IMA ponzy scam: Investors write to PM Modi, seek FIR under central law

News Network

October 1, 2019

Bengaluru, Oct 1: Unsatisfied with the CBI investigation into the I-Monetary Advisory ponzy scam, several investors have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking registration of cases against the firm under Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019, a central legislation.

According to them, CBI, which had taken over investigation from the special investigation team (SIT) constituted by the state government, filed a chargesheet where the FIRs are neither registered under the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments (KPID) Act, 2004, nor under the central law.

'We, the victims of the scam by IMA and its subsidiaries, request you to issue guidelines to CBI to register the FIR under Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019," IMA investors said. They claimed the central law is superior to that of KPID Act, which they were told is being invoked by CBI in its FIRs.

The new law is more stringent as it has been incorporated by amending various Acts, including RBI Act. If the complaints are received from more than one state, CBI gets jurisdiction to investigate the matter. Gazetted on July 31, 2019, the new law took effect from February 21, 2019 when the ordinance was issued.

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Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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