Life returns to normal in Kasargod after day-long LDF-BJP hartal

September 16, 2012

Kasargod, September 16: Life returned to normal in Kasargod district on Sunday after a day-long state-wide hartal called by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in protest against the increase in diesel prices.

Shops and business establishments reopened this morning and traffic on all routes was plying.

The hartal had evoked total response in Kasargod, where normal life was affected on Saturday. However, no untoward incidents were reported from any parts of the district, the police said. In response to the hartal call, the entire business and commercial activities came to grinding halt with shopkeepers downing shutters. Public transport vehicle operators kept off the roads.

The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses did not ply, and many got stranded at railway stations. People could be seen walking long distances. The hartal supporters staged protest marches in major towns.

Special Correspondent writes from Kannur: The 12-hour hartal was near total in Kannur.

All shops remained closed and public transport vehicles kept off the road in response to the hartal call. The roads were largely deserted, though a few two-wheelers and cars were seen plying.

The KSRTC buses here did not operate their scheduled services. No hartal-related incidents were reported in the district.

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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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