Miracle in Siachen: Soldier from Karnataka found alive after 6 days under 25 feet of snow

February 9, 2016

New Delhi, Feb 9: Call it a nature's miracle or his will power to live, Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad of Indian Army was pulled out alive by rescue teams in Siachen on Monday night.

Hanamanthappa was among the group of ten soldiers of the 19 Madras Regiment who were missing and presumed dead in a deadly avalanche six days ago.

He is said to be in a critical condition and efforts are being made to airlift him to Delhi's RR hospital, a premiere medical institute of the Indian armed forces.

Army's search party has also managed to dig out bodies of four other soldiers whereas, fate of five others remain uncertain.

Lance Naik Hanamanthappa, a resident of Dharwad District in Karnataka, has raised hopes of rescuers who have been digging the snow desert for the past six days.

Ten Indian Army soldiers were reported missing after a massive avalanche hit the high-altitude post manned by them in the Siachen glacier on Wednesday last week.

The trapped army personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), were of the 19th battalion of Bihar regiment.

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Really its a miracle. Still he his fighting for his life. I pray Allah for his health and confident his recovery will be soon.

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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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