Sunny Leone, elephant, deer, pigeon all make voters’ list in Uttar Pradesh

Agencies

August 25, 2018

Ballia, Aug 25: Film actor Sunny Leone is a voter in Ballia but goes by the name of Durgawati, if the voters’ list that was being prepared for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections is to be believed.

An elephant, a pigeon and a deer were also on the list.

The errors were detected and set right during the process of verification of the list, an official said on Saturday, blaming a disgruntled data operator.

Actor Sunny Leone’s picture was pasted against the name of voter Durgawati, Kunwar Ankur Singh was represented by a deer and Kunwar Gaurav Singh looked exactly like a pigeon, according to the list.

Another victim was Narad Rai, a former minister in the Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav governments in Uttar Pradesh.

He had a picture of an elephant pasted beside his name in the updated voters' list.

District officials blamed a data operator for the mischief and have recommended his dismissal.

"A data operator on contract, Vishnu Verma, was sore over his transfer and indulged in this," Additional District Magistrate Mukul Kumar Singhal told PTI.

"Out of mischief, he pasted such pictures against the names of seven voters," the ADM said.

He added the Election Commission was informed and the errors corrected.

The mischief was discovered during the verification of the list, he said.

Ballia Superintendent of Police Sriparna Ganguly said an FIR has been lodged against the data operator at Ballia Kotwali police station.

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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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