NDA to fall short of majority in 2014, says new opinion poll

March 30, 2014

New Delhi, Mar 30: No alliance will get a majority in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections even though BJP-led NDA would emerge as the largest alliance pocketing 233 seats, a latest opinion poll has predicted.

As per the ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll, BJP leader Narendra Modi 's popularity has declined a bit but he remains the clear choice of people for the position of prime minister.

He got 54 per cent in the fresh survey conducted this month, which is three per cent less he had netted in February this year, said a release issued by ABP news channel.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi 's popularity among people remains constant for he has been voted as the second choice for prime minister with 18 per cent while AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal bagged only three per cent.

The ABP News-Nielsen survey predicts that the UPA will get 119 seats as compared to 92 seats in opinion poll conducted in February 2014. Out of this, the Congress was likely to get 91 seats and AAP is expected to get around four seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha.

The BJP is expected to do well in North, East and western part of the country except for the South where the Congress will have an upper edge. The poll findings suggest that the BJP may get 81 seats in the North while the Congress ' share will shrink to 21. The BSP would get 17 and Samajwadi Party around 12 seats.

Similarly in the East, the BJP was likely to get around 36 seats, West Bengal ruling party Trinamool Congress would bag around 28 seats while Odisha ruling party BJD was likely to get 17 seats with the Congress expected to get around 19 seats.

The Congress is to lead with 31 seats with AIADMK likely to get 21 seats in South India.

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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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