List of 98 smart cities out: Mangaluru among Karnataka’s 6 winners

August 27, 2015

New Delhi, Aug 27: Marking a key step in the NDA government's infrastructure push, Minister of Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday announced the list of ninety eight smart cities that the government has shortlisted.

While Uttar Pradesh has bagged the maximum number of smart cities projects at 13, Tamil Nadu has got 12 and Maharashtra 10. Madhya Pradesh will have seven smart cities and Gujarat and Karnataka will have six each. The six smart cities of Karnataka are Mangaluru, Belagavi, Shivamogga, Hubballi-Dharwad, Tumakuru, Davanagere

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government plans to spend over Rs 3 lakh crore over the next 5-6 years to recast urban cities. Of the 98 smart cities, 24 are business and industry centres, 18 are cultural and tourist centres & 3 are education and health care hubs, Naidu said.

According to Naidu, "13 crore population across 98 cities which is 35% of urban population will be covered under smart city mission." "Making them (cities) smart will make them engines of economic growth besides giving decent life to the citizens," Naidu said.

Smart cities will boast of features like variety of transport options; citizen-friendly governance; smart solutions for infrastructure and services. Here is a list of some of the features that smart cities will have:

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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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