Goods and services tax (GST) in India: Prospect for states

Goods and services tax (GST) is a broad based and a single comprehensive tax levied at every stage of the production and distribution chain with applicable set-off in respect of the tax remitted at previous stages. It is basically a tax on final consumption integrates the union excise duties, custom duties, services tax and state VAT. Presently around 140 countries have adopted the GST pattern, including India. The GST would be beneficial for the consumers as it reduces the final burden of taxation. For Government it leads the reduction of tax compliance efforts and administrative costs and for business units it leads transparency, complete set-off and removal of cascading effect of taxation. It is in this background that the present paper tries to explain the significance of GST in India and its prospects for states to generate revenue and ensure transparency in tax structure. This paper is organized into seven sections. Section two presents justification for dual structure of GST in India. The third part presents the rate structure under GST work in India. The fourth segment is concerned with the working of GST in India. The fifth part shows the international experiences of GST at state level in India. The seventh and final part is related to conclusion and policy recommendations

Impact of Value-Added Tax (VAT) revenue in major states of India

Value Added Tax (VAT) is a type of indirect tax that is imposed on goods and services. In one of the most important reforms of the country's public finances in over the past 50 years, India has finally launched much delayed Value Added Tax (VAT) from 1st April, 2005 in 21 states. VAT has replaced the existing local sales tax in almost all states of India. The case for state VAT in India has been advocated mainly on the grounds of higher revenue efficiency vis-à-vis the combined revenue from various types of sales/purchase taxes it replaced. The present paper tries to analyze, the impact of VAT on revenue, its buoyancy, and efficiency of states sales tax/value added tax

Financial Sustainability of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) of Bangladesh

Microfinance is a form of banking service providing financial support to unemployed or vulnerable groups. The microfinance models emphasise on alleviation of poverty and women empowerment by improving financial access and services. However, the positive impacts of microfinance institutions on the welfare of the poor are sustainable only if the institutions achieve a good financial performance. The aim of this study is to identify factors affecting financial sustainability of MFIs in Bangladesh. The study followed an econometric research approach using an unbalanced panel data set of 145 observations from 29 MFIs over the period 2008-2012 in Bangladesh. Among the 29 MFIs only 4 MFIs have found less than 100% FSS. The study found that capital assets ratio, operating expense and write-off ratio affect the financial sustainability of MFIs in Bangladesh. However, MFI size, Age of MFI, borrower per staff members, ratio of savings to total assets, debt equity ratio, outstanding loan to total assets and percentage of female borrowers had no significant impact on financial sustainability of MFIs in Bangladesh during the study period. Keywords: Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), financial sustainability, Bangladesh

Anhidrosis

Anhidrosis with emphasis on etiopathogenesis is reviewed in this paper. Anhidrosis, a non-sweating syndrome in horses, first reported in 1925, was mainly observed in temperate horses introduced into the hot humid environment. This phenomenon is believed to be a compensatory mechanism for profuse sweating. Anhidrosis can cause reduced performance; elevated respiratory rate, discomfort, varying degree of anorexia and alopecia. Death may ensue as a result of a heat stroke. Feeding, hypothyroidism, hereditary factors, exhaustion of adrenaline, electrolyte imbalance and atrophy of sweat gland may contribute to anhidrosis. The condition can easily be diagnosed from clinical signs. There is no specific treatment, but transferring the horse to a cooler climate or stabling under air-conditioning, in conjunction with vitamin E or ethy lenediamine dihydrioidide, may improve the condition

Studies on Capacitation and the Effects of Cooling and Low Temperature Storage on Stallion Sperm Function

This study was undertaken to assess stallion sperm function under two sets of conditions 1) liquid storage at

Plasma fatty acid profile comparisons between the lesser mouse deer (Tragulus javanicus) and the common muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak)

The Lesser Mouse Deer and the Common Muntjac are native to the South-east Asian region. The main aim of this study was to compare the extent of plasma fatty acid unsaturation between these two species. Dietary unsaturated fatty acids are expected to undergo extensive biohydrogenation and saturation in the gut of the Common Muntjac, as is expected for a 'true' ruminant. Being a 'partial' ruminant, the Lesser Mouse Deer is expected to allow some dietary unsaturated fatty acids to escape rumen biohydrogenation, thus allowing accumulation of more unsaturated fatty acids in the plasma. Six Lesser Mouse Deer and six Common Muntjac, kept for recreational purposes, were used in this study. Plasma fatty acids were extracted from blood and feed samples, methylated using 14 % boron triflouride and separated using gas liquid chromatography. It was found that both species had higher unsaturated fatty acid content in their plasma compared to saturated fatty acids. This is different from domesticated ruminants where saturated fatty acids usually are about 60 % of total plasma fatty acids. The plasma unsaturated fatty acid content of the Lesser Mouse Deer is marginally higher (52.9 %) than the Common Muntjac (51.8 %). However, the Lesser Mouse Deer had higher plasma n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) at 16 %, and a more balanced n-3 PUFA content. This resulted in better and lower n-6 PUFA: n-3 PUFA ratios in the Lesser Mouse Deer (4.2). These findings could be attributed to the reduced biohydrogenation and destruction of dietary unsaturated fatty acids in the gut of Lesser Mouse Deer, thus enabling more of these fatty acids to be absorbed by the body. In conclusion, true and partial wild ruminants found to have different plasma fatty acid profile as a result of their differences in gut function and morpholog

Canine plasma and tissue fatty acid profiles and their correlation with hair coat conditions

This study was initiated to study the probable relationships between the fatty acid profiles of the plasma, skin, liver and brain and to determine their correlations with hair coat conditions in owned and stray dogs. A total of35 dogs were used in this study. Twenty-three owned dogs obtained from the University Veterinary Hospital (UVH dogs) were subjected to blood sampling and hair coat scoring only. Twelve euthanized dogs were sourced from a local animal shelter (LAS dogs) and blood, brain, liver and skin samples were obtained. Hair coat scores were performed under standardized conditions and was found that the UVH dogs (median score = 4.1) had significantly better scores compared to LAS dogs (median score = 3.1, P<0.05). The UVH dogs had significantly lower (P<0.05) n-6:n-3 ratios and lower plasma arachidonate content. The skin and plasma fatty acid profiles correlated well with each other but no correlation was evident between the brain and plasma fatty acid profiles. Increased amounts of plasma and skin n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids were associated with better hair coat conditions. However, plasma n-6 fatty acids seemed to .have a stronger positive correlation to hair coat scores in dogs (p = 0.683, P<0.05) compared to plasma n-3 fatty acids (p = 0.512, P<0.05) and fatty acid profiles from other tissues. In summary, this report underscores the importance of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids to the hair coat condition of dogs kept under humid tropical conditions

Emerging diseases of goats in Malaysia

Malaysia is aggressively reviving its sluggish small ruminant industry via imports of high and good quality productive goats. However, certain diseases especially the ones which take an insidious course may be missed (rather long incubation period) during quarantine. This paper describes the first definite outbreak of caprine arthritis encephalitis (CAE) and coenuriasis in goats. The disease was confirmed via clinical signs, pathology, and virus isolation (CAE). Further corrective and preventive measures are being discussed