Madhya Pradesh: Paleontologists find rare dinosaur nests in Narmada valley
Bhopal, Jan 21: Paleontologists have reported a rare discovery of closely located dinosaur nests and 256 eggs of the herbivorous titanosaurs in the Narmada valley in Madhya Pradesh.
Researchers from the Delhi University and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Mohanpur-Kolkata and Bhopal have also reported discovery of ovum-in-ovo or multi-shell eggs in Bagh and Kukshi areas in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh.
The findings were published in PLoS One research journal this week by Harsha Dhiman, Vishal Verma, and Guntupalli Prasad, among others.
A study of the nests and eggs has revealed intimate details about the lives of the long-necked sauropods that walked the region more than 66 million years ago.
"The eggs were found from the estuary formed at a place where the Tethys Sea merged with the Narmada when Seychelles had broken away from the Indian plate. The separation of Seychelles had led to the incursion of the Tethys Sea 400 kms inside the Narmada Valley," Verma, who works in the Higher Secondary School, Bakaner, Dhar district, told PTI here.
He said the nests found in the Narmada valley were close to each other. Generally the nests are located at some distance from each other.
Verma, considered the driving force behind a series of discoveries of dinosaur fossils in Narmada, said the reason behind multi-shell eggs could be the inability of the mother to find favourable conditions for laying eggs.
"In such conditions, the eggs remain in the oviduct and the shell formation begins again. There could also have been instances of a dinosaur dying before laying eggs," Verma said.
The eggs, which ranged between 15 cm and 17 cm in diameter, likely belonged to a number of titanosaur species.
The number of eggs in each nest ranged from one to 20.
"During the field investigations carried out between 2017 and 2020, we found extensive hatcheries of dinosaurs in Bagh and Kukshi areas in Dhar District, MP, notably from the villages Akhada, Dholiya Raipuriya, Jhaba, Jamniapura, and Padlya," the researchers said.
They said the region falls between the eastern most Lameta exposures at Jabalpur in upper Narmada in valley central India and Balasinor in the west in lower Narmada valley in western central India.
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Delhi court junks Engineer Rashid's bail plea in terror funding case
New Delhi, Mar 21 (PTI): A Delhi court on Friday dismissed the bail application of Lok Sabha MP from Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla, Engineer Rashid, in a terror funding case.
Additional sessions judge Chander Jit Singh said, "The bail plea dismissed."
Rashid has been lodged in Tihar jail since 2019 after he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the 2017 terror funding case.
The trail court had on September 10 granted interim bail to Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popular as Engineer Rashid, to enable him to campaign for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
The judge also previously extended Rashid's interim bail till October 28 on the ground of his father's health, after the NIA said it had verified the documents and it was not opposing the plea.
Elections to the 90-member J&K Assembly were held in three phases from September 18 to October 1.
The results were declared on October 8 in which the National Conference-Congress alliance attained a clear majority with 48 seats.
The Delhi High Court is also likely to consider on March 25 Rashid's plea to attend the ongoing Parliament session.
Rashid has challenged a March 10 order of the trial court, refusing him custody parole or interim bail to attend Lok Sabha proceedings till April 4.
In the reply filed to the appeal on March 17, the NIA said Rashid couldn't be allowed to use his status as an MP to "get away from rigours of imprisonment".
The NIA argued that Rashid could neither be granted interim bail nor allowed custody parole as he had no enforceable right to attend the Parliament session while in lawful custody.
Calling Rashid a "highly influential" person who might sway witnesses back home, the NIA said, "Under Section 43D(5) of the UAPA, the accused cannot be granted bail if there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusations against him are prima facie true."
Rashid's counsel urged the high court to permit him to attend the ongoing Parliament session on custody parole, akin to a previous two-day reprieve granted to him.
Custody parole entails a prisoner being escorted by armed police personnel to the place of visit.
The Baramulla MP, who defeated Omar Abdullah in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is facing trial in a terror funding case with allegations that he funded separatists and terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the NIA's FIR, Rashid's name cropped up during the interrogation of businessman and co-accused Zahoor Watali.
After being chargesheeted in October 2019, a special NIA court framed charges against Rashid and others in March 2022 under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging war against the government), and 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code and for offences relating to terrorist acts and terror funding under UAPA.
