DSS flays delay in construction of Ambedkar Bhavan

April 12, 2012

Mangalore, April 13: Dakshina Kannada unit of the Karnataka Dalitha Sangharsha Samithi (Bhimavada) has urged the district administration to begin work on construction of Ambedkar Bhavan immediately.

State Committee Member of the samithi P. Keshav told presspersons here on Thursday that the foundation stone was laid for a Rs. 1.2-crore Abmedkar Bhavan in Kodialbail. The district administration subsequently decided to build a Bhavan at a cost of Rs. 4 crore in Derebail on a 1.61-acre land and thereafter at Urwa Stores area.

Now, there were plans to shift it Urva Market area. This kind of dilly-dallying on the project amounted to showing disrespect to a national leader, he said. Alleging that the Government was testing the patients of the Dalits, he said the Bhavan should come up at a place identified at Urwa Stores.

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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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