Madras High Court stays ban on sale of cattle for slaughter

Madurai, May 30: The Madras High Court today stayed for four weeks the Centre's notification banning sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter.

In its interim order, a Madurai bench comprising Justices M V Muralidharan and C V Karthikeyan directed the central government to file its counter in four weeks.

When a batch of petitions challenging the ban came up for hearing, the judges stayed the operation of the new rules banning the sale or purchase of bulls, cows, camel for slaughter houses or for sacrifice for a religious purpose.

The order has come amid a raging row on the ban with non-BJP parties and state governments of Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry stridently opposing the Centre's decision.

Several places in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been witnessing demonstrations during the past few days against the ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter, with the protesters saying it infringed upon the food habits of sections of people.

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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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