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Stop attacks on Indians, Australia told
Rs 2.5 lakh ex gratia for Nitin’s kin
No room for Advani
Jyoti Basu’s condition deteriorates
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Less fog, but backlog disrupts train schedules
Gogoi not to tell ministers to declare assets
Tharoor runs into trouble again
Jaya: Sack ministers who didn’t help dying cop
3 arrested for TN cop’s murder
Crackdown on Telugu channels continues
Marxist Violence
Telangana Tangle
Amar Singh may join NCP or BJP
Now, Dutt quits SP post
Nod to road plans worth Rs 6,152 cr
Assam on high alert after ULFA threat
Punjabi chair at JNU awaits Badal govt’s nod
Nitish: UPA to blame for rail mishaps
Railways sacks ULFA boss Baruah
Veteran sports scribe Balachandran dead
Stowaway Habib let off
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Stop attacks on Indians, Australia told
New Delhi, January 9 “We are in constant touch with the Australian authorities. They must identify those involved in the attacks on Indians and take action. Repeated attacks on Indians are a matter of serious concern,’’ Ravi told reporters on the margins of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas function here today. In a statement, the External Affairs Ministry said India had been informed this morning about the attack by miscreants on 29-year-old Jaspreet Singh in Melbourne, in which he received burn injuries. “No further details regarding the individual or incident are available at present. The Indian High Commissioner in Canberra and the Consul General in Melbourne are following up this matter vigorously with the Australian authorities,’’ the official spokesman of the ministry said. He added that the condition of the victim was not critical but he has been hospitalised and was receiving treatment. New Delhi advised the media to exercise utmost restraint in reporting these sensitive issues, as it could aggravate the situation and could have a bearing on India’s relations with Australia. The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas forum, meanwhile, was utilised by Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan for criticising Australia for the manner in which it has been dealing with the issue of attacks on Indian students. Badal said the Indian Government was only making statements and not doing much in the matter. He said the Punjab Government has already lodged a strong protest with the Australian High Commission over the violence against Indians in Australia. New Delhi must raise the issue at the highest level with the Australian authorities to pressurise them to act speedily in the matter. Modi asserted that the attacks were not acceptable to India. He said he had also asked the central government to ensure the safety and security of Indians in Australia. Meanwhile, the body of 21-year-old Nitin Garg, an Indian student from Punjab, who was fatally stabbed in Melbourne, was flown here today. The Indian government announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2,50,000 for his family. The body arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport and was handed over to his relatives to be taken to Jagraon in Ludhiana. An officer of the External Affairs Ministry was present at the airport to receive the body and hand it over to his relatives.
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Rs 2.5 lakh ex gratia for Nitin’s kin
New Delhi, January 9 The Ministry of External Affairs made the announcement as the body of the 21-year-old was brought home from Australia. In a statement, the MEA said the government of India had also borne all expenses for the repatriation of the body of the deceased to India, including transportation. An officer of the Consular, Passport and Visa Division of MEA was at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport this afternoon and assisted in the release of Garg's body, it said. Earlier, Indian Consulate in Melbourne extended all necessary facilitation for early release of the body of the victim and its repatriation to India, the statement said. The body of Garg was brought from Australia by an Emirates Flight EK 516 which landed here at around 2.45 PM. The body was received by the deceased's brother Aneesh and was later transported by road to his native place in Ludhiana in Punjab. An MEA official accompanied the body till it reached the final destination. Garg was stabbed to death on Sunday in Melbourne, in the first case of fatality in a series of vicious attacks on Indians in Australia. The victim, who migrated from Punjab and had permanent residency in that country, was stabbed in the abdomen in a park while on his way to fast food joint Hungry Jack's restaurant, where he worked part-time.
— PTI
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No room for Advani
New Delhi, January 9 BJP amended its constitution on December 19 and created a new post of the chairman of Parliamentary party and authorised him to appoint/nominate other office-bearers of the parliamentary party, including the Leaders and Deputy leaders of the party in the both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Immediately, Advani nominated Sushma Swaraj as the Leader of parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha and Arun Jaitely was re-nominated as the Rajya Sabha leader. Since Sushma and Jaitley represent the largest opposition party in the two Houses, Parliament recognises them as the Leaders of Opposition in their respective Houses. A Leader of Opposition is entitled to a room and staff and other perks of the level of a cabinet minister. So far Advani was the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and, therefore, had a room and all the accompanied perks of a cabinet minister. These will now pass on to Sushma by virtue of her becoming leader of Opposition. And Sushma will now occupy Advani’s room. Parliament does not recognise the post of Chairman of Parliamentary party. Congress party set the precedent first by appointing Sonia Gandhi as Chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party. BJP has virtually emulated the Congress in this respect and given the same powers to Advani to appoint the office-bearers of the two Houses, including parliamentary party leaders.But a Parliament House source pointed out that there is no provision in its constitution for the post a chairman. As for Sonia Gandhi, he said she is only sitting in the Congress parliamentary party room. There was a suggestion within the BJP to get Advani elected the chairman of the NDA and, thereby, secure him the room next to the BJP parliamentary party office which is lying vacant with the nameplate of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee hanging outside, even while he has ceased to be a MP in the 15th Lok Sabha. But section within the party considered it an ill omen, since Vajpayee is already suffering from failing health and various aliments.
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Jyoti Basu’s condition deteriorates
Kolkata, January 9 Doctors at the AMRI Hospital said they were in close touch with the AIIMS, New Delhi, and were treating Basu accordingly.According to the latest bulletin, 95-year-old Basu has been fighting a battle for his survival and his condition was being constantly monitored by the medical board. But age has been a great impediment to his recovery.The veteran leader was admitted to the hospital on January 1 as he had a severe attack of pneumonia. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had visited Basu two days ago.
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Less fog, but backlog disrupts train schedules
New Delhi, January 9 Delhi heaved a slight sigh of relief as the maximum temperature in Delhi rose to 17.8 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature settled at nine degree Celsius, two degrees above the average, said a Metrological Department official. Just yesterday, Delhi had witnessed heavy fog on the coldest day in last five years with the maximum temperature of 12.1 degree Celsius. While several flights had to be rescheduled at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport with visibility around 800 meters at 7 am this morning, rail traffic to and from the capital failed to resume its pace due to yesterday’s backlog. Visibility around the same hours had fallen below 50 meters due to thick fog yesterday. An airport official at the IGI stated that unlike yesterday when fog disrupted the flight schedules, there was marked improvement today. “The Runway Visual Range (RVR) this morning was 2,000 metres so most of the fights were on schedule. Due to thick fog yesterday, all fights were grounded till 10.30 am,” the official added. There was not much improvement in rail traffic, though with 50 trains delayed up to 10 hours and five, including the North-East Express, cancelled. “The weather condition today is much better. There is hardly any fog in Delhi, but the condition elsewhere may not be as good. On top of that there is a heavy backlog. Therefore, there have been many delays and rescheduling of trains today,” said a Northern Railways spokesperson.“However, these cancelled trains might be resumed if the weather conditions improve” said the Northern railway PRO.Yesterday, heavy fog and poor visibility had resulted in more than 25 trains to and from the capital and delay in 70 Delhi-bound trains.
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Gogoi not to tell ministers to declare assets
Guwahati, January 9 He challenged the opposition Asom Gana Parishad, which ruled the state on two occasions in the past, to ask its leaders to declare their assets that they had amassed after they got ministerial portfolios during the AGP regimes. Gogoi also criticised the AGP leaders for starting the culture of calling for bandhs in the state at the drop of a hat while they were student leaders. He held them responsible for causing huge economic losses to the state because of bandhs. AGP leader Chandra Mohan Patowary dared Gogoi to ask his ministers to declare their assets alleging rampant corruption in the functioning of incumbent Congress-led coalition government in the state. He lauded the latest Gauhati High Court judgement declaring bandhs as unconstitutional and amounting to violation of fundamental rights of citizens. He said the high court judgement would be very helpful for the state government to take action against organisations calling for bandhs. He made an appeal to various organisations to avoid calling for bandhs as many other means were available to lodge protest on any issue. He said the state government was contemplating to find a way to provide compensation against damage caused to vehicles by protesters during bandhs called by various organisations. The insurance companies decline to provide compensation for damage caused to vehicles during such bandhs.
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Tharoor runs into trouble again
New Delhi, January 9 He finds himself in the eye of a storm yet again after he concurred with critical remarks on the foreign policy approach of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi at a public function on Friday. Tharoor criticised Nehru at a lecture by British MP Bhiku Parekh, who had said that Nehru and Gandhi’s policies presented India in a light of “moral self-righteousness.” Agreeing with Parekh’s view that Nehru’s foreign policy was “more like a moralistic running commentary,” the minister said he had pointed this out in his books.’ Tharoor’s remarks have not gone down well with the Congress which regards Gandhi and Nehru as their biggest icons. The party made its disapproval known publicly with AICC chief spokesperson Janardan Dwivedi pointing out: “It will take some time for Shashi Tharoor to understand Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru’s policies in proper perspective.” Sources said angry party leaders will complain to External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and urge him to take handle the matter appropriately. This is not the first time that Tharoor has run into trouble. He was ticked off only recently by Krishna for publicly airing his differing views on government policies. Tharoor had expressed reservations over the new visa guidelines on the social networking site, Twitter. “If there are any perceptions, they should be sorted out within the four walls of the two ministries.” Krishna had told him. Last year, Tharoor had created a huge controversy when he reacted to the government’s austerity measures on Twitter, saying that he would travel “cattle class out of solidarity with holy cows.” This had resulted in a huge furore in the Congress which had demanded immediate action against him. Tharoor had even met Congress president Sonia Gandhi to explain himself. Prime Minister Minsiter Manmohan Singh had dismissed Tharoor’s tweet as a “joke” but the UPA sources had confirmed that the minister was asked to be more discreet in his public comments.
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Jaya: Sack ministers who didn’t help dying cop
Chennai, January 9 Sub-Inspector R. Vetrivel was hacked by a criminal gang in broad daylight on Thursday in Tirunelveli district. As he lay on the road bleeding, a convoy of ministers M.R.K. Paneerselvam and T.P.M. Mohideen Khan reached there. Television footage showed the ministers and other officials, including police personnel, waiting passively for an ambulance, without bothering to shift the injured man to hospital. Vetrivel, writhing in pain, bled to death soon after. In a stinging statement, Jayalalithaa said: “The inhuman act of the two ministers is one example of the DMK government's general attitude.” She said had the injured sub-inspector been taken to a nearby hospital in one of the vehicles of the ministers’ convoy, his life could have been saved. According to her, the police in the state were afraid of “anti-social elements”, not the other way around. She pointed out that gang attacks had taken place even near police stations. Meanwhile, Tirunelveli District Collector M. Jayaraman told reporters that the fear of unexploded bombs lying near Vetrival and the fear of a fresh attack made the ministers and officials nervous. ADGP K. Radhakrishnan has gone to Tirunelvelli to oversee the investigations into the incident. According to police, seven people have been arrested for the murder. The police say Vetrivel was not the intended target of the killers, who were looking for another sub-inspector, Sivasubramanian. The police said it was Sivasubramanian’s wife and her relatives who planned the attack — the third on him — as he had escaped the earlier attempts. Police are hunting for Sivagami, the wife, and her relatives who are absconding. The audacious killing of the policeman on Friday triggered the transfer of Tamil Nadu's DGP K.P. Jain. Letika Saran has succeeded him. — IANS
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3 arrested for TN cop’s murder
Chennai, January 9 Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, expressing his condolences, announced financial assistance of Rs 7,00,000 for Vetrivel's family. He also ordered preference in a government job to an eligible family member. Speaking to IANS from Tirunelveli over phone, SP Asra Garg said, “We have arrested three people- A. Kandasami, P. Kannabiran and Shanmugasundaram- in connection with Vetrivel’s murder. We are on the lookout for 10 more people.”
— IANS
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Crackdown on Telugu channels continues
Hyderabad, January 9 Amidst high drama, a team of CID officials went to the channel’s office here and recorded the statements of its CEO Priyadarshini Ram and editorial director Ramakrishna Reddy. The police seized computer hard disc and other material from the office. The development came a day after the arrest of two senior editors of Telugu news channel TV5 for telecasting the story based on a speculative report carried by a little-known Russian website four months ago. The senior executive editor Brahmananda Reddy and input editor Venkata Krishna of TV5, arrested last night from their office, were today produced before a local magistrate who remanded them to two-week judicial custody. Their bail petitions were rejected by the magistrate. The police booked cases against TV5, Saakshi and NTV channels for airing unsubstantiated report that had suggested foul play by the Reliance Group in the death of YSR in a helicopter crash in Nallamala forest area on September 2 last year.
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Marxist Violence
Kolkata, January 9 However, the railway minister said she would not walk out of the alliance. “We are committed to the people who want the alliance to continue,” Banerjee told a press conference here. “The Centre has surrendered to the CPM and has failed to check Marxist violence on our partymen in the state,” she said. Banerjee alleged that the Centre was ‘providing oxygen’ to the CPM by launching anti-Maoist operations by central forces and the state police in West Midnapore. Reiterating her opposition to operations in the troubled district, she said, “Union Home Minister P Chidambaram owes an explanation to the people for the failure of the joint operations. The joint operations did not yield any result. Has the violence abated or killings or terrorism ended there? Our party was not consulted despite the Trinamool Congress being the second largest ally of the UPA.” Renewing her demand for deploying the army in West Midnapore to deal with the situation, she said, “Had the Centre been serious about fighting Maoists, it would have reacted.”
— PTI
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Telangana
Tangle
New Delhi, January 9 “There was a meeting between the Cabinet and the Cabinet committee on economic affairs. It lasted
about 10 minutes," the sources said. "The main dilemma is that within the (Congress) party, there seems to be no consensus (on the issue). Maybe there will be more behind the scene discussions before a decision can
be arrived at," the sources added. One possible reason why Saturday's meeting was inconclusive was that Home Minister P. Chidambaram was away in Tamil Nadu. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy were among those who attended the meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
— IANS
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Amar Singh may join NCP or BJP
New Delhi, January 9 Indicating a hardening of stand against Amar Singh, Mohan Singh described Amar Singh’s act of publicly criticising his party leaders as “most immoral” and added that the party had given him a free hand in functioning in last 15 years that he was in the SP. Mohan Singh also questioned Amar Singh’s allegation against Mulayam Singh’s family dictating the partyline and decisions and pointed out that Amar had been party to all the important decisions taken and therefore, he had to share the blame if any. In such a situation, his friends have started hunting for greener pastures. NCP general-secretary and spokesman DP Tripathi, a trusted friend of Amar Singh, hinted that Amar could be accommodated in his party. Tripathi stated here yesterday, “Politics is always pregnant with possibilities,” though he added, “This is no occasion to talk politics.” Simultaneously, there is also some movement in the BJP indicating that his friends have started probing the possibility of inviting him into the BJP. A BJP source confided that Amar Singh could be of considerable use because he happens to be a Thakur from UP. The outgoing president of BJP Rajnath Singh is also a Thakur. According to this insider, with the Brahmins drifting towards the Congress in UP, and Yadavs consolidating behind Mulayam Singh, the BJP may widen its base and fully consolidate the Thakurs behind the BJP, whose support base has been shrinking in these last few years. Amar Singh could also come in handy to the BJP to bad mouth Sonia Gandhi, Mayawati and Mulayam Singh at the time of UP Assembly elections, pointed out a BJP insider from UP. Besides Amar Singh has very good connections in the corporate world and one more fundraiser would only help the party said the insider. In a related development, Amar Singh’s best friend Amitabh Bachchan has volunteered to become the brand ambassador for Gujarat at a function hosted by Chief Minister Narendra Modi in his honour in Ahmedabad recently, almost coinciding with Amar Singh’s decision to bid adieu to Mulayam Singh Yadav. Formally, the BJP has avoided any comment and its spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “This is an internal matter of SP. We do not comment on that.”
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Mumbai, January 9 “When the Supreme Court did not give me chance to contest the Lok Sabha elections, Amar Singh made me the general secretary of the party. He had said both of us will work for the party from the same position,” Dutt told a hurriedly-called press conference here. “If he is no more the general secretary, I am also quitting the post today,” Dutt said. He, however, said he would remain in the party as long as Amar Singh is there. He said despite slogging for the party in his poor health condition, certain leaders of SP mistreated Singh. — PTI
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Nod to road plans worth Rs 6,152 cr
New Delhi, January 9 The approval came during the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure. The projects include six-laning of 435 km in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat at an estimated cost of Rs 4,279.94 crore, which are part of the Golden Quadrilateral scheme and four/six laning of 122.87-km stretch on Maharashtra-Goa and Goa-Karnataka border at an estimated cost of Rs 1,872 crore. The stretches for six-laning are the Pune-Satara section of the National Highway in Maharashtra, Samakhiali-Gandhidham section in Gujarat and Udaipur-Ahmedabad section in Rajasthan and Gujarat. “The total project will be under a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) pattern,” an official statement said, adding that the concession period for these three projects is between 24 and 30 years while that for the Rs 1,872-crore project is 23 years.
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Assam on high alert after ULFA threat
Guwahati, January 9 Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, while belittling the threat from the fugitive ULFA commander as “nothing new”, said the government was in no mood to remain complacent and asked security forces to gear up. “Such a statement (by Paresh Baruah) could have created a fear psychosis among the people about ten years back, but people are now in a different mood and will not be cowed down. The government, too, will leave no stone unturned to prevent ULFA from striking terror,” Gogoi said. He, however, clarified that the government was keen to hold talk with the ULFA leadership to find a solution and talks could be held even in the absence of Paresh Baruah . “There were precedents of holding talks with the Naga rebel group in the absence of its top leader AZ Phish. Now, Nagaland is hoping for restoration of lasting peace. So, there is no harm in holding talks minus Paresh Baruah,” the CM said.
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Punjabi chair at JNU awaits Badal govt’s nod
New Delhi, January 9 The decision on introduction of the Punjabi chair was taken on August 6, 2004, as part of Centre for Indian Languages (CIL) at the university’s School of Language and was conveyed to the state government the same year. University sources said the JNU administration had decided to introduce courses in Tamil, Punjabi and Bengali as part of the extension plan of CIL that earlier offered courses only in Hindi and Urdu. While the Tamil Nadu government funded the Tamil chair, the university had to fund the Bengali chair from its own resources. A proposal to introduce the Punjabi chair was sent to the then Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, but it was only the present government that showed interest in 2008. Taking a note of the letter written by former Vice-Chancellor Prof GK Chadha to the state government, Anjali Bhawra from the Punjab government’s department of higher education wrote to the JNU on October 24, 2008, asking them for the estimated cost of the chair along with the activities associated with it. In a reply to the letter, JNU administration wrote that an “amount of Rs 3 crore may be required as a one time endowment, so that the interest earned could be used for the funding of the chair”. A copy of the letter is available with The Tribune. The main aim of setting the chair was to enable the Punjabi students to relate the knowledge of the language and literature to other modern Indian languages. Another important objective was to introduce the non-Punjabi speakers to the history, traditions and distinctive features of the language, said Prof Chaman Lal, chairman, CIL. The JNU proposed that the funds for setting up this chair would be utilised to sponsor the chair of a professor, assistant professor and a stenographer-cum-computer operator. Under the proposal, the Punjab government was also given an option to opt for yearly grants if it was not interested in releasing the funds in a single go.
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Nitish: UPA to blame for rail mishaps
Patna, January 8 Taking credit for creation of a special railway safety fund of Rs 17,000 crore during his tenure, Nitish said then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had given an assistance of Rs 12,000 crore and the remaining Rs 5,000 crore was collected from the passengers as "safety surcharge". He also recalled having formulated a railway safety plan for 2003-13 and having tabled a ‘green book’ on the issue in the
Parliament.
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Railways sacks ULFA boss Baruah
Guwahati, January 9 Barua was appointed as a traffic porter by the railway authorities in 1978 under the sports quota, but his salary was stopped in 1980 after he went underground. “A railway employee with the name Paresh Barua was working as a porter at the railway station of Tinsukia. The disciplinary body of the station has decided to suspend him from the job,” said spokesperson of the North East Frontier Railway S. Hajong. The police believe that Paresh Barua is still elusive, hiding somewhere along the Myanmar-China border. Earlier, ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, who remained underground for almost two decades, was arrested in Bangladesh and brought to India. In less than a month, the ULFA has dealt blows with the arrest of the group's top leaders, including Rajkhowa, Raju Baruah, and Sacha Chaudhary. — ANI
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Veteran sports scribe Balachandran dead
Kozhikode, January 9 Balachandran, popularly known as ‘Vimcy,’ was 86 and is survived by two sons and a daughter. His wife predeceased him. Balachandran, who wrote extensively on Football, had a long stint in the ‘Mathrubhumi’ daily. After retiring from the daily, he contributed columns on various subjects, including politics and was honoured with several awards, including one by the Sports Council, for his contributions in the field.
— PTI
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Stowaway Habib let off
Jaipur, January 9 A local court had granted bail to Habib on Thursday, but he could not be released the same day following non-execution of the order from the court of Judicial Magistrate, Sanganer. The order could not be executed by the jail authorities yesterday as it came late. Habib told reporters that he would never think about Saudi Arabia again and thanked God for his homecoming. “I am happy to be home. I want to meet my family now,” said 25-year-old Habib. And later, he left for his home in Uttar Pradesh along with his relatives.
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CBI to take over Ruchika case
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