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Core Projects & Technologies Ltd.

Company Name
Core Projects & Technologies Ltd
.

Management Team
Board of Directors

CMD:
Sanjeev Mansotra  

Directors Inclide:
S. S. Dua
Nikhil Morsawala
Naresh Sharma
Awinash Arondekar 
M. N. Nambiar
Hari Iyer

Head Office
Core Projects & Technologies Ltd.
Block No:1-8, Building No:4
Sector-3, Millennium Business Park
Mahape, Navi Mumbai – 400 710
Tel: +91-22-27784800
Fax: +91-22-27782977

Core Projects & Technologies Ltd.
Lotus Business Park
10th floor, Plot No. C-21
Dalia Industrial Estate
Off Link Road, Andheri (W)
Mumbai – 400 053
Tel: +91-22-26741875 / 26741876 /  26741877 / 2674187
Fax: +91-22-26741880

CORE is India's largest global education company with presence in US, UK, Africa, Middle East, Caribbean nations and India.  In FY 2008-09 CORE achieved revenues of over INR. 675 crores with 1100+ employees contributing to the growth of the organisation.

CORE is focused on providing technology enabled education solutions to government bodies, schools and students.   ICT systems provided by CORE are being used by various schools across USA as well as India.  CORE also enables schools to administer 6 million tests for 2.5 Million students across 6100 schools.  CORE is at the forefront of Formative Assessment practices and designing of teacher training interventions based on “Constructivism” as per NCTE and NCF guidelines along with University of Oxford.

Over the years, CORE has developed key partnerships such as:

  • IGNOU for certification of courses.

  • University of Oxford for Teacher Training and Capability building.

  • Centre for Higher Learning, NASA Stennis Space Centre, USA for 3D immersive content and technology.

Our efforts stem from the belief that Quality education forms the basic foundation of a quality life. This guides as we work with various Governments across the world in bringing change to the life of students and society.

CORE's Educational expertise spans across the following areas:

  • Teacher Training and Capacity Building

  • Vocational Education

  • K-12 Schools

  • ICT at Schools along with School Information System and Child Tracking solution

  • Content Creation & Management

  • Campus Management Solutions

  • Grants, Financial and Compliance management systems for Government Programs.

Online Test Preparation

Test preparation is increasingly becoming attractive for students in India. With the growing competitiveness in the job market and stringent examination rigours, more and more students are relying on study materials from coaching classes to supplement their routine lectures. Of late, several companies including Educomp, have entered into the multi billion dollar industry of supplemental education using VSAT. Under graduate test preparation has been the focus for several such new initiatives, and have included preparation services for IIT, PMT and AIEEE.

Online CAT Preparation services have included platforms to assist students from different cities across India to access high quality content, tests and study material.  Vital to this development have been the growth trends in Web 2.0 and e-Learning technologies. Companies that provide Learning Management Systems (LMS), authoring tools and simulation tools are providing the enabling technologies used by trainers to provide Web 2.0 services to end users.

New technologies are bringing in varied ways of conducting courses, seminars, discussion forums and other approaches to learning, to be delivered online, with ground-breaking methods to interact with instructors and students. Tools such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), MP3 Players, CD-RO, Web 2.0 tools, discussion and bulletin boards, collaborative software, computer aided testing and assessment, educational animation, simulation, and games, LMS and podcasts are being used in the e-learning environment. There has been a gradual spurt in the use of the Internet and technology in education. Internet has the added advantages of being readily usable, highly interactive and flexible content. Additionally, the capacity of the Internet to scale and reach out to a large number of users have increased its benefits in education.

Several companies are now providing campus education network which is accessed and beneficial for the student community and young professionals. Services include  helping students get information on campus admission processes, available courses and couseling services. Diverse range of products are offered across different segments including MBA, engineering, overseas study, vocational and IT courses, as well as Bachelor's programmes in various disciplines. Ready online guidance is provided to students on the latest in the educational trends and requisites for growth and expansion. These services also help in connecting students to educational institutes and vice versa.

The Investors Choice

Online test preparation and technology enabled coaching centres are now becoming attractive for investors and venture capitalists.  Many investors today are on the look out for education service providers who have been using technology to advance their business propositions.
According to Anirudh Singh from Canaan Partners, any company which uses technology as a tool to scale up, including coaching, test preparation, online tutoring etc. will be the focus for investments in the current scenario. The highlight is the informal education or supplemental education sector. Online tutoring models have good potential during the medium term.

The test preparation sector has a huge market.  However, he states, that the largest coaching institute in India occupies only 3% of the market.

The K-12 segment still needs to be tapped and made use of for increased business options.

Srikanth Rajasankar
Founder & MD
Tutor Orbit e-Learning Pvt. Ltd

What is the growth potential for online test preparation market in India?

Simply put the growth potential is enormous. With changing times and very favourable demographics, it is only going to get bigger. The only moot point which needs to be watched is what and when is the “Inflection point” that is going to change the landscape for better.


Why has this segment gained popularity of late?

Online tests are the way to go in future.  Sooner or Later most competitive examinations will change to online format. Given the thirst for reform in the education sector, and the eagerness to reach to a large section of population with minimal resources Online Test formats will start gaining popularity.  One additional benefit of online test formats is that it is a great leveller by taking out the subjectivity in paper correction and assessing all on a equal scale.


What are the advantages to students in enrolling for Test Prep services?

Online Test Prep services give the students an opportunity to assess themselves, identify their strengths and weakness and work on improving their preparedness.  As more and more exams become objective based and online, it will also help them to simulate the exam condition and gain valuable experience close to real test situation.

Education eResources&rsquo: Guide 2010

Technology is going places! The e-resource providers’ community wokring in field of education have enabled a large number of audience in the education domain to avail e-services. The resources as services has benefited large number of students, teachers and professionals to cover leaps and bounds in terms of advancements.

The technology community has brought with it a huge wave of innovations that has empowered the youth of our country to train themselves as skilled workers to build India as a knowledge economy. The ICT tools, equipments and services are being produced and supplied at a large scale not only in India, but also abroad. With the flood of scattered information in education sector, it is indeed crucial that the right resources are tapped by the educational institutions. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to provide the information in a systematic way to the people who want to benefit from the e-resources in the education sector. This will help the beneficiaries to know about both the existing technology and the new innovations.

With a continous increase in number of education e-service providers in the country, the second edition of Resource Guide 2010, aims to bring to its readers an overview of the e-resrouces available to disseminators of education and the receivers of education. The issue includes a brief overview on ICT tools and equipments, e-content, learning laboratories and issues of online testing. This edition of Resource Guide 2010 attempts to provide the education technology users with a comprehensive database of e-service and tool entrepreneurs, to enable the educational institutions and the decision makers to reap maximum benefits from the ICT tools. The guide enables latter to read and chose the products that are best suited to their respective institutions to disseminate benefit to students at all levels

Leading a Cultural revolution – Virtuosity

Classroom teaching has long been the centerpiece of an institutional learning, but in recent years there has been a growing recognition worldover of the value that can be derived from technology- based learning as an element of educational delivery.

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In India, spearheading this paradigm shift in the institutes of higher   education is Virtuosity; and has emerged as a dominant driver of change in not merely a learning revolution, but something more  intrinsic than technology : on initiat ing and nurturing an institutional culture alive to how e-learning, electronic performance support systems and other online information resources can be used to broaden the reach of insitutions, increase return on investment and extend the positive effects of classroom teaching over time.

EXTENDING REACH AND

INCREASING INSTITUTIONAL  EFFECTIVENESS.

Virtuosity is the country partner for globally leading brands in technology-based learning and testing from the American hemisphere  like Skillsoft, IKM, Books24x7, and Walden, has been a proponent of adoption of e-learning in higher education as a means to extend reach and increase institutional effectivness.

Virtuosity empowers an institution to become a global education campus and address challengessuch as employability of graduates, shortage of faculty, often outdated syllabi in the face of changing industry needs and rapid dynamic advancements. Virtuosity also lessens infrastructure spending, with a digital library solution of an ever growing collection from 300 global publishers, and also facilitates simulation labs for upto 130 IT industrial certifications, without having to spend on software, lab infrastructure or human resource.

IT'S THE PEOPLE AND THE CULTURE


But one of the key insights that Virtuosity gained early was that however good and effective their world renowned learning solutions may be, unlike a corporate environment, in an educational insitution environment, it is institutional culture and the concerned department's use of these technology tools, within the insitution's contexts and toward specific ends, that can make a difference in leveraging technology to increase institutional effectiveness.

The institutional culture is formed by colloboration of its people. People are also the ones who use the technology and carry out the processes that drive the instituition towards its common purpose.

Technology can be fully leveraged to fuel institutional effectiveness, deisgn and implement processes that can bring in more efficient ways of teaching and helping students learn, and acquire the skills they need in a 21st Century work place.

What institutions of higher education today need, to sustain institutional effectiveness is not just being empowered with technology: but also a culture made up of people who are collaboratively using technology to improve processes. That is how the institution can fully leverage effectiveness efforts to increase our capacity to serve  students and their learning needs in a learning organization of the information age.

Open and Distance Learning

Open educational resources coupled with the increasing capabilities of the Internet would offer new dimensionality to distance education by facilitating extensive access to globally created educational resources to serve the knowledge needs of diverse communities. The National Knowledge Commission's recommendations on education have addressed a variety of topics and issues, including distance education and institutional governance.

Changing educational paradigm

Open and Distance Learning (ODL) is one of the most rapidly growing fields of education. ODL has brought together a range of technologies that have enabled teachers and learners to overcome barriers in distance and time.  These technologies have enabled distance teachers and learners who are separated by distance to communicate with each other in real time (synchronous) and delayed time (asynchronous). A direct outcome of this indicates that access to education and learning opportunities are now suited to individual lifestyles, learning preferences and personal development plans.

According to Dr Neeta Kapai, Deputy Director, Campus Placement Cell, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), “Distance education at IGNOU has been democratizing the dissemination of quality education for all. With the aim of providing employability skills, we impart training to the youth through common service centres which are technologically enabled. We have a tie-up with NIS Sparta wherein we will be training youth belonging to the weaker sections in 5 different states through these common service centres. The objective of the distance programme is to reach out to the un-reached population and provide job placements. We have similar collaborations with other corporates for the purpose of dissemination of education and training.”

As Dr Sunita Raju, Senior Chairperson  at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) elaborates on the role of distance learning at IIFT, “Courses at IIFT are conducted both through classroom lectures and by adopting distance learning- the blended learning approach. We have tied up with NIIT Ltd. and Hughes Communications for the purpose. We take every effort to ensure that the distance education classes get the same value added options which the classroom teachings get. We also have good provisions for receiving feedbacks from students in order to evaluate the process outcomes and make necessary changes to suit their requirements.”

At a Seminar on 'Open Course Ware' hosted by Europe Asia Business School, MIT Senior Associate Dean Prof. Vijaykumar emphasised on what the distance education movement means today. He elaborated that MIT has been experimenting with open learning in more than one ways and has numerous connotation also but to put in simple words, it is a movement encompassing a variety of educational content like blended learning, compatibility content, accessibility and adaptability, deeper learning, to name but a few. But the actual meaning of it lies in few simple words – it is an excellent open method which can be accessed by anyone from any part of the world through the internet, added Prof Vijaykumar.

The Open Course Ware initiative at MIT has aimed to accelerate global movement through network enabled open education changing the landscape of learning having Open Education Resource as one of its key strategies for educational advancement. The mission of the Open Course Ware is to advance formal and informal learning through the worldwide sharing and use of free, open, high-quality education materials organized as courses. Thus, open and distance learning has tremendous potential for developing countries like India. It has been gaining increasing popularity especially among working professionals who demand flexible learning hours, while at the same time expanding and enriching their skills base. The need here is to accommodate work life with skill development. Open and distance learning has proved to be a boon for this segment.

Study Report

The UNESCO Report on Open and Distance Learning: Trends, Policy and Strategy Considerations

According to the UNESCO Report on Open and Distance Learning, Trends, Policy and Strategy Considerations, the terms open learning and distance education represent approaches that focus on opening access to education and training provision, freeing learners from the constraints of time and place, and offering flexible learning opportunities to individuals and groups of learners.

Two main factors have led to an explosion of interest in distance learning: the growing need for continual skills upgrading and retraining; and the technological advances that have made it possible to teach more and more subjects at a distance.

New training demands and new competitive challenges faced by many institutions have led to the need to undertake profound changes in terms of governance, organizational structure and modes of operation. Increasingly, traditional universities are rapidly transforming themselves from single mode to dual mode universities, recognizing the importance of distance education in providing students with the best and most up-to-date educational resources available in addition to the traditional teaching methods that they receive.

The increasing number of open universities being established across the world is highly indicative of this trend, says the report.

What does it mean for the education community:

  • For the student/learner open and distance learning means increased access and flexibility as well as the combination of work and education. It May also mean a more learner-centred approach, enrichment, higher quality and new ways of  interaction. 

  • For employers it offers high quality  and  usually  cost- effective professional development in the workplace. It allows upgrading of skills, increased  productivity  and  development  of  a  new  learning  culture.  In addition, it means sharing of costs, of training time, and increased portability of training.

For governments the main potential is to increase the capacity and cost- effectiveness of education and training systems, to reach target groups with limited access to conventional education and training, to support and enhance the quality and relevance of existing educational structures, to ensure the connection of educational institutions and curricula to the emerging networks and information resources, and to promote innovation and opportunities for lifelong learning.

Asha Kanwar
Vice President
Commonwealth of Learning

With the changing educational environment, how has distance education contributed in overcoming barriers in higher education?

Powerful global regulators such as the World Bank say that for countries to achieve sustainable economic development, the Age Participation Rates (APRs

Online Examinations

The online examination system is rendered attractive to both students and the faculty due to the decrease in the paper-work time involved and the added benefit of receiving immediate feedback. Online examinations bring about a reduction in costs and improve efficiency and quality of the correction process. Due to an increase in the number of students and exams, many higher education institutions are considering a shift from paper based examinations to electronic computer based environment.

With the number of academic and competitive examinations on the rise, the level of interest for adopting online examination process has been high among many university administrators.   Online or electronic examinations are still at a nascent stage for the Indian Universities. It would involve bringing about gradual but considerable changes in the educational examination traditions. A long term system, that will also be sustainable and efficient, will be based upon surmounting the barriers that exist in the form of infrastructure, technical support and methodology adopted.

Some of the necessary steps include provision of adequate PC pool, procuring relevant software, meaningfully integrating with the curriculum and proper implementation of examination regulations.

What Stakeholders say

According to Dr R P Singh, Vice Chancellor, Sharda University, “Online examinations are the future of the examination process in India. The entire education system in this country is based on exams and if we talk about educational reforms, it must necessarily also entail a reform of the examination system.  The transition must therefore begin with the examination process  itself, because if we change the assessment process in the education system, the change will be reflected in the entire structure.  Online examinations, as it is perceived today, is mostly related to multiple choice questions. But it is not necessarily so. Several online examination processes also provide scope for subjective assessments as well.”

In terms of psychological barriers, he says, “Most of us who use technology would also be open to technology based reforms, However, for those who are not too tech savvy, the prospect of online examinations May look adverse. However, I must say that these fears have to be dispelled. Technology has to be embraced in the education process and it has to begin with the examination process.”

According to Dr Sarabjit Singh, Principal, Apeejay College of Engineering, “The entire learning and teaching process  requires  that what we learn also has to be tested for outcomes. Assessment of the learning process is therefore crucial. Quality of imparting test is important in order to ascertain the advantages and limitations of the education system. Specifically for MBA and Engineering courses, what we teach has to be objective, measurable and achievable. For any new assessment system, teachers also need to be trained to make question banks and also address the intricacies of the online examination system. Infrastructure and technology enablement are the primary requirements that educational institutes would have to look into for new initiatives such as these.”

Significant reorganisation is required for any move towards an online system. This includes familiarising the lecturers, students, IT support staff, administrative staff and examiners about the changes in the workflow. The need of the hour is a smooth operation of the examination process.

This would involve a tougher interconnection of IT infrastructures, and in particular, a flexible data exchange between campus management systems, learning management systems, and examination tools. To add to it, significant foresight is required to inculcate the cultural change related with the execution of new administration workflows and to deal with substantial reorganisation processes.

Study Report

Examinations and the Role of Technology: Emerging Directions, an initiative by MeritTrac, a research report published by EDGE-Value Notes, has given positive feedback on the online examination trends.

  • According to the  survey covering over 75 university VCs/Registrars/Controllers of Examination (CoE) and 400-odd students across the country , 70% of all VCs/Registrars/CoEs indicated that they are considering introducing online examinations and 68% of these respondents indicated that they will do this in the next 6-36 months. 69% of all students, particularly those from Tier III cities, felt that universities that conduct online exams are more technically advanced.

  • The top three priorities in exam management are faster results, greater transparency, and student authentication/higher security. Respondents said these will have the most impact on their decision to go online.

The study also includes a student perception survey

Manipal University Dubai lays foundation for New Campus

Manipal University, Dubai one of the leading universities offering career-focused bachelor's, master's, and other certificate programmes at Dubai International Academic City (DIAC), on May 25, 2010, laid the foundation stone for its exclusive new campus. In a special ceremony at the proposed site, the Honourable Minister for Human Resource Department, Government of India, Kapil Sibal laid the foundation stone of the dedicated campus. The minister was welcomed by Anand Sudarshan, CEO, Manipal Education and Dr. B. Ramjee, Director – Manipal University Dubai, faculty, staff and students. The ceremony was also attended by Dr. Abdulla Karam, Director General of Dubai Education Council, Dr. Ayoub Kazim, Managing Director, Education Cluster – TECOM Investments, Dr. Warren Fox, Executive Director of Higher Education, Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), M. K. Lokesh, Indian Ambassador, Sanjay Verma, Consul General of India and other dignitaries and guests.

Manipal University, a pioneer in the field of education with campuses in India, Malaysia, Nepal and Antigua, established itself at Dubai Knowledge Village in September 2003. Since then, it has rapidly grown to become a leading institution imparting quality higher education in the UAE and the Middle East. It moved to its current location at DIAC in 2006. Addressing the gathering of distinguished dignitaries, faculty and students at the ceremony, the honourable minister Mr. Kapil Sibal said, 'Manipal University is an institution of excellence. From the Himalayas to the Caribbean, from Malaysia to Dubai, Manipal has established a global brand in education. Laying the foundation for this new campus in Dubai is not only a proud moment for Manipal University; it is a proud moment for India also.'

Emphasizing Manipal Education's vision for Manipal University Dubai, Anand Sudarshan, CEO, Manipal Education said, 'We are motivated by the words of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister and Vice President of UAE and the Ruler of Dubai, who stated education holds out hope for the future and is a key driver in sustaining the UAE's all-round growth.' Sudarshan added, 'We have constantly endeavoured to bring in the highest standards of higher education in all our campuses across India, Dubai, Malaysia, Nepal and Antigua. We are happy with what Manipal University Dubai campus has achieved, and will work hard to enhance it into a higher education hub in the Middle-East, in line with Dubai's vision.' 'We have been acknowledged as one of the leading educational institutions in the UAE. Our students are the best and the brightest, and have made us proud with their professional academic, all-round and professional achievements. We will continue to offer new programmes keeping in mind the multi-disciplinary nature of the University. The new campus will be a physical testament to Manipal University's commitment to research, student empowerment, and community outreach,' said Dr. B. Ramjee, Director – Manipal University, Dubai.

Dr. Ayoub Kazim, Managing Director, Education Cluster – TECOM Investments, said, 'On behalf of Dubai International Academic City and Dubai Knowledge Village, we commend Manipal University's management in embarking on this vital project. This is a profound demonstration of its long-term commitment to the knowledge clusters in Dubai. 'We at DIAC sincerely believe our partnership with Manipal University is an important step that will help us to fulfill the objectives of enhancing the academic community and transforming Dubai into a regional destination for higher education.'

U.S. News and World Report MBA Rankings Survey to Include GRE Scores

In an unprecedented move, U.S. News & World Report, publisher of the highly regarded 'America's Best Graduate Schools,' will for the first time this October begin collecting GRE

Cloud services will create over 300,000 jobs in India by 2015

Following the successful launch of Microsoft's comprehensive cloud services offerings, Microsoft today underlined the importance of India in its overall cloud services strategy. Sharing results of a study by global management consultants Zinnov, Microsoft reiterated that India has the potential to emerge as the global competency centre for cloud services. Several announcements by Microsoft partners echoed the big bets they are placing on Microsoft cloud services platform. The Zinnov study estimates the global cloud computing market to be over $ 70 billion by 2015. India, with its powerful ecosystem of over 1300 independent software vendors (ISVs), 1.4 million developers and more than 11000 system integrators (SIs and Custom software development organizations), is ideally poised to address this growing opportunity. As a result, an additional 300,000 jobs related to cloud services are estimated to be created in India over the next 5 years.

Speaking on the subject Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft Corporation said, 'India will not only see a surge in consumption of cloud services, driving growth in domestic IT usage, but companies all over the world will look to India to support their transition to cloud computing. Microsoft is committed to helping businesses both in India and across the world maximize business value by leveraging the benefits that the cloud offers.' Microsoft's cloud infrastructure supports over one billion customers and 20 million businesses globally, today. Speaking on the occasion, Rajendra Pawar, Chairman, NIIT said, 'We are excited about our enduring partnership with Microsoft. We foresee the power of the cloud and the following gap in the skill set. Through our exclusive program, our attempt is to offset this gap by churning out first-day first-hour trained professionals on Windows Azure.' 'Windows Azure helps customers unlock the value that can be derived from cloud-enabled services, and helps them build strong and agile businesses,' said Chandrasekaran, President and MD (Global Delivery), Cognizant.

'We are actively extending this proposition to global markets and rapidly ramping up our capabilities to deliver robust, scalable and secure cloud services to enterprise customers,' he added. Peter Yip, CEO, CDC Software said, 'Microsoft Windows Azure provides a potent tool set and environment for the development and deployment of cloud-based products. It is the ideal platform for the cloud version of 'CDC Respond' given its ease of use, dynamic scaling and minimal maintenance. I am confident that the security and reliability offered by Windows Azure will accelerate the adoption of the services model in critical and data sensitive scenarios, and increase overall customer confidence in the inevitable move to the cloud.' Microsoft cloud services, based on the software plus services vision, spans all the three service layers in the cloud and delivers Software as a Service, Platform as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service. As a result, businesses can choose to adopt a mix of cloud-based and on-premise computing models while experiencing the same familiar environment and fidelity.


TeamLease to Train & place 60,000 Tribal Youth of Gujarat

TeamLease Services, India's largest staffing company, today announced that they have been awarded the project to train and place 60,000 tribal youth by the Gujarat Government. The project will extend over the next 5 years and the costs involved will be incurred by the Tribal Department, making the services free for youth. This is a pioneering, first-of-its-kind initiative in India for the benefit of the tribal community involving a State Government and TeamLease Services. The project is expected to go live by July 2010.

With the recent acquisition of Indian Institute of Job Training (IIJT), India's fastest growing vocational training company, TeamLease is uniquely placed to provide end-to-end services. While TeamLease ensures the employment end of the spectrum, IIJT ensures employability of the candidates. With this partnership, TeamLease is well equipped to provide Assessments, Counseling, Training and Placement services to the tribal youth in Gujarat.  This is expected to provide a much needed fillip to their employability and employment needs and enable opportunities for their integration into the mainstream.

'Gujarat is among India's most progressive states and there are several opportunities for job seekers here. The issue among the tribal population in Gujarat is the same as with the thousands of unemployed in India.  Most lack the necessary skills required to take advantage of the opportunities in the state and elsewhere and to be gainfully employed. TeamLease-IIJT will accurately assess and provide sound training for the candidates, thereby increasing their placement chances as well as their productivity at the work place. On a wider plane, this project can help offset various development-related challenges in tribal communities that have become an important national issue today,' commented Ashish Prasad, CEO of IIJT.

According to Neeti Sharma, Vice President, TeamLease Services, 'We are happy to be associated with this prestigious project with Government of Gujarat. This will help bring quality training, employability assessment and placement services to sections of society which till now had little or no access to such services. This will not just play a key role in the upliftment of the tribal youth in Gujarat, but is an important element of the larger developmental paradigm in the country, particularly with regard to fringe communities. TeamLease has an avowed vision of “Putting India to Work” using the 3E's – Employment, Employability and Education and this project exemplifies that vision.'

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