Three new government engineering colleges to come up in Karnataka

February 15, 2015

Bengaluru, Feb 15: In news that could bring cheer to engineering aspirants looking for highly subsidised seats, as many as three new government engineering colleges are on the anvil. Set to come up in Challakere (Chitradurga), Nargund (Gadag) and Talkal (Koppal), the colleges will add to the government seat pool if they get the nod from the All-India Council for Technical Education.

These locations were chosen as Chitradurga and Gadag have only private engineering colleges, while there are no engineering colleges in Koppal.

Announcing this at a press conference here on Saturday, Higher Education Minister R.V. Deshpande also said the government would renew its demand with the Centre for an Indian Institute of Technology. A similar request made last year was not entertained by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Among the new initiatives of the Higher Education Department are starting new ‘regional offices’ of the Karnataka Examinations Authority at Kalaburagi and Dharwad, where land has already been identified, as well as for Mysuru and Bengaluru Revenue Divisions.

On the State’s proposal to divide Bangalore University (BU), he said the government would use its discretion based on the options available. Mr. Deshpande was the chairman of the Cabinet sub-committee which was to look into the matter.

Though he termed the Central College campus as being “historically important,” he did not specify whether or not it would remain with the existing BU.

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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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