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The Commission on Elections in the Philippines Selects Gemalto’s Biometrics Solution

Electoral commissions have the delicate task of maintaining reliable and correct electoral registers as part of the execution of the election. To help ensure secure and accurate voter verification before issuing ballot slips, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in the Philippines has appointed Gemalto, a Thales company, and Nextix as technology partners to develop, deploy and support the Biometric voter verification system for the 2019 Philippines national and local elections. The aim is to automate the verification of voters through the use of their biometrics information. Addressing this need, Gemalto will provide over 30,000 biometric tablets to enable rapid identification and authentication of voters in the designated precincts across the Philippines. With the tablets that feature Gemalto’s Voter Verification System, authorities will be able to reduce fraud by verifying voters’ identity via their fingerprints. This will also help cut waiting times for the voters and authorities tremendously. COMELEC will use the Gemalto solution to verify the identity of voters. This was put to a test at the first time during the mock elections held on 19th Jan 2019, in preparation for the actual polls in May 2019. Instead of manually checking the COMELEC’s voters list, members of the Board of Election Inspectors used the Voter Registration Verification Tablet, a system that removes the need for voters to present their identification card. Thanks to the tablet the electoral board will identify the voter’s with his fingerprint to determine if the voter is registered and whether the individual belongs to the certain precinct. If the individual is a registered voter, the tablet will validate the registration and he will receive the necessary ballot. Fingerprints serve as a key to avoid duplication. The aim is to ensure that citizens are not able to use several identities to vote multiple times. The voter verification system implements a quality control to verify that the data has been captured and verified correctly. Authorities are also able to track voting activity and participation rate via logs and audit reports. These steps will ensure the best possible level of security for elections to take place. “Secure, reliable and comprehensive enrollment and ID verification are the foundations of citizen registration, voting processes and border controls,” said Dir. James Jimenez, “With Gemalto’s voter verification system, we are able to streamline not only the verification but moving ahead, our registration processes bring greater convenience to citizens, guaranteeing the quality and confidentiality of data captured. We are excited to deploy this solution – a first for the Philippines government.” “In today’s environment, authorities face numerous challenges. Biometrics serve as the primary data that establishes an individual’s identity is accurately collected and verified. We are proud that the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) chose Gemalto biometric solution to verify the identity of voters. It is an honor to help COMELEC transform the agility and efficiency of the voters’ verification and registration processes,” said Tan Teck Lee, Asia President, Identity & Biometric Solutions, Thales.  

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Vanderbilt Safe School Solutions

School safety and campus security are at the epicenter of today’s conversations. Although reports show a decrease in school crimes in the last two decades, school administrators, parents, faculty and communities are remaining vigilant and taking an active stance in determining how to best protect students and staff and create safe campus environments. Aside from active shooting threats, schools must also take into consideration how to find ways to protect students from other incidents such as theft, assault and even bullying. But how has school safety evolved throughout the years to meet the security needs of today? Not long ago, school security was defined by chains on exterior doors, fences to help keep children within a playground, hall passes for students wandering outside of classrooms and emergency phones in strategic locations on college campuses. With the media attention surrounding active shooter incidents in schools, all eyes are on campus security officials and the tools they are currently using to keep students safe. One security resource that has seen significant improvement is the campus lockdown solution. In the past, when a school or campus was placed on lockdown, key personnel were appointed to manually lock doors with a master key, which was not the most efficient method in a crisis situation. This cumbersome technique put administrators in harm’s way and took critical time to execute. New technologies Fortunately, new technologies have been developed to increase effectiveness and protect faculty in the event of an emergency. An example of this type of solution is Vanderbilt’s Security Management System (SMS). By partnering with Allegion and utilizing Von Duprin Remote Undogging (RU) and Remote Monitoring (RM), K-12 and university facilities are able to utilize an electronic override of mechanical dogging during emergency facility lock-downs. The integration allows campus security officials and administrators to remotely monitor and lock down perimeter doors with the touch of a button during emergencies, enabling faster response times and increased safety. Another key resource that has helped improve campus safety is video surveillance and video management systems (VMS). Video data is not only crucial for school administrators during investigations, but it can also deter theft and vandalism, as well as act as a resource during school security breaches. Remote access Today’s VMS solutions allow administrators remote access to video clips for further management and investigation. In addition, by integrating with Vanderbilt’s Security Management Systems (SMS), access control, digital video and alarm monitoring can be controlled from a single platform, improving efficiencies and communications between technologies. Campuses are complex in design and each face unique challenges when implementing solutions to protect students while also enabling access to facilities for visitors. As campus security needs continue to evolve, the solutions designed to keep students, faculty and staff safe will also increasingly shift to accommodate those needs.  

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Vehant at Secutech India 2019

Vehant Technologies successfully launched its latest addition to premise security portfolio, the ‘NanoSniffer™ – Explosives Trace Detector’ at Secutech India 2019. It’s display created quite a buzz amongst the professionals in the industry and drew a lot of visitors during the show. NanoSniffer™ is a microsensor based highly sensitive and selective trace detector, in a portable desktop configuration. It can be used to accurately detect a wider range of military, commercial and homemade explosive threats, making it another efficient and prized possession in the Vehant product line. What’s most exciting is that it’s the first indigenously developed product in the ETD category in India, jointly developed with Nanosniff Technologies, an IIT Bombay incubated company. Vehant also showcased it’s award winning latest and technologically Avant grade product in the baggage scanning category, KritiScan™ 6040R – 3D X-ray baggage scanner. It is a highly competitive and technologically progressive product. It is based on highly accurate 3D technology to create virtual 3D images. It is capable of providing the operator with an isometric view of the scanned baggage by generating three dimensional image of the object. This product basically gives the depth perception of the object to the operator, which makes it easier to analyze the threat. KritiScan™ 6040R provides extremely detailed images for enhanced detection capabilities; thus enabling the security and surveillance personnel to view and inspect minute details in baggage scanning. It is a state-of-the-art trailblazing product in this section which has rendered the traditional 2-dimensional scanners obsolete, and which could only identify/ display 2-dimensional images of the object. Vehant has also received the ‘R&D Effort of the Year in Security Hardware Award’ for KritiScan™ 6040R – 3D X-ray Baggage Scanner at SECONA 2019. It is a highly competitive and research oriented award of the industry. The recognition has instills motivation in the team and the organization as a whole to keep working and achieve highest potential. Kapil Bardeja, CEO, Vehant Technologies has accredited the award to the entire team of researchers who work tirelessly to make such achievements possible. He said, “Such achievements are a result of team effort, enthusiasm, and commitment towards the objective of making India a safe and secure place for all.”  

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Infinova VS231-P2 Series Camera For Intelligent Face Capture

Infinova VS231-P2 series HD 2MP Smart Starlight WDR face capture IR IP PTZ dome camera is specially designed to address the intelligent face capture and recognition needs in the market. It’s based on a deep learning algorithm to guarantee effective intelligent analysis with richer and more accurate details. ” VS231-P2 can be widely used in city surveillance, road monitoring, entrance surveillance for subways, shopping mall/ supermarket and large venues, crowded places like train stations/airports and other demanding applications“ – Nitin Amin  Country Head – India Infinova The camera has a built-in HD integrated camera module, utilizes a large-size progressive scanning CMOS sensor and has an internal 30x optical zoom lens. It provides high-quality video with resolution up to 1920×1080@60fps, adopts H.265/ H.264/ MJPEG compression formats, outputs four video streams and boasts of excellent resolution and color reproduction ability. The camera has rich smart functions including face detection and face capturing etc. Face detection acts as an alarm event to trigger the image capturing for whole scene pictures and human face pictures. The pictures are uploaded to Infinova’s V2233 intelligent platform for secondary recognition and analysis. Key features: Built-in 30x HD integrated camera module. Large area progressive scanning CMOS sensor. ICR infrared filter type automatic switch to realize true day/ night surveillance. Starlight level ultra-low illumination. Supports frame integration WDR with dynamic range up to 120dB Inbuilt efficient infrared lamps of 850nm wavelength to ensure stable long-term use and reduce maintenance cost. Night vision distance up to 300 meters. The ways of turning on the infrared lamps can be flexible to meet diversified surveillance environment demands. The infrared power is adjusted automatically based on dome drive zooming or manually to optimize the night vision fill-in light effects. HD network video output: 1920×1080@60fps. H.265/ H.264/ MJPEG video encoding, quad video streams.sa The camera adopts large power LED infrared lamps, with infrared wavelength of 850nm, covering up to 300m for night view. The IR lamps can turn on or off automatically based on environmental lighting conditions or can be adjusted manually. The IR illumination allows flexible adjustment to reduce IR lamp calorific value and extend its service life.    

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Hikvision Certified Security Associate (HCSA) Program

The yet another Hikvision Certified Security Associates (HCSA) Program conducted in Kochi (2-3-4 May) and Coimbatore (6-7-8 May) also received an overwhelming response from the young security professional community from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. As ever, the three day comprehensive Program included training sessions on optics basics, turbo HD analog solution, PTZ configuration, network basics, IP camera, NVR, fish eye camera, iVMS 4200, and smart functions and applications. The programs were again convened in the leadership of Vinit Narvekar, Manager Customers – Training, Prama Hikvision India Private Ltd. The idea behind HCSA is to give hands on training and demonstration as a part of the training program. As part of this certification program a dedicated online examination and practical test was conducted after training sessions. “Hikvision has set the industry standard by offering professional video surveillance certification to validate video expertise under Hikvision Certified Security Associate (HCSA) program in India. This Hikvision certification program is specially designed for the security professionals. Besides, Hikvision provides meaningful endorsement to those who succeed in the exam and become Hikvision certified professionals,” said Ashish P. Dhakan, MD & CEO, Prama Hikvision India Pvt. Ltd. The HCSA level certification focuses on training participants in essential configurations, operations and maintenance of Hikvision video surveillance products and its features. It is designed for technical engineers who have worked in the security industry for some years and have already gained knowledge and experience about security basics. The certification program is open to anyone looking to gain expertise in video surveillance and total security solutions. The trainee should have at least one year of work experience in the security industry and be familiar with security basics. The HCSA Kochi program got participants from Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Trissure, Kottayam, Kayamkulam and Ernakulam, and the HCSA Coimbatore attracted security professionals from Madurai, Salem and Erode. The successful batch of Hikvision Certified Security Associates (HCSA) program participants will receive the HCSA certificates along with the enriching technology updates and product training experience. The next HCSA program schedule will be announced as per schedule on the Hikvision website.  

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Smart Cities India 2019 Expo

The 5th Smart Cities India expo, jointly organised by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and Exhibitions India Group, was inaugurated by Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, at the Pragati Maidan, New Delhi on 22nd May 2019. The three-day expo was a congregation of innovators and imaginators, academia, policy makers and city administrators, government representatives, business delegates, multinationals etc., that came to strike business deals, expand their markets, and explore new technologies and solutions in the fields of smart cities, water management, solar, transport and infrastructure. The expo saw record visitor numbers and strong sales across all disciplines. It had something to offer to all – trade delegations moved fruitfully from booth to booth, ideas exchanged among compatriots, and business was discussed. The fourth smart cities awards, conducted by Exhibitions India Group on the last day of the expo, received 236 nominations across 17 categories. A jury of 11 eminent members having vast experience and knowledge on the subject of smart cities across various categories such as water, education, infrastructure etc., selected the winners. The awards were presented to 17 winners, while certificates of merit were presented in 5 categories. Among the winners were New Delhi Municipal Council Smart City Ltd. for e-waste collection; Smart City Ahmedabad Development Ltd. for intelligent transit management system – automatic fare collection system; Smart City Ahmedabad Development Ltd. for safe and secure Ahmedabad project; Diesel Loco Modernisation Works Patiala for new electric locomotive – WAP7; Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Ltd. for solar rooftops etc. Meanwhile, talking about their experience at the 5th Smart Cities India 2019 expo, Bharat Kaushal, Managing Director, Hitachi India said, “Cities are complex organisms of people, governments, businesses and organisations, which require holistic solutions that address the needs of all stakeholders. The 5th Smart Cities India 2019 expo is an integrated platform for us to showcase Hitachi’s technological prowess in the smart city space, displaying our diversified social innovation business solutions and our commitment towards enhancing the lives of citizens digitally.” Samson Khaou, Managing Director (India), Dassault Systèmes said, “By 2030, India’s urban population will increase to more than 800 million, and over the next decade, cities will account for more than 70% of the country’s GDP. We have witnessed a push from the state governments to modernise infrastructure and build smart cities that involves building and renovating facilities, as well as construction of roads and highways. This will require significant collaboration and efficient monitoring. In addition, urban planners, architects and engineering and construction firms will leverage our 3d experience platform to deliver ‘more by using less’ in order to create a sustainable city that improves the life of the citizens.” Sharing his experience of the expo, a visitor said, “We, as common people, usually do not realise the hard work put in by our government and local administrators in creating the infrastructure of our cities. This exhibition and the conferences that I attended have been an eye opener for me.” A group of students who had come exploring, discussed in excitement all the new technologies they had seen and were fascinated with some exhibits as well. “We have heard about electric vehicles, but never seen them. Here, we got to experience such vehicles first-hand and saw their charging stations. The EV technology is the future and I am glad to see our government is actively promoting it.” Sharing his views about the exhibition, Prem Behl, Chairman, Exhibitions India Group said, “It has been action-packed three days for us and the response has been overwhelming. From the first-ever Smart Cities India expo, we have grown to emerge as one of the most popular trade shows in South Asia that showcases all facets of a smart city. Today, we cover multiple technologies that shape modern cities. Our intent is to provide a platform to all verticals associated with the Smart Cities to create state-of-the-art infrastructure, capable of providing a holistic experience to the citizens dwelling in the urban habitats. Our focus will now shift to preparing for next year with the vision to give our partners, clients and visitors an experience that would be as business productive, intriguing and enriching. We have already lined up a few surprises that will be unveiled at the 6th Smart Cities India 2020 expo.”  

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New Role for Holograms in Protecting Fishing Vessels

Against a global backdrop, holograms continue to be widely deployed as an effective weapon in the fight against counterfeiting and anti-tampering, offering product authentication benefits to business and commerce. As small unobtrusive devices, they are also seen as handy platforms for the unique identifiers required as part of advanced track and trace programmes. Growth in hologram usage is being driven by increased global consumption on the back of rising populations, particularly in developing parts of the world and geographic regions with nascent economies. As demand has grown, so has the trade in illicit goods produced by ever more skilful, determined and resourceful counterfeiters and criminal organisations. However, innovative technologies and processes are helping holograms to reach out, broadening their appeal and secure new markets where they can play integral roles in resisting the dark underbelly of illegal trade in place like Asia and the Far East, where authentication procedures are not so strenuous and the dangers more acute. In India, for instance, holograms are supporting new ways to protect indigenous industries such as fishing. The state government of Kerala in India has introduced 300 Holographic Registration Plates (HRPs) in a move to tackle the increasing number of unregistered fishing vessels that infiltrate coastal regions and have been identified as being involved in criminal activities including human trafficking. Chair of the International Hologram Manufacturers Association considers how holography is finding a new role in the battle to protect fishing. – Paul Dunn The HRPs, which are designed as a tetrahedron to be visible from all sides, feature embossed security holograms which are extremely difficult to duplicate. Individual plates are fixed on top of the wheel house with an identification ion number laser etched to ensure each of the vessels has a unique identifier. The application of holograms in this way is replacing the traditional registration marks applied to boat hulls, or to the beading on top of the wheel house. This is enabling the authorities to better track fake fishing vessel, improve coastal security, boost the recognition of unregistered vessels out at sea and in conducting rescue operations more effectively. The project is already reaping benefits, according to S Venkatesapathy, Director, Fisheries Department, Kerala who is quoted as saying HRP will prove extremely helpful in ensuring coastal security and vessel identification. Looking to the future, the department is considering the practicality of creating an HRP networking system for real-time monitoring of sea-going vessels through incorporating the HRP with GPS functionality. A microchip containing the details of the vessel and the crew could also be fitted with it. The capacity for holography to incorporate other data forms and recognition information continues to grow in importance but for now it is clear the technology demonstrates an ability to thwart criminal activity in challenging and difficult to monitor industries. With advancements in technology and widening applications, there’s no reason why the technology should not continue to play a critical part in the on-going battle to remain one step ahead of the counterfeiters. The IHMA is made up of almost 100 of the world’s leading hologram companies. Members include the leading producers and converters of holograms for banknote security, anti-counterfeiting, brand protection, packaging, graphics and other commercial applications around the world, and actively cooperate to maintain the highest professional, security and quality standards.  

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Evolving Technologies and Work Force Challenges in the Workplace

The management of a facility or workplace is all about making the environment a desirable one for people to work and live in, rather than being a mere part of the job profile. The human experience is the key differentiator for how people engage with an organization – both operationally and strategically. Office environment represents so much more than a workplace. It is like a home away from home. The employee experience is the sum total of all interactions an employee has with his or her employer. The impact of the air movement, air conditioning and natural ventilation and green surroundings are enriching work experience of the employees. Globally the technologies are evolving at a very rapid pace constituting major disruptions that are knocking at the doors of the ecosystem of integrated facility management head on. Artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Block Chain, big data analytics and cloud computing have impacted every facet of life and businesses, and private security industry is no exception. At one end the entire landscape of integrated facility management (IFM) is witness to new emerging tools which offer huge potential to help improve functions and efficiency of the facility managers but at the same time they are the key drivers behind the changes in design of workplace to suit the aspirations of employees. Let us see in succeeding paras as to how innovative technologies have impacted various workplaces – be it smart city, construction site or a corporate office. Internet of Things (IoT) It has been very common and natural for me in daily routine life that after office hours my five year old grandson tracks my arrival right from the parking slot to the elevator using AI tools and welcomes me. He opens the door, switches on the TV and AC, and starts the music all using IoT. It is amazing to see the ease of doing things which are facilitated by IoT and AI. Same goes for the work place. IoT has connected each and every electronic appliances and system on the floor. The diagram below elucidates and amplifies the world around us in a workplace. Some of the other benefits of the IoT also include predictive maintenance, energy efficiency, better asset optimization, efficient construction management, real time data accessibility, and air quality management. The innovative technologies  Risk management Emerging technologies and tools also give much needed boost to the risk management and mitigation through prior warning of eminent attacks, collection of private information (GDPR ), smart security surveillance, and intelligent building control systems and robotics. Safety compliance and data security remain imperative. Operational excellence I n the field of operational excellence, facility managers worldwide are now focused on workplace efficiency in total contrast to the past when their counterparts were busy handling mechanics and daily functions. Present day reality is that they have the ownership of a plethora of smart connected devices and are working collaboratively with other personnel. As our operational processes evolve so do the skill sets of our professional. Data analytics Data analytics also holds a very vital function in today’s work space. There is no dearth of data, but data alone does not provide the answers. Smart workplaces require equally smart insights. Data must be used to suggest design interventions that will enhance business performance. Data is not meant for archives or for flashing it to the audience in seminars but it should be used to drive design, linking business strategic aims and day to day operations. The leveraging on data obtained from IoT can happen in many ways like reduction in consumption, reduction in labor costs, and proactive maintenance – enabling reduction in recurring cost of maintenance. New generation workforce I n 2020 generation Y will form the workforce. Organizations must consider life stages when developing workspaces since people are working longer and various generations are involved at same floor. Wellness is becoming a global trend to ensure work-life balances and simultaneously workspaces must boost productivity of the workers. To retain staff, high quality services are on demand like F&B, employee lounges and fitness centres. Future of work continues to evolve while attempting to attract and retain the talent. World is moving towards shared economy and has given grounds to open spaces vs traditional modular cabins for office. Co-working spaces lack hierarchy and flexibility. Resultantly, facility managers are learning to manage new and unique office spaces. HR – The centre stage When the entire world is all gung ho about the efficiency and comfort all around due to emerging technologies that are making way at the workplace, it will be a nightmare for the HR to search, select, acquire, train and deploy a suitably enabled FM because even machines need the human touch. HR will occupy the centre stage as employees wellness program will always be the understatement of the fact that holistic view of human experience makes all the difference. As the disruption and uncertainty become the new status quo, smart companies will transform their workplaces to be agile and adaptable to ever changing economic, societal and technological realities. Executives will improve their workplaces to serve as the centre of innovation and create experience-rich environments that help attract and retain talent.  

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CAPSI Signs MOU with SPUP

In pursuit to educate, skill and upskill the aspirants for private security industry as well as the private security personnel, and to upscale their technical knowledge, Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI) has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice (SPUP), Jodhpur (Rajasthan) to establish a collaborative relation between the two institutions towards academics and research. The MoU was signed by NRK Reddy, IPS, (DGP – Prison, Jaipur) and Vice Chancellor of SPUP, and Kunwar Vikram Singh, Chairman, CAPSI at the headquarters of CAPSI New Delhi. Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice (SPUP) is a statutory body which was established under an Act passed by the State Legislature, Government of Rajasthan in 2012. Mr. Reddy appreciated CAPSI for their efforts to bring quality security knowledge to security personnel as well as the community at large. With this association, they will cooperate and work together to frame the syllabus, and conduct degree, diploma and certificate courses in security management as per the requirements of the industry. They have also decided to put their joint efforts in arranging for easy internship and placements for the successful students. These advance courses will help security personnel to get job overseas. In their first step in this endeavour, SPUP and CAPSI have framed the syllabus for BA in Security Management, and launched the course which will start from July this year. This course will be a launch pad for aspiring students who are willing to work in supervisory and managerial positions in the private security industry. “There is a need for specialized courses on security management. Our association in collaboration with SPUP will help in getting good quality of managers and supervisors for private security industry. There is a growing demand for private security personnel from all over the globe. Our trained manpower with proper degrees and certificates will increase their employability abroad, particularly in Europe and Gulf nations where demand is sky high,” said Kunwar Vikram Singh. “Our collaboration with CAPSI will help in getting more and more trained personnel on the ground. Going ahead we will introduce new courses and training modules for guards as well as supervisors,” said Mr. Reddy. The MoU signing ceremony was attended by dignified representatives of both SPUP and CAPSI. Earlier CAPSI also introduced BBA in Security Management under the aegis of Noida International University, Noida.  

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Matrix COSEC ARGO Bags the Coveted India Design Mark Award 2019

Matrix recently bagged the prestigious India Design Mark by the India Design Council for it’s new-age access control controller – Matrix COSEC ARGO. The award is given in recognition for excellence in product innovation and design. India Design Mark symbolizes product excellence in form, function, quality, safety, sustainability, and innovation and communicates that the product is usable, durable, aesthetically appealing and socially responsible. The India Design Council is affiliated with India’s Ministry of Commerce & Industry and is made up of eminent people in academia, design and industry organizations. India Design Mark is initiated in cooperation with Good Design Award, Japan. Through India Design Mark, the India Design Council seeks to inspire Indian manufactures to design remarkable products that enrich the lives of people in India. On winning this prestigious award, Ganesh Jivani, MD of Matrix said, “Matrix is focused on designing and manufacturing world-class cutting-edge security and telecom solutions for modern organizations. Matrix exports these products to more than 50 countries – most of them to the first-world technologically advanced nations. With 250+ R&D engineers and world-class infrastructure and equipment, Matrix is committed to indigenous R&D. This award is a validation of Matrix’s world-class innovation and design capabilities. I thank all our customers and channel partners for their trust in Matrix and congratulate the entire Matrix team for this outstanding achievement. Such recognition would encourage us to work harder towards building world-class technologies and products.”  

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