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STORIESYOU MAY HAVE MISSED...

OCTOBER 19-20

BSP Pulls Out of UP Govt
In a dramatic turn of events, the Bahujan Samaj Party withdrew its support to the Bharatiya Janata Party-BSP government in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. Governor Romesh Bhandari has asked Chief Minister Kalyan Singh to prove his government's majority in the state assembly on Tuesday.
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Mayawati feared exposure of corruption: Kalyan
The UP chief minister says he asked the CBI on Saturday to investigate a Rs 5 billion land deal in which his predecessor was allegedly involved.
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End of Crisis
The prime minister persuades Agriculture Minister Chaturanan Mishra to withdraw his threat to resign from the Union Cabinet.
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Still a long way to go, says Pickering
Foreign Secretary K Raghunath agreed with the US official's views, indicating that although contentious issues had been touched upon by both sides, India and the US had not changed their stance.
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Gujral to meet Sharief in Edinburgh
At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, scheduled from October 24 to 27, the two leaders will have another go at normalising relations.
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Pay Up -- Or Else!
Every day, the Bombay police's anti-extortion cell receives complaints from businessmen about calls from gangsters, demanding protection money and threatening death if the victim refuses to pay up... Extortion is big business in Bombay -- some estimates put the stake at Rs 10 billion annually!
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'Rao tried to wind up Rajiv assassination probe'
Former Union minister Arjun Singh ends his long silence in an exclusive interview with Rediff On The NeT.
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Fate of Indians who overstayed in Saudi Arabia unknown
Relatives try desperately to find out what happened to their relatives still stranded there. The Indian government too has made no arrangements for their return.
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Travancore did not want to accede to India: princess
Swati Thirunal Lakshmi Bai, princess of the erstwhile Travancore kingdom, finds herself in the midst of controversy thanks to her statement that the last king of the Travancore dynasty, Chithra Thirunal, was against accession of Travancore with the Indian Union.
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Queen's remark swings Gujral into cleaning Delhi
'Dirty Delhi' will, in a short while, be as clean as it ever can. All thanks to Queen Elizabeth II.
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Kesri clips Prasada's wings, but ignores lurking danger
The party chief does not seem to realise that his detractors like Sharad Pawar and Arjun Singh could gang up against him.
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RS poll exposes chinks in Moopanar's strategy
The nominations clearly established that Karunanidhi is calling the shots in the DMK-TMC alliance.
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Who's Ammu?
In the week that Arundhati Roy won the Booker Prize, a fresh controversy has broken over God Of Small Things. While the author's mother Mary Roy insists that she is not Ammu, the controversial character in the novel, her estranged brother George Isaac insists she is. Venu Menon reports from Ayamanam.
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The States

Pak firing kills armyman in Kashmir
Rs 238.88 billion projects for Kutch, Gujarat
AP high court stays beauty contests
Violence over Haryana police firing escalates
Deportations may send Kerala's economy into a tailspin

Recent incidents in your state

News Briefs

TN, Karnataka govts's ultimatum to Veerappan
Interpol sets up special cell for Purulia case
India will not get last set of Bofors papers till year-end
India, Israel to work together on agro technology

OCTOBER 18

Jolt for Gujral
Union Agriculture Minister Chaturanan Mishra offers to quit after the prime minister pulls up the CPI leader for his ministry's poor performance.
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US will be snubbed if J&K, CTBT come up in talks, say officials
They were reacting to reports that US state department spokesperson James Rubin had asserted that Kashmir would be a central issue during the talks. But, belying worries, all went well on Friday.
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'We are going to break new ground with the Indians very soon'
We want a more durable friendship, say US officials.
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Kuldip Nayar tipped to be foreign minister
The move follows the hostile reaction to the prime minister's visit to New York last month.
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Major win for India
Interpol accepts Gujral's proposal for a universal extradition treaty.
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Kesri blasts BJP for 'hijacking the Mahatma'
Party meeting decides to continue support to the Inder Kumar Gujral government.
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The lost children of Vellore
Vellore, in Tamil Nadu's north Arcot district, is home to some of the most extensive bonded child beedi rollers in the country.
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A new class of killer germs stalks India
Atypical pneumonia is spreading in India. But most doctors canot differentiate it from the classical pneumonia. And sometimes the error is fatal.
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Neem-based contraceptive developed
The Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, New Delhi, claims to have developed a contraceptive cream and may soon begin commercial production.
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The States

IAS officer disappears from Ghaziabad
Tiwari is UP Congress chief
International flights from Amritsar soon
Chaos in TN assembly over Veerappan
Anna Hazare threatens stir against Maharashtrascam
Gujarat CM seeks early SC verdict on Narmada
Rajasthan orders inquiry into 'rape', suicide by Jain muni
Madras high court raps Jaya
Bombay court quashes writs in Kini case
Mulayam's SP may forge ties with Congress in UP
Karnataka lawyer says he will negotiate with Veerappan

Recent incidents in your state

NEWS BRIEFS

Malaysian firm to develop Madras-Visakhapatnam highway
Delhi cops nab alleged killer of Gulshan Kumar's assassin

OCTOBER 17

The Queen & Kamal
The queen came, saw and was conquered. At least, one presumes she was -- the British monarch, in her trademark skirt and hat outfit (blue and white skirt, blue hat) spent 20 minutes at the MGR Film City in Madras, launching Kamal Hassan's Rs 200-million mega project Marudanayagam.
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Security braces for protests during queen's Kochi visit
Security personnel are worried that protesters will create trouble when Queen Elizabeth of Britain visits the tomb of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama at the St Francis church during her five-hour visit of Kochi in Kerala on Friday.
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Kashmir won't hold centrestage in Indo-US talks
The US clarifies the issue will be treated like any other issue in the 'strategic dialogue' beginning Friday -- nothing more, nothing less.
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Stay on appearance of Ayodhya accused vacated
Shiv Sena leader Moreshwar Save claimed the CBI court order was full of shortcomings. But the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court did not think so, the upshot being that all the accused, including Bal Sena chief Thackeray, Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal Kishinchand Advani, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh and Vishwa Hindu Parishad president Ashok Singhal will have to appear in court on Friday
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Kashmiri pandits ask US for humanitarian aid
The Clinton administration was requested to use the Agency for International Development as a vehicle to help the displaced pandits.
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Govindacharya calls Vajpayee 'mask', lands BJP in crisis
''Of course, the remarks have hurt me,'' said Vajpayee. ''But I am trying to explore where.''
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Why should not firecrackers be banned?
Firing the question at the controllers of explosives, the Delhi high court asks the government to list the measures taken to prevent Diwali mishaps.
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Delhi reels under the threat of firecrackers
As another Diwali approaches, the national capital's already heavily polluted air is facing more degradation. Last Diwali -- several months before the anti-law pollution law was slapped on New Delhi -- the capital recorded a shocking sulphur dioxide level of 110 parts per billion against the permissible 30.5 parts per billion.
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Maharashtra Bhushan award for Lata Mangeshkar
The honour was conferred on the singer after litterateur Kusumagraj refused the award, asking why it was never given to a scientist or a singer.
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'Corruption charges against Kesri are baseless'
An interview with Congress spokesman Ajit Jogi.
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Through the land of Islam
New Zealander Leon Zippo undertakes a 10,000-km dare-desert camel ride -- from Rajasthan's Bikaner to Morocco's Rabat.
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Rare herbs vanishing from Shivalik forests, warn experts
The United Nations Development Programme and the National Botanical Research Institute set up separate projects to find out why plants like E superba are dwindling.
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'No one respects an artiste. They think we are favour seekers, parasites'
Pritish Nandy's encounter with the popular baul folk singer Purna Das Baul.
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The States

Violence in Haryana over police firing
AP CM promises world-class roads
Thackeray-Munde war of words in Maharashtra
Kesri humiliates former Karnataka CM
Science city to be set up in Jalandhar

Recent incidents in your state

NEWS BRIEFS

Union minister against sending army to nab Veerappan
India signs UN convention on torture
$ 13.8 million found in Benazir's Swiss accounts

Yeh Hai India!
Mulayam finds politicians the 'honest-est' of all
...and bureaucrats the 'corrupt-est'!
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OCTOBER 16

In The Dock
Arundhati Roy's Booker prize doesn't make any difference to lawyers G M Idikkula and Sabu Thomas who, three months ago, dragged her to court for 'obscenity'. "She violates all decency with her description of oral sex," the lawyers say and announce their determination to pursue the case.
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'Arundhati did not write for money'
Mary Roy, the Booker winner's mother, celebrates her daughter's victory.
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The god of small things comes bearing large gifts
"For me, this prize is about the past," says the Booker winner. "Having written this, I have reverted to square one -- and I do not know if I will ever write another."
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'She feels she is an Indian Renaissance woman'
Four characters in search of an author. What is Arundhati Roy really like?
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US to initiate 'strategic dialogue' with India
Beginning Friday, it will be a high-level, comprehensive and forward-looking discussion on bilateral, regional and international issues.
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Prince Philip kicks up another storm
Indian dignitaries were shocked when he said the Jallianwala massacre was ''vastly exaggerated''.
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India denies it cancelled Queen's banquet speech
Official sources said the British media had been suggesting that India had bungled the Queen's visit by cancelling the banquet speech in Madras at the last minute.
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Centre may rush commandos to nab Veerappan
Karnataka has hardened its stand, and has been demanding Central intervention.
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Patel, Karunanidhi will meet on Saturday to tackle Veerappan
The Karnataka chief minister is hopeful of persuading Nakeeran editor R Gopal to act negotiator.
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How V P Singh avoided a fourth war with Pakistan
Pakistan, Singh felt, had assumed at the time that the weak NF government would not be in a strong position to counterattack. Thus, Pakistan politicians had in fact assured militant outfits in Kashmir that a full-scale war against India was imminent.
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US's double standards exposed
To lift the ban on the sale of nuclear equipment to China, Washington wants Beijing to halt its co-operation with Iran in missile and nuclear fields. In the case of Pakistan, despite concrete evidence that China is behind the former's nuclear bomb, Washington would be happy with a mere pledge that it would restrict its co-operation with Islamabad in this sensitive area.
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26 killed as LTTE explodes huge bomb near president's office
The militants fought pitched street battles in Colombo.
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Biggest, bloodiest Lankan operation
''Operation Jayasikuru'' was supposed to be a ''cakewalk'', but is turning out to be the biggest stalemate in the 14-year-old conflict.
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Harvesting Hope
What the Government of India, in 50 years of Independence, has not been able to accomplish, the World Bank now hopes to do -- provide drinking water for the inhabitants of some 700 remote villages in hilly Garhwal, in Uttar Pradesh and a further 800 villages in the Bundelkhand area of southern Uttar Pradesh.
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Gujral calls for a universal extradition treaty
The measure is necessary to prevent criminals from taking refuge in foreign countries, he said addressing the 66th Interpol general assembly.
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Farooq reverses his belief
Contrary to his earlier sentiment that the Indo-Pak talks were futile, the chief minister 'hoped' they would bring 'lasting peace'.
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The States

Former Maharashtra CM quits Congress posts
Massive security for Gujral's Punjab visit
Mohan Babu declares virtual war on AP CM
Tripura militants release abducted CPI-M leader
Punjab CM calls all-party meet on river water dispute

Recent incidents in your state

NEWS BRIEFS

Myanmar seals border with Manipur
St Kitts case proceedings stayed
High court stays ban on single-digit lotteries

OCTOBER 15

Arundhati wins Booker!
She is the first native Indian to win the ultimate laurel wreath for writers of the Commonwealth. Ladbrokes, London's celebrated bookmakers, had stopped accepting bets on Roy who, at 9/4, was the favourite to win the award.
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Another Coup d' Etat?
A ''top secret'' intelligence report has reportedly warned the Gujral government about the Congress chief's menacing moves.
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West threatens to halt aid if defence budget is hiked
Washington argues that, as Pakistan has agreed not to increase its defence budget, India, too, must follow suit.
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Queen visits Jallianwalla Bagh
She placed a wreath at the Flame of Liberty memorial and observed a minute's silence in memory of the 1919 massacre victims.
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Even if his govt falls, Mahanta wants to bring terrorists to book
Asked whether the upsurge of terrorism could be linked to a bid to topple his government, the Assam chief minister said it did not bother him even if such was the case.
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CBI joint chief 'got the boot' when he was 'zeroing in on Rajiv, Rao'
B R Lall, who was in charge of the hawala case investigation till December 1996, alleges that then CBI director Vijaya Rama Rao did not allow him to proceed despite prima facie evidence.
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Defence ministry claims breakthroughs in critical technology
Indigenous microprocessors, propulsion systems and homing devices are all part of bonanza promised by defence scientists.
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Pak keen on recognising Israel
Pakistan suffered heavily vis-a-vis India mainly because of its West Asia policy. Some progress on Kashmir would be possible only if Israel is recognised, say Pak experts.
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Gujral's rare gesture to CMs
For the first time in Indian history, the prime minister has written a letter to all the chief ministers, briefing them about his foreign trip.
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Kerala CPI-M browbeats lady panchayat president into submission
A six-month-old fight ends with a meek resignation.
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Two Indians challenge Einstein
One claims Einstein short-circuited a problem by attributing a dual nature to light; the other tries to reconcile differences between different theories. But both are to get recognition from government scientists.
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NHRC takes steps to set right "appalling" mental hospitals
For starters, the National Institute of Mental Health And Neuro Sciences will monitor current methods of functioning at various government hospitals.
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Now for the final test...
Indian authorities, with assistance from British, American and German sleuths, are preparing for advanced DNA tests on the skeleton exhumed in Kashmir, reportedly of Al-Faran hostage Paul Wells.
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Pak judiciary falls under the shadow of gun
The legal community is living in constant fear of attacks from extremist Muslim groups.
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The States

Former Delhi CM Khurana summoned for defaming woman
As crisis smoulders, Gujarat CM plans to 'remote control' state
AP CM denies kickbacks in Infotech City deal
27 killed as bus plunges into ditch in Assam
All illegal Bombay structures to be razed in 3 months

Recent incidents in your state

Yeh Hai India!
Gift of the Mahatma
It was over 50 years ago that a handwoven cotton tablecloth from India reached the English shore to become one of Queen Elizabeth II's proud possessions.
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OCTOBER 14

Cul-de-Sac
The Central Bureau of Investigation's probe into the Bofors deal has ground to a halt after Joginder Singh's exit as CBI director. The CBI's Special Investigation Team -- which questioned the dramatis personae in the kickbacks case -- is virtually jobless as current CBI Director R C Sharma has moved out three key SIT officers.
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Britain is a third-rate power: PM
''It created Kashmir when it divided India. Now it wants to give us a solution,'' said Gujral even as Queen Elizabeth began her state visit to India.
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'Tata Tea are difficult customers'
ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Barua, in a revealing interview.
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Days of the Guerrillas
The rise, fall and rise of ULFA.
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Kalyan Singh stands firm, forces BSP to back off
Kalyan Singh's meetings with former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Friday night and Saturday morning sounded the death knell for the anti-Kalyan campaign from within the BJP.
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Patel to send paramilitary after Veerappan
Karnataka Chief Minister J H Patel on Monday said the state would seek the help of paramilitary forces to nab forest brigand Veerappan.
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Farooq lashes out at Gujral
The Centre isn't 'doing enough'. It should concentrate more on curbing global terrorism and less on its seat in the UN Security Council, says the Jammu and Kashmir CM.
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RSS declares war on English
Starved of vote-generating issues, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh is trying to hijack a controversy kick-started by its bete noire, Mulayam Singh Yadav.
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LTTE chief was bitter that Rajiv had no secret plan for Tamil Eelam: Dixit
The former Indian high commissioner to Colombo also discloses that Prabhakaran 'waited for the first oppoturnity to revert to violence', helped by Tamil Nadu leaders's continuing support.
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US ban spotlights Pak militant organisations
The most notable fundamentalist organisation, Markazul Dawat-ul-Irshad told Nawaz Sharief, ''You cannot improve your economic condition by befriending kafirs (non-believers) but by taking loot... The real gain will come if you make India's tyranny an issue and declare jehad against it. By breaking up Hindu unity, Pakistan can get heaps of war booty."
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Indo-Russian military ties will bring peace to Asia, Pacific
Closer military ties between India and Russia will help maintain the balance of power in Asia and Pacific, Russian media reports say.
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And the winner is...
India's little lady, Arundhati Roy, is the odds on favourite for the Booker prize.
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The States

Naxals blast AP railway station
Arsenic poisoning hits parts of Tripura
JK police won't use surrendered militants anymore
Curfew in Mahendraganj, Meghalaya
Recent incidents in your state

NEWS BRIEFS

SC refuses to stay trial against Rao
Pak defence delegation leaves for US
Russia to back India's UN seat plea
Tax raids will bring mid-term poll: Thackeray

Yeh Hai India!

Rama's arrow gets under Ravan's skin
The mock battle between Ram and Ravan turned very real at a Ramlila stage in Bihar's Dehri-on-sone when an arrow shot by the prince of Ayodhya actually hit the king of Lanka.
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