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Madhya Pradesh Building Technically Advanced Generation

Dr Veerendra KumarMadhya Pradesh’s Directorate of Technical Education is providing quality education with judicious allocation of available resources to the technical institutions to contribute to the economic well-being and quality of life of communities it serves, shares Dr Veerendra Kumar, Director, Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), Madhya Pradesh, in conversation with Divakar Mukherjee of Elets News Network (ENN).

Give us an overview of MP Technical Education Department

The Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), Government of Madhya Pradesh, is a nodal body for implementing technical education policies of State and Central Government, and acts as a coordinating agency between Government, Industry and Institutions to advise and assist the Government in the all-round development of technical education. DTE supports accountability and is responsible in bringing quality technical education in the State of Madhya Pradesh with effective and efficient Management and interacts with external agencies like AICTE, CII, FICCI, R&D organisations and institutes of higher learning for development of educational quality. We are providing quality education with judicious allocation of available resources to the technical institutions so as to contribute to the economic well-being and quality of life of the communities it serves.

How is it being ensured that technical education of Madhya Pradesh matches global standards?

To maintain global standards of quality education, DTE established State Project Facilitation Unit, Madhya Pradesh, a separate unit under Directorate of Technical Education, Madhya Pradesh to run Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme in the State as per the project requirement. The project activities are coordinated through this office by Deputy Director and Head, SPFU, Madhya Pradesh as Project Coordinator, in the guidance of Director Technical Education and State Project Advisor, Madhya Pradesh. The Project Coordinator is supported by following four Cells — Monitoring and Evaluation Cell, Academic Cell, Procurement Cell, and Financial Management Cell.

The SPF Unit started ‘The Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme’ (TEQIP) with World Bank assistance as a long term Programme to be implemented in three phases. TEQIP-III has already been started by National Project Implementation Unit (NPIU), Noida in 2016. An orientation workshop was organised by NPIU on 18th January 2017 at New Delhi. In this workshop, representatives of World Bank, officials of MHRD, Government of India, officials of State Government and representatives of probable Government Funded /Aided engineering institutions have participated and the guidelines were provided to probable institutions of the State to prepare their Institutional Development Plans for the participation the Project TEQIP-III.

What kind of ICT-based initiatives are being taken by the government to boost teaching
learning process in the State?

Pioneering a unique initiative, DTE started ‘eVaani’, a server-based facility which broadcast video-based lectures of experienced faculty members to institutions in rural and far-flung areas to cope-up with staff crunch.

Now DTE is in the process of establishing smart classrooms in all institutions to extend the benefit of eLearning to students of all institutions.

How the State government is promoting entrepreneurship among students? What policies and new initiatives have been undertaken in this regard?

DTE encourages students startups from institutions under its umbrella. The department has invited institutions to apply for establishing new institution based incubation centres to foster startup ecosystem at institutional level.

Digital India and Skill India Missions are two of the most talked about initiatives of the
Government of India. What is the role of department in skilling and providing jobs to
youths under these two initiatives?

In the Skill development domain the department is ensuring implementation of all initiatives under Skill India Mission in Madhya Pradesh. For providing employment, the DTE has signed MoU with CII, West Zone, Mumbai through placement cells they are organising regularly Industry-Academia Meet, Campus Placements Fairs also monitoring the progress of institution based Training & Placement Cells.

What initiatives has the department undertaken to increase environmental awareness in
institutions under its umbrella?

The Directorate of Technical Education has come up with Green campus Initiative under which clear guidelines have been provided to all institutions for redefining its environmental culture and developing new paradigms by creating sustainable solutions to environmental, social and economic needs. Some initiatives under Green Campus programmes are establishment of 10KW Solar Power Station, Wastewater management system, Rainwater Harvesting system, Recycling bin for e-waste, institute, community garden and digital libraries.

Directorate of Technical Education Madhya Pradesh (DTEMP) is setting up Tod-Fod- Jod (TFJ) centres in all its engineering/polytechnic colleges so as to inspire the engineering/diploma students to carry out innovative project work, experiment and participate in hands on activities. The budding technocrats are trained to recycle tools, raw material and also used equipments for development of new prototypes.

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“Directorate of Technical Education Madhya Pradesh is setting up Tod-Fod- Jod (TFJ) centres in all its engineering/polytechnic colleges so as to inspire the engineering/diploma students to carry out innovative project work, experiment and participate in hands on activities.”

Boosting Student Employability with Internship

employability in india

Most graduates are faced with a peculiar situation to be employed in their field of study. In a traditional hiring system, they cannot get a break without experience and this experience cannot be gained until any company hires the candidate. Dipen Pradhan of Elets News Network explores employability opportunity for students through Internship.

The trade and industry sector, for instance, conducts its own test while hiring and is not happy with the result. They argue that most universities in India produce graduates, post- graduates and diploma or certificate holders, who are unemployable.

So worrying is the situation that it has set off alarm bells as the number of graduates in the nation continues to increase with no job, and mostly ending up to opt jobs in other sectors – rather adding to the burgeoning unemployment in the country, which is expected to reach 18 million in 2018.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) report suggests the number of graduate students doubled from 11,908,151 in 2008 to 24,593,321 in 2016. As of February this year, 789 universities, 37,204 colleges and 11,443 stand-alone institutions were functioning across India.

Meanwhile, only 641,000 jobs were created from July 2014 to December 2016 in sectors —manufacturing, trade, construction, education, health, information technology, transport, and accommodation & restaurant, according to Economic Survey report.

Although the Government of India has implemented various new initiatives like Make in India, Digital India, Skill India, Startup India, Smart Cities etc., however, are yet to yield results.

Mandatory Internship by AICTE

To enable Engineering and Management students become employable and to bridge the skill gap between the industry requirement and the academia, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Engineering Council of India (ECI) in June this year entered into an MoU for providing “Internship” – commence from Session 2017-18 – across 10,000 approximate AICTE affiliated technical institutions in the country.

Universities like Rajasthan Technical University (RTU), Samrat Ashok Technological Institute (SATI), Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (RGPV), Sandip University Nashik (SUN), Gujarat Technological University (GTU) have already agreed to carry out this internship programme for the students to provide a hands-on experience within a technical institution and industrial organisation working environment.

The programme has set two summer internships with the industry, for students before obtaining their graduate degrees, of two months duration each. The proviso has mandates to all the AICTE affiliated universities to make internship compulsory and include it in their academic calendar, too.

Under this joint initiative of AICTE-ECI MoU, the web portal (www.eciinternship.com) has also been launched for students to obtain an internship with technical institutions and industrial organisations.

From the official website of Eciinternship, students can avail information about various training programs and internship opportunities in engineering and management programs offered by ECI Member Associations.

Furthermore, ECI is in the process of identifying organisation or institutes, both in India and abroad, and signing MoUs to facilitate the internship programme.

The internship programme for graduating engineering students received a further boost after the current Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani, directed his State’s industries to enrol interns – 10 per cent of its total employee strength.

The Gujarat Biodiversity Board has also signed an agreement with ECI in which the State’s 457 pharmaceutical companies have agreed to take four students each as interns.

With a similar objective, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje recently directed the State industries to start enrolling students as interns, ECI Member Secretary Dr PR Swarup said in one of the programmes held by AICTE in Jaipur, recently.

MHRD to roll-out National Entrance Examination for Technical Institutions (NEETI)

Technical education is the key enabler for the development of the country. It is the axis around which the development of industry, infrastructure and economy of the countries revolve. As the number of unemployed engineering graduates continues to increase, the blame-game often points towards ‘curricula’ for creating the skill gap between the industry requirement and the academia.

Time-and-again, a debate is raised to provide industry-focused curricula and projects to enhance the employability of the undergraduates.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development is planning a major reshuffle in India’s technical education through the implementation of single National Entrance Examination for Technical Institutions (NEETI) from January 2018, which includes teacher training and annual revision of curriculum, among others.

Once implemented, the institutions will have to make suitable changes in the curriculum every year to meet the industry requirement.

Rising trend of Internship providers

In recent years, the country has witnessed a rising trend of private companies providing internship and training to the students in verticals such as engineering, applied arts, architecture, law, hotel management, website development, marketing etc.

University of London: Inculcating Skills to Nurture Future Leaders

In today’s rapidly evolving job market, it is very important for students and professionals to upgrade and learn new skills, says Chris Cobb, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Operations) and Chief Operating Officer, University of London, in a conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).

Along with Artificial Intelligence (AI), Coding and other industry needed skills, what kind of other skills students should focus on?

Chris Cobb, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Operations) and Chief Operating Officer, University of London
Chris Cobb, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Operations) and Chief Operating Officer, University of London

We are in the age of Information Technology which is leading to the automation of services and processes and more use of robotics. As a result, people have to focus more on acquiring the skills needed in future along with the traditional skills to adapt with changing world. Artificial Intelligence will have a significant impact. But it largely relies on predictive actions based on previous experience. AI is less good at adapting to new things that haven’t been encountered before. It’s also less good at the things that humans excel at: the ability to think critically; discern reality from rhetoric; develop an argument; be persuasive; lift morale; motivate; innovate; think creatively and be ingenious, in other words to be human. These are the skills that students of tomorrow will need and that we should focus on developing.

The University of London is a global education hub of knowledge and education. What are the university’s expansion plans in developing and underdeveloped countries to bring students at par with modern education?

The University of London has strength of around 170,000 global students from almost every country of the world. 120,000 of them are on campus in London, while 50,000 are pursuing our degree courses in their own countries. To enhance our engagement globally and to widen the provision further, we are trying to open up study opportunities in better numbers for professionals in key sectors such as business, finance, law, education, health and international development.

Internship plays a vital role in enhancing the employability of students and provides a hands-on experience within a corporate working environment. Please tell us about the initiative started by University of London on similar lines.

Our Business Observation Placements scheme began as a pilot in Singapore and has now been rolled out in India and Pakistan. There are plans to extend this further in South East Asia and other regions where we have significant number of students. The scheme offers our undergraduate students a unique opportunity to take a bespoke short-term placement in the sector relevant to their study, be it business, law or other field. We recognise that academic learning is an important part of a student’s journey of becoming a professional but to develop industry oriented skills along with work related learning is most important. Employers who work with the university recognise and respect the quality of education we provide. Many of the entrepreneurs are graduates of the University of London, and happy to reinvest in future generations of professionals.

Graduates often face difficulties to get employment in their respective field of study. What suggestion would you like to give these students before starting their careers?

Clarity of purpose while choosing a particular occupational path is always important. It will be difficult to succeed in areas which may be attractive for other reasons but ultimately don’t fit with the interests, motivation and skills of the individual. In a crowded market, develop oneself as a “brand” is important. This could be made up of educational branding (so the University of London would be a good example of a well-known global brand) and employer and experience branding. The latter is where internships can be very important. Creating and using networks both personal and virtual (such as Linkedin) are very significant. The creation of a network is only part of this. Networking is a skill which needs to be worked on and developed.

Manipal University Jaipur Encouraging Innovation through Better Placements

MUJ considers placement as an important outcome of efforts to provide latest in innovation and research to the students.  To make it highly productive, MUJ undertakes one-to-one relationship with large number of industries and reputed institutions says Dr Sandeep Sancheti, President, Manipal University Jaipur, in a conversation with Dipen Pradhan of Elets News Network (ENN).

What are the interventions Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ) is taking for skilling and enhancing the employability of students? 

Dr Sandeep Sancheti, President, Manipal University Jaipur
Dr Sandeep Sancheti, President, Manipal University Jaipur

Manipal University Jaipur has been conscious of the fact that jobs in the industrial set up are available to the students who are skilled and competent of handling real-life situations. Curriculum has been designed to include skill development courses for gainful employability.  Further, MUJ has strengthened the delivery of all laboratory activities with deeper involvement using many high-end and precision equipment to enhance students’ hands-on experience and exposure. Efforts in the form of tinkering labs have also added new dimensions to experimental learning.

In order to bridge the skill gap, MUJ was one of the first Higher Education institutions to sign an MoU with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). NSDC has developed a unique model to integrate skill-based training into the academic cycle of the University. These trainings are being provided on the basis of National Occupational Standards set by industry through sector skill councils. The job roles offered are designed to be progressive in nature on National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).

Keeping in view the available infrastructure and job prospects, six sectors, namely, Vehicle Testing, Software Development, Tourism, Acting, Banking and Fashion Technology were identified by the University. Manipal University Jaipur also partnered with agencies like Manipal City & Guilds to jointly organize a skill development program on variety of topics.

What are the initiatives Manipal University Jaipur has undertaken in Student Startup domain?

Entrepreneurship is not only a buzzword but also happening in the University Campus proactively.  Manipal University Jaipur has been fostering entrepreneurship since inception.  In order to promote entrepreneurship among students and encourage entrepreneurial culture in the University, an Entrepreneurship Cell has been setup that mentors guides and incubate entrepreneurial business plans of the students to enable them to start their businesses. Students and faculty members are nominated to various events relating to entrepreneurship including B-plan workshops, B-plan contests, seminars, workshops and conferences.

The University has also created endowments to offer financial support to some of these innovative ventures through their own resources. The University has already incubated 20 new start-ups in a short span of 2-3 years.  Incubates are provided office space, business and legal support, access to all lab facilities and facilities like 3D printing etc. The University proposes to set up Technology Business Incubators (TBI) and  has also applied for Government. sponsored Atal Incubation Mission.

Many countries have started introducing Artificial Intelligence (AI) Coding etc, in the curriculum.  What initiatives is the Manipal University Jaipur undertaking to make students competent with the emerging technological trend ?

Manipal University Jaipur has always been committed to provide knowledge to students about emerging technological trends by introducing the new concepts in the curriculum. To enhance coding and problem solving, we have started ACM Coding Club which meets regularly on week-ends. The common problems found in contests (Hackathons, Online contests etc.) are discussed. Many of these problems can be solved using different methods through the illustrations and comparison of varied parameters by deliberations.

Through a project-based learning which emphasizes on hands-on learning, students are encouraged to look around for problems confronted by them. They are then helped by the faculty mentors to arrive at practical and feasible solutions and demonstrate through rapid prototypes or virtual models using many modelling and simulation tools like MATLAB, COMSOL and CATIA. To  solve the complex problems and arrive at solutions, supercomputers like PARAM SHAVAK with power of 3+ teraflops are available to the    students.

To evolve quick solutions, a variety of platforms are available to the students in state-of-the-art Internet of Things (IOT) lab with a plethora of sensors for ECG, Heart Beat, Ultrasound and Wireless communication paradigms like Low power Bluetooth (BLE), Low Power Radio (LoRa), GSM/GPRS, Wifi (802.11a,b,d,n). Using these, students can quickly conceive and test solutions for various applications like Smart transportation, Smart building, Smart energy, Smart health, Smart agriculture etc. A number of gateways with varying processing power are made available for intermediate data processing and uploading the same to clouds like AWS, Azure, and Blue Mix etc. for further processing and analytics.

Internship plays a vital role in enhancing the employability of students.  Highlight the initiatives Manipal University Jaipur has undertaken to facilitate internship for students to provide them hands on experience within a corporate working environment ?

MUJ considers placement as an important outcome of efforts to provide latest in innovation and research to the students.  To make it highly productive, MUJ undertakes one-to-one relationship with large number of industries and reputed institutions. The effectiveness of the academia – industry inter relationship underlines the use of the latest tools and techniques to make the pedagogy effective in all facets of its activity. Internships play a very important role in skill development and further increasing the employability of the students in the diverse domains. As such emphasis on industry component in the academic curriculum is made.  The University offers basic and advanced training programmes to its students and exposes them to related research in contemporary and futuristic technologies by way of continual improvement and innovation.

MUJ encourages the students to go for summer internships which form the backbone for final internship during the final semester. Final year students are mandated to work for their Projects in the industry to get hands-on experience, through the Practice School concept.  Campus recruitment process is conducted for providing internship as well as job opportunities to the students. MUJ insists on Industrial visits to be undertaken by students which provide a good industrial exposure which eventually helps them during their internships. The students are also encouraged to take certifications as per the industry requirements which help in getting desired internships and often leading to Pre-Placement offers for some students.  The University facilitates students for short duration stints abroad under more than two dozen mutual agreements signed with reputed global academic institutes to expose them to the culture and work ethos and prepare them for global placements.

Punjab Engineering College with ESRI India to foster geospatial technology

Punjab Engineering College (PEC) has inked MoU with ESRI India to foster Geospatial Technology in the country.

Under this partnership, PEC aims to disseminate information and awareness about Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing and Digital Mapping.

Along with the project and consultancy, the association of PEC and ESRI will work towards capacity building for geospatial technology. Moreover, this step reinforces the vision and mission of PEC to enhance itself as a Centre of Excellence in technical education and research.

This initiative is in line with the visions of Central Government’s flagship programmes like Smart Cities, Digital India and Clean Ganga, among others.

On this association, PEC Director Prof Manoj K Arora said, “The future lies in the study of geospatial data. Due to unavailability of the expertise in the relevant field, the need for such a centre assumes greater significance.”

ESRI is also working with various institutes to address the needs of building GIS and take it to higher levels.

ESRI India President Agendra Kumar said, “ESRI is also working with colleges, universities and research institutes to build GIS capacity and address changing skill requirements and resource shortage.”

Geospatial technology is among the modern tools contributing to the geographic mapping, analysis of the Earth and human societies. It includes a variety of technologies like Remote Sensing, GIS, Global Positioning System (GPS), internet mapping technologies, etc.

Pradeep Negi among top 50 contenders for USD 1 million global award

Pradeep Negi, a differently abled teacher from Uttarakhand has placed himself among the top 50 contenders for an USD one million global award.

Pradeep Negi
Pradeep Negi

Pradeep Negi is a teacher of economics, social science and computer science at Government Inter College BHEL Ranipur, Haridwar, Uttarakhand.

Out of 30,000 nominations and applications from 173 countries across the world, Negi has been shortlisted among top 50 for the annual Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2018.

“It is unbelievable. I am proud that I have been chosen as one of the top 50 teachers. It has motivated teachers in our community,” said Mr Negi.

“I am handicapped but it hasn’t stopped me from succeeding and I am glad that I can inspire other disabled people in India. I have developed a lot of innovative work in ICT for my poor children and I am glad it has been recognised,” said Mr Negi, who was physically disabled at the age of two due to polio.

Overcoming his adversities, Negi used technology to make subjects like economies and social sciences compelling to the students. He has been chosen for his fighting spirit. Negi has helped train more than 1,200 teachers in his state.

“Congratulations to Pradeep Negi for reaching the final 50. I hope his story inspires those looking to enter the teaching profession and shines a spotlight on the incredible work teachers do all over the world every day,” said Varkey Foundation and the Global Teacher Prize founder Sunny Varkey.

“We intend to keep this momentum going as our journey continues to return teachers to their rightful position as one of the most respected professions in society,” he said.

The Global Teacher Prize was set up to recognise one exceptional teacher every year who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession.

Delhi Government strict against the fee hike in private schools

The Delhi State Government has called a meeting of all the legislators and officials from education department to toughen its stand against fee hike in private schools.

Following the complaints from parents about the hike in fee by private schools along with demand of arrears, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia – who also holds the education portfolio – met at the Delhi Secretariat.

According to an official, Kejriwal and Sisodia have discussed the issue in the meeting with all the MLAs and education department officials.

The official also revealed that the legislators will get the data of complaints of fee hiking registered against the private schools of their respective.

The Directorate of Education (DoE) had also written to schools recently asking them to refrain from any “unjustified” hike in school fees in the name of implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations.

Government receives 100 applications for World Class University tag

The Central Government has received 100 applications for the Ministry of Human Resource Development’s ambitious project of setting up/upgrading 20 world class institutions in India.

“Overwhelming response to the idea of Institutions of Eminence, which will become World Class Universities, is a validation of the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for improving the quality of Higher Education in India”, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said.

The Government had approved the enabling regulatory architecture for of 10 public and 10 private Institutions of Eminence so as to enable them to reach amongst top 100 of world institutions ranking.

Under public sector, 10 Central Universities, 25 State Universities, six Deemed to be Universities, 20 Institutions of National Importance and six Standalone Institutions have applied. Under Private Sector, 9 Private Universities and 16 Deemed to be Universities have applied in brownfield category and 8 Institutions have applied in greenfield category.

“All lovers of education will welcome this development. This is how World Class Universities were built in various countries. The same thing will happen in India”, Shri Javadekar said, adding that “the selection of Institutions of Eminence will not only improve the quality of education, but also propel competition in the entire education sector,” Javadekar added.

The 20 institutions selected as “Institutions of Eminence” will have freedom to choose their own path to become world class institutions. “They will be provided with greater autonomy to admit up to 30 per cent foreign students, to recruit up to 25 per cent foreign faculty, to offer online courses up to 20 per cent of its programmes, to enter into academic collaboration with top 500 in the world ranking institutions without permission of the UGC,” a senior HRD Ministry official said.

No job offers for 80% of students in B-schools: Assocham

Around 80 per cent of the students in the business schools are not getting jobs. The current placement year seems the most challenging one in recent times for Indian business schools, reveals Assocham.

According to the The Associated Chambers of Commerce of India, demonetisation, lacklustre business sentiment and stalling of new projects, are the reasons of job opportunities for business school (B-school) students are drying on.

The campus hiring in B-schools of India has gone down severely (around 30 per cent) this than last year.

“The salary packages which are offered at B-schools and engineering colleges are also being curtailed by 40-45 per cent as compared to last year,” Assocham said.

The Assocham Education Council (AEC) said, “Many parents and students are re-thinking on investing three-four years and several lakhs in a course.”

Lack of student enrollment in B-schools has made over 400 institutions defunct, said the chamber.

As per the findings of the report, a large number of B-schools and engineering colleges are not able to attract students that caused over 250 B-schools to closed down since 2015 in major cities including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Dehradun etc. Another 99 are struggling for their survival, the report added.

“The biggest reason for the gap is the rapid mushrooming of tier-2 and tier-3 management educational institutes that have unfortunately not been matched by the uplift in the quality of management education,” said the chamber.

Suggesting the solutions to the problem, the Assocham stated to improve the infrastructure, train their faculty, work on industry linkages, and spend money on research and knowledge creation and making students employable rather than employed.

Indian parents keen to send their children study abroad: HSBC Study

Indian parents’ wish to make their children study abroad has shown a jump of around 15 per cent, a report of HSBC claims.

HSBC’s report – Value of Education, Higher and Higher revealed that the number of Indian parents wanting their children to study abroad has jumped from 47% in 2016 to 62% in 2017.

After the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India ranked second in the list of 15 countries where parents were surveyed. The 15 countries include: India, China, Australia, Canada, Egypt, France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States.

The US, Australia and UK, are the top three foreign destinations where Indian parents want their children to study. Parents in China also prefer the destinations in the same order.

Over 8,000 parents have participated in the study of which 42 per cent would consider their wards to study abroad, compared to 35% in 2016. 82% Indian parents would even consider an online university degree for their children.

The trend has seen a big percentage-point (pp) increase from the last year among the parents of Asian countries: India (62%, +15pp), Indonesia (61% +1pp), China (59%, +15pp), Malaysia (51%, +8pp), and Singapore (47%, +4pp).

Around half of these parents (47%) would consider their child to study in the universities of the US, making it the most popular choice overall. The US is the most favoured destination for parents in Taiwan (70%) followed by China (61%) and Canada (61%).

The second most popular choice is Australia (40%) and is the most favoured country for parents in Malaysia (67%), Indonesia (65%) and Singapore (63%).

Third most favoured destination (39%) is UK and is the top destination for parents in Hong Kong (67%), France (52%) and the UAE (48%).

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