Journal of Development Innovations

Harnessing AI for STEM Education in South Asia: Impact, Opportunities, and Challenges

Binod Vaidya — 2024-12-22

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education has transformative potential, particularly for South Asia, a region marked by economic and educational disparities. This paper examines the impact, opportunities, and challenges associated with adopting AI in STEM higher education in South Asia. Through AI, education systems in the region can overcome limitations in resources, geographical barriers, and outdated curricula, offering adaptive, personalized, and accessible learning experiences. The study highlights the roles of leading AI-focused institutions, particularly in India, which are pioneering AI initiatives and fostering regional leadership in AI-driven education. By evaluating current AI integration, institutional contributions, and socio-economic barriers, the paper provides insights into harnessing AI to enhance research, improve STEM education outcomes, and prepare South Asian students for a global, AI-driven economy. This research underscores the need for a balanced approach that considers AI’s ethical, cultural, and infrastructural challenges, aiming to create an inclusive and sustainable model for AI-enhanced STEM education in South Asia.

International Migration, Globalization, and the Threatened Well-Being of Migrants and their Households in Nepal: An Anthropological Critique

Kapil Dahal — 2024-12-22

The first quarter of the twenty-first century has witnessed that international migration from low- and middle-income countries is taking place at an increasing pace. The main focus of this article is to show the effects of such migration on the welfare of migrants, their families, along the society at large in select parts of Nepal. People migrate to relatively well-off nations from comparatively less developed ones in search of work. A brief portrayal of the migration route highlights the complexities involved in it. Moreover, the impacts of international migration reach beyond Nepal's countryside and agricultural sector to embrace towns and cities and off-farm sectors. Analyzing from the critical perspective of the anthropology of globalization, this article portrays the consequences of local-global relations in this era of accentuated mobility of people manifested through international migration. The key argument of the paper is that international migration is not contributing to the aspirations of the migrants and their households and in many respects, it has threatened their well-being. This article is based on primary qualitative data acquired through anthropological research and limited secondary data from an online newspaper.

Lithostratigraphy and Structure of the Musikot-Khalanga Area, Western Nepal

Gyanendra R. Sapkota — 2024-12-22

The study area encompasses the eastern portion of the Karnali Klippe and the Bheri tectonic window of Western Nepal, focusing on lithostratigraphy and geological structures. Geological mapping and cross-sections at a 1:25,000 scale detail the Lesser Himalayan Sequence and Higher Himalayan Crystallines in Musikot-Khalanga area. The Lesser Himalayan Sequence comprises sedimentary and low- to medium-grade metamorphic rocks, divided into the Kuchibang Formation, Deu Khola Formation, Puma Khola Dolomite, Morabang Formation, and Jibu Formation, respectively. The Thabang Formation constitutes the Higher Himalayan Crystallines. Major structures include the Main Central Thrust, Ghatte Khola Thrust, several imbricate thrusts, and two prominent NW-SE trending synclines: the Simruth Syncline and Syalpakha Syncline. Small-scale structures include bedding, cross bedding, mud cracks, ripple marks, stromatolites, foliation, small-scale folds, joints, boudins, and tension gashes. Small-scale folds trend along the WNW-ESE direction as like those of the major folds. Microstructures such as syntectonic garnet porphyroblasts, sutured grain contacts in quartzites, triple junctions in polygonized quartz, quartz ribbon structures, and crenulation folds in the schists of the Kuchibang Formation indicate multiple phases of deformation in the Main Central Thrust zone. Overall, this study seeks insights into the regional tectonic evolution and the geological history of the western Nepal Lesser Himalaya.

Delineation of Groundwater Potential Zone in the Jhiku Khola Watershed, Central Nepal

Manoj Timalsina — 2024-12-22

In mountainous areas of Nepal, availability of water sources is becoming more crucial because of either climate change or increasing demand. Considering primary characteristics of geological structures including joints, fractures, and fault zones, this research primarily aimed to delineate groundwater potential zones in mountain slopes of Jhiku Khola (River) watershed situated in Kavrepalanchok District, central Nepal, applying remote sensing and GIS guided by Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for multicriteria decision analysis. In order to rank and produce the factor maps for identifying groundwater potential areas, statistics are utilized according to field characteristics of slopes, their aspects, topographic wetness index (TWI), land use, rainfall, drainage density, lineament density, and geology in keeping with their weightage. The groundwater potential map's ROC/AUC curve has an accuracy of 88.3%. The investigated area, i.e. 124.5 km² is classified into low (2.5%), moderate (96%), and high (1.5%) groundwater potential zones, respectively. Thirty-nine percent of eighty-two springs found in surveyed area are located between 1322 and 1594 meters; fifty percent are between 778 and 1050 meters; twelve percent are between 1050 and 1322 meters; and seven percent are between 1594 and 1866 meters above mean sea level, respectively. It emphasizes how essential water availability is in higher-elevation areas.