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December 25, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
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Taking a cue from New York
Metro New Delhi, December 24 The Delhi Metro’s reaching this milestone was made possible through technical assistance by the New York Metro, facilitated by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). US assistance to the DMRC began in early 2001 when the US-Asia Environmental Partnership (USAEP), a division of the USAID, arranged a presentation on developing and institutionalising an environment management system (EMS) as per ISO 14001 for the DMRC’s senior management in New Delhi. A New York transit official, who has been working with the Kolkata Metro to institutionalise EMS in its maintenance operations, was brought in to deliver this presentation. DMRC officials bought into it and the USAEP arranged technical assistance through the New York Metro to help them design and implement the plan. The Delhi Metro set itself an ambitious target of achieving certification by the year’s end and achieved it in time for its inaugural run today. The DMRC plans to convert all its stations on the first line into “green stations”. |
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DNA sample taken in MAMC
rape case New Delhi, December 24 Metropolitan Magistrate Bharat Parashar had on December 20 ordered that a DNA test be conducted on Rahul after his counsel Ajay Digpaul said he did not have any objection. Co-accused Amit was taken to Safdarjung Hospital for an ossification test to ascertain if he was a minor, after his counsel S K Sharma claimed that he was one. Both the reports are likely to be submitted in the court by January 4, the next date of hearing in the case. Rahul and Amit are in judicial custody while two other accused are in a Juvenile Observation Home. One Ashok, who was arrested for allegedly giving shelter to Rahul, has been released on bail. The sixth accused - Mohan Lal - from whom the cell phone of the victim was recovered, was remanded in judicial custody after a sessions court rejected his bail plea on December 11. Rahul was arrested by the police on November 22, a week after the incident. The fourth-year student of Maulana Azad Medical College was allegedly raped by three youths at knifepoint on the terrace of the “Khooni Darwaza” monument on the busy Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, in the heart of the Capital. |
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REWARI Rewari, December 24 This information was given by Mr V. Uma Shanker, managing director of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), at a ‘Bijli Adhikari Aapke Dwar’ programme. In the first phase, the overloaded HKV feeders in the Rewari region would be bifurcated or rehabilitated and additional transformers provided. Simultaneously, all dilapidated electric poles in the city would be replaced; new electric poles would be erected wherever necessary. Besides, the capacity of the 33 KV substation at Model Town would be raised from 4 MVA to 10.3 MVA. For the convenience of prospective consumers, the DHBVN had simplified the application and agreement forms to expedite the release of connections, he said. The nigam had also taken a number of measures like improving the billing facility, bill collection facility, bill distribution and meter reading etc to provide consumer satisfaction. Making a specific mention of the expedited release of tubewell connections by the DHBVN, he said that 970 such connections had been given in Rewari and Mahendragarh districts in the past four months against a waiting list of 1,400 prospective consumers. In the nigam’s area of operation, there was a demand for 35,000 new tube well connections the release of which would cost over Rs 500 crore. Defending the installation of new electronic meters in the face of public criticism, Mr Shanker asserted that the meters were not fast. He also insisted that they were accurate. He disclosed that in a major sop to the consumers, the price of the electronic meter had been slashed from Rs 1,225 to Rs 650. The main cause behind the heavy losses being incurred by various power nigams of the state was large-scale pilferage which had been minimised to an extent in the past two years. This had helped curb the transmission losses. During the `Bijli adhikari aapke dwar programme,’ the consumers aired 200 complaints about transmission lines, additional electric poles, additional transformers, delayed release of new connections and rectification of erroneous bills. Most of the grievances were redressed on the spot by the officials concerned. |
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Farmer shot dead in village
feud Noida, December 24 A Korali resident, 50-year-old Amin Khan, was working in his field, which is adjacent to the field of a Bhatola villager, along with his daughter Shabana and niece Monit. When Amin Khan’s son went to ease himself in the neighbour’s field, he was threatened and chased by his neighbour. When Amin Khan protested, the neighbour ran to his village and returned with a number of supporters. Three persons among the supporters shot Amin Khan dead. On hearing the news, the in charge of the Chola police post reached the spot. By the time, a large number of people had gathered there. People from both the villages were involved in an argument last week but nobody reported the matter to the police, CO (City) said. In view of the tension in the area, the SO of Kotwali police station is camping in the village with his force. |
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HOW BRAZEN CAN BRAZEN BE Ghaziabad, December 24 Two persons, Shashikant and Ramanik, had applied for plots under the GDA’s Kapuripuram scheme. Even after depositing the full amount, the applicants had not been given possession or allotment letters for many years. Inquiries revealed that the GDA had cancelled the aforesaid scheme. They were advised to take a refund with 5 per cent interest. Both of them approached the District Consumer Forum. On February 15, 2000, the forum ordered the GDA Secretary to refund the amount deposited by the applicants with 18 per cent interest within two months along with Rs 5,000 for mental torture and Rs 1,000 as expenses to each of them. Instead of complying with the order, the GDA went in appeal to the State Consumer Forum, which dismissed its plea on September 20, 2000. For about two years, thus, the GDA had not complied with the District and State Consumer Forum’s orders. Two notices were also sent to the GDA Secretary during this period. The District Consumer Forum has now issued arrest warrants against the GDA Secretary for not having complied with its orders of February 15, 2000. In the past three-and-a-half months, this is the fifth time the Secretary has been punished with imprisonment. |
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Two killed as Panipat bus stand roof
collapses Panipat, December 24 According to eyewitnesses, the incident occurred around 3.15 pm when several commuters were waiting inside the bus stand complex. Panic gripped the bus stand as the news spread about the collapse. The incident has again raised the question of the quality of material used in the construction of public buildings. It may be recalled that the building was inaugurated by the then minister, Mr Banarsi Das Gupta, in 1972.
Heroin worth Rs 4 crore seized New Delhi Sleuths of the Narcotics Branch arrested Pankaj and his associates Girdhari Lal and Rajesh from Najafgarh Road. While 2 kg of heroin was recovered from Pankaj, 1 kg of heroin was seized from Girdhari Lal. Rajesh, who belonged to Mandhesar, was their supplier. The police have also arrested Manoj Kumar, the son of an engineer. The girl, Asha, was arrested from Pandav Nagar. The police are trying to find out their contacts in the Capital. According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Narcotics), Mr D. L. Kashyap, Pankaj belonged to a notorious family and a number of his relatives were involved in drug trafficking. The police had been keeping a watch on him and other members of his family. Police sources said that most of the consignments were supplied to the drug traffickers in Delhi from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Bareilly is said to be the hub of drug trafficking in Uttar Pradesh.
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Special scheme to install
tubewells Sonepat, December 24 Under this scheme, as many as 29 tubewells had so far been installed in this district during the current financial year. A target of 40 tubewells had been fixed for Sonepat district for the year 2002-2003 by the state government, he added. He said the state government had also launched a special scheme to encourage farmers to use domestic fertilisers instead of chemical fertilisers, which could cause damage to the standing crops. He said that a target of 120 bio gas plants had been fixed for the district during the current financial year. Out of these, as many as 70 had already been installed in various parts of the district by the end of last month. According to the DC, the bio gas plants could be used for cooking and for running pump sets. This, he said, would encourage the farm produce in the district. He appealed to the farmers to take advantage of the new schemes launched by the state government for their benefit. The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) had taken a series of measures to ensure uninterrupted power supply in the domestic, industrial and agriculture sectors and to check the cases of power thefts in the Sonepat circle. He said that the nigam had deputed officials for conducting surprise raids on the premises of consumers to make the anti-power theft campaign a success. He reminded the consumers that power theft was a crime and nobody would be spared if he was found indulging in power theft and tampering with the electricity meters. He disclosed that the officials of the nigam had checked 286 power connections and detected 40 cases of power thefts during the first two weeks of the current month in the Sonepat circle. The officials, he said, imposed a penalty of Rs 10.71 lakh on the erring consumers and recovered Rs 1.51 lakh on the spot from them. The officials also lodged FIRs with the police against four consumers who failed to pay the amount of penalty during the stipulated period. According to the DC, the officials of the nigam had conducted raids on the premises of 98 consumers in the urban areas and detected as many as 13 cases of power thefts. The officials, he said, also imposed a penalty of Rs 9.02 lakh on the erring consumers and recovered only Rs 98,000 from them on the spot. Only one case of overloading was found and the erring consumer was fined Rs 18,000. |
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SONEPAT Sonepat, December 24 According to a report, some people passing by noticed the blood outside her house and informed the police about it. The police immediately arrived on the scene and took her to a nearby hospital where she was declared brought dead. It is stated that she was living alone in the house since the death of her husband about three years ago. Her husband was employed with the Haryana Police and he was killed in a road accident. The police have registered a case and further investigations were in progress. A hunt is on to apprehend the miscreants involved in this murder. Life term awarded Mr B S Rawat, Judge of the Fast Track Court of Sonepat has convicted seven persons namely Ram Chander, Azad, Krishan, Shamsher, Jasmer, Dalbir and Hukam Chand, alias Hukmi, belonging to one family of Kasandi village under Section 302 IPC and sentenced them to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 2,000 each. According to a report, all the accused were charged with the murder of Mr Diwan Chand, a resident of the same village on October 20, 2001. Mr Diwan Chand along with his brother and sister were returning to his house after appearing in a court at Gohana town. On the way, he was attacked by the accused, resulting in his death. The police had arrested all the accused. Sadhu beaten up A sadhu was beaten up up mercilessly with lathis by the police in the presence of a large number of people at Gita Bhawan Chowk here last evening. According to a report, the sadhu was naked and smashed the windowpanes of a police jeep. Thereupon, the police officials went amuck and beat him up in public. Later, the sadhu was let-off by the police. 3 nomination papers rejected The SDM-cum-Returning Officer of Sonepat, Mr Sujan Singh, yesterday rejected three nomination papers during the scrutiny for the election to the Kharkhauda Municipal Committee. According to a report, the three candidates are Ms Hem Lata from ward No. 2 and Mr Lekh Raj and Mr Rajoo from ward No. 12. After the scrutiny of the nomination papers, as many as 64 candidates are left in the fray. The last date for the withdrawal of nomination papers is December 30 and the polling will be held on January 19 next. 8 wounded in group clash Eight persons, including five women were injured in a clash that took place between two rival groups at Bhatgaon village, about 15 km from here last night. According to a report, all the injured persons, namely Ms Kamlesh, Ms Toshi, Mr Ram Phal, Mr Om Parkash, Mr Anita, Ms Sunita, Mr Karambir and his wife Mrs Rekha were immediately hospitalised. The police has registered the case and further investigations were in progress. However, no person has been arrested so far. |
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BHIWANI Bhiwani, December 24 Two injured in accident A jeep rammed into a roadside tree, injuring two persons. Those injured were identified as Gautam and Samunder Singh of village Bapora. They were admitted to the civil hospital. 2 awards announced The state president of the All India Sonia Gandhi Association, Dr Rishi Bishnoi, has announced two awards in the memory of Sirsa-based journalist, Ram Chander Chhatrapati and Devender Singh, a martyr of Ratia in Sirsa district. The awards will be presented every year on the birth anniversary of the late Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi. Group clash Six persons were reportedly wounded following a feud between two groups at village Ghuskani today. According to information, a panchayat had been convened to solve the matter. The injured have been admitted to civil hospital here. Manager appointed The Director of the Postal Department, Haryana circle, Ms Madhuri Sharma, visited the local Head Post Office and directed the officials to provide better services to consumers. Ms Sharma announced the appointment of speed post manager for providing better services to the consumers. Trader looted Maruti borne miscreants reportedly robbed cash and other articles from a trader at Sangwan Chowk at Tosham, 30 km from here today. The trader reported the matter to the police. According to reports, the trader was returning after collecting payments. |
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Lawyer’s detention: Police chief denies
allegation Gurgaon, December 24 However, the lawyers continued their strike for the sixth day today to press for registration of cases against the officers. The District Bar Association today met again and decided to continue with the strike. The association will review the situation on January 2, the day the court convenes after its winter break. The vacation commences from tomorrow. It is decided that in case the police do not register cases, the issue will be taken to the court for necessary direction to the authorities for the same. Mr Khazan Singh has alleged that he was abducted by the Estate Officer, Huda Gurgaon, Mr Pradeep Dayal, and the District Revenue Officer, Mr Lalbun Verma, in the intervening night of December 17-18 and kept in illegal detention for several hours. According to him, he was abducted at the point of a gun. Several armed persons in civvies also accompanied the two officers. Meanwhile, some social organisations and residents of nearby villages and the city have decided to hold a panchayat on January 5 at local Ramlila ground in protest against the incident and alleged move of the police to shield the accused officials. |
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Consumer Day observed in city Gurgaon, December 24 Speaking on the occasion, the founder president of the GSG, advocate L. N. Mehta, informed that the issues related to malpractice by the business community, encroachments, improvement of railway links, telecom services, electricity, postal services, water preservation, etc. were taken up by the GSG from time to time. He further added that the organisation intended to educate and enlighten the consumers about their rights, duties and various relief available under the Consumer Protection Act 1986, amended in 1993.
Consumer forum A new consumer body, Gurgaon Consumer Welfare Association, has been formed to create awareness about the rights of the consumers. The president of the NGO, Mr R. B. Bansal, said that the objective of the association is to provide a forum for the consumers where they can seek redressal of their grievances. “We would try to ensure that the consumers do not get exploited by the entrepreneurs,” said Mr Bansal. |
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Delhi shivers in cold
wave New Delhi, December 24 The showers led to the mercury dipping further and the rescheduling of several flights. Some trains from the North were also reported to be running late. Although the early morning flights were on schedule, some flights after nine am were disrupted due to the weather conditions. A flight to Chandigarh was cancelled owing to dense fog in the Punjab region. The showers resulted in water logging and traffic snarls in some parts of the Capital. There were reports of trees crashing on the road. A few areas also reported dead telephones. |
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BJP nominee elected Rohtak MC
chief Rohtak, December 24 Mr Om Prakash Bagri, officiating president of the council, proposed the name of Ms Pratibha Suman, and Mr Surender Batra of the Congress seconded. Moreover, Mr Dharamvir Tulli, who won the election as a rebel defeating the official BJP candidate, also came out in support of the proposal. Mr Rakesh Gupta, Additional Deputy Commissioner, was the presiding officer and all the 31 councillors were present on the occasion. Surprisingly, supporters of a former minister, Mr Subhash Batra, who earlier opposed electing the BJP nominee as president, today sang to the tune decided by the ruling INLD. This group neither contested the elections nor did they oppose Mrs Suman. Instead, Mr Subhash Batra tried to justify his stand on the plea that the decision to support the BJP candidate was taken in view of the development and betterment of the town. It is learnt, all councillors owing allegiance to the ruling Indian National Lok Dal and the Congress buried party differences to reach a consensus on the development of the town at the initiative of the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ashok Yadav. Mr Yadav congratulated and thanked the councillors for showing maturity and expressed hope that their decision would prove a boon for development activities, which were directly under the purview of the council. The Deputy Commissioner told those present at the meeting that he would convey the sentiments of the councillors to the Chief Minister. Those present included Capt Inder Singh, MP, Mr Balwant Maina, president, district unit of the INLD, Mr Dharampal Makrauli, chairman, Zila Parishad, Mr Mahesh Chawla, chairman, Improvement Trust, Mr Pradeep Jain, spokesman, Haryana BJP, and Mr Manish Grover, district president of the BJP among others. |
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INLD implicating
rivals in cases: HVP Sonepat, December 24 In a joint press statement issued here, they cited the example of Mr Raj Singh Dahiya, sarpanch of Khanda village, who is being allegedly harassed after he joined the HVP. A false criminal case for misappropriation of panchayat fund has been filed at the Kharkhauda police station to put pressure on the sarpanch for disassociating himself from the HVP. They condemned the action of the administration of seizing the record of the gram panchayat when the people of the village were in grief at the sad demise of the son of the brother of the sarpanch. This action had created anger among the people against the MLA who also belonged to Khanda village. The HVP leaders announced that the party would not tolerate such undemocratic acts and would continue its fight against injustice. They said that Mr Raj Singh was engaged in canvassing and mobilising t people for the proposed demonstration and rally on December 27 in this city. |
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1 killed in
mishap Jhajjar, December 24 The police have registered a case against the jeep driver, who fled the spot with the jeep soon after the accident. |
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Inter-state gang of forgers busted New Delhi, December 24 The accused, identified as Ashok Kumar (44), resident of Najafgarh, was running this business for the last three years with the help of his associate, Ramesh Kumar (53), resident of Rohini. During a raid, the police nabbed them and recovered two fake driving licences from Deepak Motor Driving School in Najafgarh. Ashok confessed to the crime and said he was charging Rs 1,000 for fake driving licence and Rs 150 for fake medical certificate. Ashok confessed that he brought blank forms from Jhajjar for Rs 50. A number of rubber stamps, blank forms and fake licences were recovered from their possession.
Burglar gangs busted With the arrest of four persons, the West district police today claimed to have busted two gangs of burglars involved in more than 15 cases of theft and burglary in the district. The police also recovered stolen property worth Rs four lakh from their possession. In the first case, the Kirti Nagar police arrested Ram Avtar, resident of Dabri and Rajinder, resident of Sadullabad in Loni and recovered one colour TV, one music system and two mobile phones from their possession. In another case, the Vikaspuri police have arrested Satish, alias Brij Mohan, alias Raju and Amarjeet and recovered six colour TVs and one video camera.
Four dacoits
arrested With the arrest of four persons, the North district police today claimed to have averted a dacoity in a house. The house owner runs a shop, Choudhary Misthan Bhander in Shakti Nagar. The four persons arrested have been identified as Ravi, Raj Kumar, Nausher and Mujahid, while another person, Anil, managed to escape. Two country-made pistols, two live cartridges, one button actuated knife and a motorcycle were recovered from their possession. |
Garment units in Udyog Vihar suffer official
apathy Gurgaon, December 24 Taking up the cause of the garment exporters, the Udyog Vihar Industrial Association (UVIA) pointed out that the exporters have been instrumental in putting Udyog Vihar on the international map. However, the UVIA lamented that the prospective entrepreneurs now are wary of setting up their base there. In a representation to various authorities, it alleged that the reason for the negative development is the complex and complicated procedures for obtaining ‘no objection certificate’ and consent from the board. The exporters have been receiving notices to close down their units without being served show cause notices. The issue was also raised by the UVIA in its recent annual general meeting (AGM). According to the general secretary of the UVIA, Mr A.P.Jain, the “arbitrary” approach of the board has pushed the exporters in a hopeless situation. As a result of which they are busy approaching the officials to set the records straight rather than concentrating on their business works. The exporters are really concerned, as the winter season is the peak season for garment export business. There are about 200 garment exporting units in the various phases of Udyog Vihar. Some of the countries where exports are made from here include USA, UK, Germany, Australia, Singapore and France. Many developing countries are also the ports of call for units here. It is alleged by the UVIA that the officials of the board take random actions. As an example, the UVIA said that although no washing works are done in the units, they are charged for indulging in it. Moreover, some of them are charged for doing electro-plating business, even when such activities do not take place in the units. There have been instances when the units were served orders at wrong addresses, depriving them of the opportunity to respond in time. The UVIA alleged that some of the units have received orders for closures from the board even though they have completed the formalities of filing petitions for obtaining consent from it. The association is also not happy on account of unscheduled power-cuts and low voltage in Udyog Vihar. Moreover, they have alleged faulty billings of power tariff. The bills shows arrears, although due payments have been made. These “ghost” arrears appear repeatedly in the subsequent bills. The faults sometime go to the tune of lakhs of rupees. The entrepreneurs spend their time going to the officers of the department to rectify the mistakes. To make matter worse, the officials reach the units sites to disconnect the power line even when the disputes over the tariff bills were pending with the department. They alleged that sometimes they disconnect the power supply on the ground of non-payment, even though the due payments have been made. |
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TRADE FEST Faridabad, December 24 These observations were made at a seminar organised by the Faridabad Industries Association (FIA) at Hermitage Motel of Surajkund tourist complex as part of the business proceedings of the ongoing `Trade Fest - 2002’ today. Mr K. N. Rattan, management consultant, in his address called upon the industrialist and entrepreneurs to bring changes in the work environment in their factories. He said the topic of discussion `Impact of globalisation on Industries’ was very much relevant and if it was ignored, it could have devastating results. He said the manufacturers would not only have to upgrade their technologies, but also lower production so that their products could find market. He said while the tackling workers and their organisational behaviour had become important today, he claimed that entrepreneurs would have to adopt those techniques and methods which could bring out optimum production with the same or even lower labour and input costs. He said no one, including the government, would come to their rescue as the globalisation had paved an equal playing field for domestic and foreign industries. According to Mr Rattan, while the quality of products must improve substantially, the manufacturers would have to be careful about diversification. He said the customer was king and if an entrepreneur fails to satisfy him or her with the quality of the product or the service, then the latter had the option of switching over to another company. The better the product or service, the better the chances of survival. He asked the entrepreneurs to attend workshops and seminars aimed at improving work culture than to criticising or looking towards issues which he said were irrelevant as far as the growth of a business or trade was concerned. He said although Indians were very intelligent and hardworking but they must not be ignorant about the changes and techniques of constant growth and should come out of the slumber that had gripped Indian industry due to the protective cover enjoyed by them so far. |
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UP traders to down shutters on Dec
28 Noida, December 24 This was announcement by the organiser of the All India Udyog Vyapar Mandal and president of the UP Yuva Udyog Vyapar Mandal, Mr Sandeep Bansal, here yesterday. According to him, the business community was in no position to accept Form 49 under the present sluggish market scenario and secondly in view of the officials’ attitude of exploiting the community. Although entry tax on sugar had been withdrawn, Forms D and G were being demanded from sugar traders and notices were being issued to the traders, Mr Bansal said. He demanded immediate cancellation of all such notices issued by the Trade Tax Department. Secretary of the State Yuva Udyog Vyapar Mandal Charanjeev Mahajan and vice-president Brahm Pal Singh said that VAT, which enslaved traders, was not viable for a developing country like India. There was a proposal to bring around 50 essential commodities like wheat flour, cloth, maida, suji, sugar etc under the purview of VAT. The scheme empowers the authorities to punish the defaulters, said Mr Mahajan. Mr Bansal claimed that VAT was a threat to their self-respect. In order to safeguard their rights and show their strength and unity, traders, businessmen and entrepreneurs would observe a bandh. |
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Mehandi producer awarded New Delhi The award was presented by the Minister for Rural Development, Mr Shanta Kumar, at a function held here. Mr Sahib Singh Verma, Union Labour Minister, presided over the function. The ‘Quality Consciousness Award’ is presented every year by the Institute of Trade and Industrial Development.
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