JD(S) seeks Finance, Revenue, Water Resources, PWD, Energy portfolios

DHNS

May 26, 2018

Bengaluru, May 26: With Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy winning the floor test in the Legislative Assembly on Friday, the ministry formation exercise gained momentum as the coalition partners parleyed on the distribution of key portfolios.

Kumaraswamy, his brother-JD(S) leader H D Revanna, former chief minister Siddaramaiah, AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal and Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president G Parameshwara huddled after the alliance partners won the floor test.

Sources in the JD(S) said the party leaders have sought five key portfolios - Finance, Revenue, Water Resources, PWD and Energy. But Congress leaders did not affirm anything in this regard. Kumaraswamy is also said to have told the Congress delegation that the list of probable JD(S) ministers was ready and that the expansion of the council of ministers could be done on Monday.

On their part, Congress leaders told him that they would discuss with the high command before taking the final decision on the distribution of portfolios and the date of ministry expansion. Congress leaders are unlikely to go to Delhi to meet the party top brass on Saturday.

They may go either on Sunday or after the Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituency poll scheduled on May 28.

H D Revanna, G T Deve Gowda, Basavaraj Horatti, C S Puttaraju, Bandeppa Kashempur, A H Vishwanath are among JD(S) leaders who are tipped to make into the council of ministers. R V Deshpande, Shamnur Shivashankarappa, Ramalinga Reddy, K J George, S R Patil, H K Patil, Priyank Kharge, Laxmi Hebbalkar and Roopa Shashidhar are among the prominent Congress leaders whose names are making rounds. The alliance partners have already decided to share the ministerial berths at a 22: 12 ratio. The council of ministers comprises 34 members, including the chief minister. The plan is to expand the council of ministers sometime next week.

While the Congress wants to strike a balance between old and young leaders, the party is said to be struggling to decide on accommodating Muslims in the council of ministers.

While UT Khader is the only Congress MLA left in the Dakshina Kannada region, other Muslim leaders such as R Roshan Baig, Rahim Khan, Tanveer Sait and Zameer Ahmed Khan are seeking berths.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

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.

Comments