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Sheila, keen on amiable second term, calls on PM New Delhi, December 17 It was Ms Dikshit’s first meeting with the Prime Minister after her party’s landslide victory in the December 1 Assembly election in Delhi. The photo-op was significant also because they were meeting as equals after steering their respective parties to victory on the development plank. Notwithstanding the political divide between them, both shared similar views on good governance and development in their election campaigns. Dikshit became the first chief minister of Delhi to serve a second term after her party won a two-third majority. The chief minister’s office described the 15-minute meeting at the Parliament House as a courtesy call. Dikshit briefly discussed matters of mutual interest and sought the Centre’s co-operation in making the Capital an international city. The spokesperson said Dikshit also discussed some of the major problems confronting the city, particularly those related to transport and power sectors. The issue of making Delhi into a State also came up for discussion. The chief minister told media persons the Prime Minister assured her of help in turning Delhi into a city that is comparable with the world Capitals. She said she pointed out to the Prime Minister her government’s concern over transport and slums. Dikshit has sought time from Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani to discuss matters pertaining to the draft Delhi State Bill 2003 that has been cleared with certain amendments by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs. Dikshit’s last tenure was marked by sharp differences with the Centre on the subject of delegation of powers. Her government was at loggerheads with the Union ministries of home affairs and urban development after a ‘turf war’ broke out between them. She had made out a case against the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for trying to curb her government’s powers after receiving a circular that made it incumbent upon the elected government to seek prior permission of the Lieutenant Governor in transacting government business. Soon after the swearing-in on Monday, the chief minister had told media persons that she hoped the Centre would extend all co-operation to her. “The first term was good. My second term would get even better if the Centre co-operates”, she had said. |
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Paharganj money changer’s murder case cracked New Delhi, December 17 The accused had confessed to having looted Rs 2.5 lakh and killing the victim with the help of his associates, Rajiv alias Diwanji and Atul alias Vijay Pal. The police have now launched efforts to trace the two. The accused told the police that he and his associates had planned to rob Dalip, a money changer in Paharganj, 15 days ago and dropped the idea when he became suspicious while he was being followed by the accused. The three followed Dalip to ICICI bank in Connaught Place. Later, when Dalip stepped out of the bank and started moving towards Paharganj on his LML Vespa scooter, the accused was following him in a stolen Maruti Zen car. Taking advantage of the narrow lanes, the three tried to snatch the bag from Dalip, who shouted for help. The bystanders tried to help Dalip by pelting stones and weight measures and even broke the windscreen of the car. However, the three managed to push Dalip into the car and drive away. After about 45 minutes the car was found abandoned and Dalip’s body was found inside the vehicle. The accused told the police that after committing the murder they took an auto to ISBT; from there, they took another auto and reached Mukarba Chowk. Rajeev took with him a bag containing Rs 10,000 while the other two proceeded with the remaining cash. They intended to share the money later. |
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Mathura jeweller’s loot case solved, three arrested Greater Noida, December 17 Goods worth lakhs have been recovered from them which include Rs.1.50 lakh in cash and 10 kg of silver, along with a revolver, cartridges and knives, according to Superintendent of Police S P Singh. According to police, Surajpur SO SP Singh was on patrol duty near railway crossing Dadri when he noticed three persons hanging around in a suspicious manner. Seeing the police party, the miscreants started running, but they were overpowered by his men. The police recovered from the three men Rs.1.50 lakh in cash, 10 kg of silver, one local revolver, live cartridges and two knives. During interrogation, they told the police that they had looted Mathura’s well-known jeweller, Naveen, on the eve of Diwali, after gunning down his driver. The booty included Rs.8 lakh in cash, 1 kg of gold and 20 kg silver. After this, the criminals headed for Delhi and bought an Indica car. They visited Hardoi, Lucknow, Seetapur, Allahabad, Gwalior etc in this car. The criminals identified themselves as Rakesh Chaturvedi, Mukesh Chaturvedi, and Pankaj Chaturvedi. Rakesh and Mukesh are brothers and their gang leader is Prahalad Yadav; they belong to Mathura district. The stolen gold and silver were sold to Praveen, brother in-law of Prahalad. A part of the looted cash was kept by Prahalad and the rest was squandered by them in revelry. Rakesh and Mukesh are known as “Ranga and Billa” in
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BJP yet to elect House leader; Khurana quits seat New Delhi, December 17 As per rules, a person elected to both Assembly and Parliament has to quit either post within 15 days of the last election. Khurana had to make the choice by tomorrow, as the election was held on December 4. Incidentally, the Council of Ministers led by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has convened a four-day session of the Delhi Legislative assembly from tomorrow. Khurana, however, is still to call a meeting of the legislature party to elect the Leader of Opposition. Khurana, who had won his traditional Moti Nagar seat with a comfortable margin by defeating Alka Lamba of the Congress, tendered his resignation to Speaker Subhash Chopra. Although he had made known his preference, the decision was taken yesterday. Khurana is understood to have taken the decision to resign following a directive from the party’s central leadership. Sources in the BJP said Khurana conveyed his decision to retain his Lok Sabha seat to BJP President Venkaiah Naidu during their meeting yesterday. The sources said Khurana, who is also the president of Delhi Pradesh BJP, would continue to head the party “for now”. In the recently concluded Assembly election in Delhi, the BJP could win only 20 seats in the 70-member Assembly. The Legislature Party is likely to meet tomorrow or the day after to elect its Leader of Opposition in the Assembly. “I have received no information about the meeting of the legislature party. It could be held tomorrow also”, said a legislator. In the outgoing Assembly, Prof Jagdish Mukhi was the leader of the BJP Legislature Party and also Leader of Opposition. |
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BSNL’s rural connectivity on the blink Panipat, December 17 Villagers alleged that repeated complaints to the BSNL authorities had fallen on deaf ears and instead of redressing the grievances of the subscribers the officials seemed to be putting the blame on each other. The telephone had become a mere showpiece and had been of little use since Monday, a harassed subscriber from Buana Lakhu village, who came to register his complaint at the local Customer Care Centre, told NCR Tribune. However, the complainant went unsatisfied with the local officials only promising to “look into the matter”. The story of several other subscribers, who had been moving from pillar to post since Monday, is no different. The telephone exchanges of Naultha and Buana Lakhu developed technical snags on Monday, snapping the link of thousands of families from the outside world. The villages, which had been adversely affected by the phones going dead, are Puthar, Chamrara, Kakoda, Buana, Lakhu, Shahpur, Kaint, Bijwa, Majra, Budsami, Hadtadi, Titana, Kalkha, Naultha, Balana, Brahman Majra, Didwani, Dahar and Palri. Technical snags in the rural exchanges are a routine affair. Rural subscribers grumble that while the government-controlled BSNL issued rural connections at the drop of a hat the trouble-free functioning of the telephone left much to be desired. While top BSNL officials were tight-lipped about the problems afflicting the rural exchanges, sources disclosed that there were in-built problems in these exchanges. A middle-rung official, on condition of anonymity, said these exchanges hardly had any back-up facility in case of a power failure. Similarly, they had other infrastructure problems, he added.
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Ban on knitting: Knotty problem for lady teachers Noida, December 17 What makes this ban and the attendant punishment all the more unpalatable is the fact that the order has been passed by none other than a lady – Ms Neera Yadav, the UP principal secretary for education, who has instructed the district education officers to “keep an eye” on lady teachers who fritter away their time in private and personal work. It affects not only the teaching work in schools, but also the reputation of the institution. However, according to a representative of the affected species, “Knitting is the norm even in government departments and offices. Why are then poor schoolteachers being singled out?’’ Another teacher reasons: ``If we don’t knit in school, when will we get the time to churn out sweaters, mufflers, socks and gloves for our family members?’’ The administration points out that the decision was taken ‘‘to improve the system in schools.” It is often seen that women teachers in rural areas take the classes in the sun, especially in winter. They knit, chat and eat. In the brief interludes, they teach.’’ Result: On one hand, the education suffers; on the other hand, the discipline goes for a toss. Repeated orders have had no effect on the teachers. After reviewing the position, an order has been issued afresh, banning personal and private work in primary and middle schools in the state. The district education officers have been instructed that if during an inspection they find any teacher with knitting needles and balls of wool, strict action should be taken against that teacher. They can even be suspended. It has been further recommended that the lady teachers’ bags and purses be searched for needles and wool. |
CM should step down for fair trial, says Malik Sonepat, December 17 Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr Malik said, “The registration of a case against the CM is a matter of shame for Mr Chautala and respecting the need of justice the CM himself should take the decision to submit his resignation.” “It has put a question mark on the entire working system of the Chautala government,” he added. He lashed out at the Chautala government for pursuing anti-farmer policies and said the farmers did not get remuneration for their produce of sugarcane, paddy, bajra and other crops. He alleged Mr Chautala had been pursuing his political interests in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi at the cost of the people of Haryana. Criticising the Chautala government on other issues, Mr Malik reminded that Haryana was the first state to enforce value added tax (VAT) in the state despite opposition from the trading and business communities. “It shows the tendency of the Chief Minister against the business community.” The implementation of VAT had ruined the domestic economy, he added. He demanded the state government should issue a white paper on its recent decisions regarding abolition of number of government departments and retrenchment of at least 40,000 government employees.  |
320 cases of fire in Sonepat district this year Sonepat, December 17 According to a report, of these, as many as 222 cases of fire had been reported to the municipal fire brigades at Sonepat, Ganaur and Gohana. However, during the year 2002-2003, as many as 340 cases of fire were reported which caused a loss of Rs 2.80 crore. Short circuit was the main cause of the fire incidents.At various places, the incidents of fire were brought under control before the municipal fire brigades could reach the site. Fire broke out at 10 places in January this year and the incidents had caused a loss of Rs 8.50 lakh. During February, fire broke out at nine places causing a loss of Rs 10.50 lakh. Similarly, eight incidents of fire were reported in March causing a loss of Rs 72.45 lakh. During April, as many as 58 cases of fire were reported and the loss was estimated around Rs 32 lakh. This month falls during the harvesting season of wheat. Sources also pointed out that a loss of Rs 9 lakh was caused by fire at 38 places in May this year. Similarly, fire broke out at 27 places in June causing a loss of Rs 19 lakh. During July, cases of fire were reported at 12 places causing a loss of Rs 86,000. In August, fire broke out at 10 places causing a loss of Rs 5.30 lakh. In September, fire broke out at five places and this caused a loss of Rs 4.31 lakh. In October, a loss of Rs 4.75 lakh was caused by 17 cases of fire. During November, fire broke out at 21 places causing a loss of Rs 5 lakh. In December, fire has broken out at seven places so far.
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SPECIAL
FOCUS ON PANIPAT Panipat, December 17 Mahatma Gandhi’s mission to remove the stigma about leprosy and the feeling that lepers were untouchables took concrete shape in the form of Vaikunth Dham Ashram due to the collective efforts of social organisations. Vaikunth Dham was set up 12 years ago thanks to the initiative taken by Mr Cristallani and with the cooperation of Father Ishwar Prasad and Mr Guglani. At that time, at least 50 lepers were living in jhuggis near the Panipat railway station. The three good men met the then Deputy Commissioner, Mr Vijay Kumar, and expressed their desire to shift these lepers to a place where they could live happily. The Deputy Commissioner arranged about 3500 square yards of land on lease from the Wakf Board. The ashram, comprising 30 houses, was constructed at a cost of Rs 15 lakh. Around Rs 2 lakh was donated by local philanthropists and Rs 13 lakh was contributed by Mr Cristallani. A house in this colony consists of a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom and a verandah. The Deputy Commissioner laid the foundation stone of the colony and construction was completed on January 19, 1992, under the supervision of Father Ishwar Prasad. The shifting of lepers from jhuggis to the colony was done in the presence of Mr Cristallani. Before shifting, lepers used to beg for a living but thereafter they started earning and paying for their families’ upkeep. They gained self-confidence and started considering themselves to be a part and parcel of society. Some earn by plying cycle-rickshaws while others sell balloons and toys for children. All of them work according to their capability. In the evening they assemble at Shiva Temple constructed by them at a cost of Rs 4 lakh on land adjoining their colony. The ashram is now known as Navjivan Leprosy Colony. Owing to the sudden demise of its benefactor, it is being managed by this institution. However, resentment prevails among the residents of Vaikunth Dham as they complain of partial attitude of the administration. According to them, only some of their colleagues are handicapped and are given pension of Rs 200 per month by the Handicapped Welfare Board while those in Delhi and other districts of Haryana such as Karnal, Yamunanagar, Rohtak, Ambala, Faridabad get around Rs 500. This correspondent met Pyare Lal Sharma, pujari of the lepers’ colony, who is the only leper from Himachal Pradesh. The others are from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The latter are bitter about the administration’s “partiality” and indiscriminatry attitude towards them on distribution of pension. According to Pradhan Gobind Ram, the 24 families of lepers have below poverty line (BPL) ration cards with them. The electricity board has also made arrangements to provide them subsidised power. The last electricity bill paid by them was merely Rs 212 for two months for all 30 tenements and for power utilised in the compound and mandirs in the vicinity. Even the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, wished that lepers should be made aware about their due place in society and should get proper guidance. Rajender Kumar (44), hailing from Jagannath Puri, Orissa, complained that he plied a rickshaw for about three hours daily up to 9 am wearing gloves for fear of detection and earned about Rs 35 to Rs 40. According to him, people were scared to engage his rickshaw. The Pradhan confirmed that Hussain, Permal, Kar Ranjan, Kaliya Murti, Trinkasch, Rangachari, including himself, were not doing any job. However, before March 31 this year these lepers had deposited Rs 60, 000 from their savings in the post office and purchased Kisan Vikas Patra. Some of their women are busy selling balloons in the town and earn Rs 40 to Rs 50 per day but they also did not want to disclose the same. No doubt the administration and social organisations have given them shelter so that they become part of society but now they are busy without work. People come to them to provide all types of food and medicines. Now they are comparing their pensions with other districts of Haryana and states like Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. The Khadi Village and Industries Commission established in Panipat should come forward with support and engage them in the cottage industry so that all members of the family so that they can work to their utmost capacity to earn more. Obviously, it appears that some planned and systematic effort is needed by the administration with the help of social organisations to mitigate the hardships being faced by residents of Vaikunth Dham towards their subsistence. Even the Pradhan of the colony claimed the necessity of such arrangements. Otherwise, a time will come when this leper colony would be treated as an authorised beggars shop. Previously, they used to go for begging. Now, the scene has changed with people coming to their residence and providing them “alms”. |
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Four women among 10 hurt in three mishaps Sonepat, December 17 According to a report, three persons going on a motorcycle sustained injuries when the motorcycle was hit by a Maruti van from the rear side near Paslri village on the Sonepat-Meerut inter-state road, about 15 km from here, last night. The injured persons were identified as Sham Sunder, Raj Gopal and Rajesh. They belong to Barot town in UP. They were sent to Safdarjung Hospital at Delhi for further treatment. The driver of the Maruti van, however, managed to escape. According to another report, five persons, including two women, were injured in an accident on the GT Road near Murthal
Chowk, about 8 km from here, last night. OC |
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IN
PARLIAMENT New Delhi, December 17 Replying to the Supplementaries during Question Hour, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Harin Pathak said the victim was fully co-operating to help identify the culprit. “She is co-operating and we are trying to reach the culprit,” he said. The minister said out of the 74 photographs sent to the Swiss diplomat, who returned to her country after the incident, seven of them were identified as possible suspects. However, their DNA samples have not matched, he said. Mr Pathak said of the 14,000 persons questioned, 2,000 persons were thoroughly interrogated. On steps taken for the protection of women in the city, the minister said in line with the recommendations of the National Commission for Women, three special courts with female judges and three female prosecutors have been set up in Delhi from April 1. He said some of the measures suggested by the Justice Malimath Committee on reforming the criminal justice system have been implemented. Some other recommendations were being sent to the state governments, he said. To another question, the minister said on the recommendations of the Law Commission report as well as the suggestions of the National Commission for Women, policemen in plainclothes have been deployed in places and institutions frequented by women. “The whole House is pained by the incident of rape of the diplomat,” Mr Pathak said. The government, he added, was taking all measures to nab the culprit. Giving the details of the measures, Mr Pathak said the Delhi Police have deployed over 20 teams of seasoned and experienced investigators and a massive manhunt has been launched in which all listed criminals with similar description and similar modus operandi are being interrogated and their movements verified. |
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NCR BRIEFS Noida, December 17 This was stated by RV Shahi, Secretary, Power, Government of India, while inaugurating a three-day National Seminar on Regulatory Framework for Power sector at NTPC’s Power Management Institute, Noida. He said the biggest challenge that the power sector faced was to strike a balance between different and sometimes divergent interests. The Regulatory Authority’s job is difficult which has to balance the interests of power sectors—lenders, developers and equity holders.. Mr Shahi said the government has given Rs 1,400 crore equity support to NTPC. But some organisations are not able to use whatever equity help is provided by the government as they fail to take timely decisions. The power reforms in the country had started from Orissa in 1996 with the establishment of power regulatory authority. In China, they have 1,200 KV per capita consumption while we have only 400 KV per capita in India. Power has not reached in 50% of homes in 10 Indian states. Only 30 to 35% households have power there. Liquor godown security guard killed A security guard in a liquor godown in Sector-2 under Sector-20 police area was killed by a sharp-edged weapon by some criminals who wanted to loot cash from the premises. The criminals who had tried to break open the safe could not take away about Rs 1 lakh kept there. The murder of three employees of a factory in Noida in October in the similar circumstances has not been solved yet. Ashok Wadia’s Jaikishen Wines firm in D-178 sector-2 has a godown where two guards are deployed for day and night security. Kishen Sharma of Nepal who has been with this firm for eight years was on night duty. The guard was attacked with a sharp-edged weapon on the head. But when the intruders could not open the safe, they fled from the scene, the police said. The murder was discovered by Geeta who came in the morning to mop the place. She informed Shri Ram, a guard in the next factory who in turn informed manager Radhey Shyam. It is said Kishen Sharma was still alive. By the time the police came, the guard had breathed his last. The police said the criminals had taken liquor before killing the guard. Eyewitness in murder
case attacked The criminals made a murderous attack on a person, who is an eyewitness in the murder of his brother at a bus stand. After stabbing him thrice, the assailants fired at him and the assailants sped away waiving their weapons in the air. But the Kotwali police have reportedly taken this attack rather lightly. None from the police station had visited the site, but the incident was kept back from the police Circle Officer who visited the place after good six hours. A case naming Salamuddiun, s/o Alleemuddin and three others has been registered. MCD leader demits office New Delhi: Chairman of the Standing Committee and Leader of the House in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has resigned today from both the posts of the corporation after 13 days of being elected as MLA from Rohtas Nagar Assembly constituency. He contested the Assembly election on the Congress ticket and won it with a heavy margin. At present, the corporation will be led by the Deputy Chairman, Ashok Jain, who was elected as a corporator from Bazar Sita Ram in walled city. The Chairman of the all-powerful Standing Committee will be elected soon by members of the House.
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Delimitation duty: 10 truant teachers to face action Sonepat, December 17 According to a report, the district administration has deputed 105 teachers of various government schools for conducting the survey of the houses in connection with the delimitation of the municipal wards but only 95 schoolteachers came for duty yesterday. The survey will come to an end on December 31. Murder accused
acquitted The Additional Sessions Judge of Sonepat, Mr J C Jangra, has acquitted an accused Jatinder, alias Bhura, of Kaloi village who had been facing trial in a murder case following lack of evidence. According to a report, the Kharkhauda police had registered a case against the accused on November 20, 2001 on the complaint of one Rajbir for murdering Mr Dharampal and sent the challan to the court. Youth commits suicide A youth Nav Ratan is reported to have committed suicide by taking sulphas tablets in his house at Kailash Colony here last evening. According to a report, a dispute over the money is stated to be the main cause of the extreme step taken by the youth. The police have sent the body for the postmortem examination. Four prisoners shifted The authorities of the district jail Sonepat have shifted four prisoners, including the most wanted criminal Yudhvir Singh to other jails with immediate effect. According to a report, this followed a clash between two groups of prisoners on Saturday evening in which one prisoner sustained injuries. |
Gang making fake documents smashed New Delhi, December 17 The police also claimed to have seized 17 ration cards, three General Power of Attorney of properties, one house tax book with several receipts, 10 stamps, two stamp pads from their possession. The accused were identified as Anil Kumar and Vinod Kumar alias Billu, both residents of Ghaziabad. Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Nuzhat Hassan said that Assistant Commissioner of Police (Preet Vihar) Dinesh Kumar Gupta received a tip-off that a gang had been involved in preparing duplicate documents near Radhu Palace Cinema. Accordingly, a decoy customer was sent to strike a deal with the suspects. The police first sent a decoy customer constable Om Kumar who struck a deal with Anil Kumar for a fake ration card for Rs 400. He also paid an advance of Rs 200 and gave two photographs to Anil for the same. Later, when Anil came to deliver the ration card, he was apprehended. On the information provided by Anil, his associate Vinod was also arrested and some documents were seized from him. During interrogation, the accused told the police that they were into preparing documents and standing sureties in different names with the help of fake papers. Anil told the police that he stood as surety for Safi Anwar, Rafique, alias Shish, Jai Prakash and Mohammad Zakir, alias Guddu, in the names like Mohammad Irfan and Anil Kumar. The other accused Vinod stood surety for Mukesh, Rajesh alias Chhote alias Babu in the names like Ram Kumar and Ajit Singh. The duo who were in the vocation for a long time took Rs 500 to Rs 2,000 for preparing such documents. The police are now looking into the role of some advocates in the crime. |
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Job racket busted; two held New Delhi, December 17 Five held for forging numbers The West district police arrested five suspects who were allegedly involved in duping public by forging the engine numbers, chassis numbers, registration papers and selling out the vehicles in different states against forged documents. Eight Mahindra jeeps, two Marshal jeeps bearing forged engine or chassis numbers, two grinder machines, two punching sets used in erasing the old engine numbers and punching new numbers, 105 fake stamps, 22 forged road certificates and one typewriter have been seized. The suspects were identified as Manjeet Singh, Arjun Tiwari, alias Dharmender, Ved Prakash Verma, Sant Ram and Kishan Lal, the DCP (West), Satish Golcha said.
Jewellery award The P.P. Jewellers has received the most prestigious “Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council Award” for the 12th consecutive year. This award is given for the excellence for the outstanding performance for export of gold jewellery from India. The credit of the success of PP Jewellers goes to the quality and purity and variety of the products maintained by the organisation, a press release said. |
Keane India opens development centre at Gurgaon Gurgaon, December 17 Mr Parminder S. Miglani, Managing Director of the firm’s India operation, said on the occasion that the new centre and the simultaneous beefing up of the firm’s existing centres at Noida and Hyderabad were part of its strategy to cater to its growing business needs. To start with, the Gurgaon centre will have 500 workstations with video-conferencing setup, training room, board room, library, cafetaria and recreation centre. The plan is to beef up the facility with an additional 60,000 sq feet in the same building to be operational by early next year, taking the strength of the Gurgaon centre to 1000 professionals, he added. Incidentally, Keane India Ltd has its corporate headquarters at Unitech Trade Centre here, on whose premises the new development centre has been launched.
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