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Karnataka Urdu Academy chairperson Dr Fouzia Choudhary passes away

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Fouzia Choudhary

Bengaluru: Chairperson of Karnataka Urdu Academy, Dr Fouzia Choudhary (52) collapsed on the dais at a programme here on Wednesday evening February 24. She was declared dead at the hospital.

Dr Choudhary was delivering a presidential address in the library hall of the academy at Kannada Bhavana on J C Road. At around 5.30 pm, midway-way through her speech, she fell to the ground, and was rushed to St Martha’s Hospital in an ambulance.

Dr Choudhary was from Timmapura village in Yadagiri district. She was appointed as chairperson of Karnataka Urdu Academy on June 2, 2014. She laid emphasis on Urdu literature, and towards giving a boost to Urdu. She had done her Ph.D in Urdu literature from Gulbarga University.

She is survived by her husband and three daughters.

Sanjay Dutt walks free, salutes tricolour

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sanjay_dutt

Pune: Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt today walked free out of the Yerawada prison here after completing his prison term, putting behind his turbulent past as a convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case.

Clad in blue shirt and jeans, a smiling Dutt was escorted out of the imposing jail gates this morning after completing formalities and got into a car that drove him straight to Lohegaon Airport here to take a chartered flight to Mumbai.

The 56-year-old on screen ‘Khalnayak’ saluted the tri-colour fluttering on top of the jail building as he carried a bag containing his belongings and his inmate file with him.

Dutt’s wife Maanyata and noted film maker Rajkumar Hirani accompanied him on way to the city airport. The “Munnabhai” of the celluloid, saluted the soil outside the prison before his got into the waiting car, juggling a khaki bag and a green coloured file.

Sanjay spent 42 months, a remainder of the his five year sentence in the Yerawada prison. His stay was mired in various controversies relating to his frequent paroles and furlough which the detractors said was granted to him as special favours due to his celebrity status.

Prison authorities and his lawyers, however, refuted the allegations, saying his remission of 144 days and his parole leave was in accordance with jail manual and prescribed rules.

The Bollywood star was arrested on April 19, 1993, for possession and destruction of an AK-56 rifle, which was a part of cache of arms and explosives which landed in India prior to the serial blasts of March 1993.

During the investigation and the marathon trial, he spent 18 months in jail. On July 31, 2007, the TADA court in Mumbai sentenced him to six years’ rigorous imprisonment under the Arms Act and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000.

In 2013, the Supreme Court upheld the ruling but reduced the sentence to five years following which he surrendered to serve the rest of his sentence. According to jail officials, Dutt was given work of making paper bags in his cell.

The actor, embroiled in heated debates over his frequent parole and furlough leave in many quarters, regularly participated in the programmes on internal circuit jail radio, jail sources said.

During his imprisonment, he was granted parole of 90 days in December 2013 and again for 30 days later.

(Agencies)

Rail Budget: No changes in passenger fares, freight

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rail-budget-prabhu

New Delhi: The Railway Budget for 2016-17 today spared passengers and goods movement from any increase in tariffs while it announced introduction of three new superfast trains and creation of dedicated north-south, east-west and east coast freight corridors by 2019.

Presenting his second Budget in the Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu promised rationalising of the tariff structure by undertaking a review to evolve competitive rates vis-a-vis other modes of transport and to expand the freight basket as a means of additional revenue mobilisation.

Unlike last year when he tweaked freight rates, Prabhu made no changes either in passenger fares or freight rates.

The three new superfast trains announced by him include ‘Humsafar’ which will be a fully air-conditioned 3AC service with option of meals. ‘Tejas’ will showcase the future of train travel in India with speeds up to 130 km per hour with onboard services such as entertainment, local cuisine and wifi.

The two trains will ensure cost recovery through tariff and non-tariff measures while ‘Uday’ will be an overnight double-decker along with ‘Utkrishit’ double-decker air-conditioned yatri express on the busiest routes.

For improving quality of travel for unreserved passenger, a superfast ‘Antyodya’ express service would be introduced. ‘Deen Dayalu’ unreserved coaches with portable water and higher number of mobile charging points would also be introduced.

He also announced setting up of a Rail Development Authority to enable fair pricing of services, promote competition, protect customer interest and determine efficiency standards. The draft Bill in this regard will be ready after holding extensive stakeholder consultations.

Outlining the Budget estimates for the coming year, the Minister put the plan size at Rs 1.21 lakh crore. The focus will be on capital expenditure with a mix of various sources of funding in order to ensure the projects are given assured funding.

Gross traffic receipts for the coming fiscal have been fixed at Rs 1.84 lakh crore with passenger earning growth pegged at 12.4 per cent and earning target budgeted at Rs 51,012 crore.

The freight traffic is pegged at an incremental tariff of 50 million tons, anticipating a healthier growth in the core sector of the economy.

Goods earning is accordingly proposed at Rs 1.17 lakh crore. Earnings on account of other coaching and sundries have been projected at Rs 6,185 crore and Rs 9,590 crore respectively.

Pension outgo has been budgeted at Rs 45,500 crore in the coming year. Revenue generation has been targeted at Rs 1.84 lakh crore. Financial performance for the current year has reflected a savings of Rs 8,720 crore, neutralising most of the revenue shortfall.

Operating ratio has been targeted at 92 per cent for the coming year as against 90 per cent in 2015-16, restricting the growth of ordinary expenses by 11.16 per cent after building in impact of 7th Pay Commission recommendation, planned reduction in diesel and electricity consumption.

The three new freight corridors of North-South will connect Delhi and Chennai, East-West connecting Kharagpur to Mumbai and East Coast from Kharagpur to Vijawada.

“It is proposed to put these three projects on high priority to ensure structuring, award and implementation in a time-bound manner through innovative financing schemes including PPP,” Prabhu said in his more than hour long speech.

Before the current financial year ends on March 31, almost all contracts for civil engineering work would have been awarded.

Contracts worth Rs 24,000 crore have been awarded since he assumed office against Rs 13,000 crore worth of contracts in the last six years.

Presenting his “vision”, Prabhu promised that by 2020 long-felt desires of the common man will be fulfilled.

The objectives include reserved accommodation on trains on demand, time-tabled freight trains, high-end technology to improve safety record, elimination of all unmanned level crossings, improved punctuality and higher speed of freight trains and zero direct discharge of human waste.

As part of improving customer interface, the Budget proposed interaction and feedback through social media and dedicated IVRS system and making travel comfortable by generating over 65,000 additional berths and installing 2,500 water vending machines.

Wi-Fi facility has been provided at 100 station and 400 more will be covered in the coming year.

As part of safety measures, 350 manned level crossings and 1000 unmanned level crossings have been closed. 820 road over bridges and rail under bridges have been completed in the current year and work is going on in 1,350 of them.

As a passenger-friendly measure, IRCTC will manage catering services in catering and stalls at stations in a phased manner. It will explore the possibility of making catering services operational, adding 10 more IRCTC operated base kitchens.

As part of improving customer interface, work is underway on installation of a high-tech centralised network of 20,000 screens across 2000 stations for enabling real-time flow of information to passengers and also unlock huge advertising potential.

Provision of passenger amenities and beautification of stations will be taken on priority in pilgrim centres like Ajmer, Amritsar, Bihar Sharif, Chengannur, Dwarka, Gaya, Haridwar, Mathura, Nagapattinam, Nanded, Nasik, Pali, Parasnath, Pri, Tirupati, Vailankanni, Varanasi and Vasco. The Railway also intends to run ‘astha’ circuit trains to connect pilgrim centres.

(Agencies)

Arrest the attackers of Soni Sori immediately; Provide adequate security to her children: Women India Movement

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Soni Sori

New Delhi: Women India Movement leader Shahira Banu came down heavily on the Chattisgarh Govt. for not doing enough in arresting the culprits who brutally attacked the tribal activist Soni Sori by throwing acid on her face. It is unfortunate that the Chattisgarh police couldn’t arrest the criminals who assaulted the Adivasi activist Soni Sori by smearing black chemical liquid on her face on last Saturday, said Shahira.

In a press statement, Shahira Banu said, Soni Sori has been actively raising her voice against the “fake encounters and the high-handedness” of the forces. The barbarous acid attack on the Adivasi activist is aimed at silencing and terrorizing women in general and activists in particular. Acid violence is a horrendous crime and this is a grave violation of human rights against the women in Indian society.

She said, at least 5 acid attack cases on women are reported every week and we see that the government does not provide adequate safe and secure environment for women in the country. That is why such offences are being witnessed day by day. It is unbearable to imagine the plight of women who are victimized by such heinous crimes.

Women India Movement strongly condemns the atrocities on women and demand from the government that required measures be taken to control crimes against women. The government is responsible first and foremost for such flagitious incidents and that the government needs to come out with an integrative approach in finding solutions to such issues, said the WIM leader.

Shahira demanded that police the case involving acid attack on Soni Sori, who is presently undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital Delhi, be investigated thoroughly by specially trained gender sensitive police officers. The activist must be compensated adequately so as to ensure her proper treatment and her school going children could be taken care of. She also expressed concern about the safety of the activists’ children who could also be vulnerable to attack by the criminals.

The WIM leader further demanded from the government that the production, distribution and storage of toxic acids be controlled and regulated strictly to avoid such offences in future.

Munna Bhai to walk free tomorrow with his earnings of Rs 440 from jail

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sanjay_dutt

Mumbai: His films have made turnover in crores of rupees, but Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, who will walk out free from Yerwada Jail, Pune on Thursday, February 25 will receive a sum of Rs 440, his earnings for making paper bags and khaki envelopes while serving his term in prison.

This 56-year-old actor served 42 months of his five-year prison term in Pune’s Yerawada jail following his conviction in a case related to the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

As per the prison manual, a convicted prisoner has to be assigned some work so he can learn certain skills and utilise them outside jail after he completes his term. As per the prison manual, Rs 45 is given for unskilled labour, semi-skilled labour earns an inmate Rs 50 and skilled labour is given Rs 55.

It is said that Dutt was initially given the job of making paper bags from newspapers after undergoing training by a team of experts, and was tagged as an unskilled labour. Under this, he was paid Rs 45 after preparing 100 paper bags perfectly. Five months ago, he was tasked with preparing Khaki envelopes for a government office and for every 1,000 envelopes he used to get Rs 50. He took two-three weeks to complete these tasks, reports NDTV.com

The jail authorities further clarified that Dutt will not be paid for his work as Radio Jocket for the jail’s internal radio station as this would be considered as a recreational activity and not labour-oriented work.

Dutt will receive his money onThursday morning around 9 am. By 10 am, he will be released, like any other prisoner.

Dutt has been serving his term in Yerawada prison since April 2013, and was kept in a secluded yard near the Phasi Yard. He was out on furlough or on parole for a total of 118 days in his 42-month jail term.

(Agencies)

Rajya Sabha disrupted over Rohith Vemula’s suicide

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New Delhi: Loud anti-government slogans causing an uproar over the death of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula disrupted the Rajya Sabha Wednesday — the second day of the long budget session of the Indian parliament.

The upper house was adjourned five times after members assembled for the day at 11 a.m.

After earlier adjournments in the morning, Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the house till 2 in the afternoon when members refused to let the house function and wanted the government to discuss Vemula’s alleged January 17 suicide.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has 10 members in the house, blamed the central government for the scholar’s suicide in Hyderabad University. They gathered at the chairman’s podium, demanding the government suspend the Question Hour and debate the issue first.

They raised slogans, seeking justice for the family members of the dead student. They alleged that the government was anti-Dalit. “Rohith ke parivar ko, nyaay dou, nyaay dou”, “Dalit virdohi sarkar, nahin chalegi, nahin chalegi”, they shouted incessantly in front of the podium.

BSP leader Mayawati insisted that the government should respond first and debate the issue. “This is not the first time a Dalit student committed suicide,” the BSP supremo said.

“Rohith Vemula was Ambedkar supporter. RSS did not like this, he was exploited,” Mayawati said, referring to B.R. Ambedkar, the author of the Indian Constitution, who was a Dalit leader.

The upper house was forced into five adjournments till afternoon despite Ansari making a passionate appeal to slogan shouting members, requesting them that they should let the Question Hour proceed and raise the issue later in the day.

“Disruption of question hour is violation of privilege of individual members. Is the house going on that track,” Ansari asked.

“The questions have been listed and they have to be answered.”

The government as well as the chair pointed out that a debate on the Vemula death is listed for discussion later in the day.

But the protesting members didn’t relent and continued with their slogan shouting near the chairman’s podium.

The death of the Dalit student triggered widespread protests from opposition, who demanded action against central ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya, who were blamed for forcing Vemula to take his life.

(IANS)

16 arrested after Muslim cop was beaten, forced to hoist saffron flag in Latur

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Muslim-cop-beard

Latur: Sixteen people have been arrested so far on charges of assaulting two policemen who last week stopped locals from hoisting a “saffron flag” in a communally sensitive area in Latur district, police said today.

A mob had allegedly beaten up Assistant Sub-Inspector Yunus Shaikh (57) and manhandled his colleague K Awaskar when they prevented them from putting up the flag at a controversial spot in Pangaon village.

Shaikh was hospitalised following the assault.

The 12000-strong population of Pangaon village consists of Marathas, Dalits, Reddys and Muslims among others.

On the night of February 19, Shaikh and Awaskar allegedly stopped a group of local youths from erecting the flag in the “sensitive” area. The group included Marathas and other Hindus celebrating Shivaji Jayanti, police said.

Awaskar and Shaikh, both on duty at Pangaon police chowki, reached the spot and asked the youth to leave. They told them that hoisting the flag could lead to communal clashes, a police official said.

At 9 AM on Saturday, a mob of around 200-300 people from the village, including the youths, showed up at the police chowki.

“They (youths) had incited the mob by telling them that the two policemen had crushed their flags under their feet,” the official said.

The mob then allegedly began to attack the duo with fists and lathis. The ASI and his colleague suffered head injuries, but Shaikh was hit worse and was hospitalised.

A video of the purported attack, which has gone viral, shows Shaikh being made to parade a street with the saffron flag by the mob.

(PTI)

Umar Khalid, Anirban surrender to Delhi Police

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Umar Khalid

New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, facing sedition charges for allegedly raising “anti-India” slogans, have surrendered before police at a secret location in New Delhi after the Delhi High Court refused to provide safety until they surrender. JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar is already behind bars in Tihar Jail, again for sedition, while the basis of the charge itself is a question mark – a video clip that has gone into a black hole for “tests”.

JNU students union vice president Shelha Rashid Shora told Firstpost that Khalid and Bhattacharya’s surrender has come after a series of legal discussions keeping their safety in mind. Both these students travelled to the ‘secret’ location in a JNU private security vehicle. They were accompanied by several students, their lawyer and members of the JNU teachers association.

Shehla Rashid is a student leader from Jammu and Kashmir, studying law and governance at JNU.

“We hope that Kanhaiya gets bail and we will fight politically and legally thereafter,” Rashid told Firstpost.

“Comrade Umar and Comrade Anirban have surrendered themselves to police. It’s a moment of sadness for the campus because we have seen these activists for years standing with the students,” Rashid said.

“They have placed their faith in the law and we hope that they will be released soon. We also hope that Comrade Kanhaiya gets bail tomorrow,” she said.

A case against Khalid and Bhattacharya was registered at Vasant Kunj police station.

According to the police sources, both have been taken to an undisclosed location. Both the students were accompanied by their lawyers and the representatives of JNU teachers association.

After the surrender of the students, their supporters gathered at Sabarmati Dhaba in the campus to take stock and decide on next steps.

Khalid and Bhattacharya had moved petitions seeking permission to surrender before the High Court and “safe passage” from the JNU campus to the court premises, alleging there was “threat to life and limb”.

The Indian Express reports that in their petition, Khalid and Bhattacharya referred to the attacks last week on journalists and JNU students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested for sedition, at Patiala House Courts by lawyers. They said they feared they would be attacked if they were taken to the Patiala House Courts, that they were “more vulnerable to unprovoked attacks than Kanhaiya Kumar.

The location of the surrender has been kept off bounds, following a Delhi High Court directive and after the week long debate has spilled over into Delhi’s streets and protests worldwide.

Earlier on Tuesday, The Delhi High Court asked JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya to “secretly” provide the place and time where they want to surrender. Following through on this, Delhi Police decided not to enter the JNU campus, reports Times of India.

It also issued notice to Delhi Police, asked to file a status report on bail plea of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested on charges of sedition.

Justice Pratibha Rani refused to provide safety to the students till they surrender, and declined to allow them to surrender in the high court.

On providing safety in police custody, the court said: “It is for the trial court to decide.”

After advocate Kamini Jaiswal, appearing for the students, told the court that students need safe passage to surrender, Justice Rani retorted: “What do you mean I should give you safe passage? Why this court (not trial court)? Let us go by the procedure. Everything can’t be at your whims and fancies.”

“Tell me where you want to surrender. Just give me the place (other than the high court) and time (details of which will be between petitioners’ advocate, and court),” said the court, adding that she will appoint an officer for their surrender.

Lawyers of Khalid and Bhattacharya provided the details to Justice Rani, and the court then asked the deputy commissioner of police, present there, about his views, but he objected to it. Thereafter, she called the police officer and petitioners’ counsel to her chamber.

After around 15 minutes hearing inside her chamber, Justice Rani came out and said she will hear the case on Wednesday.

Seeking safety passage to surrender, Jaiswal told the court that the students are constantly receiving “life threats” and police are doing nothing to protect them, while citing the violent incident took place during the remand proceedings of Kanhaiya Kumar, where lawyers attacked him, JNU student and teachers and journalists.

In their plea, the students said they are “law abiding citizens” and a “doctored video were shown on some channels to portray them in the worst possible light”.

Khalid and Anirban, along with three others, had gone missing from the JNU campus since February 12 when Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested in a sedition case after an event held at February 9 on the university campus against hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. They all had allegedly shouting anti-India slogans during the rally.

The five surfaced in the JNU campus late Sunday night.

In Kanhaiya Kumar’s case, Justice Rani sought status report on the investigation by Wednesday.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for Delhi Police, said since it was a pre-chargesheet bail application, police should be allowed to file the status report in a sealed cover.

However, the court rejected the request, saying petitioners have the right to know why police has opposed the bail.

It also directed a copy be given to Kanhaiya’s counsel Rebecca John.

During the brief hearing, Aam Aadmi Party’s senior standing counsel Rahul Mehra sought to represent Delhi Police in Kanhaiya’s bail case but ASGs Tushar Mehta and Sanjay Jain opposed it.

Mehta told the court that he and advocate Shailendra Babbar were appointed as special public prosecutor in the case by the lt. governor.

“They (ASGs representing Delhi Police) have crossed all ‘Lakshman rekha’. As a standing counsel, I am not allowed to argue and they are here on LG’s unofficial order,” Mehra said.

Justice Rani, however, said: “Let us not distract from the main issue. This is not a place to settle personal scores.”

Mehra said Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi had said Kanhaiya’s bail plea will not be opposed, but after the court’s hearing, Jain told reporters that police will oppose it.

Kanhaiya moved the high court after the Supreme Court refused to entertain the bail plea, noting that bypassing the high court would set a wrong precedent.

The security at the high court was beefed up for the hearing and entry to the courtroom of Justice Rani was restricted to lawyers involved in the case and six media persons.

(Agencies)

87 year old man, with a complex heart condition deemed inoperable, gets a fresh lease of life

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“Fortis Heart Team replaces the aortic heart valve without opening the chest or heart”

Fortis

Bengaluru: In a show of exemplary teamwork, the Heart Team of Fortis Hospital Bangalore comprising senior Cardiologists, Cardiac surgeons and Cardiac anesthetists under the leadership of Dr. Vivek Jawali, Chairman, Department Of Cardio-Vascular Science, performed a rare procedure called TAVR (Trans-catheter Aortic Valve Replacement) to give a new lease of life to 87-year old Mr. Subba Rao from Mysore. This rare procedure was performed successfully to treat a severe and otherwise inoperable conditionin the patient’s heart in just over an hour.  In contrast to a regular procedure which takes several hours and requires prolonged hospital stay this novel technique took just over an hour to complete and the patient was discharged in just 5 days.

The heart disease had severely affected ’Subba Raos quality of life and created a danger of sudden death. He often experienced shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing during activity and struggled to walk. He also developed a prostate enlargement that forced him to carry urinary bag whenever he stepped outside as the prostate was inoperable due to the diseased heart. Because of multiple diseases and frail health traditional heart surgery posed a very high degree of risk to the patient’s life and hence the doctors at the hospital suggested that he undergo the TAVR procedure.

“Having witnessed some of India’s best cardiac milestones in the last 25 years, we are extremely proud of performing such a technologically advanced procedure with a multi-disciplinary team of cardiac specialists. This technology is at a nascent stage in India and Fortis Hospital Cunningham Road is fortunate to be one of the few hospitals in the State with the medical expertise to perform such a complex procedure. We want to offer this life saving procedure to many more patients and give them a second chance at healthy living. Fortis hospitals across India have been leaders in the use of this technology,” said Dr. Vivek Jawali, Chairman, Dept. Of Cardio-Vascular Science, Fortis Hospitals, Bangalore.

Dr. Gopi, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Fortis Hospitals, Cunningham Road, who performed the procedure said, “Subba Rao was wheeled into the cath-lab on the day of the operation and after anesthesia, a small incision was put on the groin and a valve was mounted on a wire which was inserted into the artery of his leg. This valve was then deployed on the diseased aortic valve in the heart. In a day’s time the patient was able to move around without much stress. Such procedures are very effective as the recovery is fast and the success rate very high.

In India, only select medical centers which are pre-approved can perform the replacement procedure and that too under the guidance of world renowned medical experts. In this case Dr. Peters Andreka from Hungary was flown in specially to supervise this procedure.

Five days after surgery Subba Rao got discharged and is doing well. His family too has found new hope and is now eagerly waiting for his normalization and rapid recovery. “We are so happy to see him back on his feet as we had lost all hope at one time” said Subba Rao’s son Ramesh.

Congress leads in ZP, TP polls; BJP wins in DK, Udupi

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Bengaluru/Mangaluru: The Congress in the state managed to secure a lead in more than 12 of the 30 zilla panchayats (ZP) in the recent elections held in two phases.

Trends indicated that the Congress was leading in Bidar, Chamarajanagar, Chitradurga, Gadag, Haveri, Kalaburagi, Kolar, Koppal, Ramanagaram, Tumakuru, Uttara Kannada and Yadgir ZPs.

The story was different in other districts with the BJP leading in Ballari, Bengaluru Urban, Chikkamagaluru, Davanagere, Kodagu and Shivamogga and in coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.

The JD(S) secured a lead in Mandya and Mysuru.

The counting of votes began on Tuesday morning at 8. The fate of 17,000 candidates was decided in the two phased-elections held on February 13 and 20.

(Agencies)

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