Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia stands against Discrimination against Nepali Language

8:32 AM

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West Bengal

Darjeeling Once again we are most thankful to Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia who has stepped up to protect the Nepali language. Following report on social media (The Darjeeling Chronicle) MP wrote to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu reminding him that not putting up signs in Nepali language is a violation of the Language Policy of India as well as a discrimination against the Gorkha community.

Here is the full text of the letter that our MP wrote

To 
Shri. Suresh Prabhu
Minister of Railway
Government of India

Re: Discrimination Against Nepali Language and the people of Darjeeling

Suresh ji
I want to draw your attention to the fact that the signboards that Indian Railways has put up in my Constituency – Darjeeling – has continued to violate the Language Policy of India since 2011.

The standard official language policy of the Government of India clearly specifies that, importance to be given to official State Language (only those which are also included in the VIIIth Schedule of Constitution)/regional/national languages, signboards of Railway stations in regional language, use of language on Railway Information Boards, naming of Railway stations in regional languages etc.”

Nepali was recognised initially in 1961 as an official language of West Bengal, and on 22/8/1992 as one of the Official Languages of India under the VIIIth Schedule of Indian Constitution as one of the 22 National Languages of India. Nepali is also the 1st official language for Darjeeling and Dooars region in West Bengal. DHR is still discriminated against and not featured in any of the sign boards put up by Indian Railways in Darjeeling. Not putting Nepali in these sign boards is not only a violation of the language policy of India, but also is disrespectful towards the Nepali language and also the Gorkhali community of my constituency. What is more hurtful to my constituents is the fact that Bengali which 99% of the population do not speak or read, is used as the 1st language.

On behalf of my constituents, I request you to kindly instruct the local administrative unit of Indian Railways to remove the signs that do not feature Nepali language and to put up signs in Nepali which is a Recognised regional language in Darjeeling and Dooars as well as one of the National Languages of India.

I look forward to your prompt action.
Kindest regards

SS Ahluwalia
MP, Darjeeling.

Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia Writes to Railway Minister - Demands Signs to be Written in NEPALI

Rule 3A of the Bengal Official Language Act, 1961 also specifically states
3A. Notwithstanding anything contained in section 3, with effect from such date-1 as the Slate Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint in this behalf, the Nepali language may, in addition to the Bengali language be used for such— (a) rules, regulations and by-laws made by the State Government under the Constitution of India or under any law made by Parliament or the Legislature of West Bengal, and (b) notifications or orders issued by the Slate Government under the Constitution of lndia or under any law made by Parliament or the Legislature of West Bengal, as apply to the three hill subdivisions of the district of Darjeeling, namely, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong:

Provided that different dates may be appointed in respect of different matters referred to in clause (a) or (b). .

Explanation.—For the purposes of section 3 and this section the words "law made by Parliament or the Legislature of West Bengal" shall include any law made before or after the commencement of the Constitution of India by any legislature or other competent authority in the territory of India having power to make such a law.

Given this, we request the West Bengal government and all other administrative bodies to put up all the signs and instructions in NEPALI at the top.

Once again, we are grateful to our MP for stepping up to protect the dignity of Nepali language and Nepali speaking people... It is sad that none of our "intellectuals" and "sahityakkars" have so far bothered to highlight this issue.



Via The Darjeeling Chronicle

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Bharat Ratna for Tenzing Norgay reminds Ahluwalia to PM

9:03 AM

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Tenzing Norgey

Darjeeling 30 May 2016 Darjeeling MP Surendra Singh Ahluwalia has written to the prime minister reminding and urging him to confer the Bharat Ratna to Tenzing Norgay, the most iconic personality of the Darjeeling hills whose 102nd birth anniversary was celebrated on Sunday.

Ahluwalia evoked the prime minister’s speech delivered in Sukna in 2014 where he had said Norgay has been one of the most iconic and inspirational personalities of the nation. And that the climber had been relegated to the background and his immense contribution towards strengthening Indian identity was not recognised as it should be.

The MP’s letter includes part of what Narendra Modi said on April 10, 2014, “In your speech you said the previous government did not bestow honour to Norgay thinking he was just another guide/porter from the hills. You also said the demand of the

Indian flag that reached the top of Mt. Everest with Tenzing Norgay in Himalayan Mountaineering Institute Darjeeling

Gorkhas of not only the country but the world over is to award Norgay with the Bharat Ratna.” The Darjeeling MP urged the prime minister to play an instrumental role in ensuring Norgay is conferred the prestigious Bharat Ratna and rectify the indifferent attitude of the previous governments.

Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary were the first to set foot on Mount Everest on May 29, 1953, a feat which at that time was unimaginable. It was after this that the central government decided to establish the now famous Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling.

The push to confer Norgay with the Bharat Ratna started 20 years ago but lost steam as sportspersons were outside the purview of this highest civilian award. However, in a landmark change in 2012, the UPA government placed an amended bill and got it passed, thus bringing sports personalities in the ambit of the award. Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was the first to be conferred the award even though the names of Norgay and hockey legend Dhyan Chand had cropped up as potential recipients.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the Sherpa community too are demanding the Bharat Ratna for Norgay. The movement gained momentum in 2015 when NASA named the first discovered mountain in Pluto as ‘Norgay Montes’. “I make a plea on behalf of all Gorkhas living in the country that our national hero should be awarded the Bharat Ratna. This will recognise the service, hard work and dedication of the Gorkha community towards the nation,” GJM president Bimal Gurung said in a press statement.

The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration has also written to the Centre seeking to rename Bagdogra airport and National Highway 55 after the legendary climber and to install his statue in Parliament’s premises. NH55 is the primary link joining the hills to the plains.

 Norgay has been awarded with the George medal and Coronation medal by the British government, the Iran Shah Medal and the Nepal Tara and Nepal Pratap Vardak awards. The Indian government has honoured Tenzing Norgay (also known as Tiger of the Snows) with the Padma Bhusan.

 (EOIC)

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Nepali‬ Language Included in State Bank of India Recruitment Process

7:09 PM

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West Bengal

Thanks to  the Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia efforts, Nepali and other minority languages of West Bengal - Hindi, Urdu, Santhali, Oriya and Punjabi have been included as an optional regional languages. The State bank has also extended the last day of application to the 28th of April so that people from our region get to fill out the forms.

This is also one of the reasons why we should not remain a part of West Bengal, for the Central government had no problem in paying heed to our request and respecting it, while West Bengal government is yet to include Nepali in WBCS.

Revised State Bank of India Recruitment

[Please note that the notification just came out, and online application portal is being updated to reflect the same... for now you can apply with Bengali and change the language option once the SBI updates their portal]
...............................

After reports of Non-Inclusion of Nepali Language Option in State Bank of India Recruitment  on social media,  Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia Writes to Finance Minister

Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia has taken strong note of non-inclusion of Nepali language option in State Bank of India recruitment and has written to the Finance Minister as well as the Chairperson of SBI demanding inclusion of Nepali language option, and extending the application deadline to allow for youths from Darjeeling, Terai and Dooars region to complete the application formalities.

MP Shri. Ahluwalia has also demanded that Nepali being a national language of India, should be offered as an optional language in all states of NE and rest of India where a large number of ethnically Nepali people reside.

Here is the text of his letter to the Finance Minister.

To,
Shri. Arun Jaitley
Hon’ble Finance Minister
Government of India

Re: Exclusion of Nepali speaking candidates from SBI Recruitment

Dear Arun ji,
I want to draw your attention to the plight of the Gorkhali community in India, whose mother tongue is Nepali. Recently the SBI through the advertisement number CRPD/CR/2016-17/01 dated April 3, 2016 has sought applications for the post of Junior Associates (customer support and sales) for which there are close to 15000 vacancies that have opened up all over India, out of which around 2000 have opened up in the state of West Bengal.

When youths from my constituency logged online to apply for the post, they were taken aback to realize that the only linguistic option that they could chose for official language in the state of West Bengal was Bengali. Where as in Darjeeling, Terai and Dooars region majority of the people learn and speak Nepali and not Bengali.

Perhaps the SBI Human Resources Department is not aware of the fact that Nepali is one of the 22 National Languages of India that have been duly recognized as such, under the VIIIth Scheduled of our Constitution since 1992. It also seems that the SBI Human Resources Department is not aware of the fact that Nepali is one of the Official Languages of West Bengal along with Bengali and has been so since 1961.

In not allowing aspirants from Bengal to chose Nepali or any other official state languages – Hindi, Urdu etc, the State Bank of India has effectively disqualified those whose mother tongue is not Bengali, even before the recruitment process has begun.

I strongly feel that this is against the constitution guaranteed right of every national language being treated as equal, and also this is infringing upon the fundamental rights of my constituents to be able to chose their mother tongue, which is a recognized national language of India, as a linguistic option. I also feel that in not allowing the Gorkha aspirants to chose Nepali as a language option anywhere in India, the State Bank has turned them into a 2nd class citizen, whose language – even though recognized by our Constitution as one of the national languages – is actually not considered worthy of landing a job with a Government of India entity.

It is because of such instances of repeated discrimination, even by a Central government enterprise, the Gorkhas have been agitating for decades, asking for autonomy for themselves towards ensuring that they will not be discriminated against, on the basis of their language, ethnicity, or culture.

I therefore request you to kindly instruct the State Bank of India and all other Central government entities to ensure that Nepali language and other languages that are actually recognized as Official Language of our state should be made optional during the application process in West Bengal. In addition, Nepali should also be made optional in all the North Eastern states, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi where Nepali speaking people reside in a large number.

Also, since this application process started from 5th of April, 2016 and is only going to last till the 25th of April, all the applicants from my constituency have not been able to fill up their forms so far, due to the linguistic barrier.

Given this, I request you to kindly instruct the State Bank of India to extend the date by when the application can be filled in to 15th of May 2016, so that all those youths from my constituency who have been deprived from applying for these said posts are able to do so.

I look forward to a positive response from you at the earliest.
Kindest regards

SS Ahluwalia
MP, Darjeeling

Included Nepali

Via TheDC

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जापद्वारा आहलुवालीयाको बयानको खण्डन -- सांसदले जनतालाई ढाँट्ने कार्य गर्दैछ – अनमोल प्रसाद

1:45 PM

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SS Ahluwalia

कालिमन्युज, कालेबुङ 15 अप्रेल। जन आन्दोलन पार्टीले सार्बजनिक गरेको छुट्टै राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको बील केवल चुनावी जनसभामा जनतालाई देखाउनका निम्ति मात्र हो भनि सांसद एस.एस आहलुवालीयाले लगाएको आरोपलाई जापले खण्डन गरेको छ। जाप सर्वोच्च नीति निर्धारण समितिका सदस्य अनमोल प्रसादले एक पत्रकार सम्मेलनको आयोजना गरेर आहलुवालीयको बयानलाई खण्डन गरेका छन्।

‘सांसद एस.एस आहलुवालीयाले जापले सार्बजनिक गरेको बील केवल जनतालाई देखाउनका निम्ति मात्र हो भनेछन्। उनले यसक्रममा उक्त बीलले जापले आफूलाई पठाउँछ भनेर ईमेलमा पर्खिरहेको तर कुनै पनि ईमेल आएन भनेका छन्। यो उनले जनतालाई ढाटेका हुन्। हामीले उनलाई गोर्खाल्याण्डको बील ईमेलद्वारा पठाइसकेका छौँ’ अनमोल प्रसादले भने। यसक्रममा उनले पत्रकारहरूलाई गोर्खाल्याण्डको बील ईमेलद्वारा सांसद आहलुवालीयालाई पठाएको प्रतिलिपी देखाउँदै ‘सांसदले ईमेल सायद हेरेनन् होला यसकारण उनले ईमेल प्राप्त भएन भनि भनेका हुन्’ भने। यसका साथै उनले उक्त गोर्खाल्याण्डको बील सांसद आहलुवालीया अनि गोजमुमो अध्यक्ष विमल गुरुङलाई कोरियरद्वारा पठाएको जानकारी गराए।

अनमोल प्रसाद

‘हामीले आज गोर्खाल्याण्डको बील सांसद आहलुवालीयालाई दिनका निम्ति समय मागेका थियौँ तर उनले हामीलाई भेट्ने समय दिएनन। यसकारण हामीले उक्त बील सांसद आहलुवालीया अनि विमल गुरुङलाई कोरियरद्वारा पठाएका छौँ’ अनमोल प्रसादले भने। यसक्रममा उनले कुनै पनि बील राज्यको विधानसभामा पठाउनुपर्छ भनि आहलुवालीयाले दिएको भाषणप्रति कटाक्ष गर्दै कुनै पनि राज्य गठनको बीललाई राज्यको बिधानसभामा पठाउनुपर्ने आवश्यक्ता छैन भन्ने भारतीय संविधानको धारा 3 मा उल्लेख रहेको बताए।

‘बील पारित गर्नका निम्ति विधानसभामा पठाइन्दैन। पहिला यो लोकसभामा पारित गरिन्छ अनि मात्र राज्यको मनतव्य लिन बिधानसभामा पठाउने कार्य हुन्छ। यदि त्यसमा राज्यको विधानसभाले स्वीकार नगरेको खण्डमा पनि त्यसलाई लोकसभाले राज्यको मंतव्य नमानेर पारित गर्न सक्नेछ’ अनमोल प्रसादले भने। यसक्रममा उनले यसबारे पहिला लोकसभामा यसबारे कार्य अघि बढाउने कार्यको थालनी गर्नुपर्ने सुझाव उल्टै सांसद आहलुवालीयालाई दिएका छन्।

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Gorkhaland bill should first passed by Mamata Banerjee - S.S. Ahluwalia

8:37 AM

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SS Ahluwalia

KALIMPONG 15 Apr 2016 Darjeeling MP Surendra Singh Ahluwalia today said the bill for Gorkhaland should be first passed by chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her cabinet and send it to Delhi where the Centre would have no problems in passing it.

Addressing a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha election rally in Kalimpong’s motor stand area, the MP was responding to the suggestion made by the Jan Andolan Party from the same spot a few days ago that the GJM should place such a bill in Parliament.

GJM president Bimal Gurung too spoke on the same lines although the better part of his speech was directed at denouncing the JAP and the chief minister. He said this could probably be the last time that the Darjeeling hills will be sending MLAs to the Bengal Assembly because the next time would be for a state of Gorkhaland.

Darjeeling MP Surendra Singh Ahluwalia

“Earlier, people used to ask me how a state could be formed by just three sub-divisions. As Mamata is supposedly creating a new district of Kalimpong, there will therefore, be two districts under the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. But why should she create only two districts?” wondered Gurung, who is also the chief executive of the GTA.

Meanwhile, Ahluwalia said, “More districts should be formed out of Kurseong, Gorubathan, Salbari and so on. No one is against this as more districts should be formed for the sake of good governance. It is for good governance that Uttarakhand was created out of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand from Bihar. Similarly from Madhya Pradesh the state of Chhattisgarh was carved out. If small states are created, there will be good governance. If Mamata wants to do likewise by making new districts, she is welcome. It was the Vidhan Sabha that endorsed the creation of the GTA now Harka Bahadur Chhetri wants a bill for statehood and she should pass it. If she does so and forwards it to Delhi, the Centre will also pass it. Delhi will have no problem in passing such a bill.”

Picking up the thread, Gurung said, “The JAP president has a good relationship with the Bengal chief minister, so why does he not demand the bill be passed by the state? We are doing what is needed to be done at the Centre.” And growing in confidence by the sight of the huge gathering, the GJM president further said, “We will win 110 per cent and once victorious, we will address local issues such as of drinking water. We should all stop useless discussions as that will not benefit anyone and is a waste of time. The doors of the GTA are open and any one can come to us and table their problems.”

Turning back to the statehood issue, Gurung said the next elections could see people voting to send legislators to a Gorkhaland state assembly. “The words ‘Territorial’ and ‘Administration’ will be soon gone from the GTA and only the word Gorkhaland remain. Mamata insists Bengal will not be divided, but we are not asking for the division of Bengal; we are only asking for our rights,” he asserted.

Reacting to the statements made by Ahluwalia and Gurung, JAP Bureau member Anmole Prasad said, “It is not mandatory for the state to pass a bill in approval of the creation of a new state as such a bill is rather passed by the Lok Sabha and then sent to the state government for its views. All we are asking is that the process should be started.” He also alleged that most of the people who had come for the GJM public meeting today were not from Kalimpong.


(EOIC)

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JAP drafts Gorkhaland Bill , Challenge GJM and BJP to table in Lok sabha

1:16 PM

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SS Ahluwalia

Writes Mukesh Sharma

Kalimpong,14th April The Jana Andolan Party today in its election meeting released The West Bengal Re-Organisation Bill 2016 in Kalimpong. The meeting which was attended by 10 thousand plus party Supporter was held at Kalimpong Motar Stand. JAP Bureau member and Senior advocate Anmol  Prasad released the draft bill  throwing a open Challenge to GJM and MP S S Ahluwaliya to place the bill in Lok Sabha.

The first of its kind in hill politics the JAP party will be sending the 22 pages draft bill to both GJM President Bimal Gurung and MP S S Ahluwaliya informed Prasad.

In his forwarding letter to MP JAP president Dr Harka Bahadur Chhetri has urge S S Ahluwaliya to rise to this challenge for the sake of his constituency.

 Jana Andolan Party Meeting in Kalimpong

He have said ‘ As our representative in Parliament you are well aware that every person of your constituency passionately supports the creation of such a state within the Indian Union. Your party has time and again promised the people that it will sympathetically examine and appropriately consider the long-pending demands of the Gorkhas, the Adivasis and other communities of Darjeeling district and the Dooars region. We also note with great eagerness that has your party enjoys an overwhelming and unprecedented majority in power”

JAP has hoped that MP will prevail upon his party not to appoint any committee or commission that will delay the consideration of our demand by Parliament.

The election rally saw massive number of party supporter from all part of Kalimpong.The party urged the people to vote for change and give mandate for Kalimpong District issue.

Amar Lama, brother of Slain Madan Tamang and Bureau member of JAP today alleged GTA of being a corruption syndicate. Giving proof of Corruption from Roads to PMGSY, Midday meal to Indra Awas yojana he one by one led example of corruption in GTA.Lama alleged GJMM leaders of having disproportionate assets

 Dr Chhetri addressing the mass went all out to GJMM President and other leaders. He said it was here in the same place in Motar Stand that Bimal Gurung gave his first speech in 2007 and tomorrow will be his last speech from motar stand as his downfall have started .

 Dr Chhetri attacked R Moktan, Binay Tamang, Bijay Sundas, Dawa Lepcha , Dr Rohit Sharma and MP S S Ahluwaliya in about more than one hour speech.

He said in his recent election campaign PM Modi did not utter a single word for Gorkhaland and even GJM . He said BJP and GJM cannot fulfill the aspiration as their leader regularly gives anti Gorkha statement. He urged the mass to give vote for change and Kalimpong District

Dr Chhetri said It was from this motar stand where in 2007 Bimal Gurung rose to a new high in hill politics and from the chapter of his downfall have started from this same place today.

He said in the 9 year rule of GJM party they never uttered the word of Gorkhaland in Delhi but always said of keeping the record of Gorkhaland intact.

We have bought a draft bill for separate State and throw a challenge to GJM and MP to place the bill in Loksabha.

GJMM rally is scheduled tomorrow in the same place.

Source Kalimpong News Express

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SS Ahluwalia Takes Exception to Non-Inclusion of Nepali Language Option in State Bank of India Recruitment

1:45 PM

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SS Ahluwalia

Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia Takes Exception to Non-Inclusion of Nepali Language Option in State Bank of India Recruitment - Writes to Finance Minister

Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia has taken strong note of non-inclusion of Nepali language option in State Bank of India recruitment and has written to the Finance Minister as well as the Chairperson of SBI demanding inclusion of Nepali language option, and extending the application deadline to allow for youths from Darjeeling, Terai and Dooars region to complete the application formalities.

MP Shri. Ahluwalia has also demanded that Nepali being a national language of India, should be offered as an optional language in all states of NE and rest of India where a large number of ethnically Nepali people reside.

Here is the text of his letter to the Finance Minister.

To,
Shri. Arun Jaitley 
Hon’ble Finance Minister 
Government of India

Re: Exclusion of Nepali speaking candidates from SBI Recruitment

Dear Arun ji,
I want to draw your attention to the plight of the Gorkhali community in India, whose mother tongue is Nepali. Recently the SBI through the advertisement number CRPD/CR/2016-17/01 dated April 3, 2016 has sought applications for the post of Junior Associates (customer support and sales) for which there are close to 15000 vacancies that have opened up all over India, out of which around 2000 have opened up in the state of West Bengal.

When youths from my constituency logged online to apply for the post, they were taken aback to realize that the only linguistic option that they could chose for official language in the state of West Bengal was Bengali. Where as in Darjeeling, Terai and Dooars region majority of the people learn and speak Nepali and not Bengali.

Perhaps the SBI Human Resources Department is not aware of the fact that Nepali is one of the 22 National Languages of India that have been duly recognized as such, under the VIIIth Scheduled of our Constitution since 1992. It also seems that the SBI Human Resources Department is not aware of the fact that Nepali is one of the Official Languages of West Bengal along with Bengali and has been so since 1961.

In not allowing aspirants from Bengal to chose Nepali or any other official state languages – Hindi, Urdu etc, the State Bank of India has effectively disqualified those whose mother tongue is not Bengali, even before the recruitment process has begun.

I strongly feel that this is against the constitution guaranteed right of every national language being treated as equal, and also this is infringing upon the fundamental rights of my constituents to be able to chose their mother tongue, which is a recognized national language of India, as a linguistic option. I also feel that in not allowing the Gorkha aspirants to chose Nepali as a language option anywhere in India, the State Bank has turned them into a 2nd class citizen, whose language – even though recognized by our Constitution as one of the national languages – is actually not considered worthy of landing a job with a Government of India entity.

It is because of such instances of repeated discrimination, even by a Central government enterprise, the Gorkhas have been agitating for decades, asking for autonomy for themselves towards ensuring that they will not be discriminated against, on the basis of their language, ethnicity, or culture.

I therefore request you to kindly instruct the State Bank of India and all other Central government entities to ensure that Nepali language and other languages that are actually recognized as Official Language of our state should be made optional during the application process in West Bengal. In addition, Nepali should also be made optional in all the North Eastern states, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi where Nepali speaking people reside in a large number.

Also, since this application process started from 5th of April, 2016 and is only going to last till the 25th of April, all the applicants from my constituency have not been able to fill up their forms so far, due to the linguistic barrier.

Given this, I request you to kindly instruct the State Bank of India to extend the date by when the application can be filled in to 15th of May 2016, so that all those youths from my constituency who have been deprived from applying for these said posts are able to do so.

I look forward to a positive response from you at the earliest.
Kindest regards

SS Ahluwalia 
MP, Darjeeling 

Via TheDC

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