BJP hits out at Ghulam Nabi Azad for Kashmir remarks

Agencies

September 26, 2019

Jammu, Sept 26: The BJP on Thursday hit out at senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad for his remarks that democracy does not exist in Jammu and Kashmir, saying he is "mentally bankrupt".

Azad on Wednesday had said there is no democracy in Jammu and Kashmir and people are living in fear after the Centre scrapped the state's special status on August 5.

"Ghulam Nabi Azad is mentally bankrupt who says there is no more democracy in J and K after the abrogation of Article 370 and the reorganisation of the state," senior state BJP leader and MLC Ramesh Arora told reporters here.

He said Azad should respect the majority's decision that supported the revoking of Jammu and Kashmir's special status and the bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories.

"In fact, Azad is speaking such words which kills the basic spirit of democracy. Pakistan is projecting this view point at the international level as it suits them," Arora said.

The Congress leadership has "failed" to understand the gravity of the situation, the BJP leader added.

"Azad should explain why the Kashmir issue was taken to the UN by former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and why his party did not have the courage to solve the internal issue itself," he said.

"Azad should explain why democracy was killed in 1975 when Sheikh Abdullah was installed as chief minister of J and K when the Congress headed by Syed Mir Qasim was in power. It was the murder of democracy," Arora said.

He also charged Azad over the imposition of Emergency in 1975 by the Congress government at the Centre.

Arora said the BJP government has taken a decision to "correct the blunders committed by the Congress leadership from time to time".

"Abrogation of Article 370 was welcomed in the country," he added.

Azad, while talking to the media as he concluded his six-day tour of the state on Wednesday, had said, "Democracy is nowhere in the state after the change in its status. It has vanished from the state."

"There is disappointment in Kashmir and the despair is also prevalent among the people in Jammu province. Except 100 or 200 people of the ruling party (BJP), nobody is happy (over the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories)," the former chief minister had told reporters before leaving for Delhi.

Azad had on Tuesday arrived in Jammu from Srinagar.

He had reached the state's summer capital on Friday on his maiden visit to the Valley after the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status.

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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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