NRI women in UAE launch mission to protect environment

News Network

October 6, 2019

Dubai, Oct 6: The Indian Ladies Association (ILA), a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based community welfare body, has launched a year-long mission to protect the environment through a series of initiatives, including collection of discarded paper, e-waste, cleaning of beaches and tree planting in Abu Dhabi.

In an interview, Sunita Wagle, President of the ILA, said on Sunday: "We just collected 500 kg of paper from the community. It included used office papers, magazines, books, paper bags, notebooks, textbooks and newspapers copies."

The ILA has committed to run sustainable environmentally friendly and social awareness campaigns in the community each month and this would continue throughout the year to educate people about the environment and seek their participation in making the world a greener place.

"By the end of October, we will launch our plantation drive to encourage people to plant ghaf and neem trees. We will plant the trees and arrange for their regular irrigation.

"The ILA just provides a platform to the community to come forward and participate in the environmentally friendly campaigns," Wagle added.

The ILA is one of the five Indian community organisations in Abu Dhabi which are registered with the UAE's Ministry of Community Development.

It was also planning to spread environmental awareness among labourers. As part of the mission, the ILA will visit labour camps to give saplings to workers to plant.

"We are in the process of obtaining permission from the concerned labour camps," Wagle said.

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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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