Maski: A collaborative team of international and Indian researchers has uncovered evidence of a 4,000-year-old human settlement in Maski, a town in Karnataka’s Raichur district, reported Deccan Herald on Thursday.

A group of over twenty researchers from the United States, Canada, and India has been excavating areas around Mallikarjun Hill and the Anjaneya Swamy temple in Maski for the past three months. During the dig, they unearthed various artefacts and tools dating back 4,000 years, suggesting the presence of a once-thriving human settlement.

The excavation team includes Professor Andreem M. Bower of Stanford University (USA), Peter G. Johansson of McGill University (Canada), and Hemanth Kadambi from Noida University (India).

The team started digging around in Maski after obtaining permission from the ASI. They identified 271 locations of archaeological interest and stumbled upon evidence confirming that the region around the Mallikarjun Hill and the temple were inhabited by people between the 11th and 14th centuries BCE, added the report.

“We have found evidence that indicates that there was a human settlement in Maski around 4,000 years ago,” DH quoted Kadambi as saying.

Among the artefacts unearthed are various domestic tools and cooking implements, including earthen pots and pans.

This new finding further enhances Maski’s historical significance, which gained prominence with the earlier discovery of an inscription dating back to the time of Mauryan emperor Ashoka.

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Dhaka (PTI): A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in jail in two separate corruption cases related to alleged irregularities in allocations of land in a government housing project.

Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-4 Judge Rabiul Alam handed down the verdicts, sentencing Hasina to a total of 10 years’ imprisonment — five years in each case, state-run BSS news agency reported.

The court sentenced 78-year-old Hasina, her nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq, and her nieces, Tulip Rizwana Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq, and others in the cases over alleged irregularities in the allocation of plots under the Rajuk New Town Project in Purbachol.

The judgment was pronounced at around 12.30 pm.

Tulip Siddiq was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment — two years in each case — while Radwan Mujib Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq were each sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in both cases.

Rajuk member Mohammad Khurshid Alam, the only accused to surrender before the court, was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment in each case, totalling two years.

The court also fined all convicted persons Tk1 lakh each and ordered them to serve an additional six months in prison in default of payment.

Hasina has been living in India since she fled Bangladesh on August 5 last year in the face of the massive protests. She was earlier declared a fugitive by the court.

The cases were filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over alleged abuse of power in the allocation of two 10-katha plots.

According to the prosecution, the accused manipulated the allocation process and violated existing rules and regulations of the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk).