A teacher’s relentless fight for justice

December 17, 2015

Kasaragod, Dec 17: Perturbed over the undue delay in implementing the High Court verdict ordering her re-appointment as teacher at the Aided Upper Primary school at Pallathadkka near Badiadukka, K. Roja, 42, is contemplating filing a contempt of court petition in the High Court seeking its further intervention.

The move by the teacher comes in the light of the school management deliberately going slow in complying with the court ruling ordering her re-appointment as teacher in the school.

Ms. Roja, who was appointed as teacher in the school in 2000, was removed from the post in 2009 on the grounds of depleted students’ strength.

Ms. Roja had urged P. Harikumar, the School Manager, to take steps to re-appoint her in the vacancy created by the retirement of a teacher of the school in 2011.

However, the management refused to accede to her request and instead went ahead with the fresh appointment of another teacher even without getting approval from the Assistant Education Officer (AEO), Kumbla.

Peeved at the fresh teacher appointment despite having been a reserve teacher waiting in the queue, Ms. Roja drew the attention of the State Education department, local MLA and other officials concerned at the injustice meted out to her.

The authorities, acceding to her plea, ordered the school management to re- appoint Ms. Roja, a resident of Mogral-Puthur village here and conversant in both Kannada and Malayalam, in the post left vacant by the retired school teacher.

But the school management approached the High Court division bench seeking to regularize the service of the fresh appointment made by it.

However, the court in its ruling on November 3, dismissed the plea and ordered implementation of the government orders to re-appoint the teacher.

However, the management refused to comply with the court’s fresh orders. Consequent upon this, Kailasa Murthy, AEO, Kumbla, recently sent a letter to the school management and higher authorities urging it to comply with the court order.

However, the management is yet to respond, said Mr. Murthy. Ms. Roja has taken up her issue directly with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy during his mass public contact programme here in November 2011 and Mr. Chandy had directed the authorities concerned to re-appoint the teacher. The teacher is also planning to approach the State Human Rights Commission.

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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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