Shiv Sena MP hits Air India staffer with slippers on board Pune-Delhi flight

March 23, 2017

New Delhi, Mar 23: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad punched and hit a 60-year-old Air India Duty Manager with his slippers nearly 20 times and tore his shirt at IGI airport here today just because he could not travel business class in an all-economy flight.

The airline will be filing an FIR against the MP. It has also constituted a committee to look into the incident and will be submitting its report shortly to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, according to Air India.

"The MP turned violent, broke the duty manager's spectacles, tore his shirt, hit him with slippers 16-17 times," said Air India sources.

According to the airline, Gaikwad was booked on an open ticket in business class with Air India which allows a passenger to take a flight on any date.

But Gaikwad insisted on taking the 7:35 am AI 852 this morning from Pune to Delhi, which is an all-economy flight, sparking an argument between Air India staff and the politician.

The MP boarded the flight but refused to alight from the aircraft when it landed at IGI airport here.

This is when the 60-year-old duty manager, Shivkumar, approached the MP to try and placate him but was brutally manhandled, said Air India sources.

Gaikwad admitted hitting the Air India employee with his slippers.

"He asked who is this MP and said he would complain to Modi. So I slapped him. I hit him 25 times with my sandal.

"I am Shiv Sena member, not of BJP, to entertain abuses (hurled at me)," he said adding he "will not apologise".

Gaikwad said he would also complain to the Lok Sabha Speaker about the incident.

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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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