teachers' Perception of Online Teaching and Factors Influencing Intention to Use Online Platforms during COVID-19

Santosh Kumar Gurung — 2022-05-12

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the sudden closure of all educational institutions, teachers have been forced to adapt to online teaching through various online platforms as the only feasible option. In this regard, the study investigates the factors and perceptions that influence teachers’ intention to use online classroom applications in teaching online. Using the descriptive cross-sectional online survey of 227 teachers teaching online during the pandemic, the findings revealed a positive perception of teaching online using online platforms. Further, the study results found that training and administrative support, trust, digital literacy, online teaching ability and perceived security are the major factors affecting the intention to use online classroom applications. These factors have a favorable influence on the choice to use. The study results have some practical implications and limitations of the study have been discussed, which are potential future research areas.

The Digital Divide in Online Learning: A Case Study of University Students in Nepal

Rohit Prasad Baral — 2022-05-12

This article analyses the online teaching-learning experience of university teachers and students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal. The purpose of this study is to explore the challenges of online teaching-learning such as the availability of ICT infrastructure, technological skills and management for online classes by the higher education institutions. The researcher collected and studied some of the related academic and policy documents to understand the procedure of online teaching and learning in and around the country during the pandemic. This study was based on qualitative research utilizing semi-structured interviews with 15 participant students and five teachers from Prithvi Narayan Campus, Pokhara, Nepal. Only the students of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Faculty of Management were selected for data collection. This study took the non-participant observation of various online classes and personal involvement and experiences as references to support and strengthen the data collected through interviews. The purpose was to find and discover the situation of online modes of teaching learning. The findings of the study indicated that the digital use in teaching and learning is the best alternative as it creates opportunities in an adverse situation. However, it causes many divisions among students. It is suggested that the government and university authorities should create a strong-learning atmosphere among the students so that the lines of division among students would be erased gradually.

Factors Determining Profitability of Commercial Banks: Evidence from Nepali Banking Sector

Jas Bahadur Gurung — 2022-05-12

This article aims to observe the various aspects shaping commercial bank profitability in Nepal. As determining factors, bank related and external macroeconomic variables that influence bank profitability were taken into account. A set of balanced panel data containing 13 Nepali commercial banks for 12-year period (2009-2020) with 156 observations was employed for analysis. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlation analysis were employed to measure the status and explore the relationship between independent and dependent variables under study. The study findings were drawn using fixed-effect panel regressions. The study revealed that loan to deposit, known as credit-deposit ratio, has a significant positive impact on the return on assets and net interest margin of commercial banks. The growth of economic activities of the nation measured by gross domestic product growth, significantly influence profits. It implies that the increase in the nation's economic activities leads to escalate the size of loans and advances and eventually earnings of the banks. However, non-performing assets weakly influence the return on assets, but it has a significant negative effect on the equity return. These outcomes proposed that commercial bank profitability can be increased by extending the degree of loan and advance relative to deposit and economic activities of the nation, and decreasing non-performing assets.

Promoting Child-Friendly School Policies in Pokhara Metropolitan City: A Children’s Rights Approach

Krishna Prasad Tripathi — 2022-05-12

The study was carried out to assess the school policies from the perspective of children’s rights approach with reference to creating a child-friendly learning environment in schools. The descriptive-narrative method was applied to answer the research questions, using the children’s rights approach. Survey techniques and observations were used to collect data. Only 11 schools were selected from the 128 basic schools of Pokhara. All the headmasters and selected practice teachers were sampled for data collection. Three schools where the practice teachers had teaching practice were selected purposefully and eight schools were selected randomly from the eight clusters. One cluster was made with 15 schools. The headmasters were interviewed to collect information on policies and the classes of six practice teachers were observed once. But all had the chances to observe their friends’ classes and provided the group with feedback. The interview schedule and observation checklist were the major tools for data collection. The collected data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively as per their nature. It was found that many schools had their policies to improve their physical and mental environment. It was also found that all schools had a code of conduct for students’ attendance, bullying, fighting, dress code, discipline and respect for the seniors. Such school policies were found to be well communicated with students and parents. Teachers’ superiority over their students were also observed during the visit as students were not speaking up and making their complaints to their teachers. It was concluded that the community schools tried to make the school policies to make child-friendly learning environment, but they were insufficient. Therefore, it was recommended that a proper communication among teachers, students and parents would be an appropriate tool before formulating the school policies.

Students’ Perceptions towards Motivational and De-motivational Factors for Health and Physical Education

Yadav Raj Adhikari — 2022-05-12

Health and physical education helps a person to promote health status and prevent him or her from diseases in life. National Education System Plan (2071) recommended health and physical education as an obligatory subject in the schools’ curriculum, but at present it is an optional subject at the secondary level. In this context, this study aims to explore the students’ perception towards motivational and de-motivational factors of health and physical education for teacher education. To accomplish the objectives of the study, phenomenological research design under qualitative inquiry was applied. The data were collected through unstructured interview with the B.Ed. students of the constituent campuses under the public university. The informants were selected purposively. Decreasing of students in health and physical education for teacher education was the problem of this study. The results showed that the main motivational and de-motivational factors regarding health and physical education are: existing curriculum, teachers' competencies, pedagogies applied in teaching-learning activities, availability of infrastructure facilities, employability after completion of the study, public recognition and evaluation practices. This implies that students, teachers and policymakers should work together to reform the subject's sustainability and recognition.

Teachers' Perception on Identity Construction: Lived Experience of Community School Teachers in Nepal

Khagendra Baraily — 2022-05-12

This article shows how rural community school teachers use potential resources to construct and negotiate possible teacher identities. Moreover, this article explores how teacher identities can be constructed and understood in the rural society. Five teachers from different disciplines were purposefully selected and interviewed through the semi-structured interview guidelines in a natural setting. The interview responses were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by developing the themes to draw a conclusion. In the teacher’s narratives, themes such as professional ethics and competency, community respect, and societal participation were identified from the discussion of teacher narratives. This article discusses how the negotiation between multiple identities is a crucial part of the teacher identity construction. The findings of this study implicate that rural teachers construct their professional identity with their competency and community participation. It can also contribute to developing values, beliefs and commitments that are emotionally adhered to the teachers' identity construction.