IEPF Authority in a major success recovers Depositors ‘Money: Just a beginning / a step towards Investor Protection
- The IEPF Authority has forced The Peerless General Finance and Investment Company Limited to transfer deposits to IEPF. This depositor’s money was pending with the company for the last 15 years.
- Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) is a fund set up under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to help promote investor awareness and protection of investor interests.
- IEPF Authority has been set up under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India as a statutory body under Companies Act 2013.
- The Authority takes various initiatives to fulfill its objectives through Investor Awareness Programmes and various other mediums like Print, Electronic, Social Media, and Community Radio etc.
- Secretary Ministry of the Corporate Affairs is the Chairperson of the Authority. Joint Secretary Ministry of the Corporate Affairs is the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority.
CGDA Director
- Shri Rajendra Kumar Nayak took over as the 52nd Controller General of Defence Accounts on April 22, 2019.
- Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) heads the Defence Accounts Department (DAD).
- CGDA operates under the Ministry of Defence of India.
- CGDA is the cadre controlling authority of the Indian Defence Accounts Service. This is an organised account cadre of Government of India.
IN Ships Kolkata and Shakti are at Qingdao, China to participate in IFR to mark 70TH Anniversary of PLA(Navy)
- PLA (Navy) in China is celebrating its 70TH Anniversary in the sea of Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province.
- The People’s Liberation Army Navy, i.e. PLA (Navy), is the naval warfare branch of the People’s Liberation Army, which is the national armed force of the People’s Republic of China.
- Two Indian naval ships — INS ‘Kolkata’ and ‘Shakti’ — entered Qingdao, China to participate in the International Fleet Review (IFR) as part of 70TH Anniversary Celebrations of PLA (Navy) on 21 Apr 19.
- INS Kolkata is the lead ship of the Kolkata-class stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy. It lists of armaments included Brahmos supersonic anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles.
- The Kolkata classis a class of stealth guided missile destroyers constructed for the Indian Navy.
- This is also known as Project 15A. It is a class of stealth guided missile destroyers constructed for the Indian Navy.
- The classcomprises three ships – Kolkata, Kochi and Chennai, all of which were built by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in India.
- INS Shakti is tanker and supply ship.
- It is third consecutive time (2009, 2014 and 2019) participation of Indian Navy in PLA (N) IFR.
- This is under the initiative of Government of India’s ‘Act East’ policy and Indian Navy’s efforts to “Unite Nations Through the Oceans”, through which India wishes to extend the ‘Bridges of Friendship’ through enhanced cultural, economic and maritime interactions with countries of East and South-East Asia.
- Act East Policyis the successor to the Look East. Policy, which was launched in 1992 by the then PM Narasimha Rao under radically different geopolitical and economic circumstances.
- Act East Policy is launched by PM Narendra Modi in 2015. it focuses on the extended neighborhood in the Asia-Pacific region.
Search conducted in NCR on a Group in the Power sector
- The Delhi Unit of the Directorate General of Income-tax (Investigation) initiated search and seizure action on a on a leading Solar Power Group in NCR. Bhopal, Indore and Goa in case of economic frauds.
- The Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation is the law enforcement agency under the Ministry of Finance responsible for investigating violations of India’s tax laws, including fraud, evasion and money laundering.
- The controlling authority is the Investigation Division of the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
- The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is a part of Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance.
- It is a statutory authority functioning under the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963.
US to discontinue the Significant Reduction Exemption to all purchases of crude oil from Iran
- United States announced that they will not issue any additional Significant Reduction Exceptions [SREs] to existing importers of Iranian oil.
- S. said waivers to trade with Iran for China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey would expire in May, after which they could face US sanctions themselves.
- This decision is intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the government its main source of revenue.
- S. reinstated the sanctions on Iran in November 2018 after abandoning a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers.
- However, six-month waivers from economic penalties were granted to the eight main buyers of Iranian crude – China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Italy and Greece – to give them time to find alternative sources and avoid causing a shock to global oil markets.
- Nuclear deal 2015 It is also called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. It was signed in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers – the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany.
- It came after years of tension over Iran’s alleged efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.
- Iran insisted that its nuclear programme was entirely peaceful, but the international community did not believe that.
- Under the accord, Iran agreed to limit its sensitive nuclear activities and allow in international inspectors in return for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions.
- S. recently pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal and re-imposed sanctions on Iran’s energy, ship building, shipping, and banking sectors, which U.S. considers “the core areas” of its economy.
- Implications on India
- Energy imports from Iran will become difficult and expensive.
- Fuel prices will go up (due to decrease in the availability of oil in the international market as Iran would not be able to sell it).
- The Reserve Bank of India might have to increase interest rates to contain inflation (inflation will increase as the cost of oil per barrel will increase) and step in to check the fall in the rupee’s value (rupee’s value will fall as India have to give more rupees to buy dollars).
- Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, India has issued a statement:
- There will be additional supplies from other major oil producing countries from different parts of the world.
- The Indian refineries are fully prepared without any problem to meet the national demand for petrol, diesel and other petroleum products in the country.
