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Byline: Gyan. Singh, Neeru. Luthra, Richa. Jain, Anju. Grewal, Shubham. Garg, Livleen. Mann Background and Aims: The use of a face mask while inducing general anaesthesia (GA) in obese patients [...]

Byline: Shubham. Garg, Dilip. Masheshwari, Bharat. Bhushan, Vijay. Sardana, Raj. Jain Background: Mucormycosis (MCR) has been increasingly described in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but the epidemiological factors, neurological [...]

Financial inclusion is an essential aspect of economic growth. A well-designed financial system significantly aids in the development of a nation, encourages individuals to save, combats poverty and lessens inequality. Finance inclusion is usually accepted as the primary gauge for the expansion of any economic activity. Therefore, this article aims to provide more exhaustive insight into the performance of financial inclusion at the sub-national level in India. The study has adopted the Wroclaw taxonomic method for developing the composite index of financial inclusion in India, covering the period from 2012 to 2022. The Financial Inclusion Index (FII) is a multidimensional phenomenal index that measures many aspects of financial inclusion on a scale from zero to one, where “zero” represents total financial exclusion and “one” means complete financial inclusion in an economy. The results show that Chandigarh is ranked 1st out of the 34 states and UTs with an FII value of 0.09. Bihar has the lowest FII score of 0.75, placing it at 34th in India. The current study will assist the policymakers, government and Reserve Bank of India in formulating policies on financial inclusion in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The revenue mobilization remains a challenge for many countries, especially developing countries such as India. Therefore, this study explores the macroeconomic determinants of Goods and Service Tax (GST) revenue of the government in India as GST constitutes a major share in the Own Tax Revenue (OTR) of the government in India. The current study has employed the Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model to examine the macroeconomic determinants of GST taxation revenue of the government in India. The results reveal that foreign direct investment, depreciation in the exchange rate and foreign exchange reserves have a favorable impact on the GST revenue of the government in India. Furthermore, the gross fiscal deficits of the government and inflation have a detrimental effect on the GST revenue collection of the government in India. The results of the study are supported by the Tanzi effect and the Tanzi–Olivera effect for the detrimental effect of inflation and gross fiscal deficit on the GST revenue of the government in India. The current study has major policy implications for the government, policymakers, and researchers. The empirical results illustrates that the government may put a stringent check on inflation and gross fiscal deficit of the country to improve their GST collections. Moreover, the government should try to focus on foreign direct investment, trade openness, and foreign exchange reserve in India to increase their GST revenue. Meanwhile, the current study can be used as a base for conducting future studies at national and international levels for examining the determinants of other taxation revenue of the government by incorporating other country specific variables. This study may act as a novel contribution to the available literature on the macroeconomic determinants of taxation revenue in India. To the knowledge, it will be the first study in India to especially explore the determinants of GST revenue of the government in India. However, the findings of the study need to be generalize in future by incorporating a larger sample size as GST is still in its introductory phase in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The government around the globe are striving to improve their public finance to meet their public expenditures and for sustainable development of their economies. However, the capability of the governments to generate adequate revenue is limited and refrained by numerous factors. The non‐compliance behavior of GST taxpayers is one of the major factors attributed to this phenomenon. Therefore, this paper endeavors to frame and validate a comprehensive instrumental scale with the application of the extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) for analyzing the determinants of compliance behavior of GST taxpayers in India. The current study has adopted the quantitative design through exploratory and confirmatory studies by incorporating qualitative semi‐structured interviews with 100 GST consultants to validate the instrumental scale. The study has collected a random sample of 339 GST taxpayers using snowball random sampling. Meanwhile, the study has employed the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) for analyzing the collected data. The result affirms six major factors in determining the compliance behavior of GST taxpayers explaining 65.166% of the total variance. The findings have instituted perceived complexity, trust and moral obligation in addition to three major constructs of TPB theory namely attitude behavior, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control of the GST taxpayers. The results explicate that the compliance behavior of GST taxpayers is a dynamic and multifaceted phenomenon and it is critical for GST authorities to comprehend the compliance behavior of GST taxpayers. The result explicates that there is a need to simplify and rationalize the GST system in India to increase voluntary compliance of taxpayers. The results also endorse for building trust between GST taxpayers, GST authorities and the state. This study may act as a baseline for formulating policies and strategies on GST in India. There is hardly any national and international study that has applied the extended theory of planned behavior for studying the antecedents of compliance behavior of GST taxpayers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revenue mobilisation remains a stringent challenge for all countries across the globe, especially for underdeveloped and developing nations. But the capability of the government to generate revenue is limited and depends upon many factors. Therefore, the current study tries to explore the determinants of direct tax revenue of the government in India by incorporating conventional, social, financial and economic policy factors. The results explicate that in conventional factors, the agriculture sector contribution in sectoral composition has a negative impact, but trade openness has a positive and statistically significant impact on the direct tax collection of the government. Moreover, in social variables, urbanisation rates have positive impact in both the short and long run on the tax revenue of the government. In financial variables, the result illustrates that the credit deposit ratio has a positive, but, statistically insignificant impact and financial development have a positive and statistically significant impact on the direct tax collections of the government in India. Similarly, in economic policy factors, FDI, NODAU and broad money have a positive impact; however, the coefficient is significant only for broad money. The current study will act as a guide for policymakers, academicians and governments in formulating future policies and reforms in the direct taxation system of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Objective Health care professionals (HPs) have been at the forefront facing the pressures and uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic, and thus have a higher psychological vulnerability. The incidence of psychological distress, which can negatively affect an HP's work efficiency and long-term well-being, has not been studied in depth in India. Materials and Methods A multicentric study was conducted using the digital means of communication across Max Healthcare between June and August 2020. HPs in the department of oncology, including doctors, nurses, and other support staff, were invited to voluntarily participate in the self-administered online survey. A total of 87 HPs in oncology (41 doctors, 28 nurses, and 18 in other fronts) were assessed using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Outcome of interest was psychological distress (defined as a GHQ-12 score >15). Results The overall incidence of psychological distress among HPs in oncology during the COVID-19 pandemic was 17.20%. Significantly higher levels of psychological distress were observed among HPs with a history of psychiatric illness (p = 0.003), and among HPs with a work experience of less than 10 years (p = 0.017). Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the psychological well-being of HPs in India. This study implicated the recognition of the psychological well-being of HPs in oncology as an unmet need during the COVID-19 pandemic, further recommending efforts toward increasing accessibility of mental health services for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The ongoing transition in the attitude of consumers toward health and environment has a direct implication on the organic food industries, making it necessary to examine the drivers of the purchase intention of organic food items, specifically in developing economies like India. Therefore, this study tries to frame and validate the instrumental scale by collecting data from 574 organic food item consumers to examine the determinants of purchase intention among consumers in India. Design/methodology/approach: This study has employed advanced statistical tools i.e. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Harmon's single factor test and other statistical measures using SPSS and AMOS 23, for framing and validating the instrumental scale for this study. Findings: The results of EFA explain 67.714% variance of total research variable variance with six major constructs. Moreover, the result of the CFA confirms the six factors and the proposed instrumental scale. The finding explicates that health consciousness, ecological trustworthiness and functional value are the major drivers of the purchase intention of organic food items. Practical implications: This study has major policy implications for organic producers, processor and marketers for understanding the complex phenomenon of organic consumer behavior. The result explains that marketers and producers should adopt ad hoc marketing strategies that aim to promote the organic food items as healthy and safe. Originality/value: There is hardly any study that has proposed and validated an instrumental scale with these factors collectively in India for studying the purchase intention of organic food consumers in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) have emerged as reliable probes for portable, economical, and practical testing platforms in point-of-care (PoC) applications. Compared to the conventional three-electrode systems, SPEs require significantly less sample volume and omit the cleaning and pre-treatment requirements. This work is focused on amplifying the response signal of SPE using a facile protocol for boron carbon nitride (BCN)-assisted SPE surface functionalization using cyclic voltammetry (CV). To validate the success of the modification, the SPE surface is subjected to chemical and electrochemical characterization using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, CV, and differential pulse voltammetry. Ascribed to the BCN's electrocatalytic ability, the modified SPE significantly improves electrochemical activity, with a five-fold increase in current response and an 18 mV potential shift. The fabricated sensing platform demonstrates high sensitivity and selectivity toward quantitative analysis of tryptophan with a detection limit of 36.4 nM. Furthermore, the developed sensor was tested for monitoring TRP levels in complex matrices like food and human body fluids. This proposed approach of electrode modification holds promise for providing swift, precise, and cost-effective means for improving the sensitivity of SPEs for trace level detections required for PoC applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study tries to assess the implications of GST adoption on the revenue efficiency of the Indian states. The results indicate that the GST implementation has increased the C-efficiency ratio of the country. Similarly, at the sub-national level, the GST implementation has increased the revenue efficiency for the consumptive and minor Indian states i.e. Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam, Sikkim and Nagaland. Although, the developed states still have a higher share of total GST revenue in the country, but the adoption of GST will mitigate the inter-state disparity by shifting the revenue streams from the productive states to consumptive and minor states. On the contrary, the stability analysis indicates that the GST adoption has increased the volatility in the revenue of the state governments. The finding of the study has major implications for the state and central governments, policymakers, researchers and the sitting of the fifteen finance commission in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]