Akku-Leela finally to get their dues after SC rap

July 19, 2014

Udupi, Jul 19: After a long wait of 42 years for justice, Akku and Leela finally received their due after the state government regularized their services following an order from the Supreme Court.

The state government had initially failed to comply with the order of the Supreme Court issued in 2010. Following a rap by the apex court, the state government, after four long years, obeyed the SC order and regularised their services from the date they began working as temporary cleaners at the Government Women Teachers' Training Institute in Mangalore in 1971 for a meager sum of Rs 15 per month.

Udupi-based Human Rights Protection Foundation had filed a petition for contempt of court in the Supreme Court on behalf of Akku and Leela in June against the state government for failing to comply with the SC orders even after four years. Following this, the apex court issued a final warning to the state government on July 4 giving it one week's time to observe its order.

President of the foundation Ravindranath Shanbhag, who had been fighting for the cause of Akku and Leela and similar cases from across the state, said that the organisation would monitor the implementation of the government order till the entire sum was duly paid to the two women.

Before retiring in 2011, the two women had served as temporary cleaners at the training institute since 1971. Despite numerous pleas to making their jobs permanent and increasing their meager salary of Rs 15, their status was not elevated. Moreover, the department of education removed them from service when the women approached the Administrative Tribunal in 1998.

The state government approached the Supreme Court following the verdict of the Tribunal which was in favour of Akku and Leela. The apex court upheld the verdict of the Tribunal and directed the state government to pay the salaries and arrears due to them.

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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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