Sorry, I won’t withdraw nomination: JP Hegde tells CM, KPCC president

December 11, 2015

Udupi, Dec 11: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dr G Parameshwara have failed to convince former Udupi MP and Congress leader K Jayaprakash Hegde to withdraw his candidature for MLC polls.

Mr Hegde had filed nomination as an independent candidate from Dakshina Kannada and Udupi constituency after Congress issued ticket to Pratapchandra Shetty, who according to the former is an inactive and incompetent candidate.

Three other Congress leaders, Harikrishna Bantwal, Shankar Kundar and Bhujanga Shetty, also have filed their nomination papers as independent candidate expressing displeasure over party’s decision to field Pratapchandra Shetty for third time.

Mr. Hegde said that both Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Parameshwara had called him on Thursday. Both had asked him withdraw his candidature and come for a discussion to Bengaluru. Mr. Hegde said that both of them told him that there was no question of asking Mr. Pratapchandra Shetty to withdraw.

“My point to them was simple. When Mr. Pratapchandra Shetty had declared that he would not contest, why give the ticket to him?” he asked. He said that he had told them that he was ready to withdraw his (Mr. Hegde’s) candidature, provided the Congress party gave its ticket to any of the nine other applicants for the ticket other than Mr. Pratapchandra Shetty.

The Congress top brass had held no discussion within the party before deciding on Mr. Pratapchandra Shetty, he 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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