No abstract

Bitcoin (BTC) prices are fluctuating continuously to the extremes. The Bitcoin market witnessed a crash during the second quarter of 2021 that was purely guided by the investors' sentiments. Are the Bitcoin prices influenced only by market sentiments or do any factors influence them? In this paper, we applied a triangulation approach; mixed-methods research was used in which a qualitative study was complemented by a quantitative method. Both the qualitative and quantitative data of time periods 2016-2021 were examined to find whether the Bitcoin market prices are influenced by market sentiments. For analysing market sentiments, the posts and sentiments from 2016 to 2021 of an internet forum "Bitcointalk" were used. For strengthening the findings of qualitative analysis, we used quantitative data of the BTC market. We also used search data from Google Trends for providing further insights. Our research shows a crossmatch between quantitative trends on Bitcoin market prices and qualitative matrix of sentiments. We have also observed an artificial investment intention in the form of digital nudges playing the field of the Bitcoin market to boost investment.

Higher education is affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, which forced thousands of schools and educational institutions to close in a short amount of time in order to enact social segregation measures. Educational institutions, particularly in India, face considerable challenges in their system of planning, implementing, and assessing. The main purpose of the study was to gather qualitative data about the pandemic-related worries of college students from various part of the country. Education, personal and public safety, mental health, job security and financial instability, future uncertainty, pandemic's effects on social relationships, misleading news and information, politics, the economy, and travel were among the main topics of concern. Universities must seize the potential to enhance their evidence-based practices, provide readily accessible mental health therapies, and modify their courses to meet the needs of the contemporary world.

The objective of this paper is to assess the effect of work from home (WFH) on the work-life balance of IT employees. The study investigated among 200 IT employees who were in full-time employment at two popular IT parks in India – Technopark and Infopark. Regression and Multidimensional Scaling ALSCAL (Euclidean Distance Model) were used for analysing data. We considered the significance of gender influence on the work-life balance (WLB) and job satisfaction on work-from-home (WFH). The research found a significant positive effect of WFH on the WLB and a positive relationship of WFH employees with work and family. We found irrespective of gender the employees of WFH had equal job satisfaction. We noticed a concern among the WFH women employees, as they have had to struggle to balance their personal and professional lives. The findings of the study have enormous policy implications in the IT sector across the globe. This paper has provided an early step in the direction of policymaking of WFH initiatives in the IT sector across the globe. JEL: O15, J81, J28, M14

GST is a comprehensive tax system that subsumed all indirect taxes of states and central governments and unified economy into a seamless national market .Under the erstwhile indirect tax regime, there were a number of taxes. Prof. Kelkar Committee has proposed a uniform Goods and Services Tax (GST) to do away with the issues and problems of VAT. Based on Kelkar Committee recommendations, the Govt of India has brought a Bill in 2011 through the Constitution (115th Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2011. However the bill was not passed due to dissolution of 15th Lok Sabha. Again, Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014 was presented in the Lok Sabha and this Bill has been passed in the Lok Sabha as well as Rajyasabha. Goods and service tax is a new story of VAT which gives a widespread setoff for input tax credit and subsuming many indirect taxes from state and national level. The Government’s GST regime seeks to replace excise duty, import duties, VAT and service tax regulations, along with other Cess and surcharges, with three separate legislations namely CGST, SGST and IGST. GST would be applicable to all transactions of goods and service, and it to be paid to the accounts of the Centre and the States separately. The biggest advantage of GST is economic unification of India. It has potential to end the longstanding distortions arising out of the differential treatment of the manufacturing and service sectors. It is an issue if people are still unaware or confuse with the tax system of GST and become worst when people ignore and boycott not to pay the tax.