BANK OFFICERSS: April 2015

New Zealand won the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup tournament.

At the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia, they defeated World Champions Australia in the finals.

Jitu Rai an Indian shooter won bronze at ISSF World Cup

Jin Jongoh of South Korea won gold medal.
Naung Ye Tun of Myanmar won silver medal.

Malala Yousafzai honoured by the name after Asteroid 316201.

This asteroid is located in the Main Belt between Mars and Jupiter and it orbits around the Sun every 5.5 years and is more-than 2 mile wide.
This asteroid was named as '316201 Malala' by Amy Mainzer, astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, United States under the International Astronomical Union rules.

President Pranab Mukherjee. inaugurated "Songs and Dances of the North East" festival.

"First Songs and Dances of the North East" was inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee in the New Delhi.
This festival was organized by Government of Meghalaya and sponsored by the North Eastern Council.

Bharat Hari Singhania became the President of JK Group

He succeeded Gaur Hari Singhania who died on 04th April 2015.

Lewis Hamilton won Chinese F1 Grand Prix 2015

Lewis Hamilton of Britain won Chinese Formula One Grand Prix - 2015 held at Shanghai, China.

9th IRENA meeting will organize in India

9th meeting of International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) council to be held in India during the period from 10-11 June 2015.
The Director-General of IRENA is Adnan Z. Amin.

Arun Kumar Jha is appointed as CEO of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)

Dhanush the ballistic missile successfully tested by India

Visit Kerala 2015 has been initiated to promote Kerala tourism

India has signed Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on transportation with - USA

India will be to make use of world’s latest technology available with the USA.
It covers areas like fuel efficiency, intermodal transportation, vehicle and behavioral safety, highway transportation, urban transportation, rail transportation, maritime shipping and safety and environmental protections.

Snapdeal acquired mobile recharge service FreeCharge

mobile recharge service FreeCharge has been acquired in a cash and stock deal by Snapdeal.
Snapdeal became the largest mobile commerce company in India after the acquisition of FreeCharge.

Former Air Chief Marshal of IAF Hrushikesh Moolgavkar passed away

EPFO has suspended 1000 rupees minimum monthly pension scheme

Seoul is elected as Global Earth Hour Capital 2015

Thane is elected as National Earth Hour Capital 2015 by WWF

Actions that helped Thane to be the National Earth Hour Capital 2015 includes

Obligatory use of solar water-heating systems for municipal buildings.
Solar energy is used for lighting and air-conditioning
Cities plan for solar rooftop net metering-based power generation and regular energy audits
Energy Service Company (ESCO) project like:-
Energy-efficient street lighting
Commissioning of a bio-methanation plant to treat municipal solid waste and generate electricity
Three cyclic switching units for optimal use of streetlights

IFCI Limited became India’s new PSU

IFCI Limited became India’s new Public Sector Undertaking on 09th April 2015 immediately after increased the stake to over 51% by the Government of India.
IFCI Limited was the 1st development finance institution in the country.

Sumit Mazumdar appointed as President of CII

Insurance Sector has increased 23% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

Insurance Sector has moved upto 49% as noticed by RBI.
The approval of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) with FDI will be allowed beyond 26% and up to 49% and FDI below 26% will be under automatic route.

Dr. Nasim Zaidi is appointed as Chief Election Commissioner of India

Zaidi is the 20th CEC of India and will replace Harishankar Brahma.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi He is on 9-day visit to France, Germany and Canada

Gujarat won Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy

The 2014-15 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy played at the KIIT Cricket Stadium, Bhubaneshwar was won by Gujarat cricket team.
Gujarat defeated Punjab by scoring 123 runs in 19.5 overs whereas Punjab scored 117 runs in 20 overs in final match.
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is a domestic Twenty20 cricket championship in India organized by Board of Control for Cricket in India and is played among the teams from Ranji Trophy.

Mayilsamy Annadurai appointed as Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC)

Dronavalli Harika won bronze in World Women's chess championship

PM launched MUDRA Bank under PM Jan Dhan Yojana to - fund small entrepreneurs

Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd. (MUDRA) Bank to fund the small business person.
The bank will provide credit of up to 10 lakh rupees to small entrepreneurs and act as a regulator for Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs).

Rajeev Shukla appointed as Chairman of IPL Governing Council

Pratap Singh won Institute of Physics Prize for his Cosmic-ray project

Pratap Singh is 15-year-old Indian-origin schoolboy,in the United Kingdom was awarded with the 500 pounds Institute of Physics (IOP) Prize.

Piplantri is the village of Rajasthan that plants 111 trees for every girl born.

7th April is observed as World Health Day globally

The theme of WHD is "From farm to plate, make food safe".

Dena Bank signed MoU with Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)

This MoU is to provide insurance cover to all Aadhaar-linked savings account holders of the bank in the age group of 18 to 50 years.
The insurance cover will be provided under the Prime Minister’s Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJBY) scheme.
The scheme will come into effect from 1 June 2015.

Delhi airport wins Golden Peacock National Quality Award 2015

GPNA have been instituted in 1991 by Institute of Directors (IOD) a registered non-profit apex association of company directors.
The Award is bestowed annually to encourage total improvement in each sector of the business.

Winners of 2015 Miami Open Titles

Men’s singles Title

World No. 1 and Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic has won the 2015 Miami Open Men’s Singles Title.
In the final match he defeated Britain’s Andy Murray
This was Djokovic’s fifth Miami Open trophy.

Women’s singles Title

World No. 1 and American tennis player Serena Williams has won the 2015 Miami Open Women’s singles Title.
In the final match she defeated Spain’s Carla Suárez Navarro.

Men’s doubles Title

American Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan pair has won the 2015 Miami Open Men’s doubles Title.
They defeated Vasek Pospisil (Canada) and Jack Sock (US) pair.

Women’s doubles Title

India’s Sania Mirza and Switzerland’s Martina Hingis pair has won 2015 Miami Open Women’s doubles Title.
They defeated Russian pair of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.

India to host 5th meeting of SAARC Health Ministers in New Delhi

The 5th meeting will start on 9 April 2015 and is being held in pursuance of decisions taken by the SAARC Summit of Heads of States held at Kathmandu in November 2014.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches National Air Quality Index to give pollution information

Initially the new index will cover 10 cities.
They are Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra, Faridabad, Varanasi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Later it will be extended to more than 60 cities

K.N Tripathi has been sworned in as new governor of Mizoram.

K.N Tripathi is already Governor of West Bengal and Bihar. K.N Tripathi replaced Aziz Qureshi
He became 16th Governor of Mizoram.
Indian constitution article 153 is associated with appointments of Governors.
A governor takes oath in the presence of the Chief Justice of the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to the State, or, in his absence,the senior most Judge of high court.

"Pedro Cateriano" has been appointed as new prime minister of "Peru "

Bharti AXA General Insurance launched a new service named Smart Traveller

The Bharti AXA GI Advantage gives individual and family plans for several travel exigencies like medical emergencies, loss of checked-in baggage, loss of travel documents (Passport, tickets etc.),

Former Chess grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand honoured with the name of Minor planet as 4538 Vishyanand

A minor planet was named as 4538 Vishyanand, to honour India’s first chess grandmaster, Vishwanathan Anand by Michael Rudenko, a committee member of the Minor Planet Center.
Other sports personalities on whom such honours have been honoured include Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Jesse Owens and Donald Bradman.

Gujarat leads in implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) during 2014-15

"Give it Up" campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The objective of the campaign is to extort the better off sections of society to surrender their LPG subsidy, which would be employed in providing subsidised LPG connections to the poor.
The Prime Minister asked companies and banks to encourage their employees to give up their subsidy.

Malli Mastan Babu, One of the India’s top mountaineer passes away

88th Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan begins in Ghumaan, Punjab

It was inaugurated by Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari along with the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Captain Anoop Kumar Sharma taken over as CEO of Essar Shipping

Captain Anoop Kumar Sharma has taken over as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and whole-time director of Essar Shipping Ltd (ESL).
He succeeded A. R. Ramakrishnan who had retired from service on 31st March 2015. Sharma has been a part of ESL since August 2008

Mariyam Asif Siddiqui, Muslim girl wins Bhagwad Gita contest

Mariyam Asif Siddiqui, a 12-year-old Muslim girl from Mumbai has secured first place Shrimad Bhagwad Gita Champion League.

India'rank 119th according to 2015 FM Global Resilience Index

PepsiCo India on 3 April 2015 commissioned first phase of its largest beverage plant in Andhra Pradesh in India.

F.A.M.E-India launched in India

FAME India - Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles in India - is a part of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan.

To promote eco-friendly vehicles, the government formally launched the FAME India scheme offering incentives on electric and hybrid vehicles of up to Rs 29,000 for bikes and Rs 1.38 lakh for cars.

Amaravathi named as new capital of Andhra Pradesh

Sunita Tomar, India’s Anti-Tobacco campaign girl dies.

Sunita Tomar, poster girl of India’s anti-tobacco campaign passed away at her hometown in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh.
She was 28 and was diagnosed with oral cancer.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 2 April 2015 celebrated its 80th anniversary.

RBI charged 5 lakh rupees fine on 16 Central Co-operative Banks for violation of norms

The banks on which the penalty was imposed are :

The Dumka Central Co-operative Bank Ltd., Dumka (Jharkhand)
The Gumla Simdega Central Co-operative Bank Ltd., (Jharkhand)
The Dhanbad Central Co-operative Bank Ltd., (Jharkhand)
The Rewari Central Co-operative Bank Ltd., Rewari (Haryana)
The Mansa Central Co-operative Bank Ltd., Mansa (Punjab)
The Jind Central Co-operative Bank Ltd., (Haryana)
The Gopalganj Central Co-operative Bank Ltd., Gopalganj (Bihar)
Ajmer Central Co-operative Bank Ltd., Ajmer (Rajasthan)
Hanumangarh Kendriya Sahakari Bank Ltd., (Rajasthan)
The Central Co-operative Bank Ltd., Bikaner (Rajasthan)
The Sirohi Central Co-operative Bank Ltd., Sirohi (Rajasthan)
The Bundi Central Co-operative Bank Ltd., Bundi (Rajasthan)
The Boudh Co-operative Central Bank Ltd., (Odisha)
Bhawanipatna Central Co-operative Bank, (Odisha)
Cuttack Central Co-operative Bank Ltd., (Odisha)
The Sambalpur District Co-operative Central Bank Ltd., (Odisha)

China signed five agreements with Sri Lanka

Five agreements were signed related to cooperation for special aid in public health,
Development of water treatment methods and technologies in kidney disease affected areas.
Research and development of the coconut industry.
Refurbishment of the Superior Courts Complex in Sri Lanka.

Australia's IAG raised stake from 26% to 49% in SBI General Insurance

Odisha Government launches Aahar scheme

Facts about Aahar- (cheap meal scheme)
It aims at providing meal at Rs. five to the urban poor.
The scheme was launched in five cities of state including Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Cuttack, Berhampur and Sambalpur.

Gulshan Rai is the India’s first cyber security chief

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2015 had created this new post in PMO and had appointed Rai as its head

Punjab Government launches Padho Punjab- Khedo Punjab Mission

Muhammadu Buhari elected as President of Nigeria

Aditi Arya from Delhi won the fbb Femina Miss India 2015 title

Koyal Rana, Femina Miss India 2014 crowned her with the title.

Michael Clarke retired from ODI cricket

Michael Clarke, the Australian cricketer, retired from One Day Internationals (ODI) after winning 2015 Cricket World Cup.
He will carry on with the team in the test matches.

Madan Mohan Malaviya awarded Bharat Ratna

Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya's family was honoured for his outstanding work in country's freedom struggle and in the field of education
He was born on 25th December 1861 in Allahabad.
He completed his studies from Calcutta University and became a school teacher.
He had also served as a newspaper editor and practiced as a lawyer. Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Hindu Mahasabha was originated by him only.

Katsushi Inoue appointed as President and CEO of Honda Cars India

Balbir Singh Senior conferred with Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award of Hockey India.

ISRO successfully launched IRNSS 1-D Navigational Satellite

Saina Newal the Indian player became World No 1 in Badminton

Prakash Padukone was Indian player who was World No. 1 in men's badminton.

Murty Kambhampat the Indian Scientist who has been chosen for U.S. presidential award.

Mr. Murty S Kambhampati is a professor of biology at Southern University at New Orleans.

Poonam Mahajan became First Woman President of Basketball federation Of India.

Cricket World cup 2015 title lifted by Australia

Australia defeated New Zealand to won this title
World Cup Title of Cricket was first held in 1975.
No other country has won this title more than twice.

Sebestian Vettel won Malaysian Grand Pix

ISRO has won Gandhi Peace Prize 2014

Delhi Government launched India’s first e-ration card Service

President of India Pranab Mukherjii - presented Bharat Ratna award to Atal Bihari Vajpayee

He is the 7th prime minister to receive the award after Gulzarilal Nanda, Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Rajiv Gandhi,Lal Bahadur Shastri and Jawaharlal Nehru.

Fortune released the list of 2015 roster of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders

On the top of the list Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Others are European Central Bank President Mario Draghi at the 2nd rank, trailed by Chinese President Xi Jingping at 3rd Rank, Pope Francis at 4th rank and General Motors CEO Mary Barra at 9th rank.

Benjamin Nethanyahu became PM of Israel for second time

Dolly became youngest to enter India Book of Records

Dolly Shivani Cherukuri of Andhra Pradesh became the youngest Archer to enter India Book of Records on 24th March 2015 as she scored 388 points in the recurve segment in two distances. She is just 2 years old.

PRAGATI - platform launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for redressal of grievances

PRAGATI is a durable system that will help in for bringing e-transparency and e-accountability with real-time presence and exchange among the key stakeholders.

Usha International Limited has won the Gold award at 6th Flame Awards 2015

It was awarded in recognition of its rural marketing initiative to extend their footprint into small towns and villages.

National Super Computing Mission has approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)

The aim of the mission is bringing the High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities within the reach of the scientific community by augmenting indigenous supercomputing infrastructure.

The book "Faces and Places" - Prof. Deepak Nayyar

The book is released by Vice president
Prof. Deepak Nayyar, former Vice Chancellor of Delhi University.

India’s first Polar Remotely Operated Vehicle operationalised in North Antarctica

With the help of PROV Monsoon forecast and reading of pattern will become easier

It will measure parameters like salinity in the Arctic, temperature and ocean currents.

Gopaldas Neera has won the Rashtriya Kavi Pradeep Samman for the year 2012-13

Department of Culture of Madhya Pradesh (MP) government presented the award.

90-year-old poet Neeraj won the award for his immense contribution in the field of literature.

Ruth Porat is appointed as Chief Financial Officer of Google Inc.

Union Government authorized 2000 crore rupees under NDRF for - drought-hit districts of Maharashtra

Vikramjit Singh Oberoi is appointed as Managing Director of EIH Limited

India inked six agreements to increase commercial and economic exchanges with Qatar.

Agreement for Mutual Cooperation and Exchange of News:
MoU for cooperation in the field of Radio and Television
MoU between Qatar and Foreign Service Institute, Diplomatic Institute of MOFA, MEA
Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons:
MoU for Cooperation in the field of Information and Communication Technology:
MoU between Ministry of Earth sciences and Qatar Meteorological Department for Scientific and Technical cooperation:

Supreme Court has been declared Section 66A as unconstitutional of Information Technology Act, 2000.

World Tuberculosis day is observed on 24th March 2015

World Tuberculosis Day 2015
The theme for the year 2015 is continuation of the 2014 theme "Reach the 3 Million". "Reach, Treat, Cure Everyone" was the sub-theme and message for the year 2015.
Dr. Robert Koch discovered the cause of TB, the TB bacillus in 1882.

Mission Indradhanush - Union Ministry of Health and Welfare launched Media Campaign

It is launched for creating awareness regarding the importance to fully immunize every child against all vaccine preventable diseases in the country.
Its aims to cover all those children by 2020 who are either unvaccinated or are partially vaccinated against seven vaccine preventable diseases which include diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B.

Indian Railways launched the RuPay pre-paid debit cards with the joint venture of Union Bank of India

The card will enable passengers to book their Rail tickets and do shopping using RuPay pre-paid debit cards. Card can be availed from either the Union Bank or the IRCTC.

62nd National Film Awards announced

The list of winners

Best Actress: Kangana Ranaut for Queen
Best Supporting Actor: Bobby Simhaa for Jigarthanda (Tamil)
Best Actor: Vijay for Nanu Avanalla Avalu (Kannada)
Best Direction: Srijit Mukherji for Chotushkone (Bengali)
Best Music Direction: a) Songs - Haider (Hindi); and b) Background Score - Nineteen Eighty Three (Malayalam)
Best Female Playback Singer: Uttara Unnikrishanan for song Azhagu in Saivam (Tamil)
Best Male Playback Singer: Sukhwinder Singh for song Bismil from Haider
Best Choreography: Bismil for Haider
Best Supporting Actress: Baljinder Kaur for Pagdi The Honour (Haryanavi)
Best Writing on Cinema: Silent Cinema: (1895-1930)- Pasupuleti Purnachandra Rao
Best Writing on Cinema: G. Dhananjayan for Pride of Tamil Cinema (Special Mention)
Best Costume Designer: Dolly Ahluwalia for Haider

Best Films in different categories

Best Educational Film: Komal & Behind the Glass Wall
Best Exploration/Adventure: Film Life Force - India's Western Ghats
Best Investigative Film: Phum Shang
Best Animation Film: Sound of Joy
Best Short Fiction Film: Mitraa
Best Film Critic: Tanul Thakur
Best Film On Environment Conservation/ Preservation: Ottaal (Malayalam)
Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Mary Kom
Indira Gandhi Award For Best Debut Film Of A Director: Asha Jaoar Majhe (Bengali)
Best Feature Film: Court (Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati & English)

Best Films in different languages

- Best Tamil Film: Kuttram Kadithal
- Best Telugu Film: Chandamama Kathalu
- Best Rabha Film: Orong
- Best Haryanvi Film: Pagdi The Honour
- Best Hindi Film: Queen
- Best Assamese Film: Othello
- Best Bengali Film: Nirbashito
- Best Kannada Film: Harivu
- Best Konkani Film: Nachom - IA Kumpasar
- Best Malayalam Film: Ain
- Best Marathi Film: Killa
- Best Odiya Film: Aadim Vichar
- Best Punjabi Film: Punjab 1984

World Meteorological Day is observed on 23rd March 2015

"Climate Knowledge for Climate Action" was the theme for WMD 2015

Former Army Chief "Sarath Fonseka" became the first Field Marshal of Sri Lanka

Lee Kuan Yew died on 23rd March 2015

Lee Kuan Yew, the ‘Founding Father of Singapore’, died on 23rd March 2015. He became the 1st Prime Minister of Singapore in the year 1959.
Lee Hsien Loong is the present Prime Minister of Singapore.

Novak Djokovic won Indian Wells Open Tennis

Novak Djokovic of Serbia won Indian Wells Open Tennis Men’s on 22nd March 2015 after defeating Roger Federer of Switzerland.
Simona Halep won the Singles title in Women’s category.

Dadasaheb Phalke Award - Shashi Kapoor.

Bharti Airtel partners with AMAZON for cloud services.

India overtakes US as 3rd biggest steel producer.

World Water Day - observed on 22nd March

World Water Day is observed on 22nd March 2015 under the theme of ‘Water and Sustainable Development’. Earlier in the year 1993, UN designated 22nd March as World Water Day

Rajendra Singh named as Water Prize Laureate

Rajendra Singh named as 2015 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate on 20th March 2015. He is also known as ‘W

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis have lifted the Women’s Doubles trophy of the Indian Wells Open Tennis tournament at California.

Current Affairs 21 Mar 2015

Satwant Atwal Trivedi is BSF’s first woman officer of Himachal Pradesh

She will be first IPS officer to join the BSF

Gold Monetisation Scheme Replaces Gold Metal Loan Scheme & Gold Deposit

In Gold Monetization Scheme the owner will earn income on the deposited gold and can get Loan also.
Wi-Fi Facilities in Moving Trains Provided by Rail Ministry
As a pilot project, Wi-Fi in Howrah-New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express has been provided.

Further, work for provision of Wi-Fi in Ahmedabad Rajdhani Express, Kalka Shatabdi Express and Chandigarh Shatabdi Express.

23rd All India Forensic Science Conference held at Bhopal

“Forensic Science in Countering Crime against Women”is the Theme of this conference.It will be inaugurated by Shri Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs on March 23, 2015.
The Government of India has approved setting up four Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Regions (PCPIRs)
The Government of India has approved setting up four Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Regions (PCPIRs) in States of

Andhra Pradesh (Vishakhapatnam – Kakinada)

Gujarat (Dahej)

Odisha (Paradeep)

Tamil Nadu (Cuddalore – Nagapattinam)

Misbah and Shahid Afridi Retire from One Day Cricket

NCP’s Ramraje Nimbalkar elected Maharashtra Legislative Council chairman

Ramraje Nimbal karwas the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader elected as the chairman of the Maharashtra Legislative Council

Cher Wang, Co-founder of HTC Corporation, has taken over as CEO of HTC Corporation

The theme of World Sparrow Day 2015 - I Love Sparrows

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) approved by Union Cabinet

The Union Cabinet approved the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) with an outlay of 1500 crore rupees. The objective of the programme is to impart skill training to youth with focus on first time entrants to the labour market and class 10 and class 12 drop outs.

Reservation for women in direct recruitment in Non-Gazetted posts in police forces all Union Territories including Delhi Police

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister recently gave its approval for making reservation of 33% for women, horizontally and in each category (SC/ST/OBC and others) in direct recruitment in non-gazetted posts from Constables to sub-inspector in the police forces of all Union Territories, including Delhi Police.

This decision will help in augmenting the representation of the women in the police forces of all UTs and Delhi Police so as to make the police more gender sensitive.

It will also instil confidence among women to enable them to approach the police without hesitation for seeking protection and assistance as and when required.

It has been observed that many women do not approach the police, as they may have to confide or report the incident to a male police officer. This is particularly so in respect of sex related crimes.

ICDS scheme

Five-tier monitoring and review mechanism introduced

The Union Minister of Women and Child Development recently said that the Government has introduced a 5-tier monitoring & review mechanism at different levels (National/ State/ District/ Block and Anganwadi level) in order to strengthen the performance of the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme.

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