Gram Panchayat workers stage demonstration

April 18, 2012

Mangalore, April 18: Gram panchayat workers from across the district staged a demonstration in front of the office of the zilla panchayat here on Wednesday in support of their demands. The demands included ban on contract system of employment.

The protest was part of the State-wide agitation by the Karnataka State Gram Panchayat Naukarara Sangh affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions.

Addressing the workers, CITU district unit secretary Vasanth Achary said there had been an increase in the number of persons appointed on contract for various posts in gram panchayats. There was a need to fight against contract employment which would lead to harassment of employees. The State government was taking action and modifying Acts favouring the capitalists, he alleged.

Mr. Achary said: “We need to pressure the State government not to take steps that harm employees.”

Activist Vasudev Uchil said that it was because of the fight by CITU the State government had issued orders for creation of a seniority list. Unlike other departments, gram panchayat employees, who have studied till SSLC and put in 10 years of service, would be eligible for the post of secretary in the panchayat without writing any examination. K. Yadav Shetty, president of the sangh, spoke.

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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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