Understood the plight of prisoners when I was jailed: K J George

November 24, 2014

Mysuru: Nov 24: Home Minister K?J?George said that he knew the plight of jail inmates as he had spent three days in a prison nearly 45 years ago.

Addressing the inmates of the Central Prisons Mysuru, here, on Sunday, after opening the PG?Study Centre of the Karnataka State Open University and launching a handicrafts camp using silk, organised by Anthahakarana organisation and Sericulture department, George recalled that he was jailed along with several others for three days for protesting against the arrest of Indira Gandhi in the year 1970.

“It helped me in understanding the plight of the prison inmates, as some of them were forced to remain behind bars for failure to pay the fine amount,” he said adding that after taking over the charge of Home Ministry, he has taken note of such convicts. However, it is a good development that generous organisations are helping by paying the fine amount,” he said.

In an attempt to win over the prisoners, by tuning them into intelligence personnel, Mr George appealed to them to share information on conspiracies behind bars.

He recalled the infamous jail break of prisoner Jaishankar from Parappana Agrahara jail in Bengaluru, that pushed the government into a tight spot.

George felt that it would have been foiled if the fellow inmates had brought the plan to the notice of the officials. “In the case of such prisoners, the inmates can share the information. The officials will maintain secrecy and also try to counsel such prisoners. If it turns out to be a wasteful exercise, such prisoners will be shifted to other jails,” he said.

The government is committed to protect human rights, including that of convicts. Some NGOs and other organisations too have been keeping track of the authorities concerned in this regard. Taking cognisance of such developments, the facilities inside jails are being improved and the recent one is the hike in food allowance for prisoners, besides reforms in health and basic infrastructure facilities for prisoners,” George 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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