Provide info under RTI Act: HC tells MSEZL

August 30, 2012

Mangalore, August 30: The Karnataka High Court has in an order ruled that the Mangalore Special Economic Zone Ltd (MSEZL) is covered under the ambit of the Right to Information Act.

The company had claimed that it is a private company and not a public authority and hence had moved court after the State Information Commission had insisted that it should provide information under the RTI Act.

In a recent order dated 14.08.2012, Justice Mohan Shantanagoudar of the High Court of Karnataka dismissed the Mangalore SEZ Ltd.'s plea and upheld the Karnataka Information Commission's view that “the petitioner company Mangalore SEZ Limited, Mangalore can be classified as a 'public authority' and Non-Government Organisation which is substantially financed directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government.” Further, the Court has directed that the company “is bound to furnish the information as sought for by the private respondents.”

MSEZL had been refusing to entertain any applications under the RTI Act and was withholding information even from MSEZL's Project Displaced Families claiming it was a private company not a public authority for which the Act is applicable, despite having ONGC and KIADB as significant shareholders.

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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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