Anant Kumar Hegde calls intellectuals ‘sold-out; hits out at media for criticizing him

coastaldigest.com news network
June 18, 2018

Bengaluru, Jun 18: Continuing his tirade against non-communal intellectuals, Anant Kumar Hedge, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, has called them ‘foolish’ and ‘sold-out’.

Speaking at the launch of Kannada version of Vinayak Savarkar’s book Hidutva on Sunday, Hegde reiterated his definition of a secular persons as one who does not know his parents.

“The so-called intellectuals are the embodiment of foolishness. They don’t understand whatever we talk about the greatness of Hindutva, because they have sold their intellect,” he said in his address after releasing the book translated into Kannada by G B Harish.

Turning his ire on media, the minister said it has been the habit of the media to criticise him which to he had got used to.

“Such is the situation that people will be shocked if the media talks good about me. If they are abusing me, it means the situation is normal. Let them abuse me and I will take it as flattery,” Hedge said.

Seeking to highlight the greatness of Hindu religion, he said Hindus worship mythological figures like Rama and Krishna albeit they are not Brahmins. “Not just that, we worship Ganesha who has been born out of the dirt produced by somebody’s sweat. This is the greatness of the Hindu religion which the secular intellectuals can never understand,” he added.

Comments

Farooq
 - 
Monday, 18 Jun 2018

Stop telling nonsense Mr. Anant Fool.

Suresh
 - 
Monday, 18 Jun 2018

Being a Hindutva meaning, losing commonsense

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News Network
December 7,2025

SHRIMP.jpg

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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