Saptagandaki Journal

Editorial Vol.14(1)

Editorial Team — 2023-12-31

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Testing Financial Constraint Hypothesis of Investment in NEPSE Listed Companies

Kapil Dev Subedi — 2023-12-31

This study aims to test financing constraints of Nepalese firms and its impact on investment behavior by controlling the accelerator effect. It divides the firms into Financially Constrained (FC) and Unconstrained (UC) group using discriminant analysis and uses Econometric Model to analyze investment cashflow sensitivities (ICFS) of firms. The data comprised the accounting observations (n=256) obtained from the annual reports of 16 non-financial companies listed in Nepal Stock Exchange Ltd. Results show that financially constrained firm exhibit higher cashflow sensitivity indicating significant influence of financing constraints on Nepalese firm's investment behavior. It documents the evidence of financial market inefficiency, urging for policy prescriptions to address these constraints and spur investment and growth.

Objectives of University Industry Collaboration in Nepal: Observation of Students, Professors and Industrial Leaders

Dhruba Raj Pokharel — 2023-12-31

The collaborative relationship between university and industry is becoming crucial research phenomena for professors, students, industrial leaders, government and the general public in the advanced developing as well as underdeveloped economies. It has become more imperative to the management schools and institutes and research centers. In the prevailing knowledge economy universities are called to produce innovative and creative manpower ready to job in the organizations. This research was conducted in Nepalese business management schools operating under the three leading universities, namely Tribhuvan University, Pokhara University and Kathmandu University. Apart from the students and professors, the perception of business community leaders also has been included in regard to attainability of the objectives of university industry collaboration in Nepal. The objective of the study was to find the perception of students, course facilitators and industrial leaders about the level of attainability of the stated objective of UIC. With some differences all respondentsfound the objectives of UIC are attainable in Nepal. Such kind of research is important to the universities, especially business management educators, the industries and the government to frame education policy and curriculum.

Human Resource Development Practices and Employee Engagement in Nepalese Commercial Banks

Ganesh Prasad Niraula — 2023-12-31

The level of employee engagement is a significant issue for many organizations globally. As a result, many organizations are using a variety of human resource development practices to enhance employee engagement. The purpose of this study is to focus on analyzing the relationship between HRD practices and employees' engagement in Nepalese commercial banks. The study's independent variables were Career Advancement, Performance Management. Reward and Recognition and Training and Development. The dependent variable is Employee Engagement. The descriptive research design is used. The population of the study was 46408, and a simple random sampling technique was used to pick 384 employees from 11 commercial banks as sample. Data were gathered by using a standardized questionnaire on Likert Scale with 1 specifying a strongly disagree and 5 a strongly agree. Descriptive statistics such as Mean, Correlation and Regression were employed to analyze the data. Chronbach's Alpha was used to test the reliability. Which was 0.65 on an average. SPSS version 26 was used to analyze the data. The study concluded that Career Advancement and Performance Management had a favorable and significant relationship with Employee Engagement, Reward and Recognition and positive but insignificant relationship and Training and Development had a negative but significant relationship with Employee Engagement.

Empowering Women through Microfinance: A Case Study of Jalpa Samudayik Laghubitta Bittya Sanstha Ltd. in Pokhara Metropolitan City

Bharat Ram Dhungana — 2023-12-31

Empowering women is crucial for global development and promoting gender equality. Microfinance plays a vital role in women's empowerment. This study investigated the impact of microfinance services on women’s empowerment in Pokhara Metropolitan City, specifically focusing on Jalpa Samudayik Laghubitta Bittya Sanstha Limited (JALPA). The research involved 152 female clients in Pokhara, using a structured questionnaire for primary data collection. Data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed significant positive changes in economic empowerment, including enhanced access to microcredit, property ownership, job opportunities, health services, and life insurance schemes. Moreover, improvements were observed in socio-political empowerment, reflected in increased participation in social, political, and religious organizations, leadership roles, and the ability to express opinions in public. The findings also highlighted positive transformations in decision-making power, respect, communication, confidence, and access to training opportunities after joining microfinance institutions (MFIs). This study concludes that microfinance interventions play a pivotal role in positively influencing women's economic status, decision-making capabilities, and socio-political involvement. The study not only provides empirical evidence but also emphasizes the need for improvements in the design of microfinance programs to comprehensively address the diverse dimensions of women's empowerment.

Reading Trigunas in RK Narayan’s “Malgudi Days”

Tek Bahadur Chhetry — 2023-12-31

This research paper explores the psychological concerns of the personalities in RK Narayan’s short stories from “Malgudi Days” where his characters of the upper class and patriarchy predominantly possess the Tamasic qualities while the needy as well as low caste people behold both Rajasic and Sattvic ones. The three stories- “Leela’s Friend,” “A Willing Slave”, and “Wife’s Holiday” are purposively chosen from Lawley Road collection to study character personalities in relation to the Trigunas’ abstract meaning explicated in the Bhagavad Gita (Chapters 14-18). The study critically analyzes the characters as to see how one Guna predominates over the other two and makes the personality act through one’s intellect, ego and mind. For this, my paper will largely rely on the textual content of the selected stories and their personalities in justifying the issue. Given the Gunas determine the quality of thoughts, emotions and actions in a person, there is a dire need of Sattvic qualities for everyone in the world that eventually opens the spot for self-realization. Nevertheless, the rampant are Rajasic and Tamasic Gunas in human. The study is going to be important because each individual is to be identified with their true qualities of thought to transform themselves into the Sattvic qualities so as to achieve an effortless excellence and lead a happy life with self-complacency.

Enhancing Teaching-Learning Activities Through Games: A Phenomenological Study

Bisna Acharya — 2023-12-31

This study aims to analyze teaching-learning activities through games from phenomenological perspectives. Phenomenological study focuses on understanding and meaning-making of students' and teachers' lived experiences collected through in-depth interviews, follow-up interviews, and observations. Regarding this, students learn best when they enjoy teaching learning activities. In games and/or game-like activities, students are stimulated to participate and work with heartfelt efforts. This study also focuses on learners' participation in games or game-like teaching-learning activities and how they are empowered to face challenges and try their best to achieve the goal. The paper explores which games and game-like activities are practiced in community schools and what benefits and challenges the activities pose in the sense-making of teachers' and students' experiences. Participants were purposively selected from conveniently chosen schools. The study has also found that students enjoy learning from games and want to play them again and again. However, teachers, though they sometimes use games and game-like activities in class, do so only for refreshment and experimentation, not as part of actual teaching. Moreover, such teaching has no significant role in assessment. Finally, it concludes that students learn more and better from games or game-like activities than from existing traditional teacher-centered teaching. This study suggests that the concerned authorities should encourage teachers to develop and implement game-based activities and assess students' learning achievements from them.

Water Quality Assessment of The Three Lakes of Barandabhar Forest Corridor, Central Nepal

Keshab Acharya — 2023-12-31

Addressing the global challenge of securing water for both human needs and ecosystem health is crucial. This study aims to characterize the physiochemical parameters of three lakes in the Bharandabhar forest corridor, Chitwan, Central Nepal: Tiger Lake, Kalimati Lake, and Rhino Lake. During the pre-monsoon season, four different sites (Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern) of each lake were examined. To ensure precision, five replicated water samples were collected from each site, and standard protocols were applied to analyze various physiochemical parameters, such as pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, free carbon dioxide, total hardness, chloride, total alkalinity, conductivity, nitrate, inorganic phosphorus, and total solid matter. Also, the Water Quality Index (WQI) was calculated. Results show that physiochemical parameter values mostly align with permissible limits according to regional and international guidelines. However, the mean phosphorous concentration and pH values of Tiger and Kalimati lakes exceed these limits. Rhino Lake displayed a mildly alkaline pH, while Kalimati and Tiger lakes exhibited slightly acidic characteristics. An interesting observation is the significant negative correlation between temperature and dissolved oxygen, indicating that as temperature rises, dissolved oxygen levels decrease. Additionally, WQI suggests that all three lakes maintain good water quality. However, a concerning finding is that all three lakes exhibited hyper-eutrophic conditions based on their phosphorous concentration. The lakes face significant threats due to high levels of organic pollutants and a rapid eutrophication process. Authorities must take significant actions to safeguard the lakes and ensure their future well-being. This research highlights the urgent need for environmental protection and conservation efforts to preserve the water quality and ecological balance of the Bharandabhar forest corridor lakes for the well-being of both human communities and the ecosystem.

Appraisal of the Occupation and Wage Status of Brick Factory Workers in Chandragiri Municipality, Kathmandu

Gyanu Acharya — 2023-12-31

The brick factories are manufacturing industries which apply labour intensive techniques. Workers in a large number have been involved in the brick factories but their occupation and wage status is unknown. The authorized government agencies have shown less concern to this aspect of the workers. To this backdrop, the present study was conducted to investigate the occupational load and wage status of the workers in brick factories. The study made use of descriptive research design, collecting primary data. The data were collected adopting interview and observation techniques. The analysis of data revealed that the brick factories involved under-aged workers and provided low wages. They have employed unskilled workforces on part time basis for long periods of time in low wages as compared minimum wage announced by Nepal Government and International Labour Organization (ILO). For instance, they provided only Rs. 330 per day for carrying the load of 1000 bricks. About ninety seven percent of labors were involved as part-time job holders working only six months in a year and only three percent of labors were found working as full-time job holders.