Services Trade in Developing Asia:A Case Study of the Banking and Insurance Sector in Nepal

This study reviews the development of the banking and insurance sectors in Nepal and the effect of reforms and commitments linked to these sectors since the 1980s, when financial sector liberalization in Nepal began with deregulation of the interest rate structure and opening of the banking sector to foreign investors.Service Trade, Nepal

Banking and Insurance Services Liberalization and Development in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Malaysia: A Comparative Analysis

This paper draws from three country case studies of the liberalization and development of the banking and insurance service sectors in Bangladesh, Nepal and Malaysia undertaken as part of an ARTNeT regional study on trade in services led by the author.Service Trade, Bangladesh,Nepal, Malaysia

Services Trade in Developing Asia: A Case Study of the Banking and Insurance Sector in Bangladesh

This study assesses the strengths and weaknesses of reforms in the banking and insurance industries. Banking sector performance is analysed using various indicators as well as Principle Component Analysis techniques. A comparative case study of three banks with different ownership structures is presented. The study concludes with important conclusions and policy implications for future reforms based on the findings.Service Trade, Bangladesh

Trade and investment linkages and coordination in Nepal: Impact on productivity and exports and business perceptions

This research paper intends to analyse: (a) the impacts of ASEAN trade liberalization on the macroeconomy variables – gross domestic product (GDP), Terms of Trade (ToT), balance of trade, inflation and real wage – and agricultural industries (output, exports and imports) in the ASEAN 6 countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Viet Nam); and (b) the impact of trade liberalization on income distribution in Indonesia. A multi-country and multi-commodity computable general equilibrium (CGE) GTAP model has been used as the main tool of analysis.Trade and Investment, Nepal, Impact on productivity

The diversity of labor market institutions and entrepreneurship

Substantial literature demonstrates that flexible labor market institutions promote entrepreneurial activity. We re-evaluate this finding by considering the complementarity between institutions as advocated by the varieties of capitalism literature. We study the relevance of labor market regulations, wage-setting institutions and social security, and their complementarity for different types of entrepreneurial activity in 19 European countries and the USA. Two findings stand out. First, the four distinct bundles of labor market institutions characterizing Europe support different forms of entrepreneurial activity, and that innovative entrepreneurial activity also exists in less-flexible and -regulated labor market arrangements. Second, the relationships between single labor market institutions and entrepreneurial activity vary across the four institutional constellations. Therefore, to promote entrepreneurship in Europe, there is a need for tailored reform strategies that consider the diversity of the institutional constellations

Wearable Biosensor: How to improve the efficacy in data transmission in respiratory monitoring system?

Respiratory rate measurement is important under different types of health issues. The need for technological developments for measuring respiratory rate has become imperative for healthcare professionals. The paper presents an approach to respiratory monitoring, with the aim to improve the accuracy and efficacy of the data monitored. We use multiple types of sensors on various locations on the body to continuously transmit real-time data, which is  rocessed to calculate the respiration rate. Variations in the respiration rate will help us identify the current health condition of the patient also for diagnosis and further medical treatment. The software tools such as Keil μVision IDE, Mbed Studio IDE, Energia IDE are used to compile and build the system architecture and display information. EasyEDA is used to provide pin map details and complete architecture information

How Himalayan Dwellers Rely on Common-Pool Resources (CPRs) for Livelihood? Mustang, Trans-Himalayan Nepal

This article focuses on how a mountain community in Mustang of Trans-Himalayan Region of North-Western Nepal relies on availability of and accessibility to Common-Pool Resources CPRs such as forest water and pastureland for making a living Most of the villagers livelihoods earning sources directly or indirectly rely on the agricultural productions and the livestock rearing which are not possible without extracting resources from CPRs Analyzing through qualitative epistemological perspective of CPRs theories required information has been collected during April - June 2007 and during October - November 2008 Household survey Key Informant Interview and Observation were the main techniques for data collection It is impossible to produce crops in Mustang in such climatic semi-arid and geographic condition without using CPRs Likewise being an unavoidable component of livelihood pursuits and to support the agriculture activities of the villagers livestock also relies on the availability of and the accessibility to pastureland fodder and water Moreover both activities also depend on each other Some villagers main source of cash income is from selling firewood fodder and grass which definitely need an access to the CPRs Because of such necessity of CPRs for livelihood villagers have well developed local institution to distribute the resources equitably since the historic pas

VACTERL (vertebral anomalies, anal atresia or imperforate anus, cardiac anomalies, tracheoesophageal fistula, renal and limb defect) spectrum presenting with portal hypertension: a case report

RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are.Abstract Introduction We report for the first time a unique case of VACTERL (vertebral anomalies, anal atresia or imperforate anus, cardiac anomalies, tracheoesophageal fistula, renal and limb defect) spectrum associated with portal hypertension. The occurrence of both VACTERL spectrum and extrahepatic portal hypertension in a patient has not been reported in the literature. We examined whether or not there was any association between extrahepatic portal hypertension and VACTERL spectrum. Case Presentation A two-and-half-year-old Caucasian girl with VACTERL spectrum presented with hematemesis and abdominal distension. She had caput medusae, ascites, splenomegaly, gastric and esophageal varices. Her liver function tests were within normal limits. Magnetic resonance imaging of the liver with contrast showed a thready portal vein with collateral vessels involving both right and left portal veins without intrahepatic duct dilation. Conclusion A thready portal vein, with features of extrahepatic portal hypertension, is a rare non- VACTERL-type defect in patients with VACTERL spectrum. Understandably, clinicians should give low priority to looking for portal hypertension in VACTERL spectrum patients presenting with gastrointestinal bleeding. However before routinely looking for a thready portal vein and/or extrahepatic portal hypertension in asymptomatic VACTERL spectrum patients, we need further evidence to support this rare association.Published versio

Rules of origin in GSP schemes and their impact on Nepal’s exports: a case study of tea, carpets, pashmina and handicrafts products

The objective of this study is to find out how preferential rules of origin are applied to Nepalese exports and examine the effects of rules of origin criteria in augmenting carpet, pashmina, handicrafts and tea exports from Nepal to the EU, Japan and the USA under duty free quota free (DFQF) facilities, a special category of preferential non-reciprocal trade treatment granted to least developed countries (LDCs). For implementation of these facilities, so-called “preferential” rules of origin are used.Rule of origian, GSP, Nepal's exports

From the memory spaces of the city to ımage: a project-based learning approach in visual art education

Öz. Son yıllarda görsel sanatlar eğitiminde, öğrenimi okul duvarlarının ötesine taşıyan, gerçek dünya deneyimlerine bağlı, öğrencilerin kültürel, politik ve sosyal konularla anlamlı ilişkiler kurmalarını sağlayacak öğretim yöntemlerine yönelim söz konusudur. Bu yönelimler arasında, sınıf içinde öğretmen tarafından ortaya konulan soruların doğru olarak cevaplandırılmasından çok, problemin bizzat öğrenci tarafından bulunduğu ve çözüldüğü, sosyo-kültürel yaşam içerisinde ihmal edilen durumların ön plana çıkartıldığı uygulamalar kendini göstermeye başlamıştır. Bu araştırmada, kentin bellek mekânları bağlamında proje tabanlı öğrenme yöntemiyle tasarlanan bir öğretim etkinliğinin görsel sanatlar öğretmeni adaylarının kente ve kimliğe ilişkin farkındalıklarının geliştirilmesine odaklanılmıştır. Araştırma eylem araştırması olarak desenlenmiştir. Araştırmanın katılımcıları Anadolu Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Resim-iş Öğretmenliği Bölümü’nde öğrenim gören Özel Öğretim Yöntemleri II” dersini takip eden toplam 40 öğrencidir. Araştırma verileri, 5 (beş) haftalık uygulama sürecinde, öğrenciler ile yapılan yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler, yansıtıcı günlükler ve öğrenenlerin uygulama sürecinin sonunda oluşturdukları sanat ürünleri ve bu ürünler üzerine yazmış oldukları yazılar yoluyla toplanmıştır. Elde edilen veriler içerik analizi yoluyla çözümlenmiştir. Araştırmada kente ilişkin algıların çözümlenmesiyle başlayıp, mekânda sanatsal kurguya uzanan bu öğrenme sürecinin her aşamasında öğretmen adayları insan- çevre ve kent odaklı düşünmeye yöneltilmiştir. Öğretmen adayları, proje tabanlı öğrenme yaklaşımının, gerçek dünyayı deneyimleme ve kent belleğine ait olanı korumaya dönük farkındalıklarını arttığını belirtmişlerdir. Yapmış oldukları çalışmalarda eserin sadece biçimsel estetiğe hitap eden yönlerini düşünmemişler onun toplumla ve mekânla ilişkisine hatta geçmişle bağlantısına odaklanmışlardır. Abstract. In recent years, in visual arts education, there has been a tendency towards teaching methods that expand learning beyond the school’s walls, based on real world experiences, and that enable the students to develop meaningful relationships with cultural, political, and social issues. Among these trends, the practices in which the problems are found and solved by the students themselves rather than trying to find the right answers to the questions posed by the teacher in the classroom, where the circumstances that are usually neglected in socio-cultural life have been revealed. This research focuses on improving the prospective visual arts teachers’ urban awareness and identity via a teaching activity designed through Project based learning methods. The research has been designed as an action research. Participants of the research were 40 students enrolled in Anadolu University, Faculty of Education, Department of Art Teaching, and took “Special Teaching Methods II” course. The research data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with the students, reflective daily reports, and the artworks the students created at the end of this process, and their reports written on these works during the 5 (five)-week implementation process. Content analysis method was used to analyze the data obtained from the research implementation process. In this research, the prospective teachers were encouraged to have a human-environment- and city-oriented mindset at each stage of this learning process, which began with analysis of urban perceptions and extended towards the artistic fiction in that space. The prospective teachers stated that the project-based learning approach has made a great contribution to their awareness for experiencing the real world and preserving what belongs to urban memory. The prospective teachers not only focused on the aspects that address to morphological aesthetics of their artworks, they also focused on their connection with the society and space, and even with the past