Industry 4.0 (I4.0) mainly focuses on manufacturing technology and processes that comprise a cyber-physical system (CPS), Internet of things (IoT), Industrial Internet of things (IIOT), Cognitive Computing and Artificial intelligence as innovation towards the computerization and exchange of information. Though it has been an emerging issue in the industrial and business world, very few studies has been undertaken in the Nepalese case. In this context, the study accesses the industrial readiness for the adoption of I4.0 in Kathmandu valley, Nepal. Explanatory Exploratory research design was adopted to examine if variables chosen actually affect industrial readiness and data was collected through structured questionnaires using both descriptive and inferential statistics via Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Adopting the census method to collect data, a total of 287 industries located in three industrial estates were taken as a population. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS. The study found that the major problem while adopting I4.0 is the lack of skilled manpower in the industrial sector. In addition, we found people, customers, and culture, strategy and leadership, governance and operations have a significant effect on technology innovation decision making. Similarly, government intervention plays a significant mediation role between dependent and independent variables. Furthermore, this study found industries in Nepal are not ready for I4.0 as they are not implementing any enabling technology that enables industry 4.0. These results will support managers/policymakers in recognizing the strategic actions that can be embraced in order to improve the company's readiness level to seek the optimum benefits from the adoption of I4.0 paradigms.

Currently available sources of water face extreme pressures around the globe because of oblivious human activities as well as changing climate. The rainwater harvesting system (RWHS) carries a huge potential to enhance surface and groundwater resources in regions having a poor water supply. Recently, several countries have started to promote the updated implementation of such practice to tackle the problem of growing water demand. These considerations motivated our enthusiasm for looking at its current circumstances and the possibility of RWHS in the future. In this regard, the study aims to identify the evidence gap among different determinants (climate change, reliability, water quality and financial viability) intertwined with RWHS. In the paper, studies related to the significance of RWHS amidst scarcity of water around the globe, published in valued journals from 2000 to 2020, are reviewed. We found that the RWHS becomes economically viable when certain steps and risk assessment methods are executed in planning and maintaining this system. The study concludes that drinking water sufficiency is possible if a sustainable drinking water supply system is built via RWHS.

The agriculture sector has undergone a remarkable revolution known as Agriculture 5.0 (Ag 5.0), emphasizing digital technology to boost efficiency and profitability of farm business. However, little is known about farmers’ behavioral intension to adopt Ag 5.0. In this study we examine factors influencing farmer’s behavioral intension for Agriculture 5.0, identify implementation obstacles and provide managerial solutions to promote Ag 5.0 in Madhesh Province, Nepal, using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Structural Equation Model (SEM). We tested total of 20 different hypotheses. Primary data were collected from 271 farmers across 9 municipalities in Saptari District, Nepal. The study reveals that technology anxiety [(β = 0.101, p<0.01); (β = 0.188, p<0.01)], self-efficacy [(β = 0.312, p<0.01, (β = 0.170, p<0.05)] and social influence [(β = 0.411, p<0.01), (β = 0.170, p<0.05)] significantly impact the perceived usefulness as well as perceived ease of use, respectively. Individual innovativeness also affects the perceived usefulness (β = 0.004, p<0.05) and perceived ease of use (β = 0.281, p<0.01). Moreover, the study found that attitude towards using Ag 5.0 is significantly influenced by perceived usefulness (β = 0.083, p<0.10) and ease of use (β = 0.189, p<0.01), which, in turn, affects the intention to use Ag 5.0 (β = 0.858, p<0.01). Farmers perceive training programs, government assistance, and subsidies as helpful in overcoming challenges associated with adopting Ag 5.0. This study provides valuable insights for policymakers, development partners, and farmers’ organizations, enabling them to understand the factors influencing the readiness for Ag 5.0 adoption in Nepal.

This study aims to investigate the current state of Bhaktapur, Nepal, as a tourist destination and how promotional marketing strategies can be used to increase the number of tourists visiting the area. The research uses the AIDA model to analyze Bhaktapur's promotional marketing as a tourist destination. 282 tourists were surveyed through the Kobo Toolbox app to gather information about their demographics and travel profiles. The data was analyzed using SPSS and SEM to find variations in groups and predict the impact of promotional marketing on sustainable tourism demand in Bhaktapur. The findings indicate that utilizing a range of promotional marketing strategies, such as social media, and targeting different demographic groups can be effective in attracting tourists and highlight the significance of tourism as a key source of foreign exchange revenue for Nepal and suggests that promoting Bhaktapur as a tourist destination can contribute to the country's economic growth. This study contributes to the rising interest in determining the Internet's significance as a commercial tool in the tourist industry. Internet is currently the primary method for hotels and other service-based enterprises to communicate with their clients. Thus, this study aims to fill a vacuum in the literature by demonstrating how to leverage the Internet and social media as part of a marketing strategy to build a sustained demand among visitors concerned with social concerns and the environment.

Purpose: Agriculture, since time immemorial, has been a major sector in reducing poverty, accelerating economic activities and source of sustainability of a nation. As most of the youth in the 21st century are targeting the youth's career in the non-agricultural sector, attracting and involving the youths in agribusinesses is the need of the hour. In this regard, the research tries to understand the awareness and involvement of youth farmers in agripreneurship in Western Nepal.Design/methodology/approach: Using a structured questionnaire, data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. On the basis of descriptive and inferential analysis, the ordered logit model is employed in the study. The research is based on explanatory research design through identifying farmers' awareness of agriculture entrepreneurship from 324 farmers of Bedkot Municipality, Kanchanpur, Nepal.Findings: Study findings have shown that agricultural knowledge with overall awareness is statistically significant. Ordered logistic regression indicated that sex has somehow influenced technical and entrepreneur skills while agriculture information highly influenced education and training. The result shows that agricultural training is still the requirement of one-fourth of the farmers, whereas another quarter of farmers need subsidies.Research limitations/implications: The study suggests that in order to enhance awareness, training, subsidy, market management and development program are widely needed. In the backdrop of declining agro-products and food security challenges, the study targets to offer an understanding to policymakers and stakeholders on addressing the dire need of agripreneurship among the youths around the world.Originality/value: The study summarizes the state of knowledge of agripreneurship of Nepalese farmers, identifies emerging issues and policy implications and priorities for future applied research.