Riot-accused BJP MLAs honoured at Modi rally

November 21, 2013

Agra, Nov 21: BJP 'felicitated' its Uttar Pradesh MLAs Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana, who had been arrested for inciting communal violence in Muzaffarnagar, on Thursday at a rally in Agra.

Rana and Som were gifted pagdis – traditionally associated with honour and respect in India – as they strutted around the stage with broad smiles plastered on their faces. They were also garlanded by the BJP, who have decided for themselves without paying heed to the legal system, that the MLAs are'innocent'.

BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi is scheduled to address the rally later.

Earlier this week BJP had decided to felicitate its MLAs Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana at Narendra Modi's rally in Agra on Thursday.

"These two MLAs were lodged in jail and NSA was slapped on them by the Samajwadi Party government. The party will be felicitating them at Modi's rally in Agra and tell the people the truth about Muzaffarnagar riots", BJP state spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak had said.

Som, who was arrested for his alleged role in inciting communal violence in Muzaffarnagar, was recently released on bail by a Deoband court. He was accused of uploading a fake video that played a role in provoking communal tension in Muzaffarnagar. He is also facing allegations of having made inflammatory speeches.

Rana was arrested from Lucknow on September 20 for his alleged role in fanning the communal violence which left 62 persons dead and rendered 40,000 homeless. He was later released on bail.

Like several other perpetrators of various other crimes, and the party seems to have taken the same as a statement of their innocence.

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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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