With 16 gold medals, Chemistry topper shines at Mysore university convocation

Mysuru, Dec 14: Neha Saron hogged the limelight at the 97th annual convocation of the University of Mysore (UoM) on Tuesday, by bagging 16 gold medals and four cash prizes in MSc (Chemistry).

Daughter of Indian Navy officer Sadaram, Neha of Rajasthan said that she wants to establish a school for girls in her state as education for girls is still a mirage there. “In Rajasthan, parents discourage education of girls due to various reasons. I will be in the teaching profession for some time. Later, I will return to my home state and open a school there,” she said.

Neha's elder sister works with Infosys in Hyderabad, while her younger brother is in the National Defence Academy at Pune.

Medals for seer

Guru Basavalinga Swami, seer of the Panchagavi Mutt on Ooty Road in Mysuru, secured nine gold medals and two cash prizes in Sanskrit. Born into a farmer's family in Ukkalagere of T Narasipur taluk, he was anointed as seer in 1995. He also has a masters' degree in Economics.

He is interested in Computer Science and wants to digitalise the palm leaves scriptures of Ayurveda. Vedavathi, who won seven gold medals and four cash prizes in Economics, is also from a farmer's family from Manchenahalli, Nagamangala taluk, Mandya district. As her father died when she was four, her mother Nagamma raised Vedavathi and her two siblings and ensured them good education. She wants to be a teacher.

Degrees in various disciplines were presented to a total of 24,398 students during the convocation and 61% (14,844) of them were girls. Even among medal and prize winners, girls had a lion's share, bagging 312 medals and 180 prizes. Among 202 medal winners, 140 were women.

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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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