Karnataka North Cong chief SR Patil quits; BJP calls it beginning of the downfall of govt

News Network

June 3, 2018

Bengaluru, Jun 3: Karnataka North Congress working President SR Patil on Sunday tendered his resignation on moral grounds owing to party’s performance in recent assembly elections in the state.

Patil has sent his resignation letter to Congress President Rahul Gandhi. “I have sent my resignation to Shri Rahul Gandhiji through an email some days back after taking up moral responsibility for the party’s unsatisfactory performance in assembly elections,” Patil told reporters in Bengaluru on Sunday.

“Had my party won more seats from North Karnataka, we would have formed the government on our own,” he added. The party high command Gandhi is yet to respond to Patil's resignation.

The development comes in the wake of suggestions floated by Congress leaders that those who served as ministers for two terms in the previous governments be deputed for party work.

The Congress had managed to wrest a few seats from BJP, but lost many in North Karnataka, an electorally significant region dominated by Lingayat community. The Congress won just 8 seats in Belagavi, 2 in Bagalkot, 3 in Vijayapura, 1 in Gadag and 2 in Dharwad, districts.

Patil (69) had been the minister in the previous Siddaramiah government. He served as the Minister for Infrastructure, information technology, biotechnology, science and technology, planning and statistics in the state government.

On media reports that former Chief Minister Siddarmaiah was lobbying to make him the KPCC President after Parameshwara was appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister, Patil said he would be happy to accept any role the party gives. “I will not leave Congress for any reason,” he said.

Meanwhile, the BJP called the development as the “beginning of the downfall” of “power-hungry” JDS-Congress government.

“The downfall of the empire that was built after mocking people’s mandate has begun. @INCKarnataka senior leader Sri. S R Patil resigns. This is only the beginning of the downfall of power hungry government,” BJP Karnataka said on its twitter handle.

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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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