Parameshwar, Ivan D 'Souza among frontrunners for Council seats

June 1, 2014

Bangalore, Jun 1: The State unit of the Congress is planning to make a Christian, a Kannada actor and a Kannada writer members of the Legislative Council.

Christian leaders were unhappy with the party not giving a ticket to the community to contest the parliamentary elections in the State.

Hence, the State party wants to pacify the community by making one of its leaders an MLC.

Names of Nivedit Alva, son of Margaret Alva, and Ivan D 'Souza are doing the rounds.

Alva is learnt to have met Digvijay Singh, AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, in Bangalore on Friday.

He had aspired to contest as the party candidate from Uttara Kannada parliamentary constituency, but the party fielded Prashant Deshpande, son of Higher Education Minister R V Deshpande.

Congress party president in Karnataka Dr G Parameshwar, whose supporters are demanding the deputy chief minister 's position for him, is also among Congress frontrunners for seats in the legislative council, where 13 members are set to retire in June.

Another community leader to be denied ticket was H T Sangliana from Bangalore Central constituency.

Of the seven seats for which MLAs will be the voters, the ruling Congress can win at least four.

Also, it can nominate three members to the Upper House. Singh has asked KPCC chief G Parameshwara and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to come to Delhi on June 4 with a list of probable candidates. Elections are scheduled on June 20.

The names of actors Bhavana and Jayamala are making the rounds for the nomination. Jayamala is associated with the Congress for many years.

Bhavana is also lobbying to become an MLC.

There is also a thinking to nominate one of the actors to the Upper House, instead of taking the election route.

At the same time, former minister Rani Satish is said to be lobbying for a Council seat, saying that a woman should get representation.

The State party women 's unit president Manjula Naidu is also an aspirant. Names of businessman K P Nanjundi and writers S G Siddaramaiah, K Marulasiddappa are being considered for the nominations, sources said.

Former minister H M Revanna, who is a close aide of Siddaramaiah and belongs to Kuruba community, is eyeing a Council seat.

Another person belonging to the community aspiring to enter the Upper House is former Bangalore mayor Ramachandrappa.

The Council currently has two members belonging to Kuruba community. Another Congress leader who is close to Siddaramaiah and trying hard to become a legislator is Ravishankar Shetty.

But Siddaramaiah, sources said, has not assured any of them on their election.

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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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