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Watch: Pakistani Minister Sheikh Rasheed brags about ‘testing’ expired tear gas on protesting govt employees

Dibakar Dutta
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Watch: Pakistani Minister Sheikh Rasheed brags about ‘testing’ expired tear gas on protesting govt employees

In a video that has now gone viral on social media, Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed was seen boasting about attacking government employees with tear gas shells on Sunday.

Rasheed, a key member in Pakistani PM Imran Khan’s Cabinet, said on Sunday, “We have recently increased salaries of employees by 25%. We have also used tear gas shells against them. It’s important. The tear gas shells were lying unused for a long time. It is important that we put them to test. As such, we did a little bit of testing (on people) but don’t worry they are safe.”

His comments came in the backdrop of the recent protest by government employees in Islamabad, who have been demanding a hike in their current salaries in accordance with the inflation. The demonstrators, led by All Government Employees Grand Alliance, had announced that they will launch a sit-in-protest on Wednesday (February 10) at the Pakistan Secretariat until their demands were met. However, the police fired tear gas shells to disperse the protestors.

The Pakistani Interior Minister has been the subject of fierce criticism after he mocked the protestors and used them as ‘weapon testing objects’ instead of empathising with them. Following a violent clash between the demonstrators and the security personnel, the Pakistani government decided to increase the basic pay of government employees from Grades 1-19 by 25%. Rasheed, however, expressed his displeasure saying that the salary hike cost the government treasury billions of rupees.

We have bombs to target India without harming Muslims, claims Sheikh Rasheed

Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, who had once blamed breakfast made of eggs as the reason for the train disaster in Lahore, has once again boasted about his country having “very small, calculated and perfect bombs to target India all the way up to Assam, but in a way that Muslims are not harmed.”

In an interview with a television channel last year in August, Sheikh Rasheed admitted that the Indian Army is far superior to the Pakistan Army in conventional warfare. Therefore, Pakistan is working on these miniaturised nuclear weapons. He said that their bombs are so perfect and precise that they can hit places as far as Assam, but they will not harm Muslims as those small bombs will avoid Muslim dominated places.

Greta ‘toolkit’ case: Delhi court issues non-bailable warrants against accused Nikita Jacob and Shantanu

OpIndia Staff
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Greta ‘toolkit’ case: Delhi court issues non-bailable warrants against accused Nikita Jacob and Shantanu

After the arrest of ‘activist’ Disha Ravi from Bengaluru yesterday, the Delhi court have issued a non-bailable warrant against two accused named Nikita Jacob and Shantanu in the Greta Thunberg ‘Toolkit’ case. As per the reports, these two were involved in creating, editing and distributing the toolkit that included a detailed roadmap to spread unrest and chaos in India under the garb of the ‘farmer protests’.

Jacob is reportedly a lawyer in the Bombay High Court. As per reports, a team of the special cell of the Delhi Police had visited Jacob on February 11, but could not question her that day as they had arrived in the evening. However, she had signed documents. The lawyer had reportedly gone underground after that. A Delhi court has now issued a non-bailable warrant against Nikita Jacob.

Greta Thunberg Toolkit case

On February 4, Swedish ‘Andolanjeevi’ Greta Thunberg had shared a ‘toolkit’ on Twitter that had step-by-step instructions on how her followers can ‘support’ farmers protests. The file had several interlinked documents dated back months. The connection between the pro-Khalistani organization, Poetic Justice Foundation, raised questions over the authenticity of the support Greta was providing for the Farmer Protests. The toolkit provided a detailed roadmap to organise widespread support and mobilisation to create nation-wide protests in India. It also stressed a lot about organising a campaign that would see India’s image besmirched on the world stage.

After the backlash, Greta removed the tweet and posted an edited version claiming the old file was outdated. Delhi Police recently arrested one Disha Ravi from Bengaluru who had allegedly helped create the toolkit and shared with Greta. Disha is a founding member of Fridays for Future’s India’s chapter, Greta Thunberg’s NGO. Delhi Police also said that Disha allegedly asked Greta to remove the toolkit from her Twitter profile.

Who is Nikita Jacob?

A High Court Lawyer and activist from Mumbai, Nikita Jacob was one of the editors of Greta Thunberg Toolkit. It has been alleged that she was Aam Aadmi Party member as well. While checking the documents, it came to light that Nikita Jacob had been allegedly editing documents much before it got viral on social media platforms, thanks to Thunberg. After her name appeared in the reports, Jacob had deleted her social media accounts.

It is notable here that after the ‘toolkit’ drew sharp reaction from the public and government officials in India. especially because of the Red Fort violence, Google had agreed to provide details of individuals who have been involved in the creation and editing of the document on its platform to the Indian government.

Why ‘climate activists’ criticize PM Modi for everything else, other than what he is doing for the climate

S. Sudhir Kumar
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Why ‘climate activists’ criticize PM Modi for everything else, other than what he is doing for the climate

“Climate activist” seems to be the new buzzword in the industry today. And invariably all those classified as “climate activists” are very loud in their criticism of Prime Minister Modi and that too for reasons outside of climate change! I couldn’t help but wonder though – is it because “climate activists” have nothing to criticize Narendra Modi on this topic?  

Because under Narendra Modi’s leadership, India has already provided clean cooking gas for nearly 15 crore families in the country, under the Ujjwala scheme. The scheme continues to expand and will cover more families in the years to come. 

Because under Narendra Modi’s leadership, under the Ujala scheme India has already distributed and installed a whopping 36,70,00,000 LED bulbs saving nearly 48,000 million kWh of energy per year and nearly 19,000 crores (till date). If you are in India and are travelling on its roads, you can see this change for yourself.

Because under Narendra Modi’s leadership, India is progressing fast in implementing the Jal Jeevan Mission – to provide clean drinking water to every household in the country by 2022. When PM Modi will announce the completion of the scheme on the occasion of India’s 75th year of Independence, I would really like to see the reactions of these alleged “climate activists”. 

Because under Narendra Modi’s leadership, India has taken the world’s largest cleanliness program under Swacch Bharat. Many “climate activists” are seen posing for photographs while cleaning out garbage that is thrown out on our streets and roads. For every such alleged activist, there were at least 10 selfless volunteers who took it upon themselves to make their surroundings clean and ensure they remain clean too. 

Because under Narendra Modi’s leadership, India built nearly 10 crore toilets for its citizens. I think I don’t have to explain the positive impact to the environment when crores of citizens don’t have to openly defecate. Studies have also indicated that lakhs of lives have also been saved because of the lesser spread of diseases. 

Because under Narendra Modi’s leadership, India has ‘voluntarily committed itself’ to meet targets that are unprecedented for a developing country. We have targeted to reduce emissions by 33-35% by the year 2030, as compared to 2005 (2030 is not too far away, dear “climate activist”). In the words of MEA, this “means that for every additional dollar of GDP India will be using progressively and a significantly lesser amount of energy.” What role are all of our “climate activists” playing in achieving this unprecedented target? Chances are that we will never know! 

Because under Narendra Modi’s leadership, India has spearheaded the formation of the International Solar Alliance, a coalition of nearly 120 countries that lie between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, thereby committing to lead a global effort to make the best use of the sunlight these countries receive. Prime Minister Modi’s stress on using more Solar energy as a major source of renewable energy is nothing new. He has been implementing this right from his Chief Ministerial days too.

Because under Narendra Modi’s leadership, India’s Solar power capacity has increased by more than 11 times in the last five years. Recently, India achieved 5th global position in solar power deployment by surpassing Italy. You can look around for yourself and see how rooftop solar panels are becoming popular by the day. You can visit villages and see how solar energy-based generators are being installed. You can see for yourself the vast number of solar parks being opened – we are not just well on our way to meet our targets for 2030 but also beat them!

Because under Narendra Modi’s leadership, a clarion call was made from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15th, 2019, to end the use of single-use plastic. Because under Narendra Modi’s leadership, India is the first to leapfrog from Euro IV-equivalent emission standards directly to Euro VI-equivalent standards. Because under Narendra Modi’s leadership, India has increased its forest cover by ~1.4% in just 4 years. 

If these “climate activists” think all of this is not good enough, then why can’t they write in detail about better solutions? Instead of constantly whining about topics outside of climate, why cannot these alleged activists conduct debates on what is further needed for “climate change”? Amusingly enough, in a 2019 article published in The Hindu, one of the suggestions that the author gave for mitigating climate change in Agriculture was that “It is high time we restrict these” (Minimum Support Price etc). Don’t believe me, see for yourself. 

“Climate change” cannot be achieved by a magic wand. It will take long years of behavioural change, sustainable policies, and strong implementation to achieve the stringent targets. “We are not doing enough” is an oft-repeated argument of “climate activists”. Prime Minister Modi has himself acknowledged that the world is not doing enough and we must step up our efforts. He is doing everything he can to step up. It is time for “climate activists” to participate rather than whine. 

‘2019 main half, 2021 main saaf’: BJP ups its ante against TMC ahead of West Bengal polls

OpIndia Staff
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‘2019 main half, 2021 main saaf’: BJP ups its ante against TMC ahead of West Bengal polls

Ahead of the upcoming State Legislative elections in West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has upped its ante against the ruling Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee. Suvendu Adhikary, the rebel TMC leader who had recently joined the BJP, said that the people of the state have reposed their faith in the double engine of PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

“No matter what they (TMC) do, people of West Bengal have decided to vote for double engine govt. BJP will come to power with a huge majority. Modi Ji & Amit Shah Ji had given a slogan, ‘2019 main half, 2021 main saaf’ & that is going to happen,” he emphasised.

He was probably referring to the BJP’s significant victory in Bengal in the 2019 general elections. The saffron party, almost non-existent in the state previously, had won 18 seats, nearly half of Bengal’s total of 42. It had caused a major blow to the TMC.

TMC denies permission to BJP to hold ‘paribortan yatras’

On Friday, the West Bengal police stopped BJP’s ‘Paribortan’ yatra in Murshidabad district of the State. The State unit of the party had informed that there would be a total of 5 such yatras to raise awareness about the corruption and weaponization of violence by the incumbent TMC government. The BJP had earlier raised aspersions about the unwillingness of the Trinamool Congress to let the heavyweight BJP leaders take out the rallies.

West Bengal BJP Chief Dilip Ghosh said, “Yes, ‘Khela hobe, khela hobe’ & ‘paribortan hobe‘ (The game is on and the change has begun). Let me tell brothers of Mamta didi that BJP will form the govt. I know there will be attempts to stop the yatra so I’ve come to meet you. We will ensure that you are able to cast your votes.” In its defence, the TMC has justified the move by claiming that BJP’s yatras are aimed at spreading communalism. It must be mentioned that the Muslim-dominated district of Murshidabad remains a key constituency for the ruling dispensation.

Satellite developed by Indian start-up to carry Bhagavad Gita, photo of PM Modi and names of 25,000 Indians to space

OpIndia Staff
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Satellite developed by Indian start-up to carry Bhagavad Gita, photo of PM Modi and names of 25,000 Indians to space

A satellite developed by an Indian start-up SpaceKidz India expected to be launched at the end of February will reportedly carry to space a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, a photograph of Prime Minister Modi along with the names of 25,000 individuals. The satellite named after Satish Dhawan, who was one of the founders of the Indian Space Programme, will be launched by the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV).

As reported by Hindustan Times, the satellite will be sent to space as part of the PSLV-C51 mission, scheduled for February 28, which will also carry Brazil’s earth observation satellite Amazonia-1 as the primary satellite along with 20 co-passenger satellites, including a nanosatellite from the ISRO, three UnitySats by an academic consortium and a demonstration satellite by another start-up named Pixxel, incorporated as Syzygy Space Technologies.

Pixxel reportedly plans to create a constellation of 30 earth observation satellites by December 2022 that will provide global coverage every 24 hours. This is one of the two satellites developed by Indian startups that will be launched by the ISRO. ISRO had opened the space sector for private entities in June last year.

Names of individuals invited to spark people’s interest in the mission

According to reports, the nanosatellite is developed by SpaceKidz India, an organisation that promotes space science among students. The satellite will carry three scientific payloads- one to study space radiation, another to study the magnetosphere and the other one to demonstrate a low-power wide-area communication network. Dr Srimathy Kesan, the founder and CEO of SpaceKidz India, said that this would be the first satellite of the organisation to be deployed in the space.

She told that people were invited to send their names to be sent to space and thousands of pf people responded. “There is a lot of excitement in the group right now. This will be our first satellite to be deployed in space. When we finalised the mission, we asked people to send in their names that will be sent to space. And, within a week we received 25,000 entries. Of these, 1,000 names were sent in by people from outside India. We decided to do this because it will spark people’s interest in the mission and space science”, Kesan said. The people who sent their names have been issued ‘boarding pass’ as told by Kesan.

The satellite is entirely ‘Made In India’, including electronics and circuitry

Dr Kesan said that the mission is completely indigenous and has been developed in India only. She said that that a copy of the Bhagavad Gita would be sent to the space on the lines of the space missions wherein holy books such as Bible were carried to the space. “We have also added the name and photograph of the Prime Minister on the top panel with the words Atmanirbhar Mission. This satellite has been completely developed and fabricated in India, including the electronics and circuitry”, she added. The satellite will also have the names of the Chairperson of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Dr. K Sivan and scientific secretary Dr. R Umamaheswaran etched at its bottom panel.

Some design changes were recommended by the ISRO in the satellite following which some last-minute checks are being conducted. The satellite will be transported to the spaceport at Sriharikota on Sunday.

Three arrested for fooling Arvind Kejriwal’s daughter. Here is how they duped her

OpIndia Staff
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Three arrested for fooling Arvind Kejriwal’s daughter. Here is how they duped her

Three men, identified as Kapil, Manavendra and Sajid, were arrested by Delhi’s North District Police for allegedly scamming Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s daughter, Harshita Kejriwal in an online transaction. While Kapil and Manavendra are from Uttar Pradesh, Sajid hails from Mewat. Fourth accused, believed to be the mastermind, is still absconding.

How was Arvind Kejriwal’s daughter scammed

As per reports, Manavendra had opened an HDFC bank account for Kapil. Other account was of Sajid. On February 7, Harshita was trying to sell second-hand sofa on an online marketplace, OLX. When she finalised the deal, the ‘buyer’ asked her to scan a code to transfer the amount in her account. At first he reportedly transferred a small amount in her account to establish authenticity. However, soon after in two instalments of Rs 20,000 and Rs 14,000, her account was debited.

The fourth accused, who allegedly made fake accounts on these sites, is absconding.

NDTV report on the online fraud mysteriously disappeared

On February 8, 2021, NDTV had reported how the fraudster had duped Harshita in an online fraud. However, within hours, the story had been deleted without any explanation. The tweet pertaining to the story was also deleted by NDTV. Similarly, IndiaTV, which had reported the same story, also pulled down its story.

The case was registered at Delhi’s Civil Lines Police station. Delhi Chief Minister’s official residence, 6, Flagstaff Road, falls under the Civil Lines Police station. It is not yet clear whether Harshita was selling the government property from the Flagstaff Road house.

“Behaviour needs to change”, White House lawyers tell Meena Harris to stop using the name of her aunt Kamala Harris for personal benefit: Report

OpIndia Staff
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“Behaviour needs to change”, White House lawyers tell Meena Harris to stop using the name of her aunt Kamala Harris for personal benefit: Report

After Kamala Harris was sworn in as the Vice President of the United States of America, her niece Meena Harris has become a centre of attention. She has appeared in media to promote her new book, and have gained widespread media coverage. However, now it has caused concern among White House aides, who feel that Meena taking is using her aunt’s name to build her brand.

According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, the promotional activities of Meena Harris have raised eyebrows among Kamala Harris’ aides and advisors. They are concerned that the activities of Meena will bring unwanted scrutiny on Kamala Harris, now that she occupied an important position in the country.

Meena Harris runs a lifestyle brand, and in the media interactions following the win of Biden administration, she has made every effort to promote her brand. She had attained fame during the campaign, as she was a campaign representative for her aunt. It is widely believed that she received disproportionate amount of publicity due to her link with the vice president, and she has used that to promote her own brand.

Meena Harris has capitalised on the name, imagery, history and political slogans of Kamala Harris for her own benefit, as she has used them on her videos, clothes, books and designer headphones. She also runs a company that sells T-shirts and sweatshirts with messages on various causes, which are often worn by celebrities, photos of which are subsequently posted on Meena’s Instagram, TikTok and other social media accounts, along with her photos with Kamala Harris.

Now her these activities have become a source of concern for the Vice President’s aides. One White House official, who didn’t want to be named, said, “Some things can’t be undone. That being said: Behavior needs to change.”

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had campaigned against Donald Trump citing his and his family members’ businesses, and now it is felt that they the current government will face the similar criticism. President is already under cloud for the dealings of his son, and the new team certainly don’t want more questions thrown at them.

Although Meena Harris is not accused of any legal crime, the issue is more about optics. She is leveraging her aunt’s position, which is not going unnoticed. After the election, White House lawyers had told Meena that she can’t produce any product carrying the name or likeness of Kamala Harris. One Children’s book authored by Meena before the elections is titled “Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea.” A White House official stated that the book, a sweatshirt printed “Vice President Aunty,” and swimsuits and other products with themes of Kamara Harris are not allowed under existing ethics rules.

But even after briefed by the lawyers about the rules she has to follow, Meena Harris flew on a private plane to attend the inauguration ceremony along with a donor of Biden, and posted about the same on Instagram. She has also launched a production company that produced a video with a political group to celebrate her aunt, and collaborated on special-edition Beats by Dre headphones that used a slogan popularized by Kamala Harris — “The first but not the last”. These headphones were sent to celebrities.

Read- It is time Meena Harris shuts up and stops supporting the violent insurrection in India: Here is why

Apart from these, Meena Harris continues to sell her Phenomenal branded clothing containing messages and quotes popularised by Kamala Harris during her campaign.  

LA Times says that Meena declined to answer written questions or agree to an interview for the story. However, her PR team issued a statement from her denying the charges. “Since the beginning of the campaign, I have insisted on upholding all legal and ethical standards and will continue to strictly adhere to the ethics rules of the Biden/Harris White House,” she said.

The Vice President’s office has also issued a statement on the issue. The statement issued by ice presidential spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said, “The Vice President and her family will uphold the highest ethical standards and it’s the White House’s policy that the Vice President’s name should not be used in connection with any commercial activities that could reasonably be understood to imply an endorsement or support.”

Richard Painter, who was ethics czar for President George W. Bush, said that Kamala Harris has limited control over her family members in this matter. He said that she can legally forbid them from using her name and likeness, she can implore them not to get on private planes with contributors, and she can restrict contact between administration appointees and family members. But she may not be able to prevent her from using her name for personal benefit.

‘Will be deactivating social media accounts’: Tanzila Anis offers apology after Gaana sacks her for objectionable posts

OpIndia Staff
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‘Will be deactivating social media accounts’: Tanzila Anis offers apology after Gaana sacks her for objectionable posts

Tanzila Anis has issued an apology on Sunday after she was sacked by Gaana for her objectionable comments on social media. She had come under fire after making disgraceful comments in the aftermath of the death of Bajrang Dal activist Rinku Sharma and was subsequently sacked by her employers.

In her apology, Tanzila Anis offered an “unconditional apology to anyone and everyone whom I have or may have unintentionally offended with my recent tweet/social media post.”

“I want to assure you that my intention was not to outrage anyone’s religious feelings or sentiments or beliefs. If I have unintendly (sic) done so, l, seek sincere unconditional apology for the same,” she added.

Tanzila Anis apology
Tanzila Anis apology

Tanzila Anis also said that she will deactivate her social media accounts and is in the process of deleting all her tweets and social media posts. Amidst the current controversy, screenshots of her earlier tweets had also gone viral which revealed the extent of her deep seated Hinduphobia.

“I have also lost my job and as a daughter of this great nation seek some privacy,” she said. It is unclear whether it will have any impact on the criminal complaint that was filed against her. Earlier, she had defended herself saying that she did not even know that a Banjrang Dal activist had been murdered and her tweet only alluded to the fact that members of the “extremist” organisation Bajrang Dal cannot be called an “activist”.

Calls had also been made for Gaana to sack her immediately following which she was fired.

After Congress party’s ‘Ambani-Adani’ jibe against BJP, Shashi Tharoor flirts with Elon Musk on Valentine’s Day

OpIndia Staff
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After Congress party’s ‘Ambani-Adani’ jibe against BJP, Shashi Tharoor flirts with Elon Musk on Valentine’s Day

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor surprised everyone on Sunday after inviting billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk to Kerala. The Congress MP promised to ‘roll out the red carpet’ for the Tesla CEO after ‘progressive’ Kerala Congress forms the government in May.

The invitation was especially surprising because Rahul Gandhi, expected to become the President of the party soon, is not too fond of capitalists. In fact, Rahul Gandhi rants against Mukesh Ambani and the Adanis day in and day out and has made them the focus of his political campaign against the BJP.

Under such circumstances, Shashi Tharoor was mocked left, right and center by people on social media.

People pointed out that he should first focus on putting an end to bandh and hartals.

Others commented that at least Shashi Tharoor is funny.

Only recently, the ‘farmer protests’ devastating impact in Congress ruled Punjab as vandals attacked Jio mobile towers in the state causing grievous damage. However, after attacking Indian businessman, their leaders appear to be flirting with Business giants abroad on Valentine’s Day.

Fossils of world’s oldest animal Dickinsonia discovered inside Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh

OpIndia Staff
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Fossils of world’s oldest animal Dickinsonia discovered inside Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh

Scientists have discovered the fossil of the world’s oldest animal in India. Dickinsonia, one of the rarest fossils in the world, has been discovered in Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh. The fossils were discovered in rock shelters of Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh, about 40 km from Bhopal.

Dickinsonia is an extinct genus of a basal animal that lived during the late Ediacaran period. The fossils are known only in the form of imprints and casts in sandstone beds.

Ediacaran Period is a geological period that spans 94 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period 635 million years ago to the beginning of the Cambrian Period 541 million years ago. For comparison, Dinosaurs had appeared around 243 million years ago and they went extinct 65 million years ago.

According to the researchers, Dickinsonia, whose remains are found on the roof of the ‘Auditorium Cave’ at Bhimbetka, dates back 570 million years.

The remains of Dickinsonia fossils that are discovered in other parts of the world exceeded 4 feet in length. However, the one found in Bhimbetka is 17 inches long. The fossil was hidden in plain sight and was discovered by chance when two experts from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) were investigating the ancient art at Bhimbetka ahead of the 36th International Geological Congress.

Dickinsonia fossil traces found near Bhimbetka caves/ Image Source: TOI

The experts found a the leaf-like impression 11-feet above the ground, which blended with the rock. The experts detected the carving, which could have been easily mistaken for pre-historic rock art.

The discovery has now been published in the February edition of an international journal Gondwana Research.

“The fossils were found in the roof of Auditorium Cave at Bhimbetka Rock Shelters, a UNESCO World Heritage site for Paleolithic and Mesolithic cave art, near Bhopal. They are identical with Dickinsonia tenuis from the Ediacaran Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite in South Australia,” read an abstract from the research paper.

The experts were able to trace imprints of the fossil, which are preserved as negative impressions based on sandstone beds. The fossil was first discovered in the Ediacaran Member of Rawnsley Quartzite, Flinders Ranges in South Australia.

The Bhimbetka rock-cut architectures were first discovered by VS Wakankar 64 years ago. These rock shelters are in the foothills of the Vindhyan Mountains. The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site of the Paleolithic Age, and the entire region comprises more than 600 caves. 

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