Minister appears in court for hearing of six-year-old case

May 21, 2013

Mangalore, May 21: Minister for Health and Family Welfare U T Khadar appeared in second judicial magistrate first class court in Mangalore on Monday for the hearing of a six year old case of alleged poll code violation.

Mr Khader was booked under the Representation of People's Act (RP Act) in 2007 by a sector magistrate appointed by the election commission during the 2006 by-poll for erstwhile Ullal (now Mangalore) constituency.

He was booked for ferrying voters to election booths in private vehicles at Bengre in Panambur police station limits.

Khader's advocate Anwar denied the charges framed against the three-time MLA. “The case was booked against the candidate who was not aware of voters being ferried,” the advocate said.

Defeated candidates of the constituency Chandrahas Uchil (BJP) and Aboobakar Natekal (JDS) were also at the hearing for the same case. The case was postponed to May 22

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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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