Hate speech case: Court declares Praveen Togadia proclaimed absconder

December 14, 2014

Kasargod, Dec 14: A court in Kanhangad on Saturday declared Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Praveen Togadia, who is evading arrest for several months in connection with the delivering highly venomous speech, as an a proclaimed absconder.

The case was registered against him for making a'hate speech' in the town in 2011.

Hosdurg Judicial First Class Magistrate Court (1) judge Rajeev Vachal made the observation on Friday after the Kanhangad police expressed their inability to arrest the VHP leader despite issuing arrest warrants three times, a senior police official said.

The police had suo motu registered the case against Dr Togadia for making a speech that could vitiate communal harmony while addressing a public function in Kanhangad on April 30, 2011.

With the court proclamation, the police could take steps to arrest the VHP leader.

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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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