JD(S) chose me not because of being HDK’s wife, but due to my work: Anitha

coastaldigest.com news network

October 22, 2018

Bengaluru, Oct 22: Anitha Kumaraswamy, who is contesting the November 3 bypolls, feels that the Janata Dal (Secular) fielded her as its in Ramanagaram constituency not just because she’s the wife of chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, but due to her efforts in building the party.

Anitha, an engineer in electronics and the head of a Kannada entertainment channel, is the first woman from the family of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda to enter politics. She made it to the Assembly for the first time by winning a keenly fought poll from Madhugiri in 2008. But she wasn’t successful in the next two elections she contested.

In an interview, Anitha said that people identify her as an individual with an identity of her own. “I am campaigning for my husband since 1996. I am more evolved as a politician today because of the experience I have gained. People in Ramanagaram look at me as an individual more than as the wife of Kumaraswamy. My candidature was considered going by my efforts in building the JD(S) in Ramanagaram,” she says.

However, she adds that the contribution of her father-in-law H D Deve Gowda to the constituency, which took him to the post of Chief Minister in 1994, and the development works taken up by her husband since 1996 are her main support.

“Both of them ensured the overall development of the constituency. Ramanagaram has witnessed unprecedented growth since 1994. Our family and Ramanagaram are almost bound with an umbilical cord or sorts,” she says.

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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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