Do South Africa's e-commerce VAT rules measure up to international trends and OECD guidelines?

Orientation: The taxability of e-commerce transactions have been the subject of many studies to protect governments from Value-Added Tax (VAT) erosion, illegal recovery and fraud. Research purpose: This study critically analyses the challenges posed by e-commerce transactions in South Africa's VAT Act . Recommendations are made for amendments to the VAT Act to improve rules to effectively tax e-commerce transactions occurring in South Africa. Motivation for the study: Globally, including in South Africa, enforcing relevant VAT legislation to target output tax collections and input tax credits from e-commerce transactions aptly remains a challenge. Research approach/design and method: By integrating qualitative literature reviews and comparative synthesis, this study employed a comparative legal methodology. VAT levied on e-commerce transactions in South Africa is compared to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's guidelines as well as New Zealand's and Australia's Goods and Services Tax legislations. Main Findings: While the South African VAT Act aligns with international best practices on the use of intermediaries, there are some differences as detailed in the study. Practical/managerial implications: To align with international trade counterparts, the South African VAT Act should differentiate between business-to-business and business-to-consumer sales. A provision concerning the place of consumption for bundled goods should be included in the VAT Act . The VAT Act should contain a provision that allows bad debts to be claimed on cash sales made instead of total sales made. Contribution/value-add: This study harmonises South African VAT legislation with international best practices within the context of continual advancement of e-commerce transactions.

Impact of negative emotions on financial behavior: An assessment through general strain theory

Research background: The research has two objectives and employs a serial mediation approach. First, using the general strain theory, it examines the mediating role of negative feelings and impact of economic adversity on people's risk tolerance and prudent financial behavior. The second is determining the various categories' variations according to age. Purpose of the article: The study's main objective is to evaluate financial behaviour of people with lower and medium incomes after the second wave of COVID-19 in India, and to contribute to the body of knowledge on general strain theory. Methods: The study examined the proposed framework and tested the serial mediation model based on the general strain theory used as a survey method for data collection, targeting lower and middle-income individuals in India's most populated state. The study applied PLS-SEM to test the framed hypotheses. Furthermore, the Kruskal Wallis test was applied to identify the difference in the various groups classified based on age. Findings & value added: The results reveal that economic hardship significantly influences improved financial behavior. Risk aversion attitude, loneliness, and depression mediate the relationship between economic hardship and financial behavior. Moreover, the study found quite a few significant differences between the different age groups. The present study will add to the existing literature on financial behavior under the scope of general strain theory and probably be among the few that test general strain theory with financial variables impact on lower and middle-income group individuals from a developing nation in post-COVID-19 period.

Cell surface GRP78 functions as an alternative virus entry receptor on monocytes during SARS-CoV- 2 infection

Background: It has been widely acknowledged that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV- 2) infects host cells via the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) entry mechanism. However, ACE2 and TMPRSS2 cannot explain the Toll-like receptor driven response of monocytes since there is no ACE2 expressed on monocytes, suggesting alternative receptor(s) on these cells. Here, we report cell surface glucose-regulated protein 78 (csGRP78) which is abundantly expressed on monocytes to function as an alternative receptor for SARS-CoV- 2 internalization. Method(s): Blood from COVID-19 patients and healthy donors were collected for csGRP78 and monocyte activation marker as well as cytokine concentration. In vitro SPR, GST pull-down and Co-IP assay were used to determine interaction between SARS-CoV- 2 spike protein and GRP78. Cytokine mixture of IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF and IFN-gamma were used to stimulated csGRP78 upregulation on human monocytic cell line THP-1. GRP78-overexpressing- THP- 1 was also established. pseudo-typed virus expressing spike protein was used to infect mock or GRP78 over-expressing THP-1 cells. Result(s): Our results show that csGRP78 is upregulated on the monocyte of COVID-19 patients. Moreover, in vitro cell culture experiments revealed that stimulation of wtTHP-1 and GRP78 over-expressing THP-1 with the relevant cytokines IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF and IFN-gamma induces similar csGRP78 and activation marker upregulation on cell surface as found on patients' monocytes. In vitro spike protein and GRP78 interaction tests, confirmed direct binding of spike protein and GRP78. Finally, pseudo-typed virus infection assay showed that virus entered GRP78 over-expressing THP-1 cells but not control THP-1 cells. Conclusion(s): Our results demonstrate that csGRP78 acts as a potential functional receptor for SARS-CoV- 2 spike protein and mediates ACE2 independent SARS-CoV- 2 entry into monocytes. These findings provide insight into role of monocytes in the pathophysiology of COVID-19, and suggest a new therapeutic target candidate for anti-SARS- CoV- 2 treatment.

The Multifaceted Role of Glutathione S-Transferases in Health and Disease.

In humans, the cytosolic glutathione S-transferase (GST) family of proteins is encoded by 16 genes presented in seven different classes. GSTs exhibit remarkable structural similarity with some overlapping functionalities. As a primary function, GSTs play a putative role in Phase II metabolism by protecting living cells against a wide variety of toxic molecules by conjugating them with the tripeptide glutathione. This conjugation reaction is extended to forming redox sensitive post-translational modifications on proteins: S-glutathionylation. Apart from these catalytic functions, specific GSTs are involved in the regulation of stress-induced signaling pathways that govern cell proliferation and apoptosis. Recently, studies on the effects of GST genetic polymorphisms on COVID-19 disease development revealed that the individuals with higher numbers of risk-associated genotypes showed higher risk of COVID-19 prevalence and severity. Furthermore, overexpression of GSTs in many tumors is frequently associated with drug resistance phenotypes. These functional properties make these proteins promising targets for therapeutics, and a number of GST inhibitors have progressed in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer and other diseases.

Cell surface GRP78 functions as an alternative virus entry receptor on monocytes during SARS-CoV-2 infection

It has been widely acknowledged that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infects host cells via the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) entry mechanism. However, ACE2 and TMPRSS2 cannot explain the Toll-like receptor driven response of monocytes since there is no ACE2 expressed on monocytes, suggesting alternative receptor(s) on these cells. Here, we report cell surface glucose-regulated protein 78 (csGRP78) which is abundantly expressed on monocytes to function as an alternative receptor for SARS-CoV-2 internalization. Our results show that csGRP78 is upregulated on the monocyte of COVID-19 patients. Moreover, in vitro cell culture experiments revealed that GRP78 over-expressing THP-1 cells and stimulation of wtTHP-1 cells with the relevant cytokines IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF and IFN-gamma induces similar csGRP78 and activation marker upregulation on cell surface as found on patients' monocytes. In vitro spike protein and GRP78 interaction tests (SPR assay, GST-pull down and Co-IP), confirmed direct binding of spike protein and GRP78. Finally, pseudo-typed virus expressing spike protein was used to infect mock or GRP78 over-expressing THP-1 cells. We found that pseudo-typed virus entered GRP78 over-expressing THP-1 cells but not control THP-1 cells. Our results demonstrate that csGRP78 acts as a potential functional receptor for SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and mediates ACE2 independent SARS-CoV-2 entry into monocytes. These findings provide insight into role of monocytes in the pathophysiology of COVID-19, and suggest a new therapeutic target candidate for anti-SARS-CoV2 treatment.

The Impact of Covid-19 Measures on Family Life in the UAE

The aim of the study was to identify the impact on families of the international measures designed to manage the spread of Covid-19, from the viewpoint of families in Al-Ain city, United Arab Emirates. Data were gathered online in semi-structured interviews from 100 families selected by purposive sampling, and results were assessed using the descriptive-analytical method and by referring to the literature. The findings suggest that the international measures on Covid-19, such as remote working, distance learning, and partial lockdown, have had more positive than negative effects on the family. One positive effect is that the international lockdown policies have helped to strengthen both the relationship between couples and the wider family unit. However, such procedures have also had certain negative effects on some families. Considerably more work is required to examine the existence of statistically significant differences between these effects on the family by employing variables such as monthly income and number of family members. © 2023 NSP Natural Sciences Publishing Cor.

E-Payment System reforms and its impact on Currency in Circulation in India: Evaluation using Vector Autoregressive Model (VAR)

The present study contributes to the literature by investigating the impact of E-Payment System on Currency in circulation after facing three major reforms i.e., Demonetization of 500 and 1000 rupee note, implementation of GST and Current pandemic (Covid-19) situation. Results imply that with the increase in the volume of all the respective electronic payment systems the currency in circulation (in physical form) got minimized in the economy. Moreover, NEFT shows much higher influence on currency in circulation as compare to RTGS and IMPS but PPI’s shows the highest influence on currency in circulation from the selected E-Payment systems. Furthermore, Vector Autoregressive model suggests, RTGS, IMPS, NEFT, CARDS (POS), PPI’s, M-Banking are expected to increase whereas NACH is expected to observe a downfall in the near future. © 2022, School of Management Sciences. All rights reserved.

GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST) LAW IN INDIA- AN ANALYSIS OF REVENUE PERFORMANCE

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is considered to be a major and one of the biggest reforms in India. GST was introduced in India on 1st July 2017, with the objective of replacing multiple Indirect taxes, which were prevailing in India and also overhauling the indirect taxation system in the country. The roll out of GST has completed almost four years and therefore, in this research paper, the researchers try to study the performance of GST since its inception and also try to study the recent impact of covid 19 pandemic on GST collection in India. For the purpose of the study, secondary data were used and descriptive statistics, KruskalWallis test, DSCF pairwise comparisons test and forecasting method, were employed.

A Case Study : Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME) in Covid Period

[...]exploiting the sector's potential, the government has made MSME registration online and paperless. Economic Stability in terms of Growth and Leverage Exports: Exports are India's most important economic driver, accounting for 8% of the country's GDP. Because of MSME's contribution to manufacturing, exports, and jobs, it benefits other industries as well. [...]the owner's indirect expenses are similarly minimal. [...]the process of demone-tisation (2016) and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) have exacerbated the problems (2017). Because the majority of MSMEs rely on unskilled labour from rural areas, minor issues have a greater impact on them, and a health crisis puts their potential and sustainability in jeopardy.

An Exploratory Study on Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic Over GST in India

This study aims to analyse the effect of COVID-19 pandemic over the revenue collection through GST through out the year. It even aims the efforts put by State government to over come the losses as the only major source of revenue is SGST. The mission of making India a sustainable developed country is badly pretentious by the hard hit of economic downfall due to lockdown. The distress over the income the income of the government as well as the general public is so much affected that even after a year it is still unstable. This study will help us to understand how Indian Government coped up with the sudden downfall of economy.

Policy Forum: Editors' Introduction—Cross-Border Issues in Carbon Pricing

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, Canada is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40 to 45 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.1 As of 2019, a full 4 years after the agreement was signed, Canada had achieved emission reductions of only 1 percent. [...]meeting our Paris commitments will require a 39 to 44 percent reduction in GHG emissions in just 11 years.2 To put into perspective the structural economic change required by a 39 to 44 percent cut in emissions, the changes that took place in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic-working from home, eliminating most business and personal air travel, and so on-reduced Canada's carbon (CO2) emissions by 8 percent from 2019 levels.3 Meeting the Paris commitments would require Canadians to not only preserve 2020-level emissions, but also achieve three or four times that level of reductions by the end of the following decade. [...]the need for equalization is also reduced. Yet, because of the equalization program's "fixed-growth rule," the size of the program would not decline, even with a diminished need for equalization. [...]Snoddon concludes, "Overequalization often results, with Quebec and sometimes Ontario as the main beneficiaries. Christians suggests that to the extent that economists can estimate the amount of externalized environmental costs with increasing detail and precision, the income tax base could be legislatively reformed to deem such externalized costs to constitute additional taxable income to all of the relevant parties throughout the fossil fuel production and consumption cycle.16 Christians acknowledges that there are practical difficulties in estimating the environmental costs created by individual firms, especially given Canada's selfassessment-based income tax system.

Kombucha - An ancient fermented beverage with desired bioactivities: A narrowed review.

Kombucha, originated in China 2000  years ago, is a sour and sweet-tasted drink, prepared traditionally through fermentation of black tea. During the fermentation of kombucha, consisting of mainly acidic compounds, microorganisms, and a tiny amount of alcohol, a biofilm called SCOBY forms. The bacteria in kombucha has been generally identified as Acetobacteraceae. Kombucha is a noteworthy source of B complex vitamins, polyphenols, and organic acids (mainly acetic acid). Nowadays, kombucha is tended to be prepared with some other plant species, which, therefore, lead to variations in its composition. Pre-clinical studies conducted on kombucha revealed that it has desired bioactivities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, anti-hypercholestorelomic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, etc. Only a few clinical studies have been also reported. In the current review, we aimed to overhaul pre-clinical bioactivities reported on kombucha as well as its brief compositional chemistry. The literature data indicate that kombucha has valuable biological effects on human health.

GENERAL SYSTEMS THEORY BASED CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR RESTRUCTURING THE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION SYSTEM

With the sudden changes brought about with the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily the new legitimacy of online education, the traditional college and university boards are all actively discussing how the institutions can reform themselves in a strategic sense. This article presents a conceptual framework for viewing education institutions as an open system using the General Systems Theory (GST) and discusses how it could help improve the higher education system. The author concludes that the education institutions must carefully select the institution's components;should carefully and strategically manage the internal and external stakeholder network including all communications and informed decisions;accept that change of student perceptions is a norm and promote agility in the system operations, and also highlights that it is natural for systems to have specialized, outperforming departments/sections. The concepts discussed here could be further researched and would hopefully be of use for policy makers and administrators of higher education systems, while the author also wishes to spark a conversation amongst the citizens. © American Society for Engineering Management, 2021

Impact of COVID-19 on Small Industries in India: A Quarterly Peer Reviewed Multi-Disciplinary International Journal

Study is intended to emphasis significant impact of covid-19 a global pandemic situation in Indian economy. Indian economy consists various segments like, rail system, ecommerce industry, automobile sector, restaurants industry, information technology and software services, travels and tourism industry and lots of others industry having vital role in Indian economy. Economy was running as usual and suddenly at the end of third quarter of fiscal year 2019-20 a novel corona virus entered in Indian territory and start to infect the peoples silently. Gradually number of infected persons increased and a global pandemic situation been declared by the concerned authorities. Just within two months it's been spread across the country and survival gone typical in normal course. Hence Indian government decided to complete lockdown nationwide to cope up with this global pandemic situation. Indian economy been sickening due to global pandemic situation. Every industry adversely affected by this covid-19 a global pandemic. Financial as well as convenience crises been arisen. To run and maintain economy every government required funds which is collected inform of taxes like, incometax, goods and servicetax, etc. goods and services tax leviable only on supply of goods or services. Now in nationwide lockdown, supply of goods and services are completely affected adversely. Hence GST collection will also be affected adversely.

Biological Effects Assessment of Antibiofouling EDCs: Gaeta Harbor (South Italy) Benthic Communities' Analysis by Biodiversity Indices and Quantitative gpx4 Expression.

The most representative organisms of the Harbor of Gaeta Gulf in South Italy were analyzed for biofouling by visual census and confirmed later by molecular approach on an artificial Conatex panel dipped 3 m into a eutrophic area during the Covid-19 pandemic. Mitochondrial Cytochrome C oxidase subunit 1(COI) gene was sequenced from 20 different marine species (flora: 2 families, 2 orders; fauna: 16 families, 11 orders) to test whether the morphology-based assignment of the most common biofouling member was supported by DNA-based species identification. Twelve months of submersion resulted in generation of sufficient data to obtain a facies climax represented mainly by the bivalve mollusk, Mytilus galloprovincialis. Specific diversity and variations of the biofouling biomasses were analyzed using two different anti-biofouling paints: an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC)-containing metal biocide, and a biocide-free paint. Also, their effects on detoxification and reproductive health of M. galloprovincialis were evaluated using glutathione S-transferase enzymatic activity and RTqPCR expression of the fertility antioxidant gene glutathione peroxidase 4 (gpx4). The obtained data provide useful indications on which future investigations may be focused and may become a potential management tool for a harbor biofouling database to assist local administrations in EDCs protection of autochthonous benthic communities and their fertility using innovative antifouling paints.

Air pollution and indoor settings.

Indoor environments contribute significantly to total human exposure to air pollutants, as people spend most of their time indoors. Household air pollution (HAP) resulting from cooking with polluting ("dirty") fuels, which include coal, kerosene, and biomass (wood, charcoal, crop residues, and animal manure) is a global environmental health problem. Indoor pollutants are gases, particulates, toxins, and microorganisms among others, that can have an impact especially on the health of children and adults through a combination of different mechanisms on oxidative stress and gene activation, epigenetic, cellular, and immunological systems. Air pollution is a major risk factor and contributor to morbidity and mortality from major chronic diseases. Children are significantly affected by the impact of the environment due to biological immaturity, prenatal and postnatal lung development. Poor air quality has been related to an increased prevalence of clinical manifestations of allergic asthma and rhinitis. Health professionals should increase their role in managing the exposure of children and adults to air pollution with better methods of care, prevention, and collective action. Interventions to reduce household pollutants may promote health and can be achieved with education, community, and health professional involvement.