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Nurses call payroll problems ‘diabolical’

May 6, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Hundreds of Queensland Health (QH) workers have missed out again on their proper wage as the payroll debacle continues into its second month.

A spokeswoman for Health Minister Paul Lucas says 106 workers have reported not receiving any pay at all.

Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) secretary Gay Hawksworth says it is an improvement on previous pay runs, but nurses remain frustrated and angry.

“It’s still diabolical really – it certainly hasn’t been fixed,” she said.

Australian Services Union (ASU) spokeswoman Julie Bignell says there is no end in sight for overworked payroll staff.

“Payroll staff are saying to us that the system doesn’t seem to have improved much at all,” she said.

More than 330 workers missed out on some overtime or penalty pay.

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‘Underfunding’ behind prison stand-off

April 13, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

The union representing correctional service workers says a stand-off between prisoners and guards at Canberra’s jail on the weekend was a result of underfunding.

Thirteen prisoners staged a 23-hour protest when they climbed onto the roof of a building at the Alexander Maconochie Centre on Saturday.

It is believed staff shortages last week led to a series of lockdowns at the prison, some of which lasted a full day.

Vince McDevitt from the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) says the ACT Government is not funding the facility adequately.

“Look it’s a state-of-the-art facility that provides a myriad of services, they all come at a significant cost,” he said.

“Having said that, from an operational safety point of view we certainly believe there needs to be more money made available for better rosters and overtime.

“In the event of multiple unforseen absences, the jail doesn’t have the funding to backfill those vacancies and so the prisoners are locked down.”

Opposition spokesman Jeremy Hanson says the Government has mismanaged the jail.

“No one is happy with the way this place is being run, this is costing us $500 a day per prisoner,” he said.

“Now Jon Stanhope guaranteed to the public that this would be run at half that amount. It’s costing us twice the amount it should, where is the money going?

“It’s just an inability to run the thing.”

ACT Corrective Services is investigating the stand-off.

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Flyers beat Rangers in shootout to clinch playoff berth

April 12, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – The Philadelphia Flyers claimed the final Eastern Conference playoff berth on Sunday, eliminating the New York Rangers from the post-season with a 2-1 shootout triumph.

Sports

Philadelphia defenseman Matt Carle tied the contest at 6:54 in the third period and, after a scoreless overtime, goaltender Brian Boucher stopped two of three shots in the shootout for the Flyers (41-35-6).

The Rangers (38-33-11), who had been hoping to make their fifth straight post-season, made a spectacular late run and defeated Philadelphia 4-3 on Friday to keep their chances alive.

The visitors took the early advantage with a Jody Shelley tip-in at 3:27 in the first. Inspired goaltender Henrik Lundqvist finished with 47 saves.

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Schwarten promises shortchanged QBuild workers will be paid

April 10, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Queensland Public Works Minister Robert Schwarten has promised to pay back QBuild workers who have not received overtime and allowances.

The State Government says 450 workers have been shortchanged over three pay cycles although unions say more than a thousand people have been affected over the past eight weeks.

Mr Schwarten says a glitch in the payroll system is to blame and it should not have happened.

“We won’t leave them adrift,” he said.

“Everybody’s entitled to get paid and we’ll make sure they do anybody owed more than $100 should have been contacted already.

“That money should have been put in their bank accounts so I don’t understand the claim that people are unable to pay their mortgages when in fact everybody’s got their base pay for a start.”

The Government has promised an independent review into unrelated pay problems at Queensland Health which have shortchanged almost 3,000 workers.

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Police swoop on sellers of Jaswant Singh’s pirated book in Pak

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Lahore, Sep.18 (ANI): Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh’s book on Mohammad Ali Jinnah has sent the Pakistani book piracy nexus working overtime, but it has also landed people in police custody.

Pakistani security agencies have arrested three people for selling pirated editions of the book ‘Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence,’ following a countrywide crackdown on publishers and sellers of counterfeit editions of the controversial yet popular book.

Several fake copies of the book have also been recovered and cases have been registered in Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi and Lahore, The Daily Times reported.

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials said the action was taken on a complaint filed by Tariq Haq, regional sales head of the Oxford University Press (OUP).

Tariq said the OUP had the sole rights of publication and distribution of the book and the company is facing heavy losses due to large scale piracy of the book.

Singh’s book which has created a furor in India, has received an overwhelming response in Pakistan.

Not only intellectuals, but people from different strata of the society have also shown interest in the book, in which Singh has praised Muhammad Ali Jinnah and described him as a leader who had strong faith in united India, while blaming Sardar Patel for the partition in 1947. (ANI)

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NSW Police boss involved in breastfeeding ban is a woman

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Sep 11 (ANI): The New South Wales Police boss, who forced a breastfeeding mum to work overtime for every minute she spent expressing milk, has been reported to be a woman.

The revelation came as Women’s Minister Verity Firth told all public service agencies to review practices to ensure they were providing support to breastfeeding mums.

The female sergeant told her civilian employee that she was not entitled to paid breaks, and denied her access to a private room, all in violation of an official State Government policy that is ignored throughout almost all of the public service.

However, it is suspected that the woman officer may have been overcompensating to fit into a blokey culture, with experts likening aggressive women in uniform to “religious converts”.

Feminist Eva Cox said the sergeant herself was probably the victim of a male-dominated culture, suggesting that she was trying so hard to fit in that she was tougher on women than her male colleagues.

“The women who get up through the system are the women who are really supportive of the system – they’re like religious converts,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Cox as saying.

“They’re scared to behave in any way soft or feminine and it makes them harder on other women than blokes,” she stated.

However, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins said that both genders were always treated equally in the Force.

“Police who rise up through the ranks of the NSW Police Force do so because they are the best people for the job. Gender is irrelevant,” he said.

NSW Police is now developing a new breastfeeding policy, and is taking steps to address the employee’s complaints – including a request that all the overtime she worked be reinstated.

The Public Service Association has lodged an action in the IRC seeking to enforce the Government’s 12-year-old policy supporting new mums. (ANI)

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Centre creates “Invest India” company to promote foreign investment in the country

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep 10 (ANI): The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the formation of a company ‘Invest India’ for the promotion of foreign investments under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Announcing the formation of ‘Invest India,’ Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said “The company will be a joint venture between the Government of India, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the State Governments will be responsible for promoting foreign investments into the country in a more focused, comprehensive and structured manner.”

The new company is expected to assist the government in its efforts towards projecting India as an attractive investment destination for foreign investors. The company will also assist foreign investors in identifying and realizing investment opportunities in India.

“The unique feature of this company is the partnership between the private sector organization and the Government of India and the State Governments. This is, unlike anywhere else in the world and seeks both to leverage the synergies of all three as well as address their investment priorities,” Sharma added.

Sharma informed that “The Board of Directors of the Invest India comprises of six members from Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and six members from FICCI.”

“Secretary DIPP will be its Non Executive Chairman. The Board of Directors will appoint a Managing Director and FICCI will provide the administrative, personnel and management support for day to day functioning,” Sharma said.

The authorized capital of the company will be Rs 10crore and the initial paid up capital Rs. one crore. While FICCI will have 51percent share in the equity, DIPP will have 49 percent share to begin with. DIPP’s share will be reduced overtime to 35 percent of paid up capital with induction of fresh equity by the State Governments.

The company will act as the first reference point for any investor interested in India and will also facilitate in setting up business within the country, by making available sector wise consultants and coordinating with the state government on feasible measures, Sharma said. (ANI)

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Death toll in Bihar floods reaches 52

August 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Patna, Aug 29(ANI): The flood situation in Bihar further worsened on Saturday as Kosi River continued to unleash its fury in several districts, pushing the death toll to 52.

According to officials, 12 fresh deaths were reported from Purnia, four from Sitamarhi, three from Saharsa and two each from Madhubani and Darbhanga.

They also informed that relief and rescue operations were going on at affected areas with the help of four National Disaster Response Force teams, who are equipped with about 1000 boats.

According to an official report, swirling waters affected scores of villages under Bahadurganj, Terhagachhi, Dighalbank, Kochadhaman, Bahadurganj, and Potahi in Kishanganj district.

Floods have so far affected more than 50 villages, while many villages were submerged in Banmankhi and Krityanandnagar blocks in Western Purnia by the turbulent river, which was steadily eroding its embankment.

Meanwhile, about 1,00,000 marooned people have been evacuated so far, a large number of them by Government boats and many on their own saved their lives.

Four helicopters and 200 country boats are working overtime to ferry the men and material to safe destinations. (ANI)

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Now, radical British Islamic group planning “bloodless military coup” in Pak

July 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 5 (ANI): The writ of the Pakistan government is not only under threat from the ever expanding Taliban, but fears are also rife that British extremists may try to topple the democratic set-up of the country, as an Islamic fundamentalist group, Hizb- ut-Tahrir (HuT) is pushing for a “bloodless military coup” to establish an orthodox Islamic rule in the troubled nation .

A report in The Times has revealed that the members of the HuT, who call themselves as the Liberation party in Britain, is working overtime to establish a caliphate in Pakistan, under which strict Islamic laws would rigorously be enforced.

The group, which is banned in Pakistan, plans to make Islamabad its base, from where it could plan and spread Islamic rule across the globe.

There are several British activists of the HuT who are based in Lahore and Karachi, and are secretly working towards their objective.

Tayyib Muqeem, an English teacher from Stoke-on-Trent, has now stationed himself in Lahore, and has established a Hizb ut-Tahrir student group in Superior College here, the report said.

“The organisation’s aim was to subject Muslim and western countries to Islamic rule under sharia law, ‘by force’ if necessary,” said Muqueem.

The tenacity with which the organization is working can be gauged from the fact it aims to establish a state where stoning to death, and chopping of limbs would be common punishments for those who would defy the ‘caliphate’.

“In a caliphate, “every woman would have to cover up” and stoning to death for adultery and the chopping off of thieves’ hands would be the law,” Muqueem said.

Non-Muslim countries would be forced to accept the law by all means, the group aims.

“Islamic rule would be spread through “indoctrination” and by “military means” if non-Muslim countries refused to bow to it. “Waging war” would be part of the caliphate’s foreign policy,” Muqueem added.

The dangerous aims of the outfit also include influencing certain officers of the Pakistan Army to help it succeed in the nefarious goals, the report further revealed.

Terming the present Pakistan government as “worse than the Taliban”, spokesman of the group, Shahzad Sheikh said persuading the army to instigate a “bloodless coup” against the present government would be their prime motive.

“It is the military who hold the power in Pakistan and we are asking them to give their allegiance to Hizb ut-Tahrir,” said Sheikh, who is a Pakistani recruit of the HuT.

The group is believed to have been set up in Pakistan in the early 1990s by one Imtiaz Malik.

Malik is still believed to be in the country, and working as its commander from an undisclosed location, the report said. (ANI)

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‘Royal protection officers played poker, traded porn in Buckingham Palace’

June 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Jun 30 (ANI): A former royal protection officer, who has been accused of being involved in a 3-million-pound betting and property scam, has laid claims that his colleagues played poker and traded pornography while working at Buckingham Palace.

Paul Page, 38, of Granville Road, Chafford Hundred, Grays, Essex, is said to have allegedly cheated colleagues and others out of their life savings.

Page, who describes his job as an “easy life”, denies fraudulent trading, intimidation and threatening to take revenge on a victim who spoke to police between January 1 2003 and March 30 2007.

His wife Laura, 42, was acquitted on June 26 of charges she originally faced in connection with the case.

During his opening defence at Southwark Crown Court today, Page, a father-of-five, revealed that officers in the royal protection command could earn 50,000-60,000 pounds a year with overtime “for doing very little”.

Shifts involved two hours on post, followed by at least an hour off post.

“You didn’t work for a living. That is the bottom line,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

“You have got time to study… There was one officer and he did sell porn. He used to get it from Holland, bring it back and sell it to officers while on duty.

“Everyone knew about it but no one would say anything. Officers were running poker games for money in down time. If people want to do that that is fair enough but senior officers let it go,” he said.

Page also revealed that members of the royal household instilled a class culture and royal protection officers were treated as a “necessary evil” who were expected to turn a blind eye to crime at the palace.

“You are not police officers any more. For example instances of domestic abuse in the royal household where the servants live and sleep in the palace,” he said.

“Some have drink problems and fight. You are told not to get involved. There is a class culture within the palace.

“You are treated like dirt – that includes police officers on the gate.

“Some (members of the royal household) are very nice but the majority, they treat you like you are on a lower level,” he revealed.

He added that he believed money was “thrown at you” because the security level had to be kept up.

“I shouldn’t be saying what I am saying but it has to be done – I need you to understand the culture,” Page added at the court hearing. (ANI)

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UPA, NDA working overtime to cobble up required majority

May 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 15 (ANI): The suspense continues to mount in political circles on which combine-the UPA or the NDA-will be in a position to form the next government at the Centre.

Key political leaders are travessing the length and breadth of the country meeting each other to determine and convince who will join which coalition or front.

Counting of votes will take place on Saturday, and most political leaders are saying that they will confabulate and reveal their respective positions after the results emerge.

“We are receiving positive indications from various parties. We will not reveal what we are discussing or what we have discussed till the results are out. Once the results are out, the BJP Parliamentary Party will meet and take stock and then decide the way forward,” said BJP president Rajnath Singh.

“Everything is fluid,” said NCP leader Praful Patel.

Congress leaders Pranab Mukherjee, A K Antony, Ahmad Patel and Digvijay Singh were huddled in talks till late last night.

Given his good equation with CPI-M veterans Jyoti Basu and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Mukherjee may be given the task of opening up the lines of communication with Left parties.

A meeting between BJP president Rajnath Singh and Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh at a wedding reception last night set the political circles abuzz. The SP leader, however, dismissed media speculation of a political understanding being reached.

“People are aware that it is only Congress which can provide a stable government. All our allies are happy with us,” said Jayanthi Natarajan of Congress.

However, BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar expressed confidence that his party will emerge as the single largest with more 30 seats that the Congress. “NDA will emerge as the single largest coalition with 50 seats more than UPA,” he claimed.

“All options are open. Everything will depend on the numbers,” said Amar Singh. The SP leader said he was in touch with CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury and would be speaking to NCP leader Sharad Pawar.

The Fourth Front, comprising Lalu Yadav’s RJD, Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP and SP have said the combine was averse to having any alliance with the BJP as also Mayawati’s BSP.

“Everybody is talking to everyone,” Patel went on to add.

JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav adopted a cautious approach. “There are some people with whom we are talking with some belief. The talks have been ongoing since yesterday night,” he said without elaborating.

“Congress does not use and throw its allies. We had a difference of opinion with RJD, LJP and the SP over the number of seats allotted to our party but they continued to be ministers and continue to be part of the UPA,” explained Natarajan.

“We shall prevent formation of a BJP-led government. This does not mean that automatically there would be a blanket support to a government led by the Congress,” CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta contended. (ANI)

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Lankan Tamil protest in Canada enters fourth day

May 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Toronto, Apr 30 (ANI): The protest by Tamil people living in Canada, who want the West to broker a ceasefire between the Sri Lankan Army and the separatist Tigers, entered its fourth day on Wednesday with police refusing to break up the protest as long as it remains peaceful.

Hours later demonstrators tried to push their way north of University Avenue. The police arrested 15 people and drove the crowd back.

“We had identified an area that we thought, in our view, enabled the protesters to make their points in a way that was consistent with public safety,” said Mark Pugash, Director of public information. “For some reason, it appears, some people chose to break out of that area.”

Constable Tony Vella, another police spokesman, said the demonstration has police being very careful about what they do.

“You don’t want this, basically, to turn ugly. It could be a volatile situation,” Globe and Mail quoted him, as saying.

The 15 people face charges for mischief and breaching the peace.. Pugash expects the stretch of University Avenue will remain closed throughout Wednesday night and into Thursday morning.

Police say the protesters have no permit, but that they are not breaking any laws, other than some noise bylaws. Legal experts say that may not be the case.

Pugash refused to speculate on what police could do to get protesters off the street, saying the goal of officers is to maintain the peace, minimize the traffic impact and support the right to protest.

The protest, which began Monday, is the largest along the street in a decade. For nearly three months in 1999, Serbian protesters gathered outside the US consulate to protest a NATO bombing campaign, a demonstration that sent two officers to hospital and cost taxpayers 2.1million dollars in police overtime. (ANI)

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Nanny sues Robert De Niro over unpaid wages

April 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York, Apr 5 (ANI): A nanny has filed a lawsuit against Robert De Niro and his wife for not paying her more than 40,000 dollars in back pay after she worked overtime caring for their son.

In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Alexis Barry has said that she went to work for the ‘Meet the Parents’ star and Grace Hightower in 2006.

The couple hired for a payment of 31.25 dollars an hour to care for their son Elliott, now 11, reports The New York Post.

She said that the celebrity couple also promised her to give 46.88 dollars for overtime.

However, the suit says that the De Niros never paid the overtime

A rep for De Niro refused to comment on the issue. (ANI)

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‘Tit-for-tat’ attitude towards life leads to unhappiness

March 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Mar 25 (ANI): If you’re one of those who live by the motto “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, then chances are that your life will be full of miseries, a new study has found.

According to the study, published in the Economic Journal, people who apply a “tit-for-tat” attitude to life are more likely to be unemployed, have a smaller circle of friends and be less happy.

However, those individuals who have the habit of repaying good turns from others are likely to earn higher salaries, have more friends and enjoy life more.o reach the conclusion, researchers used data from 20,000 people in Germany, who are regularly polled on their socio-economic attitudes, to examine the effects of so-called “negative reciprocity” in the workplace.

Most of those polled admitted repaying other people in kind, either by returning favours or exacting revenge for past unkind acts.

They then divided the group up into those with more of a tendency towards taking revenge and those who were more preoccupied with responding to good deeds.

Those in the first category had fewer friends and were more likely to voice dissatisfaction with life.

“Positively reciprocal people tend on average to put in more overtime – but only when they find the remuneration fair,” The Telegraph quoted Prof Thomas Dohmen of Maastricht University in the Netherlands, one of the researchers, as saying.

“As they are very sensitive to incentives, they also tend to earn more money,” he added. (ANI)

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Brit mum appeals women to have sex with Down’s Syndrome suffering son

March 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Mar 17 (ANI): A mum whose adopted son has Down’s Syndrome has gone public to appeal for women to have sex with him so he can lose his virginity.

Lucy Baxter, who campaigns for equal rights for Down’s Syndrome sufferers, wants her 21-year-old child to live a fully rounded life – and is considering paying a prostitute to sleep with him.

And she has helped him set up a web page appealing for potential dates to come forward, reports The Mirror.

Lucy, who has three other adopted sons with Down’s and works with charity Mencap, said: “I’d like all my boys to find love and enjoy sex.

“I would have no problem if Otto went to a brothel in Amsterdam.

“I strongly believe, and have always said, that society has a learning disability when it comes to Down’s Syndrome. Why should these people be kept separate and pigeon-holed when they have the same emotions, desires and feelings as so-called normal people.

“He has the same expectations as everybody else. If he doesn’t get a girlfriend, I will feel really bad because I have sold him this thing that he is like everybody else. That’s why I’m working overtime to get this sorted for him.

“I have brought Otto up to relate to everybody, not just a small group of disabled people.”

Otto is an aspiring actor who has appeared in local stage versions of Macbeth and The Canterbury Tales.

Lucy, 50, of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, is single and has never married but has four adopted sons – James, 25, Otto, 21, Titus, 14, and Raphael, seven.

She added: “Everyone else his age is having sex and enjoying being young adults so why shouldn’t Otto? I’d be delighted if he went home with a girl or brought one back.

“I don’t have a problem with any of it. He’s going to Las Vegas for a few days to promote himself as an actor so who knows, he might get lucky over there. When he gets back home I’ve lined up a few dating agencies for him to join. I always encourage him to go to nightclubs and other places where people pick up women.” (ANI)

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Ground staff resume strike at Budapest airport

January 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Budapest – One of three terminals at Budapest’s Ferihegy International Airport was closed from 4 pm Monday as ground staff resumed a strike over pay and conditions.

In a repeat of the first days of industrial action six weeks earlier, crowds of hundreds of confused passengers amassed in the check-in area after security gates were closed.

Ground staff began their strike over terms and conditions on December 10.

On December 22, the unions suspended the strike for the holidays and returned to the negotiating table.

“Management has made no serious attempt in the past few weeks to solve the industrial dispute,” the two unions behind the strike said in a statement.

The airport operator Budapest Airport (BA) promptly announced that passengers should expect delays of a few hours, but sought to assure them that no cancellations would be necessary.

In the early evening, hundreds of confused travellers began to fill the check in area after the security gates closed, but checking restarted after about an hour.

As in the two-week strike in the run up to Christmas, passengers were slowed by bottlenecks at the few open security gates in just one of the airport’s three terminals.

Budapest Airport spokesman Domokos Szollar announced the closure of terminal 1 shortly after talks with union leaders broke down on Monday afternoon. All processing of passengers and aircraft was transferred to two other terminals.

“Aircraft are leaving from terminal 2B and ticketing is taking place at 2A,” said Szollar. He added that 164 of 243 ground staff scheduled to work remained at their posts despite the unions’ call for industrial action.

In their strike, ground staff are demanding that Budapest Airport (BA), a subsidiary of the German firm Hochtief, end a restructuring programme and extend an existing collective employment contract.

Other demands included backdated overtime payments and a pledge from management that there will be no job cuts before 2010 and no further outsourcing.

Although dozens of flights were cancelled in the chaotic first few days of the December strike, management managed to restore a full schedule.

All available staff were concentrated at one terminal and, in a controversial move, temporary security staff were drafted in from Greece.

“Despite the strike restarting on Monday, Budapest Airport is ready to resume negotiations at 10 am on Tuesday,” said Szollar. (dpa)

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