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JULY 12
Women's quota Bill may sail through
Several socialist parties including the Janata Dal may
oppose the Bill which seeks to set aside one-third of
the seats in Parliament and state legislatures for
women. And former prime minister H D Deve Gowda
is all set to introduce a cut motion against the Bill.
Yet, given the fact that the BJP, the Congress and
the Communist parties have promised to support
the Bill, it is likely to be passed.
Akalis mount pressure on Badal to recall ministers over Udham Singh Nagar
SGPC president G S Tohra said it is ''unfortunate'' that both the BJP and the Congress have joined hands to deny justice to the Sikh and Punjabi farmers of Udhamsingh Nagar. This only showed the two major political parties have scant respect for the
sentiments of minorities.
Vajpayee yet to consult AIADMK about LS deputy speaker: Jaya
Jayalalitha's statement assumes significance in the wake
of the Congress decision to field a candidate for the post.
Karthikeyan-Jaya meet seen as a precursor to Congress-AIADMK talks
The former CBI chief, considered close to the Nehru-Gandhi family, went on a mission to assess the mood and methods of Jayalalitha. This has led to speculation about possible talks between the Congress and the AIADMK.
Sonia upset as Pawar seeks to install his man as MPCC chief
The Maratha strongman is unfazed, and is keen to prove a point or two. He will not hesitate to play the Maratha card, and may urge fellow regional lords to join forces for the 'common cause'.
Delhi police seize RDX and arms, arrest Burmese mercenary
Police Commissioner V N Singh disclosed that the consignment, sent from Punjab and intercepted in Punjabi Bagh, was meant to be used
against VIPs in Delhi.
Postal services hit for third day
Vajpayee says every effort will be made to hold negotiations and consider the demands of the employees sympathetically.
THE NUCLEAR CRISIS
Annan rules out threat of nuclear war in south Asia
The fact that one has a nuclear weapon does not
mean it automatically will be used, says the
United Nations secretary-general.
Public pressure will push Sharief to CTBT table, say experts
Political and economic experts stress that to avoid a default situation Pakistan has no choice but to sign the CTBT unconditionally, irrespective of whether India signs or not.
Britain to tighten export of nuclear goods to subcontinent
Foreign Office Minister Tony Lloyd has said Britain
will reject all export licence applications for items
on the nuclear suppliers's dual-use list.
THE REDIFF SPECIAL
Naidu ponders anti-Naxal bill as PWG recoups for the kill
The Andhra Pradesh chief minister's proposed TADA-like draconian legislation to check the Naxal menace has met with stiff resistance. Telugu Desam Party MPs and MLAs feel that any stern measures from the establishment will only antagonise the Naxalites and further alienate the political class from the masses. "One wrong step now, and we won't even be able to go to our villages," bemoans a legislator.
A politician and a gentleman
For the BJP, Jaswant Singh is a gentleman
politician. For the RSS, he is a safari suit-clad
outsider. And for Vajpayee the Loner, he
is a close personal friend
with whom he shares an occasional evening drink. George Iype profiles the man whom Vajpayee has entrusted to bail
India out of the nuclear mess.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
Lord, save him from himself!
'What prompted the Delhi government to try its hand at denotifying churches as places of worship on the ground that 'wine is served there'? Well, it seems that Delhi Excise and Transport Minister Rajender Gupta devised this crude stratagem to help a club in central Delhi, located near
an old church...' Capital Buzz. Political gossip from the Delhi Durbar.
Who's S Ramachandra Pillai?
'Ninety per cent of his own party, the CPI-M, can't identify him. Nevertheless, Pillai stands for a body of opinion that could have a decisive influence on Indian politics. He is a member of the CPI-M politburo, one of
the younger lot in that collection of dinosaurs. What makes him
interesting is that he has taken up arms against his elders,' says T V R Shenoy.
TODAY'S WEATHER
Wet weather over Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura
Heavy rains are also likely to occur at isolated places in Orissa, east
Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh, coastal Karnataka and Kerala during the next 48 hours.
JULY 11
Women's quota Bill to be tabled on Monday
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madanlal Khurana said the all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister A B Vajpayee by and large supported the Bill. However, there were demands by some parties that there should be provision for reservation for OBC women and minorities.
Sonia calls for retaining parliamentary democracy
The Congress president cautioned people against the threat to the parliamentary form of government from 'cultural nationalists'.
Khurana upholds statehood of Pondicherry
The Central government has made it clear that the Union
territory would be accorded statehood status along with Delhi.
Udham Singh Nagar an integral part of Kumaon: Pant
The former Union minister said the controversy regarding its inclusion in the proposed Uttaranchal state was ''unnecessary''.
BJP, Congress heading for a clash over deputy speaker's post
While the Congress has almost finalised the candidature of P M
Sayeed, the nine-time MP from Lakshadweep, Parliamentary Affairs
Minister Madanlal Khurana said Vajpayee has asked him
to sound out their allies on the course of action to be taken in this regard.
Left claims President's assurance on preventing miscarriage of justice over Ayodhya
President K R Narayanan has reportedly assured Left Front members of Parliament that he would consider using his good
offices to ensure that Supreme Court orders on the construction of a
temple at Ayodhya were not violated.
Mohini Giri rues government apathy to atrocities on women
The NCW chairperson said the Commission had approached all three
prime ministers in the past, from P V Narasimha Rao to
I K Gujral for consideration of its recommendations. But barring a
few suggestions, the Central government had turned a deaf ear to
all of them, she said, and added that if it was not serious
about the growing atrocities on women there was no need to set
up the Commission in the first place.
There's a conspiracy to kill Swami Prakashananda: Nayanar
In a startling revelation, the Kerala chief minister said he has received intelligence that a conspiracy is being hatched to "endanger" the life of Swami Prakashananda during his proposed indefinite fast to 'liberate' the Sree Narayana Mutt at Sivagiri, Varkala.
Clinton nominates ambassador to Pak
William B Milam is currently chief of mission at the US embassy in
Monrovia, Liberia. If confirmed by the senate, Milam will take the post in Islamabad at a moment of particularly strained US-Pakistan
relations as a result of the recent nuclear test explosions.
India sees 230,000 measles deaths annually: UNICEF
Measles continues to thrive in the cities of Africa and Asia, especially in deprived neighbourhoods and just 20 countries in this region account for 85 per cent of measles deaths of children under five years.
THE NUCLEAR CRISIS
South Block expects little from Jaswant-Talbott dialogue
Senior officials in South Block said New Delhi's cogent explanations about the endangered regional security scenario, especially from across the Indo-China border, was not being accepted by the US which wanted India to unconditionally sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
PM rules out unconditional signing of CTBT
Replying to the debate on the working of the external affairs
ministry in the Rajya Sabha, Vajpayee said the time had come for
India and Pakistan as nuclear weapons states to conclude a ''no
first use'' agreement and call upon nuclear weapons states to
eliminate their nuclear arsenals in a time-bound framework.
PM justifies keeping Opposition in the dark over tests
Referring to the Opposition charge that it had not been consulted
prior to the nuclear tests, the prime minister told the Rajya Sabha that
there was no need to take the entire Opposition into confidence, and
recalled that Indira Gandhi had not taken the Opposition into
confidence before the 1974 Pokhran test was undertaken.
Domestic politics, not US-China ties, forced India to go nuclear, says Albright
Testifying before the US senate finance committee, the American secretary of state said India had a completely different approach to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and elected to power a ''nationalistic kind of party'' whose main programme was to develop nuclear weapons. ''I don't think you can blame our relationship with the Chinese for this (India's nuclear tests)," she remarked.
Annan strikes hopeful note on Indo-Pak talks
In a letter to the Security Council, the UN secretary general
said he was encouraged by indications from leaders of both
countries and would continue efforts to bring the two sides
together to discuss nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
Yes, abolish the NRI!
'The NRI is a designation that defines neither patriotism nor origin. As I said before, if a white-skinned Jewish American woman in Guyana can be a no-card-needed Indian, but a brown-skinned man in Dhaka whose brother lives in Calcutta cannot even be a card-carrying one, the definition is inherently flawed. We cannot demand patriotism and energy from others by undermining our own reasons to be patriots and entrepreneurs,' saysAshwin Mahesh.
Maharashtra: A year later, Ramabai Nagar residents smart under bloody memories
Maharashtra: Joshi spikes rumours over his resignation
TODAY'S WEATHER
Wet spell in Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar
Rain or thundershowers are also likely to occur at many places
in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, east Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, Konkan, Kutch, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
JULY 10
Sonia's recipe brews trouble within Congress
"Sonia is inexperienced in politics. But those who advise her on
political matters want to ensure that leaders like Pawar never pose any challenge to her," an All India Congress Committee secretary said. "We all want both Sonia and Pawar to make up with each other so that there is no bad blood in the party. But it is unlikely that Sonia loyalists will allow that."
Harkatul Mujaheedin "bans" Amarnath Yatra
Militants warn pilgrims, claiming that specially
trained commandos from Russia and Israel dressed
as pilgrims and armed with the top quality weapons and the latest
communication equipment were coming to attack
their group.
PM rules out any change in reservation policy
The entire Opposition and some of the constituents of the
ruling coalition in the Lok Sabha were up in arms on Thursday against Jethmalani's reported remark that it was time "for a review" of the reservation policy as it had been there for fifty years.
Defence budget must be increased, says panel
Funding inadequate to meet crucial requirements, including modernisation of the armed forces, says parliamentary committee on defence.
Government seeks time to right Air Force payscales
A new policy on pay structure in Indian Air Force may be announced in five weeks. Recently, 35 IAF men moved the Delhi high court against disparity in pay and complained of persecution of those who dare to speak out.
Chandra Shekhar owes IAF Rs 59 m for unofficial trips
He only tops the list of ex-PMs owing money to the IAF. V P Singh, P V Narasimha Rao, H D Deve Gowda and I K
Gujral are among 16 dignitaries who owe a substantial amount of
money to the government for unofficial journeys undertaken in Indian
Air Force aircraft, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.
Thackeray rejects BJP's demand, says Manohar Joshi will continue as CM
The Shiv Sena chief, who emerged from his political sanyas on Thursday, announced that there was no question of replacing the Maharashtra chief minister as reportedly demanded by the state BJP unit. ''In an alliance, likes and
dislikes should not be at the Jayalalitha level,'' he said.
CPI-M central panel meet likely to be stormy
Session could see some fireworks as the party is still divided on backing the Congress.
No-trust move against Gujarat government fails
Congress leader Amarsinh Chaudhary criticised the state government in the assembly for its ''utter failure'' in all fields. But vote goes 53:117 in favour of the BJP.
Anti-cremation laws not directed at Hindus, says minister
Minister of State for External Affairs Vasundhara Raje says the rules are applicable to believers of all religious faiths in the countries that ban cremation.
Som Pal's remark on Central teams stings Rajya Sabha
The agriculture minister said Central teams visit states only if invited, drawing angry responses from some Rajya Sabha members who pointed out the recent 'uninvited' visits to West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
Leaders (p)raise Heptulla to skies
She has been re-elected deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha for her fourth successive term.
Thakre has no problem with allies's demands
"We will accept the demands of our allies so long as they are not against the interests of the nation," announced Bharatiya Janata Party president Kushabhau Thakre on Thursday. "In a democracy, there are always differences between allies. And you cannot except all the parties to have a similar ideology on different issues."
THE NUCLEAR CRISIS
US ceases all military exchanges with India
Defence Minister George Fernandes told the Lok Sabha on Thursday that consequent upon underground nuclear explosions by India on May 11 and 13, the US department of defence
announced the cessation of all military exchanges with India.
Russia says it will not internationalise Kashmir issue
Russia will not succumb to pressure from
the G-8 countries, particularly the United States, to
internationalise the Kashmir issue, the state-run Voice of Russia radio has said.
Sharief's envoy says Pak is keen on resuming dialogue with India
Akram Zaki, a former senior Pakistani diplomat and now member of the country's senate and chairman of its foreign relations committee, carried a letter from Nawaz Sharief to Nepali Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala in which the Pak leader has reportedly sought the latter's co-operation in promoting within SAARC, the Pakistani desire that the regional forum also take up bilateral issues.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
BJP comes centrestage
The once mighty Congress is slowly becoming just another bit player
in the politics of the future. And the choice has become a BJP versus
a non-BJP alliance, says Pritish Nandy.
THE REDIFF INTERVIEW
'If the Congress party wants to bring down the government, it will take only two days for the government to fall'
'I did for Rao what I also did for Vajpayee. In a parliamentary democracy, this is normal practice. We always approach other parties to get their support. In fact, I never asked the BJP for a minister's post. They offered it to me.' Former Union minister and leading light of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha, Buta Singh, is all for a secular front.
Delhi: BJP announces office-bearers, gears up for assembly poll
Karnataka: JD stops infighting, looks at the enemy without
Kerala: Nayanar raps VHP for espousing Sivagiri Mutt liberation
Rajasthan: Two more in, Shekhawat's is 40-strong team
Tamil Nadu: Police to probe complaint against minister's brother
TODAY'S WEATHER
Heavy rain on cards
The southwest monsoon has been active in sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Konkan and Goa, madhya Maharashtra and Telangana.
JULY 9
Ram temple within three years regardless of Supreme Court order, says VHP
Asked if it would give up its claims on Kashi and Mathura shrines if the Muslims withdrew their claim on Ayodhya, the VHP said the temples had always been on its agenda and would not be
withdrawn.
AIADMK grabs Pondy statehood stick to beat BJP with
It is likely that the AIADMK will add Pondicherry to its long list of demands now before the Centre. "If the Centre then grants statehood to Pondicherry, they can show it off as their victory. But if they fail, then it can be used against the BJP leadership," says a TMC leader, whose party also passed a lengthy resolution in this regard earlier last week.
Jethmalani calls for constitutional review
On the Bajrang Dal and VHP's decision
to defy the Supreme Court verdict and build a Ram
temple at Ayodhya, the minister said, ''I consider it a cause for
alarm and concern but harsh words break no bones. People often talk
but don't do what they say.''
Tamil Nadu to consider suggestions on anti-terrorism bill
Chief Minister M Karunanidhi likened the passage of the Prevention of Terrorist Activities bill to one getting a licence for a revolver or a gun for self-defence and not necessarily
to shoot down someone.
THE NUCLEAR CRISIS
US takes note of India's willingness to sign CTBT
State department spokesman James Rubin said on Tuesday, ''We're
hopeful that some of the dialogue in India now is a signal that they
may have realised the wisdom of going forward with the CTBT.''
Pak physicist picks holes in fugitive scientist's claims
Iftikhar Khan Chaudhary, who asked US authorities for
political asylum, has been disavowed by his own father and now by a
Pakistani physicist at Princeton university, Zia Mian.
"It was like Alice in Wonderland,'' Mian said on Tuesday of
an hour-long interview with Khan. "It had no connection to reality.''
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
Man for all reasons
The beleaguered BJP could do with using a human asset like Jaswant
Singh, says Vir Sanghvi in defence of the prime minister's special emissary who will be meeting US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott on Thursday in Frankfurt.
THE REDIFF SPECIAL
Airhostesses go ballistic over Air-India's gender bias
A month ago, the airhostesses petitioned the Vajpayee government against the unfair treatment that they have been receiving from the airline management, and even threatened to sue Air-India for sexual discrimination at the workplace.
THE REDIFF INTERVIEW
'The PM is not bold enough to meet any challenge, he is cracking under pressure'
'We will expose the government. We will make the people understand the gravity of the situation, the danger they are facing, and prepare them for a change. Let the people pressurise the parties to make a change. One thing is clear, if this government continues with these policies, the future of the country is bleak.' Former Kerala chief minister and a Sonia Gandhi confidant, K Karunakaran, discusses his party's agenda for the future.
Karnataka: Patel to lead team of MPs on
Cauvery
Maharashtra: Bombay, Pune, Nashik face maximum earthquake risk: study
Maharashtra: Thackeray to end sanyas on Thursday
Tamil Nadu: Jaya charges DMK with attacks on party cadres
Tamil Nadu: Tension in village as Dalits are kept out of car festival
Uttar Pradesh: Muslim sects clash in Lucknow
TODAY'S WEATHER
Low pressure trough forms in Bay of Bengal
It is likely to intensify and under its influence rain or thundershowers are likely at many places over north coastal Andhra Pradesh and at a few places over south coastal Andhra Pradesh during the next 36 hours.
JULY 8
Open season: Jaya has no plans to meet PM
In a press statement in Madras on Tuesday, Jayalalitha made it clear that she has no plans to meet Vajpayee in the immediate future and that she would not raise the issue of inducting more AIADMK ministers into the Union cabinet since the demand has been pending since May. Further, the AIADMK boss also cancelled a
thanksgiving meeting of her allies in Tamil Nadu slated for August 2 for which Vajpayee, senior BJP leaders including Home Minister L K Advani and other coalition partners had been invited.
Akalis oppose inclusion of UP district in Uttaranchal
Akali Dal leaders were asked at a meeting with the prime minister on Tuesday if they would agree to toning
down their demand for excluding Udham Singh Nagar
from the proposed hill state if the Land Ceiling Act was kept in abeyance. The area is inhibited by Sikh landlords who own a sizeable
chunk of cultivable land there. But the Akali leaders insisted on the
exclusion.
Anti-tank Nag missile tested successfully
The all-weather third generation heat-seeking missile is slated to face trials with the army by mid-1998.
Telugu Desam walks out of RS over farmers' suicides
There was a sharp reaction from the Left parties when Minister of
State for Agriculture Sompal, replying to a calling attention motion
on the issue, mentioned the need for better land management and consolidation of holdings and said the West Bengal
government was against this.
Government firm on maintaining status quo in Ayodhya, says Advani
The Centre once again reiterated that the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid site will be fully protected as per the orders of the Supreme Court.
Madhok advocates splitting up J&K into three states
Former president of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh and
chairman of Nationalist Forum, Prof Balraj Madhok on Tuesday called for the carving out of separate states of
Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir under the Indian Union, as a recipe to
tackle political instability in the region.
Shourie's analogy riles women's organisations
BJP member of Parliament Arun Shourie had, in an article on July 3, written that ''if an RSS publication publishes even an
interview with me, that is further proof of my being communal. But
so tough are the hymen of these progressives that even when they
contribute signed articles to publications of the Communist Party,
their virginity remains intact". The fair sex, naturally, is not amused.
THE NUCLEAR CRISIS
Vajpayee rules out converting LoC into border
There is no proposal to declare the Line of Control as
the actual border between India and Pakistan, and
the government was committed to the vacation of
Pakistani aggression, the prime minister categorically
stated in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Experts conclude Pak renegade scientist is a fraud
A week after a Pakistani made incendiary allegations of having witnessed top Pakistani government officials discussing a pre-emptive nuclear attack on India, US government officials and academic experts have concluded he is a fraud.
Talbott will push CTBT at meeting with Jaswant Singh
The US deputy secretary of state will meet with the Planning Commission deputy chairman in Frankfurt on Thursday.
Sharief's envoy meets Talbott to discuss sanctions
Sahebzada Yaqub Khan, special envoy of the Pakistani prime minister, met the US deputy secretary of state in Washington on Monday to discuss the situation arising out of the nuclear tests by his country and the American response to it.
THE REDIFF SPECIAL
Wife returns, seeking release of hostage husband
It is a lonely and desperate, even futile, search. But Jane Schelly, a school teacher from Spokane, USA, has decided she cannot, will not, live with the disappearance of her husband who was abducted by Kashmiri militants in 1995.
THE REDIFF INTERVIEW
'Nobody can write us off'
Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, who was recently appointed working president of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee, talks tough after his party's impressive showing in the recent state panchayat elections.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
In memoriam
'Judge-ammoomma was such a mild person that the casual observer would never have imagined she was a rebel, someone who had shocked her family and society in general, back in the hide-bound 1920's. For she had broken that great taboo -- of marrying outside the caste.' Rajeev Srinivasan remembers a remarkable lady.
Andhra Pradesh: Judge to probe 'recovery' of stolen ornaments of Vijayawada temple
Tamil Nadu: Jayalalitha's is strategic retreat, not total surrender
TODAY'S WEATHER
Southwest monsoon vigorous in Gujarat and Bengal
Heavy rainfall is likely in West Bengal, Goa, Kerala and Karnataka.
JULY 7
BJP tells Vajpayee to consider Jaya's demands
But the AIADMK chief's single-most important demand, to dismiss the
Tamil Nadu government, will be kept in abeyance as the Vajpayee government cannot go beyond the constitutional and legal framework within which Article 356 can be invoked.
Sonia shuts door on Pawar's objections to showcause notices
In a clear rebuff to Sharad Pawar, the Congress high command on Monday indicated that it was unwilling to discuss with him the showcause notices issued to 10 legislators in Maharashtra for allegedly indulging in cross-voting in the recent Rajya Sabha elections.
Women's Bill will not wait for consensus: PM
The BJP government is committed to the passage of the Bill in this Parliament session itself, Vajpayee assured agitated women members of the Rajya Sabha.
Madras HC rejects caste bars on pulling temple cars
A division bench of the Madras high court on Monday
ruled that the public, irrespective of caste and creed, should be
permitted to pull temple cars after rituals were performed according
to the tradition.
Goa CM wakes up to the pitfalls of power
With the Opposition baying for Power Minister Mauvin Godinho's blood over his alleged involvement in a major scam, and the high court piling on the misery, it may make sense for Pratapsing Rane to sacrifice his cabinet colleague.
Malaria emerges a major killer in North East
With 13 to 41 per cent of the total malaria deaths
in the country being reported from the North East,
the situation in the Seven Sisters is grim.
1944 A War Story: Umrao risked his life, a hero then and now
Last Friday, Subedar Major Umrao Singh, 80, jogged his sweet memory as his WW II heroics came alive on celluloid.
THE REDIFF INTERVIEW
'This government talks big, but its knees are made of jelly'
Arundhati Ghose, who led the Indian charge at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva in 1996 and is a trenchant critic of the CTBT as it exists, is appalled at reports that the Union government may sign the discriminatory document in exchange for high technology.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
In defence of Jayalalitha
The former Tamil Nadu chief minister 'cannot be entirely blamed for asking for something that she believes was a commitment made to her on election eve. She, after all, is a politician, who has entered into an electoral understanding with the BJP with certain expectations. In politics, especially during election time, all such arrangements involve a quid pro quo. The price Jaya expected to be paid for pushing the BJP's line in a state that had so far rebuffed the saffron party was the sacking of the state government,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
THE REDIFF SPECIAL
Archaeologist explodes myth of Ram Janambhoomi being in Ayodhya
In his interpretation of the Ramayana, Dr M V N Krishna Rao has identified 'Rama Sana' of Indus seals with 'Ramachandra' and thereby with king 'Rim Sin of Larsa' in Sumer, who ruled the vast lands of Sumer, Elam, the Indus Valley and the present-day Iran and Afghanistan from 1753 to 1693 BC. He says the Indus seals found on the banks of river Saraswati
suggest that Banawali, in Hisar district of Haryana, must be Ram Janambhoomi and not Ayodhya.
Pondicherry: 9 MLAs quit, demand statehood
Tamil Nadu: DMK resorting to goondaism, says Nedunchezhiyan
•
Army officials sweat it out in Himachal, courtesy old British law!
The army and media personnel who met at
Palampur in Himachal Pradesh
for an interactive session found themselves
sweating it out -- under an old rule, from the times of
the British, which forbade the use of fans in this army station.
TODAY'S WEATHER
Five more die in Gujarat rains
The monsoon toll in Gujarat has risen to 32 with five
more deaths reported in the northern part of the state during the last 48 hours.
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