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Beyond the draft National Educational Policy – An IITian’s perspective

anantkasodekar
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Beyond the draft National Educational Policy – An IITian’s perspective

India enjoys an unprecedented demographic dividend, with 65% of the total population below the age of 35 years. This population will continue to contribute to the economy actively for at least the next three decades. The burden of ensuring that this population is educated and skilled lies with the higher education sector of the country. India boasts of the largest number of higher educational institutions in the world with more than 40,000 colleges and universities under various managements and with a total enrollment of 3.8 million students in the age group of 18 to 23 years.

However, this enrollment translates into a Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) of 25.8, which is far below the global average as well as the GER of major western countries. It is essential to bring in systemic interventions to improve this ratio to more than 40 in the next five years. Also, the overall GER does not bring out the differences in the GER between regions, between social groups and between genders. A national effort is, therefore, to be launched to raise the GER with equity and inclusion. Moreover, when the entire nation was busy with the Loksabha elections, MHRD’s Department of Higher Education was in full swing to prepare roadmaps for the transformative reforms in the higher education sector for the next government to implement.

When the draft national educational policy which was recently made public by Dr K. Kasturiranagan Committee, one thing which got highly unnoticed by the nation is the Education Quality Upgradation and Improvement Program (EQUIP). Having spent almost a month on the EQUIP project as a part of my internship with MHRD, I think that I should let my nation know about the things beyond NEP.

EQUIP, an overarching program which was conceived by the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development sets out to deliver further on the principles of access, inclusion, quality, excellence and enhancing employability in higher education. EQUIP aims at ushering transformations in India’s higher education system by implementing strategic interventions in the sector over five years (2019 – 2024).

Some of the biggest roadmaps which EQUIP has proposed for the next five years include:
1. Double the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education and resolve the geographically and socially skewed access to higher education institutions in India
2. Upgrade the quality of education to global standards
3. Position at least 50 Indian institutions among the top-1000 global universities
4. Introduce governance reforms in higher education
5. Accreditation of all institutions as an assurance of quality
6. Promote Research & Innovation ecosystems
7. Double the employability of the students passing out of higher education
8. Harness education technology for expanding the reach
9. Promote India as a study destination
10. Achieve a quantum increase in investment in higher education

Investments in higher education have been flagging, with public investment as a percentage of GDP falling steadily since 2006. Whereas other Countries like China, Brazil have been investing on their education sector heavily, India is yet to catch up to the geopolitical realities, where it has to play a major role in the global knowledge system. Whereas the investments are decent in premier institutions like IITs, the rest of the higher educational institutions are still languishing in outdated infrastructure and pedagogies. It is time to transform this situation so that a multitude of youth can benefit from the educational system.

Being a student of India’s most prestigious engineering institution, access has never been an issue to me. However, looking at the very first report of the EQUIP, I was convinced that India needs an initiative like EQUIP on a very urgent basis. The reforms introduced in EQUIP are some of the best initiatives the government can take in the next five years.

It is a high time for MHRD to take a giant leap in the higher education sector via EQUIP. The reformatory changes introduced in EQUIP are poised to be a game changer for India’s Higher Education Sector. To end it up, if NEP is the vision, EQUIP is the mission.

Anant Kasodekar,
Dual Degree Undergraduate,
IIT Bombay.

US-Iran Conflict – Reminiscent of the specter of Iraq war

Bhimashankar Sanga
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US-Iran Conflict – Reminiscent of the specter of Iraq war

Seventeen years ago, the US committed one of the worst foreign policy blunders in history by attacking Iraq. That war was sold to the American people based on a series of lies about weapons of mass destruction. The US killed between 150,000 and 1000,000 Iraqi civilians, in direct action or contingent and collateral results in the Iraq war. The US killed or maimed those people in a country that had been an ally, resulting in absolutely no advantage to the Middle East or to America, while depleting the military and the American treasury. One of the leading advocates for that war was John Bolton, who served as a member of the Bush administration and is now Donald Trump’s national security adviser.

American foreign policy has been to destabilize oil producing nations so that they could take over that oil production. Iran was one of the seven Middle Eastern countries on that takedown list. Unlike Iraq, Iran isn’t going to allow hundreds of thousands of its people to die because of US sanctions. The US sanctions are little different than a blockade of Iran, which is indisputably an act of war. Iran will make exporting oil through the choke point it controls, the Strait of Hormuz, very difficult. The Strait of Hormuz is a choke point for the world’s oil supply. The Iranians can shut it down for months.  That shut down could topple the economies of China, Europe, and India. If Iran is attacked, it will launch missiles directed against every US-allied oil producer within range. 40% of the world’s oil production capacity will be destroyed or at least taken offline. US bases and ships within range will also be targeted. 40% less oil will smash the world economy, including that of the US’s.

Iran was abiding by the nuclear deal and was being constrained from developing nuclear weapons. Trump abrogated international arms agreement-the JCPOA and started a whole new regime of crushing, unrealistic sanctions against a compliant Iran. Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy is to strangle Iran slowly but surely via harsh trade blockades and military attacks on Iranian forces in Syria and Iraq. The neocon strategy has been to corner Iran into a choice between escalating on its side or submitting entirely to US’s terms. The US government figures it can just sit back and watch the Iranian nation suffer in the hope that the Iranian people will rise in revolt. Iran, in response to a year’s worth of increased US sanctions, would increase its stockpile of enriched uranium beyond the limits imposed by the nuclear deal. Bizarrely, Trump is now warning Iran not to violate an agreement his administration violated over a year ago.

Trump campaigned on getting the US out of “endless wars”. He blustered for years about using force unilaterally. Now, his sanctions seem to be taking the US down a path that has made war with Iran more and more likely. As if 22 trillion dollars in debt isn’t enough, America might have to spend another two or three trillion so that Trump can show the Iranians who’s the boss. Trump brags that America spent $1.5 trillion on the military in just the last two years alone and later says that Iran spends “all” its money on “terror.” Well, how much of America’s $1.5 trillion resulted in “terror” for people who were blown apart? American government spending on its military might be more than Iran’s entire GDP, but does that give America license to get into Mideast quagmires? By foolishly sinking into such quagmires and by unilaterally withdrawing from the nuclear deal, the US is isolating itself from its important allies.

US Congress must do everything it can to prevent this war. The constitution is very clear: it is Congress, not the US President, who decides when to go to war. It is imperative that Congress immediately make it clear to the US President that taking into hostilities with Iran without congressional authorization would be both unconstitutional and illegal.

The problem is that the US’ ethical energy has been eroded by a nationalist sense of superiority that has pervaded the American zeitgeist after too many successful military ventures, most of them of choice and many fabricated. They emerged superior in military power and imposed a victors’ narrative. To the point of unchallenged absurdity. Impunity has been the force that feeds their exponential power to dismantle civilization as we know it.

This militaristic behemoth is in cahoots with most totalitarian regimes across the world and their deeds speak for themselves to those who want to listen. It is using medieval siege tactics to starve the civilian population in places where it wants regime change. It exploits a morally dead mainstream media that meekly adopted its doublespeak and is besieged by censorship where the opinion of the oppressed is criminalized. The US is strong enough to deal with any issue diplomatically, working with allies around the world. America must not fight another unnecessary war.

Sino-India ties: A love-hate relationship

anushka7
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Sino-India ties: A love-hate relationship

When Fa Hsien (Faxian), a Chinese Buddhist traveler and monk came to India in the 402 A.D, he was searching for answers to his religious questions in texts and tales. But instead, he found something greater. In his book ‘A record of Buddhist kingdoms’, Faxian mentions: “From here (i.e. Mathura) to the south, all is Middle India (Madhyade’sa). The inhabitants of Madhyade’sa dress and eat like people in China.” Travelers such as Xuanzang, Faxian and Yijing came to India centuries ago to not only to discover Buddhism first-hand, but also find out the similarities of socio-religious and cultural lifestyle among China and India. Indeed, Buddhism founded and continues to affect every nook and cranny of Chinese ideology.

The Indo-Chinese, or the Sino-Indian relations have flourished since time immemorial and only one phrase describes their monumental past, present and future – a ‘love-hate’ relationship. China and India are polar opposites in their viewpoints ever since the cold war, causing sharp turns to appear in the path of geo-strategic cooperation between the two Asian giants (Ravi Bhoothalingam in the book ‘BCIM Economic Corridor-The Road Ahead’). While China opposes the shelter India provides to the Dalai Lama, India votes for a ‘free Tibet’ even while respecting Chinese sovereignty over the region. While India undergoes traditional rivalry with Pakistan, China forges military co-operation with the latter. While United States relations with China carry on degrading, the former is increasingly supportive of India’s strategic and economic interests and shared democratic values. Not just this, both US and India believe that China’s ‘bad behaviour’ partly steers their relationship forward.

India and China are two of the world’s earliest civilisations, contributing significantly to each other’s cultural, artistic and scientific interests. However, a major setback appeared in these relations with China’s attack on Tibetan boundary in 1962. Ever since, border conflicts have been a bone of contention in the Sino-India relations, not to forget the issue of the Doklam plateau and the 72-day standoff that took place between the two countries in 2017. However, the two countries also participated in an informal Wuhan meet ahead of Doklam conflict. Even though the Wuhan summit was displayed as a “reset button” in the media and remained unsuccessful at many levels, it made the fervour to resolve the contention apparent. Besides, there is so much for both countries to learn from each other – while China must absorb from the largest democracy in the world, India must lean a thing or two about expansion of economy. While both countries grow their GDP at about 6% rate, China is a $12.24 Lakh crores economy, while India remains at a GDP of $2.6 Lakh crores.

China’s multi-national road projects also have history with India. India vehemently opposed the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) of China not only because it involved plans for a China-Pakistan corridor that passed through Kashmir under the Indian sovereign, but the initiative also threatened put those countries under debt that chose to seek loans from Beijing for the project. On the other hand, India is on board with the BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar) Corridor. If successful, in the long term, BCIM will be beneficial for supporting India’s North-Eastern Railway (NER) procurements, which could be directed to the region from Myanmar at cheaper rates. BCIM will also enhance regional co-operation and expand people-to-people ties, which are a direct form of communicative relation between two countries. As of now, the tourism and people-exchange numbers between India and China are minuscule – while 6,00,000 Indians travel to China annually, only 1,00,000 travel from China to India.

India and china constitute for one-third of the world. Constant rise of both economies over the past decades does not only threaten the fall of a western history of colonialism and the Unites States’ kingdom, but also opens doors for such opportunities as never seen before, globally. Moreover, commercial and trade relations between India and China have immense potential, which might be belittled by border issues and China’s protectionism and mercantilism. But the current trade poll cannot be undermined. At the 2018 eleventh session of the India-China Joint Group on Economic Relations, Trade, Science and Technology, the two countries discussed expansion of trade activities between and take measure to dissolve trade imbalances. In 2008, bilateral trade between the two countries reached US$ 51.8 billion with China replacing the United States as India’s largest “Goods trading partner. It is also a recent development that while Google and Amazon, two colossal MNCs may have had troubles in China, OYO, an Indian budget hospitality company is already breaking grounds worth millions, in China.

Sino-Indian relations have multifarious prospective for the two countries, Asia and the world. A need to strengthen these relations arises, especially with rising climate change and refugee crises and a need for multi-nationalism, co-operation and diplomacy.

Old guards, dynast young leaders, congress decays from within

S Ranganathan
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Old guards, dynast young leaders, congress decays from within

The internal problems faced by the congress party are many. The old guards do not want to quit post and power but at the same want to revamp the party with new faces. The new faces that dominate in congress party are ironically dynasts such as Sachin Pilot, Scindia, Milind deora, Gogoi etc., and they holds the reins of power and suppress the merit and hard working party workers to come to decision making posts.

The bigger irony is that everyone in the congress party had agreed on one point that they must sing the same carol praising the ultimate dynast and request the dynast to continue as president of the party.

The deeper question is why they all want the dynast to be their president and not anyone else from the party outside of the Gandhi family?

Entire India knows the dynast very well.  Therefore it is not a hidden secret that every congress men also know the dynast very well, his intelligence, leadership vision and character, his acceptance by people of India, his oratorical skill, his articulation ability etc. In fact congress men know about the dynast better than anyone else. Because everyone know about the dynast and that may be the reason why they all want the dynast to be the head of congress party. Even if the party doesn’t win election and come to power, the fan club and laughing club of the dynast can remain powerful by citing the legacy of the party and can have all paraphernalia at the expense of the party, also can work as deal broker in selecting candidates for election etc.

Manipulating, misrepresenting or distorting facts seems to be quite easy with the dynast thanks to his meagre wisdom and primordial brain power but the situation may not be same if someone else is made as president of the party.

To revamp the congress party and resurrect its relevance, the party must force all those who have crossed 65 years from the party posts and all those oldies must be kept at the outer ring of the party to offer suggestions to the party. Secondly the dynast second line leaders in the party, however young they may be, should not be given any party position as they are bound to cause inbreeding of the same culture and style within the party.

As a role model, the dynast- Raghul Gandhi must pledge to India that he would never become the president of congress party in future and will never become the Prime Minister candidate of congress party in future. If the dynast make such pledge to India along with reforms within the party by removing all those above 65 years from party position and dynastic leaders like Sachin Pilot, Scindya etc., Raghul Gandhi can to some extent regain lost his reputation that he lost by abusing Modiji and calling him chor etc.

After announcing his renunciation both from the post of President of congress party and Prime Minister Nominee of the party and then he work for the party, he can make big difference. Need of the hour is sacrifice, humility, humbleness and elimination of all those age old warriors of congress party and those dynastic young leaders in the party who impede the hardworking, meritorious party workers from occupying various positions in the party. Even if such surgery causes a big split in the party, the party must prepare for such situation and must do the much needed surgery bravely.

Similar to bringing several internal changes in the party, the party also must bring several changes in its political ideology. First change congress must bring in its political thinking is that the party must work hard to eliminate the regional parties and not BJP or Modi.

Congress party has started to lose its identity ever since the party yielded to regional parties. For example, in Tamil Nadu, the congress party has surrendered to DMK, agreed to play second fiddle forever to the support that DMK had offered to the central government formed by congress party since the time of Indira Gandhi.

In the forthcoming assembly election, congress must make hard bargain with DMK both in number of seats it wants to contest and also in power. Congress party should never allow DMK to rule the state as single party. If DMK disagree, congress must work to defeat DMK and only though such hard hitting politics, congress party can revive itself.

Congress must work towards bipartisan politics in India between congress and BJP where the regional parties are totally and completely neutralized. If congress party ever wish to voyage over the back of regional parties just to defeat BJP and Modi, such third rate politics can only defeat the congress party.

Congress must focus on eliminating regional parties from Indian politics as well as must restructure the party by eliminating the dynastic young leaders and the dominance of old guards.

To be more responsible and sensitive to India, congress must respect and praise Modi and must support good governance of Modi than engaging in negative politics, minority appeasement and fear mongering.

S Ranganathan

Let’s talk #Core

Madhavan
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Let’s talk #Core

If you don’t know what #Core Right Agenda is, please read the following 2 blogs for a background: this and this. I’ll urge you to also read about the Hindu Charter and sign it.

You will come across many such BJP/Modi supporters on Twitter and other social media platforms who claim labels like Hindutva-wadis, Right wing, etc. (though I don’t think they really understand what Right wing means) and also mock, deride, ridicule, pull down, troll, threaten, try to silence those who advocate equal constitutional rights for the Hindus in India and support the Core Right Agenda. I can easily understand a backlash coming from the leftists but it is a little bewildering coming from the supporters of a supposedly Hindu party. What is more puzzling is that this negative reaction doesn’t seem to be based on some serious ideological disagreement but because the issues related to equal rights for Hindu community do not seem to be on the agenda of the current Central government and BJP dispensation. No serious criticism has been offered by these opponents if there are deficiencies in the core agenda. So, it is not even possible to address their fears or concerns.

There are two particular put-downs that are constantly thrown around by anti-core BJP supporters – that nobody outside twitter cares for the core agenda and that those espousing core agenda do not work on the ‘ground’ and only rant on social media. Frankly, I think both these criticisms (if you can call them that) are fair to a certain extent. It is true that there is no groundswell demanding that Hindus should have the same article 30 rights as other religious groups. There aren’t any mobs disrupting the public life to demand repeal of discriminatory provisions in the RTE act or for fair and timely reimbursement of RTE dues to Hindu schools. No one has immolated self or others or transport buses to demand release of Hindu temples from government control. Not yet at least.

But that does not, however, mean there is no public interest in these issues concerning the Hindu faith and rights. It is only that the agitation has been simmering below the surface, the protests have been local and have not yet coalesced into a movement. Particularly in the recent past, there have been several instances of Hindus coming together to resist (not always successfully) the attempts of secular Indian state to take over the local temple. Be it in Mamallapuram, or Madurai in Tamizh Nadu or Guruvayoor, Kerala or Hyderabad, Telangana or Shani Shinganapur or Shiridi in Maharashtra. These are just a few examples. Probably the most prominent example of such public upraising against government’s meddling in the affairs of a Hindu temple was in Sabarimala. The public interest in the issue was strong enough to impact the results of Lok Sabha election in Kerala. And it can just not be ignored that after singing ‘vikaas, vikaas aur sirf vikaas’ tune for 4.5 years, Modi and BJP had to pull out the ‘mandir wahin banayenge’ and ‘jai Shri Ram’ tunes right ahead of elections. So it is a tad bit disingenuous for BJP supporters to claim that issues of temples and religious rights of Hindus do not resonate with the public at large.

Let’s now look at the ‘no work on ground’ criticism. I have often wondered what the anti-core BJP supporters mean by ground work. What is the ‘ground’ in today’s age of all pervasive technology? Is this ground the same as it was during the days of anti-emergency protests or Rama Janmabhoomi movement? Are we still counting only Dharnas, Rasta-Rokos and destruction of private and public property as real political ground work? And who decides what the ground is and how big it should be? By all accounts the most potent weapon BJP employed in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections was the smart phone and the WhatsApp messenger. While there was a time when you had to go door to door or hold street corner meetings to campaign for your cause, things have changed drastically now. In 2014 elections, Modi did not even physically visit many places to hold public meetings there. Instead, he used holographic projections to get the job done. That’s the utility of technology in a smart person’s hands. Today internet and the social media are by any rational measure fertile grounds to work on.

And who decides what is legitimate ground work and how broad-based that should be? Any one who espouses a cause will choose the medium that best suits their ability and resources to spread the message. Certain causes attract people who prefer to travel around the country in a ‘rath’. Some other causes attract people who are more comfortable debating in a seminar hall. Neither of the methods is less legitimate or the cause any less supportable. I would think a person’s support for a cause shouldn’t be based on how popular it is but on how just it is.

So, ask yourself this. Is it a just demand to seek the same rights for Hindus that are available to other religious groups in India with respect to religious, cultural and educational affairs. This is the crux of the core Right agenda. If you agree with this, support it. It doesn’t matter which party is in power. It doesn’t matter what methods are currently employed to spread it. If you agree with the principle but think the current methods are inadequate, take the lead and show the way. If you don’t agree with the principle, it should really not matter if it’s supporters do ground work or not.

Of course this is not to say the core agenda does not require popular support or that an issue limited to social media debates or seminar halls should become the priority for the political class. Far from that. The core right movement is really only in it’s infancy. The two blogs I gave at the beginning as background reading are from 2016, hardly 3 years old. The Hindu Charter came about sometime in the last year. Any movement necessarily goes through a period of incubation before it captures the popular attention. Our freedom struggle did not become a mass movement till Gandhi assumed leadership.

Same with the Ayodhya movement. Not many people would have even heard of it till Advani took out the Ratha Yathra. It is during this incubation period that the movement needs to be nurtured and refined and supported. Like a parent does with a child. That is where the Core Right movement currently requires all our support and contribution. It will need to go through many debates, a lot more outreach and infusion of energy before it reaches the mainstream of our national discourse. Till then, the village needs to stand by it.

A Plea to ensure smooth and full time-period functioning of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha

hemenvarma
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A Plea to ensure smooth and full time-period functioning of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha

Dear Shri Venkaiah Naiduji, Shri Om Birlaji, Shri Prahlad Joshiji

You are well aware of the huge loss in working hours that the 16th Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha suffered in the period 2014–2109 owing to the irresponsible and intransigent behavior of some members and political parties.

This is an insult to each and every voter who takes time out from his work of earning his daily bread to elect their representatives for the purpose of framing laws and recommending action to the government to make the country more livable for all citizens.

Further there is a huge financial loss to the exchequer, which is eventually a loss to the common citizen, because of such interruptions when members get paid for doing no work or not being allowed to do any work.

According to the prsindia.org following are the facts and figures that state the loss we as a country incurred in 16th Lok Sabha functioning,

  • This (i.e. 16th) Lok Sabha lost 16% of its scheduled time to disruptions, better than the 15th Lok Sabha (37%), but worse than the 14th Lok Sabha (13%).
  • Rajya Sabha lost 36% of its scheduled time.  In the 15thand 14th Lok Sabhas, it lost 32% and 14% of its scheduled time, respectively.

This Lok Sabha sat for 331 days (against a 468-day average for all previous full-term Lok Sabhas), and lost 16% of its time to disruptions. (Source: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/how-the-16th-lok-sabha-fared/article26298209.ece)

This is a shameful 66 days every year out of the 250 working days that are available. True,  sometime has to be spent by MPs in their constituencies but look at the proportion – only 26% in Parliament and the rest?

The cost of every minute of Lok Sabha time is huge-  Rs. 2.5 Lakhs-  clearly every minute is precious to the country and must be utilized only for the purpose for which MPs are elected – making laws, highlighting the common man’s grievances and difficulties and keeping the Government accountable.

(The average monthly expenditure on each MP is around Rs 2,70,000, including salary and all allowances and for running the Parliament, the expenditure is around Rs 2, 50,000 per minute. – Source: https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/060418/217-hours-lost-due-to-interruptions-in-lok-sabha.html)

In view of the above, I would like to make some suggestions to your respected selves which will ensure that Parliament functions smoothly, productively and for significantly longer periods than the previous 5 years.

  1. If any member enters the well of the house and is requested by the Speaker/Presiding Officer to get back to his/her seat but doesn’t obey, he/she will be issued a verbal warning by the Speaker/Presiding Officer.
  2. If the act is repeated, immediately a second verbal warning will be issued. If, thereafter he/she does not withdraw from the well or repeats the action of entering the well, the member will be immediately expelled for the day and the House Marshalls will escort the member out. In such a case the member will not only lose his Daily Allowance,  but  one day’s salary too.
  3. If any member continuously disrupts the proceedings of the House by repeatedly shouting, interrupting or any other act that impedes the functioning of the House, and is requested by the Speaker/Presiding Officer to refrain from doing so, but constitutes with his/her disruptive action,  he/she will be issued a verbal warning by the Speaker/Presiding Officer.
  4. If the act is repeated, immediately a second verbal warning will be issued. If, thereafter he /she does not desist from these disruptive actions,  the member will be immediately expelled for the day and the House Marshalls will escort the member out. In such a case the member will not only lose his Daily Allowance,  but  one day’s salary too.
  5. If any member has been expelled from the House on 2 occasions and proceeds to disrupt proceedings again, he/she will be suspended for one week from the House and will lose one week’s Daily Allowance plus one week’s salary.
  6. If after such 1 week’s suspension, the member repeats his/her act of disrupting proceedings,  he/she will automatically be suspended for the entire remaining period of the House session and will lose proportionate Daily Allowance as also proportionate salary.
  7. Every Tuesday, the respective House Secretariate will upload on their websites information about Hours Lost in the previous week and Name the Members or the party whose disruptions forced such loss of working hours. If individuals are difficult to name in some case, their parties will be named.  This will let the nation know who is attending Parliament for work and who is doing so for mere fun and daily allowance.
  8. Every Tuesday, the respective House Secretariate will upload the Attendance Record of all Nominated Members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for the previous week and till date. This is to put pressure on nominated members (who are nominated for their erudition and expertise) to do their duty by the country and not simply enjoy the perks of office.
  9. Every Tuesday, the respective House Secretariate will upload the Names & Constituencies of all members who attended the House only for one day or not at all in the previous week. This is intended to force members to regularly attend the House.

Coming now to the question of the Government’s responsibilities to enable smooth functioning of Parliament, the following should be ensured.

  1. All Bills that are required to be sent to Parliamentary Committees must so be sent and the Speaker/Presiding Officer should refuse to let such Bills be tabled in the House unless there is some emergency (National Security, Natural Disaster, War/Riots etc.) or sufficiently cogent reasons are provided by the Government, on the floor of the house, for doing so.

2. Adequate time should be provided for Members to discuss the Budget which should be done in consultation with the Opposition (no matter how small it is) but the Opposition should also be cautioned that if they interrupt House proceedings then the house lost will also be proportionately be reduced form their time for commenting/questioning the Budget.

3. Maximum effort should be made that members of small parties and independents get an opportunity to speak and ask questions. Hence, the Speaker/Presiding Officers of both House should consider a protocol that these members are allowed to speak/question  first, rather than members of the larger parties.

When the smaller parties are listed last and time is running short, they became the casualties and never get a chance to place their views before the House. Of course, they must adhere to time allotted by the Speaker/Presiding Officer for doing so.

I do hope you will give due consideration to the above suggestions and take necessary action as you deem fit.

Yours sincerely,
Hemendra K. Varma
Mumbai
June  27,  2019

Battle is won, the war is still remaining – the new ‘hero’ of the ‘left liberals’

vigoe
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Battle is won, the war is still remaining – the new ‘hero’ of the ‘left liberals’

There was an absolute silence in the ‘left liberal’ ecosystem after the 23rd May results of the General elections. Some of them were brooding, some were busy abusing the Indian public, some went into complete silence while a select few were honestly trying to understand the reason behind the opposition debacle in 2019 general elections.

However, as has been the case with the self-acclaimed ‘liberals’ all over the world, the sane voices have been sidelined once again and the only conclusion that has been reached while discussing this debacle among them was that the Indian people were fooled and were blinded by the hate that was spread by the communal, saffron forces in last 5 years.

So basically nothing is going to change and it will be same politics, same fake narrative as before; just that some of the faces might change. Like it happened in the run up to 2019 elections, faces were changing as quickly as that of celebrities’ outfits with ranging from Kanhaiya Kumar, Shehla Rashid, Jignesh Mevani, Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor, Siddharamaiah, Arun Shourie, Shatrughan Sinha, Kirti Azad, Raj Thackrey, Udit Raj and so so many others that it is not humanly possible to keep track of each and every one of them.

Ideology and personal principles amounted to little for the ‘Left Liberal’ ecosystem while hailing someone as long as s/he was opposing Narendra Modi. The more the decibel level, the bigger the hero. Content of their argument was immaterial as after defending the likes of Rahul Gandhi for so many years, they have become the expert in presenting any illogical, irrelevant, misinformed, fake argument into a refined, earthquake-esque like argument that shows the mirror to those in power.

After having all their ‘heroes’ being rejected vehemently by the Indian public, there was a relative lull in the last month or so. However, the ecosystem is back in business with a bang now after having found its new ‘voice’ of ‘reason and truth’ in the form of Mahua Moitra. With her high decibel voice, poetic references, impeccable English that can give competition to Shashi Tharoor and calling Narendra Modi a ‘fascist’; she became an instant darling of the ‘left liberal’ ecosystem.

It hardly mattered that she was representing a party which has killed over 200 BJP workers in less than 2 years, some of them so brutally that even the most stone hearted would get a tear or two in their eyes; a party which threatened and intimidated a large number of voters to either not to vote or to vote only in their favor; a party which threw people in jail for sharing a meme; a party whose own ‘supreme leader’ accepted the fact that her party members were taking ‘cuts and bribes’ for providing essential government services to the poor and needy. I can go on and on and on but you get the point.

However, this background and reality does not matter to the ‘Left Liberals’ as long as you are speaking against Hindutva and Narendra Modi. This was made amply clear umpteen number of times in the last 5 years with the last glaring example of hailing Raj Thackrey who himself was the face of extreme Hindu Right till just a few years back. Similarly, the content of her speech also does not matter as long as the keywords were used like “fascism”, “lynching”, “hate crime”, “Constitution under threat”, “toxic Nationalism”, etc etc.

But since we have been hard wired to not judge a book by its cover and listen to the arguments or points being made before making up our mind, let’s get into some depth regarding the content of her speech.

After doing a lip-service about the huge mandate that the BJP/NDA managed to get, she went on to give a twisted logic to declare that the “House belongs to the opposition”. It does not matter that the house is made up of representatives chosen by the citizens and they overwhelmingly rejected the opposition candidates but the house still belongs to them!

She then quoted Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar to teach everyone about Pluralistic society while decrying that the ‘constitution is under threat’. She forgot to quote Ambedkar’s views on multiple other issues including Islamic fundamentalism, illegal immigration, partition, etc. but she successfully equated pluralism of India with Muslims, the narrative which has been woven since decades by this ecosystem. Irony died a million deaths when she used the colonial euphemism to describe ‘New India’ while speaking in Oxford English!

She then went on to list out 7 early signs of ‘fascism’ which included the usual rants related to Nationalism tearing social fabric, slogans and symbols to show allegiance, 10-fold increase in hate crimes without giving any reference points (may be she included the data from Bengal political killings which are also nothing but hate crimes), lynchings of minority people, media houses being controlled, fake news being circulated, etc, etc. She gave an example of what Congress leader said earlier but put the onus on the government for his statement! Sometimes, I feel like tearing my hair rather than writing about these morons!

What symbols and slogans are being termed toxic? “Bharat Mata ki Jai”, “Vande Matram”, National Anthem, Indian tricolor? Which one? Are people being forced to shout religious slogans like “Jai Shree Ram” or “Joy Ma Kali” or “Allah hu Akbar” or any other in the name of Nationalism? Its difficult to understand how does a pseudo ‘liberal’ mind works. Forget that most of the hate crimes have been proved fake or false, forget that the hate crimes committed against the Hindus are not even considered hate crimes, but the propaganda must continue.

She said that 50 year old citizens are being asked to prove their citizenship, one community is being targeted in the name of NRC. Does she has any basic understanding of NRC and Citizenship Amendment Bill? I seriously doubt that. Obviously people are being asked to prove their citizenship as the cut-off date has been set to 1971, almost 50 years back, because it has been the demand of the local population since the partition, because insurgency ran through those areas demanding to protect local interests, because you do not become a citizen just because you have been living in a country for 50-60 years. Wasn’t her own ‘Supreme leader’ threw the documents at the Loksabha speaker and staged a walkout while talking about illegal immigrants in Bengal?

Citizenship Amendment Bill is a special bill to grant citizenship to those who have been executed due to their faiths in the neighboring countries and the cut off date has been set to 2014. It includes all the faiths which form minorities in our neighboring countries. If she wishes to see only Muslims as minorities everywhere then nothing much can be done about her falsehood beliefs and misconceptions.

She talked about EC transferring officials but she forgot to mention that Bengal was the only state which saw such mass level electoral violence and active participation of state officials in the electoral process to favor the ruling state government rather than upholding the very same constitutional values that she kept harping about. She also mentioned ‘Liberal Education’ funding being cut. I am not aware of any special segment of education which is called ‘Liberal Education’ in India. With funding, scholarships being increased in general for education, she should share the details of this ‘Liberal Education’ funding cut that she is talking about.

My biggest qualm with her came when she said “Over Emphasis on National Security” and “Imagined enemies are being created”. Is Terrorism an imagined threat? Is Pakistan a new enemy? Has India not seen 1000s of terror attacks in last 3 decades? Has India not fought 4 wars with Pakistan already in its small 70 year history? Are we not losing Army Jawans everyday in Kashmir fighting these ‘Imagined enemies’? To what extent these people are willing to go to not see the truth that is there in front of their eyes!? Pakistan and its backed terrorists are shouting “Ghazwa-e-Hind” and war against “Cow Piss drinkers” at the top of their voices but these people are busy telling the Indian citizens that this is all imaginary, that there is nothing to be worried about?

If left to these people, they will sell off their own citizens just to be in power like they did all these years. They are the epitome of hypocrisy and shamelessness. Those who had thought that the war was won in 2019 must re-assess their opinions in the wake of what happened in last few days inside and outside the Parliament and remember that 2019 was just a battle, the war is still raging. If we choose to let our guards down like we did many a times in history, we would have no one but ourselves to blame.

Modi 2.0; a Déjà Vu

OliveGreens09
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Modi 2.0; a Déjà Vu

There’s a disquiet simmering among the Die Hard BJP supporters over the beginning of the second Modi government, it is actually a Modi Government and nothing else. Anyone who even for a moment thinks it is anything other than a Modi Government is living in denial. The mandate of 2019 was restoration of Faith and Trust in an individual named Narendra Damodar Das Modi. The BJP as a party and the RSS as the Mother organisation may feel the irrelevance scorned upon it by the electorate. Today’s BJP is Modi, very ably supported by his aide and now Home Minister of India, Amit Shah, the master strategist and an organisational man par excellence. The eulogies are genuine and the admiration for the inexhaustible energy shown by both is complete. The Opposition may complain of anything, from EVMs to Money Power, but it is absolutely clear that the people did not believe in what the Opposition had to offer.

The disquiet is not over the mandate or the stupendous success of the well oiled BJP election machinery but over the way the new government has started, a feeling of Déjà Vu is setting in even in the first month of Modi 2.0. It is not just a feeling but a genuine fear arising out of the actions taken by the government. Modi for as long as we remember has advocated the slogan of Equality for All and Appeasement of None. Somehow, in the aftermath of the unprecedented second term with a even bigger mandate has unleashed the Statemanesque bug in Modi template for development. The policy decisions of the government, the utterances of the ministers, even the governors betray a sign of the Modi 2.0 falling for Minorityism of the yore Congress governments. The sounds are ominous. To take them up.

Before elections, Art 370, 35A, Ram Mandir, CAB was a constant chatter and poll promises. Soon after, the first legislation which the government brings is Triple Talaq, definitely an issue close to heart of feminism, for Gender Equality but it definitely isn’t as big as Citizen Amendment Bill or the Removal of Art 370 or 35A. But the government is being led on the slippery slope of Minority Welfare, in other words, a latent Appeasement Policy is being bandied as some ameliorating exercise in shape of opening of Madarsas, modernisation of these Dens Of Jihad, announcement of 5 crore Scholarships for Muslim students, emphasis is on Muslim, not Minorities. A government must work for the betterment of its citizens, for economic, educational and political development of its citizens, for providing those who stand at the foot of the ladder but blatant Muslim Appeasement in name of modernisation or education doesn’t stand scrutiny in a democratic government.

Government schemes cannot be exclusively for Minorities or the Majority, it is against all that is good for the people in general. 5 crore scholarships for Muslims, fine. You need need win their Trust, Sabka Vishwas, but what about the smaller minorities, aren’t they citizens of this country?
Are they any lesser mortals?

Modernisation of Madarsas! :Are there any plans for development of Vedic Pathshalas or for studies in Christianity?

Modi 2.0 is a mandate of progressive politics and leadership not regressive Muslim Appeasement or Votebank Politics. How can a modern state aspiring to be a World Leader indulge in such retrograde practices where Madarsas are focal point of development?

How can a leadership inspire confidence that it has left the Minority politics of Manmohan era, where Muslims had the First Right to Resources of the Nation, behind if they continue from where Congress left?

If this wasn’t enough, the bombastic election campaign of removing Art 370, Art 35A or swearing by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and his sacrifice against Do Nishan Do Vidhan of Kashmir has whimpered to the Governor, Satyapal Malik openly advocating Talks with Hurriyat and Separatists, those who espouse the Cause of Azaadi, even Nizam e Mustafa.

The Governor has been more than forthcoming on Art 370 and is assuring the Kashmiri Muslims that nothing will happen to this insidious piece of legislation passed surreptitiously by the Parliament. The fate of lakhs of Western Pakistan Hindu Refugees is hanging fire since 1947, as Art 35A restrains the Constitution of J&K and our Constitution to provide citizenship to this beleaguered populace. These Hindus were persecuted by the Muslim majority of Pakistan and had to leave their homes only to become refugees again in the country which was supposed to be their protector. It is the insidious Permanent Resident clause of the 1927 Hereditary State Subject Order which was perpetuated by inserting Art 35A.

Incidentally, this diabolic insertion was result of the dubious 1952 Delhi Agreement at behest of Sheikh Abdullah. The article has single handedly destroyed any integration of the state of J&K with the Union of India. The idea of separation, the idea of being a Muslim majority state in India, the idea of an Islamic Caliphate, the idea of Nizam e Mustafa, the idea of Ummah all emanate from the Constitution which has perpetuated the reality of J&K being different from rest of the country. The fact that the mandate of 2019 was for BJP and the it has been given a majority of its own in the Lok Sabha, the constant crying over the lack of majority in Rajya Sabha betrays a lack of intent on part of the government rather than the lack of numbers. Government has not even stated its stand on Art 35A in the Supreme Court, leave alone anything concrete for its removal.

The disquiet is also over the discriminatory Right To Education or RTE passed by the Parliament, it has killed the Hindu educational establishments and institutions. The minorities educational institutions are exempted from the compulsory 25% admission to the Economically Weaker Sections. Strange, as it may sound but Hindu institutions are bound by law to admit poor students from Muslim, Christian, Sikh or Buddhist communities but a poorer Hindu student will not have the same rights extended to him by the Constitution. Why?

Are there no poor Hindus in the country? If Muslims, Christians and other minorities have the Right To Education in Majority run establishments what stops the Minority institutions to do the same?

The government is headlong into Triple Talaq but doesn’t have the Will to take up issues which are truly democratic and secular in nature. It is this pusillanimous behaviour which invokes disquiet.

BJP governments over the last two decades has left their Core voters high and dry, not once has there been a positive response to the issues which find prominence in the manifestos and the Sankalp Patras of the BJP but are quietly buried in the hurly burly of daily life. These are ominous signs of the things to come.

Ram Mandir will be forgotten till the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections, the perfunctory noises will be made periodically, like recently, there was installation of a wooden Ram statue in Ayodhya. You never know BJP may unveil a wooden model of the Grand Ram Mandir too. After all, Bhagwan Ram resides in our hearts, where’s the need for a Temple?

Either the government declares itself to be Secular in all its aspects or it should stop asking for Hindu votes on the sly. The constant fear mongering by the various affiliates of both the RSS Parivar and the BJP has buttonholed the Hindu into accepting that There is No Alternative to either the BJP or Narendra Modi or the RSS.

Hindu is facing a veritable onslaught on his religion, his traditions, his beliefs, his cultural moorings, his freedom of speech, even his Right To Existence is threatened by the massive foreign funded institutions both religious and civil. The curse of Evangelicals and the Missionaries can be felt in states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. A slew of Churches of various denominations passed Fatwas to stop BJP from coming to power in almost whole of the country.

The demographics of coastal and now interiors of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are testimony to the Conversion Mafia being run on violations of FCRA. NDA-I had banned some NGOs but there is a need for a comprehensive ban on Foreign Funded NGOs, China is the model to be followed in this respect. The Catholic Church cannot run its dioceses from Vatican, the control of Vatican must be eliminated. The Bishops, Archbishops, Cardinals must not be appointed by the the Pope sitting thousands of miles away. Catholic Church is the biggest Landholder in the country, the lands were leases granted by the British, the leases cannot run infinitely.

The government is oblivious to the threat of Mass Conversions of Hindus, the voices in support of an Anti Conversion Bill are silenced by the government who wants to appear more than just Secular, in fact, the new mantra is Sabka Vishwas, winning the Trust.

Modi 2.0’ conspiratorial silence and retraction on issues which are displayed prominently and marketed aggressively before and during the elections is reason for this disquiet among its Voters.

Nationalism and spirit of one India is not against diversity and plurality – Let us support Prime Minister Narendra Modi

S Ranganathan
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Nationalism and spirit of one India is not against diversity and plurality – Let us support Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Several regional parties have started to rekindle the regionalism against nationalism after the emergence of good and corruption free governance of Modi. These regional parties always talk about India’s linguistic diversity, ethnicity, practices etc. According to them, although not expressively stated, nationalism is bound to kill regionalism and plurality of the state. It is a bizarre argument and the new and young India must reject it totally and must embrace the spirit and ethos of nationalism invoked by PM Modi and BJP.

Diversity and plurality does exist even in two membered families. Whenever more than one view exists within the same family there is diversity and plurality. When people take sides to any one of the two different views or practices and if they started to continue the same for a reasonable period of time, it becomes the norm. Therefore we should not see the definition and application of diversity only in macro or mega terms but even we have to understand its existence within every family. What keeps many family members with diverse views, differing opinions, ideology and personal preference and practice to remain together is the spirit of one family that they belong to.

The value of family has never stopped or ruined the diversity or plurality of different members of the same family. Time and again, newness is bound to mix with our existing thoughts and practices and would undergo certain modifications or some may even exit from the scene. Diversity and plurality must strengthen the unison and oneness where people develop ethical, moral, intellectual generality despite each one of them having different views.

India to develop as a leader country despite its plurality and vastness but it needs nationalism. We should not divide the country based on its diversity, vastness and plurality but we should see which cord we can use to connect the diversity in our country.

Nationalism when we invoke and the ethos of one India when we kindle, such a move is only meant to protect and encourage the diversity and not to destroy it. India alone can support and encourage such diversity and plurality and not any other country. Therefore a strong India, India as a one nation must exist both in our thoughts and in our political philosophy. The youths must educate the society that the ethos of one India and one living culture called Hinduism are not against diversity and plurality that already exist in India.

During India’s freedom struggle, every Indian practicing different religion, food habits etc., participated because they were all connected by one cord that we belong to one India and we all must fight for India’s independence. Imagine even India’s freedom can be achieved when we work under the spirit of nationalism and one India, how much PM Modi can achieve for India if every Indian join the stream with the sense of one India, one election, one tax, one political party and one leader Narendra Modi.

People should realize the truth that this earth supports the existence of several millions of life forms. Interestingly several species of animals follow even prey-predator relationship. But still vast diversity in flora and fauna exist. All the species, both prey and predator, producer and decomposer, only strengthen the forest ecosystem despite they belong to different species. All the species exhibit oneness that they must support the ecosystem they live.

Narendra Modi or BJP alone can’t develop India as a great country. Every Indian must join, dedicate and participate in building New India, as envisaged by PM Modi. People barring all their personal preferences and practices must pledge their unconditional support to Narendra Modi to make this land great. While supporting and promoting diversity and plurality, still Indians can remain Indian.

Rejuvenated patriotism, nationalism and one India and promoting the living culture called Hinduism all can only support the diversity and plurality and cannot stop them from existence.

Let us support PM Modi and embrace the spirit of one India, connect to the umbilical cord of India called Hinduism and build New India. Let us support honest and transparent government of Modi, development and sab ka vikas.

S Ranganathan

Exceptional facts to learn about Hinduism

pulkit
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Exceptional facts to learn about Hinduism

Introduction:

Hey! Are you curious enough to explore more and more about the most fascinating Hindu religion? Are you dreaming to dig out the Hinduism facts for being the 3rd largest religion with over billions of followers? Owing to the consistent increase in the number of followers and people’s desire to widen their knowledge base, the article hereby puts forward the facts about religion.

The word Hindu was used by the Persians during the period of 6th century BC. The religious meaning of the religion was not developed during those early life periods about 1000 years back.

As per the sources, Persians believed human life beyond the Indus river who got recognized by the name ‘Hindu’ community. Unlike the other existing religions, no prophet or teacher has been considered as the founder of this religion. Yet, the religion is backed up with strong reliable sources and authentic shreds of evidence.

No beginning or end of the religion has been mentioned and accordingly referred to be as the ‘Sanatan Dharma’. As per the authentic and reliable sources, religion is considered to be developed over the last 5000 years initiated at the Indus Valley region.

Hinduism is known to look out the divine presence in every single existence.

Facts to know about the admirable Hindu religion:

  • Hinduism is considered as the third largest religion all over the world. There are over a billion followers of the religion and over 85% of the Hindus reside in India.
  • Hinduism believes in the existence of three main gods standing with strong spiritual strengths. Lord Brahma is considered as ‘the creator’, Lord Vishnu, being ‘the preserver’ and Lord Shiva as ‘the destroyer’ for recreation purposes.
  • Vedas, Puranas, and Upanishads are considered as the Hinduism’s primary religious texts holding entire facts and observance. The epics are further categorized into several types keeping individual sets of facts inside them.
  • Vedas are categorized into 4 types including Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda, and Atharveda. Upanishads are 251 in total number but 108 of them have been printed for relevance. There are 18 Puranas associated with Hindu religion giving a strong spiritual backup of the religion.
  • Hinduism is considered among the four Indic traditions existing all over the world. These include Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism.
  • Hinduism looks out for the divine presence in every single existence. Accordingly, Hinduism looks for understanding the nature of the divine in several lineages. Hinduism believes for the formless for the infinite or formless nature of the Brahmins who can get worshiped in various forms. However, some of the Hindus believe for the infinite existence of divine in the form of Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva.
  • Hinduism believes worshiping their divine in both the male and female forms. Devi resembles female while Devta resembles the male divine figures. It is believed that worshiping them with dedication and pure heart provides us exceptional blessings to fulfill our internal desires.
  • The ultimate goal of Hinduism is to achieve salvation or Moksha. It is believed that the ‘Karma’ actually works to attain this achievement by the blessings of God. It is actually the stage of becoming free from the continuous cycle of death and rebirth. Good karma of human beings is analyzed and accordingly, they are provided with the blessings of salvation.
  • Rather than the linear concept of time, Hinduism believes in the circular existence of time. Research and studies as per the authentic sources have proved that there exists four different ‘Yuga’ throughout the life span of this earth. These include Satyuga, Treta Yug, Dwapar Yug, and Kalyug.
  • It is believed that Saint Manu is the preserver of this earth by the blessings of Lord Vishnu. The facts mentioned in the epics have proven his responsibility for preserving and regenerating human beings with his eternal divine powers.
  • Hinduism proves that Lord Vishnu is responsible for taking ‘Avatar’ to preserve this earth from the ill effects of the deadly monsters or ‘Asur’. As per the authentic facts mentioned inside the holy epics, Lord Vishnu has taken several ‘Avatar’ till date in various forms and saved the earth to establish peace and prosperity.
  • A total of 10 avatars are listed until the end of the earth’s life span. Lord Vishnu is believed to have already taken the forms of Kacchhap, Varah, Vaaman, Narasimha, Parasurama, Ram, Krishna, and Buddha. Yet to originate in the name of Kalki for saving the earth from the negative powers. There remain several temples who worship all these forms of Lord Vishnu.
  • Among all the four Vedas, Rigveda is considered to be the oldest and written about 3800 years ago. It mentions that Hinduism is one of the oldest religions existing over the earth’s surface. The religion believes in the existence of 33 crores god and goddesses with pieces of evidence.
  • Both the Sikhism and Buddhism like religion have been derived from Hinduism. Accordingly, they have sole belief upon this religion and believe to worship all the divine powers associated with
  • Hinduism believes in the existence of three different worshippers on the earth’s surface. These include Shaiva – Worshippers of Lord Shiva, Shaakt – Worshippers of Shakti (Goddess Durga in all forms), and Vaishnav – Worshippers of Lord Vishnu.

 Conclusion: To sum up, Hinduism is the only religion existing on the surface of the earth with strong and authentic shreds of evidence. It teaches us the strengths of devotion, meditation, and worship. The law of Karma is one of the focused sides of Hinduism threatening the wrongdoers aligned towards the way to right karma to achieve salvation or Moksha.

Hinduism teaches us the path of moving forward with extreme trust over the Almighty. The almighty god is believed to provide success and salvation with respect to our karma throughout the life span.

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