High Court grants interim pre-arrest bail to Radhe Maa

Mumbai, Aug 14: The Bombay high court on Friday granted interim anticipatory bail of Rs 20,000 to godwoman Radhe Maa alias Sukhwinder Kaur in a dowry case. Justice Mridula Bhatkar directed the godwoman to reach the police station for investigation purposes on August 19 and August 26, 2015.

The state had sought time to respond to the petition, which was filed a day after the sessions court refused to grant pre-arrest bail. The court considered the fact that the other six accused in the case, including the husband and in-laws of the woman Nikki Gupta who had filed the complaint, have already been granted protection from arrest.

Gupta had filed a private complaint against her husband Nakul and five other family members with the Kandivali police. She also names Kaur as the seventh accused. She alleged that her in-laws had harassed her and demanded dowry at Kaur's behest.

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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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