India
India’s health minister downplays raging pandemic to conceal ruling elite’s criminal “herd immunity” policy
By Saman Gunadasa, 24 September 2020
With the economy now largely reopened, the government has placed all responsibility for containing the virus onto working people.
India: Chennai garbage workers strike; Sri Lankan bank workers protest over contracts; Australian waterfront workers walkout
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
19 September 2020
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Indian police and BJP government extend witch-hunt against anti-CAA protesters to filmmaker Rahul Roy
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 16 September 2020
Monday’s interrogation of Roy and his wife comes after the Delhi police spuriously implicated prominent cultural and political figures in the BJP-fomented communal violence.
Indian workers speak out against Modi, trade unions on COVID-19 pandemic
By Sasi Kumar and V. Gnana, 15 September 2020
WSWS reporters interviewed workers in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu on the situation facing Indian workers during the pandemic.
India-China border conflict remains on knife’s edge
By Jordan Shilton and Keith Jones, 12 September 2020
US support for India and efforts by major European powers to boost their military-strategic presence in the Indo-Pacific could cascade the border crisis into a catastrophic war.
India: Petrol refinery and agricultural marketing workers strike against privatisation; Pakistani government workers strike against pay freeze
Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia
12 September 2020
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India’s Supreme Court punishes prominent lawyer for criticizing its role in assault on democratic rights
By Kranti Kumara, 11 September 2020
Time and again, India’s Supreme Court has aided and abetted the anti-democratic actions and Hindu communalist provocations of the Modi government.
India now second only to US in number of COVID-19 cases, yet continues to expand “reopening”
By Deepal Jayasekera, 9 September 2020
With 90,802 new infections on Monday, India registered more COVID-19 cases just on one day than China has recorded since the beginning of the pandemic.
India-China border tensions flare anew, posing threat of catastrophic military conflict
By Deepal Jayasekera, 5 September 2020
India’s increasingly aggressive stance against China is being stoked by Washington.
West Bengal administrative workers strike; Maharashtra nurses hold state-wide protests; private sector nurses strike in New Zealand
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
5 September 2020
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India sets world record for daily coronavirus infections
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 4 September 2020
With India now recording more than 75,000 new cases on average each day, it will soon overtake Brazil as the country with the world’s second-highest number of COVID-19 infections.
India: Death toll from Kerala landslide rises to 65
By Shibu Vavara, 4 September 2020
While heavy rain was blamed for the disaster, government authorities failed to provide the region with the necessary basic public infrastructure.
Thousands of workers strike at Indian arms factories; Indonesian police attack paper mill workers; South Korean doctors continue strike
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
29 August 2020
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India emerges as a global epicenter of COVID-19 pandemic
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 26 August 2020
India is the third country to surpass 3 million registered coronavirus cases, and its official death toll, widely considered to be an underestimation, is approaching 60,000.
Pakistani university workers oppose job cuts; Offshore gas platform workers strike in Western Australia; New Zealand health workers protest
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
22 August 2020
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Millions of Indian workers strike to protest attacks by Modi government amid COVID-19 pandemic
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 21 August 2020
Millions of workers have joined strikes and protests opposing the government’s attacks on their wages and working conditions.
India: Motherson’s “inquiry” rubber stamps sacking of strikers
By Arun Kumar, 17 August 2020
The ongoing persecution of Motherson autoparts strikers was facilitated by the Maoist Left Trade Union Centre’s betrayal of the 140-day walkout.
Modi government intensifies repression one year after its constitutional coup against Kashmir
By Kranti Kumara and Keith Jones, 15 August 2020
The Modi government’s illegal abrogation of Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status and imposition of a state-of-siege in the Muslim-majority region have been conspicuously ignored by the US and other major imperialist powers.
Indian social health workers hold two-day national strike; South Korean hospital doctors walkout
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
15 August 2020
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Hospital fire in southern India kills 10 COVID-19 patients
By Arun Kumar, 12 August 2020
With the pandemic spreading rapidly in the country, the circumstances of the fire point to criminal negligence on the part of governments and hotel and hospital authorities.
Indian railway and Sri Lankan port workers oppose privatisation; Australian supermarket warehouse employees stop work over COVID-19 infection
Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia
8 August 2020
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Consecrating an historic crime:
Indian PM Modi to lay cornerstone for Hindu temple at site of razed Ayodhya mosque
By Deepal Jayasekera, 5 August 2020
Facing mounting popular anger over its ruinous response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BJP government is doubling down on its Hindu supremacist agenda.
India: Punjab health workers strike for permanent jobs; Asahi auto glass-making workers strike in Chennai; Woolworths Distribution Centre workers locked out in Australia
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
1 August 2020
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India set to surpass two million COVID-19 cases within days
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 30 July 2020
While the government claims that it is mounting a “successful battle,” the virus is rampaging across the India, with half a million new infections in the past 12 days.
Indian health workers protest over COVID-19 treatment discrimination and wages; Western Australian caterers and cleaners strike on offshore gas platforms
Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia
25 July 2020
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India: Over 40,000 Karnataka health workers begin indefinite state-wide strike; Pakistani doctors protest and Sri Lanka nurses demand overtime pay
Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia
18 July 2020
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As India approaches 1 million COVID-19 cases, Modi government continues to deny community transmission
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 17 July 2020
The absurd claim that India is not experiencing significant community transmission is part of the government’s reckless back-to-work drive and its criminal “herd immunity” policy.
Massive worker participation in three-day India Coal strike
By Kranti Kumara, 11 July 2020
Last week’s strike had a huge impact on Coal India’s output, indicating that a large majority of its more than 500,000 regular and contract workers joined the walkout.
Neyveli Thermal plant explosion in southern India kills 13 workers
By Arun Kumar, 10 July 2020
The explosion at the government-owned mine and power plant is a result of the corporation’s refusal to replace outdated and dangerous facilities and equipment.
Surge in infections gives India third highest COVID-19 cases worldwide
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 9 July 2020
The surge is a direct result of the Modi government’s homicidal “herd immunity” policy, which prioritizes the profit interests of big business over the lives of workers and their families.
India takes economic reprisals against China as border frictions continue
By Deepal Jayasekera and Keith Jones, 8 July 2020
Although several rounds of talks have been held, both New Delhi and Beijing continue to maintain an enhanced military presence along their disputed border.
Modi government prosecutes anti-CAA protest leaders on bogus terrorism charges
By Kranti Kumar and Shuvu Batta, 7 July 2020
Turning reality on its head, the Delhi police, acting on the orders of the BJP government, is trying to blame anti-CAA protest leaders for the anti-Muslim riots that convulsed northeast Delhi in late February.
Pandemic spirals out of control in South Africa, India, Brazil
By Bryan Dyne, 4 July 2020
The official tallies in each country of daily confirmed coronavirus cases have become exponential, indicating that whatever containment measures were implemented to halt the spread of the virus have essentially collapsed.
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
4 July 2020
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Hundreds of thousands of Indian coal miners launch three-day strike against privatisation
By Arun Kumar, 3 July 2020
Facing an economic crisis that has been greatly exacerbated by the pandemic and the ruling elite’s selfish class response, the Modi government is pushing through a “quantum jump” in pro-investor “reforms.”
Pandemic rages across South Asia as total cases near 1 million
By our correspondents, 1 July 2020
The governments of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are rushing to “reopen” their economies even as COVID-19 cases and deaths are growing exponentially.
India’s opposition parties back Modi’s bellicose stand in border conflict with China
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 30 June 2020
The Congress Party and Stalinist CPI and CPM have extolled the military for “defending” India’s borders and pledged their support for the BJP government in confronting Beijing.
Pandemic surpasses 10 million COVID-19 cases and over 500,000 deaths globally
By Benjamin Mateus, 29 June 2020
COVID-19 cases in the United States have careened out of control, with health care systems in Texas, Florida and Arizona nearing collapse.
Indian and Pakistani health workers strike over coronavirus safety; Australia Paper maintenance workers locked out
Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia
27 June 2020
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India rapidly emerging as epicenter of COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 25 June 2020
As a result of the Modi government’s abandonment of lockdown measures, the coronavirus is spreading like wildfire in both urban slums and rural areas.
India-China conflict threatens to undermine Russian foreign policy
By Clara Weiss, 23 June 2020
While the US has intervened aggressively on the side of India, Russia sees the clash as a challenge to its geo-strategy and is seeking to negotiate a resolution to the conflict.
World coronavirus cases rocket past 9 million as pandemic accelerates
By Bryan Dyne, 22 June 2020
Public health expert warns that infections will not come in waves, but as “one very, very difficult forest fire of cases.”
India and China rush troops, weaponry to disputed border region
By Keith Jones, 22 June 2020
India has placed on the “highest alert” the 300,000 troops it has arrayed along its 3,500-kilometer border with China.
US stokes India-China conflict, blames Chinese “aggression” for border clash
By Keith Jones, 20 June 2020
Senior US official David Stilwell provocatively told a press briefing that the Chinese army had “invaded” the “contested area” between India and China.
India and China remain on knife edge as war tensions continue
By Shuvu Batta and Keith Jones, 19 June 2020
While proclaiming they want to de-escalate, India and China are each demanding the other stand down and pouring additional troops and weapons into their border regions.
Sharp spike of coronavirus deaths in India
By Saman Gunadasa, 19 June 2020
Right-wing Prime Minister Narendra Modi has categorically ruled out a second lockdown even after India registered more than 2,000 deaths on Tuesday and over 13,000 new infections on both Wednesday and Thursday.
Dozens die in India-China border clash
By Keith Jones, 17 June 2020
It is the enmeshing of the India-China rivalry with the strategic confrontation between China and US imperialism that makes the border dispute so combustible and incendiary.
Indian cruise ship crew stage second protest in three days
By Tom Casey, 16 June 2020
Thousands of cruise ship workers—some of them infected with COVID-19—remained trapped on vessels around the world after the industry shut down last March in response to the pandemic
India: A massive explosion in Gujarat chemical plant kills 10 workers
By Arun Kumar, 13 June 2020
The tragic loss of life and terrible injuries are a direct result of government and company indifference towards mandatory work safety measures.
UK: Indian cruise ship crew members still awaiting repatriation
By Paul Bond, 12 June 2020
Around 650 Indian crew members of TUI/Marella cruise ships are still laid up in waters off Southampton on the south coast of England.
COVID-19 cases rise rapidly after South Asia’s governments abandon lockdowns
By our correspondents, 10 June 2020
India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have all recorded dramatic increases in COVID-19 infections and deaths over the past week.
Trump confers with Modi over explosive India-China border dispute
By Shuvu Batta and Keith Jones, 8 June 2020
Intensifying the US strategic offensive against China, the Trump administration has publicly sided with India, and is goading New Delhi on in its border standoff with Beijing.
India and Australia sign military pact amid tense border conflict with China
By Mike Head, 8 June 2020
The Modi-Morrison “summit” occurred just two days after US President Trump reiterated his support for India’s confrontation with China.
India-wide protests by military armament and power industry workers; Australian airport workers demand JobKeeper pay
Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia
6 June 2020
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Indian government abandons lockdown measures as coronavirus infections soar
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 2 June 2020
An epidemiologist who is advising the government on its plan to “reopen” the economy blithely acknowledged that it will result in a catastrophic loss of life, declaring that “India may see at least two million deaths.”
Explosion at Indian thermal power plant kills four workers
By Arun Kumar, 1 June 2020
The tragic deaths are a result of the management’s hasty moves to resume work, in line with the Modi government’s instructions to reopen the economy.
Coronavirus cases surpass six million globally
By Bryan Dyne, 30 May 2020
New epicenters in Eastern Europe, South America, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent are rapidly causing massive public health crises.
After ignoring migrant workers’ plight, the Indian Supreme Court now acknowledges unfolding social tragedy
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 30 May 2020
The court’s intervention reflects concerns fear by India’s legal authorities that mounting mass anger will erupt against the entire capitalist elite and its state.
Indian autoworkers strike for COVID-19 safety measures; Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers demonstrate
Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia
30 May 2020
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Trump intrudes in China-India border standoff
By Keith Jones, 29 May 2020
US President Donald Trump intruded into the tense border standoff between China and India Wednesday with a spurious offer to mediate and even “arbitrate” “their now raging border dispute.”
Mumbai health care system overwhelmed as COVID-19 surges across India
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 28 May 2020
”It’s a war zone,” said a doctor employed at one of the main hospitals in India’s second largest city.
Washington incites India in tense border dispute with China
By Keith Jones, 22 May 2020
Washington’s vocal support for New Delhi is in marked contrast with its stance during the 2017 Indo-China border dispute, and is part of a dramatic escalation of its anti-China offensive.
Cyclone Amphan kills over 90 and devastates wide areas of eastern India and Bangladesh
By Arun Kumar, 22 May 2020
Millions of people have been evacuated from cyclone-hit areas in South Asia, but their relocation into overcrowded temporary shelters place them in real danger of contracting COVID-19.
As Modi government eases lockdown, coronavirus cases surge in India
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 19 May 2020
Municipal authorities in Mumbai, India’s second largest city, recently announced that due to a lack of hospital beds, they were placing COVID-19 patients on a waiting list for medical treatment.
Modi promotes “herd immunity,” vows “quantum jump” in pro-investor reforms
By Wasantha Rupasinghe and Keith Jones, 18 May 2020
As the Modi government expands its reckless back-to-work drive, India reported yesterday its biggest daily jump in COVID-19 cases to date.
Thousands of migrant workers demonstrate across India; Tamil Nadu cleaners demand COVID-19 protection
Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia
16 May 2020
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The brutal face of India’s ruling class
Sixteen migrant workers killed by goods train
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 14 May 2020
The workers, aged between 20 and 35, were attempting to return to their home state of Madhya Pradesh, having previously worked at a steel plant in Maharashtra.
India’s calamitous COVID-19 lockdowns leave more than 120 million jobless
By Wasantha Rupasinghe and Keith Jones, 14 May 2020
Egged on by big business, the BJP government is now pushing for a return to work, and cynically citing the suffering its lockdown has inflicted on India’s working people to justify making them risk infection and death.
Strikes and workers’ protests mount against “back to work” campaign
By Shannon Jones, 9 May 2020
The incompetence and callous disregard for human life by the capitalist authorities in country after country is fueling an upsurge in the class struggle.
India: Toxic gas leak in Visakhapatnam kills 11 people and puts thousands in danger
By Pradeep Ramanayake, 9 May 2020
The deadly leak began as employees were about to resume work at the LG Polymers plant, following the Modi government’s easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
Workers in India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan strike to demand coronavirus-safe working conditions
Workers Struggles: Asia
9 May 2020
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Modi eases lockdown restrictions even as COVID-19 cases surge across India
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 8 May 2020
India’s far-right BJP government is pressing to “reopen” the economy so that sweatshop exploitation of the working class can resume at full throttle, even as the number of COVID-19 cases surges.
Indian migrant workers in Chennai speak to WSWS about coronavirus pandemic
By Sasi Kumar and Moses Rajkumar, 8 May 2020
“We’ve received no help whatsoever from any political parties or the government. None of us living here have been given a coronavirus medical test or provided with face masks for safety.”
Millions in South Asia react with shock and horror at ruling elite’s incompetence over pandemic
By Wije Dias, 6 May 2020
The capitalist system failed from the pandemic’s outset to identify or treat hundreds of thousands of ordinary people.
Modi government punishes officials for urging increased taxation of rich to fight coronavirus
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 4 May 2020
Even as India’s workers and toilers face the COVID-19 pandemic and mass hunger, the Modi government is opposed to imposing even one additional rupee of tax upon the capitalist elite.
Thousands of Assam tea workers demand lockdown wages in India; Protests continue in Bangladesh over wages, factory closures and safety
Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia
2 May 2020
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“The central and state governments, as well as the opposition parties, don’t really care for human lives”
Tamil Nadu auto workers denounce Indian government responses to COVID-19
By Sasi Kumar and Moses Rajkumar, 1 May 2020
Millions of workers, particularly those in the so-called informal sector, have been left without any income to purchase food and other basic items.
Coronavirus pandemic surges across South Asia, even as governments push for a return to work
By our correspondents, 29 April 2020
The response of South Asia’s governments to the pandemic underscores the contempt of the national bourgeoisie for the lives of hundreds of millions of working people and rural toilers.
India’s BJP and its Hindu-right allies scapegoat Muslims for spread of pandemic
By Wasantha Rupasinghe and Keith Jones, 25 April 2020
The manifest failure of the Modi government to protect the population from the ravages of the pandemic and its economic fallout have led the BJP to vilify and scapegoat Muslims.
India: Modi government moves to “reopen” economy as virus cases surge
By Wasantha Rupasinghe and Keith Jones, 22 April 2020
Modi and big business have cynically sought to justify their push for a premature return to work by pointing to the desperate plight of hundreds of millions of day labourers.
South Indian film directors discuss coronavirus impact on local movie industry
By Yuvan Darwin, 22 April 2020
The Modi government’s sudden three-week lockdown abruptly brought the film industry to a halt and rendered thousands of daily wage workers jobless overnight.
Millions of internal migrant workers suffering under India’s lockdown
By Rohantha De Silva, 20 April 2020
A police attack on a Mumbai protest has highlighted the fate of workers under the Modi government’s measures.
Modi extends India’s coronavirus lockdown till May 3
By Wasantha Rupasinghe and Keith Jones, 15 April 2020
Modi offered no plan to deal either with the health emergency or the socio-economic calamity triggered by the sudden, unplanned lockdown.
As COVID-19 pandemic surges across India, business presses for quick return to work
By Wasantha Rupasinghe and Keith Jones, 14 April 2020
Due to the criminal negligence of the Modi government and the Indian elite, the country’s workers and toilers face a combined health and socio-economic catastrophe.
Three years since Indian court ordered 13 framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers jailed for life
By Kranti Kumara, 13 April 2020
The World Socialist Web Site urges workers around the world to redouble their efforts to free these class war prisoners, whose only “crime” was to challenge a brutal work-regimen, cheap-labour and precarious contract jobs.
India: Punjab health workers and poor farmers protest over inadequate COVID-19 supplies; Queensland public health workers demand promised wage rise
Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia
11 April 2020
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Letter from Indian-held Kashmir:
Emergency amidst Emergency—Modi government denies Internet access imperiling lives
By Muzamil Yaqoob and Nilanjana Bhattacharya, 7 April 2020
The Indian state has refused to comply with World Health Organization guidelines to lift the internet lockdown in Kashmir, denying doctors and the public access to critical information in a life-and-death situation.
Indian medical staff speak to WSWS on COVID-19 pandemic
By Yuan Darwin and Nanda Kumar, 6 April 2020
Indian medical staff are struggling to fight COVID-19 under conditions of a run-down public health system and high-population densities without basic facilities.
Amid India’s calamitous lockdown, Modi seeks to censor coronavirus reports
By Wasantha Rupasinghe and Keith Jones, 4 April 2020
India’s Supreme Court has ordered media outlets to publicize “official” government-authored coronavirus reports, and threatened prosecution if they disseminate “fake news.”
Tea estate workers in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as well as medical workers in India and Papua New Guinea strike over COVID-19 dangers
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
4 April 2020
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India: Maoist-led union alliance betrays Sanmina workers
By Yuan Darwin, 3 April 2020
The Sanmina workers walked out on strike on March 3 to demand a pay rise and reinstatement of victimised militant workers.
Modi government represses desperate migrant workers amid calamitous coronavirus lockdown
By Wasantha Rupasinghe and Keith Jones, 2 April 2020
People across India and around the world have been shocked and outraged by the pictures of poor migrant workers caught up in the Indian government's ill-conceived and socially reckless 21-day nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
19,000 ambulance workers strike in Northern India to demand protective gear
By Pradeep Ramanayake, 2 April 2020
The strike by Indian ambulance workers is part of the militant class response by the working class against the capitalist governments that have endangered the lives of workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
India’s calamitous lockdown punishes poor while undermining efforts to halt spread of coronavirus
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 30 March 2020
The Modi government’s ill-prepared, three-week lockdown has resulted in chaos, including large disorganized movements of desperate poor people, thereby providing conditions conducive to the rapid spread of COVID-19.
Indian prime minister’s coronavirus lockdown threatens social disaster for millions
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 26 March 2020
Modi has not outlined any comprehensive program to deal with enormous difficulties that millions of workers and rural poor will face.
Amid warnings of potential catastrophic loss of life from COVID-19
Modi places India’s 1.3 billion people under lockdown
By Keith Jones, 25 March 2020
Modi’s speech provided no details about basic questions, such as how the population would be able to procure food, and, in India’s villages, even water.
Medical expert warns India could be next coronavirus hotspot
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 21 March 2020
The Indian ruling elite’s response to the unfolding disaster has been criminally negligent, with only 14,175 tests conducted in a country of 1.3 billion people.
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
21 March 2020
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Coronavirus pandemic threatens to overwhelm India’s dilapidated health system
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 14 March 2020
Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party government are stubbornly refusing to mobilize state resources to stem the spread of the virus.
Tamil Nadu sanitary workers demand permanent jobs; Sri Lankan plantation workers strike; New Zealand bus drivers resume industrial action
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
14 March 2020
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