I own responsibility for BBMP poll defeat: Siddaramaiah

August 25, 2015

Bengaluru, Aug 25: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who campaigned intensively in the run-up to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahangara Palike (BBMP) elections, on Tuesday owned responsibility for the party’s dismal performance.

“I own responsibility for the party’s defeat in the BBMP elections,” he said and took in his stride the poll outcome. The BBMP poll verdict would not become a referendum on the State Government. The electorate would choose different political parties in different elections, he said.

The Congress candidates won in 76 wards while the Opposition BJP candidates emerged victorious in 100 wards. The JD (S) won in 14 and independents in 8 wards, respectively.

Replying to questions from presspersons at his official residence “Krishna”, the Chief Minister said he had expected that the party would get a simple majority in the elections because of the work the government had done in the last two years. But now “we have to respect the people’s verdict”. Poll surveys conducted by media had also given more seats to the ruling Congress, he said.

In elections (non-party lines) held to gram panchayats, the Congress had won a majority of seats in 23 out of 30 districts.

Replying to a question on splitting the BBMP, he said the Bill had been referred to President Pranab Mukherjee. The Cabinet would discuss the issue of dividing the BBMP after the President gives his nod to the Bill, he said.

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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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