Siddaramaiah, Parameshwara discuss ministry expansion

Agencies

June 19, 2017

Bengaluru, Jun 19: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president G Parameshwara are learnt to have held a meeting on Sunday and discussed expansion of the council of ministers, likely to be done after the ongoing monsoon session of the state legislature.

The leaders, it is learnt, discussed probable candidates for induction into the council of ministers. Reshuffling of portfolios and appointment of new KPCC office-bearers also came up for discussion.

Currently, there are two vacancies in the council of ministers. Another vacancy will arise as Parameshwara has already submitted his resignation as minister. He has been asked to continue as the home minister till the end of the legislature session, June 21.

Soon after seeing off President Pranab Mukherjee, who left for Udupi in the morning, the two leaders had breakfast at a hotel in VV Puram in southern Bengaluru. From there, they left to an undisclosed location in a private vehicle. The leaders are likely to hold another round of meeting in this regard with AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal, who is expected to visit Bengaluru on June 23, sources in the Congress said.

Vacancies in the council of ministers were created due to the death of H S Mahadeva Prasad and the resignation of H Y Meti following charges that he was involved in a sex CD. While the late Mahadeva Prasad was a Lingayat, Meti belongs to the Kuruba community. Parameshwara is Dalit. More than a dozen ruling party legislators who belong to these communities are aspiring for ministerial berths, the sources added.

P M Ashok, M C Mohan Kumari, Dr A B Maalkaraddy, Rajashekar Patil, D B Inamdar, Basavaraj Shivannavar, (all Lingayats), P M Narendraswamy, Motamma (both Dalits), Meti, H M Revanna, Govindappa, C S Shivalli, ‘MTB’ Nagaraj (all Kurubas) are among the aspirants for the ministerial posts. It is speculated in the Congress circles that Siddaramaiah may keep the crucial Home portfolio with himself.

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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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