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USA: Laptops and documents stolen during Capitol Hill Violence, including from House Speaker Pelosi’s office, raises national security concerns

OpIndia Staff
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USA: Laptops and documents stolen during Capitol Hill Violence, including from House Speaker Pelosi’s office, raises national security concerns

Capitol Hill Protesters stole a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the violence that erupted in Washington DC. Her spokesperson has confirmed the same. Meanwhile, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn claimed that his iPad was stolen as well before rescinding his comments.

“Whip Clyburn’s iPad is safe and sound. In the chaos on Wednesday, a staffer moved it to a more secure location and other staff was unaware,” a spokesperson told CNN. DC’s acting US Attorney Michael Sherwin on Thursday said that numerous items were stolen which raises national security concerns.

“This is probably going to take several days to flesh out exactly what happened, what was stolen, what wasn’t,” he said. “[But] electronic items were stolen from senators’ offices. Documents, materials were stolen, and we have to identify what was done [and] mitigate that.”

Drew Hammill, Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, said, “A laptop from a conference room was stolen. It was a laptop that was only used for presentations.” A spokesperson for the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the House said, “During the event, the CAO took steps to ensure that the House network and devices remained secure. We remain vigilant in monitoring the security of the House network, systems, and information.”

CAO Catherine Szpindor said that there was no indication that networks had been breached. The protesters had managed to breach premises and enter Nancy Pelosi’s office during the storming of Capitol Hill. Numerous arrests have been made in connection to the incident.

World Hindi Day and how it is different from ‘Hindi Diwas’

Dibakar Dutta
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World Hindi Day and how it is different from ‘Hindi Diwas’

Vishwa Hindi Diwas, also known as World Hindi Day, is celebrated across the globe on January 10 each year. With over 49 crore speakers, Hindi is the second most popular language in the world. The language is spoken primarily in India, Guyana, Mauritius, Nepal, Guyana, Fiji, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.

It was on January 10, 1975, when the first World Hindi Conference took place in Nagpur. The event was inaugurated by the then PM Indira Gandhi and was attended by 122 delegates from 30 countries. The first World Hindi Conference was also graced by the then Mauritius Prime Minister, Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, who served as the Chief Guest.

Since 1975, the World Hindi Conference has been organised in several countries over the years including Mauritius, USA and the UK. January 10 is therefore dedicated to the promotion of the Hindi language across the world. As such, this day is celebrated as the World Hindi Day since 2006, when it was first observed under PM Dr Manmohan Singh. Although the objective is similar, Hindi Diwas differs from the World Hindi Day.

How is Hindi Diwas different?

It was on 14th September 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted Hindi as the official language of the newly formed nation. The language was chosen owing to its penetration and number of speakers who could understand the language in the country. 14th September is celebrated as ‘Hindi Diwas’ to commemorate its adoption by the Constituent Assembly.

At the same date, the date marks the birth anniversary of Beohar Rajendra Simha, one of the biggest proponents of the Hindi language. Under the Official Language Rules 1976, all government offices are encouraged to communicate in Hindi so that it reaches out to more common people. Hindi originated from the ancient Indic language of Sanskrit and is written in the Devanagari script.

Therefore, World Hindi Day and National Hindi Diwas of India are completely different. While the focus of the World Hindi Day is to promote the language at the global stage, the National Hindi Diwas is held in India to mark the adaptation of Hindi as the official language of the country.

‘Jamia University terminated 23 employees from Valmiki community, no money for food’ – emotional video of terminated sanitation employees go viral

OpIndia Staff
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‘Jamia University terminated 23 employees from Valmiki community, no money for food’ – emotional video of terminated sanitation employees go viral

Yet another controversy has erupted in the Jamia Millia Islamia University located in the Okhla region of South-East Delhi. A video of sanitation workers from Jamia is going viral on social media platforms. One of the terminated employees identified as Rajesh Kumar Valmiki made a heart-wrenching appeal against Jamia’s administration’s decision to terminate the employment of 23 Sanitation workers.

In the video, Rajesh Kumar Valmiki claimed that 23 Sanitation Workers had been removed from their posts. He said that all 23 employees belong to the Valmiki community. He alleged that the authorities have told that they have got orders from Ministry of Human Resources (HRD) to remove 23 out of 132 sanitation workers.

Only members of Valmiki community terminated

He said, “Only the employees of our Valmiki community have been removed. We have been working in Jamia from last 15-20 years. Even in the difficult time of Corona we continued to provide sanitation services in the Campus. We have cleaned drains. But now when the time has come to reduce the number of employees, we are being targeted first. We are facing discrimination in the University. We are very upset with Jamia.” Rajesh also showed the list of the employees who were terminated.

He said that majority of the employees who have been terminated have passed 10th standard or studied up to class 12th. Still, they are given work to clean sewage. Rajesh further added that 16 men in the department are posted as peons. He also said that there are employees for the prevention of malaria, but their work is seasonal. He alleged that as per guidelines, the employees for malaria prevention should get only three months worth employment.

No salaries for four months

Rajesh said that they have not received salaries for months. He said, “We are regular employees. We have not received our salary for 3-4 months. Many of us live in rented houses. We do not have money to feed our children. How can we recharge our phones? This is Jamia’s condition.”

It has to be noted that during Covid times smartphones have become a necessity, especially for students as they have to take online classes. In situations like these where parents are not paid on time, it gets difficult for the students to keep up with their studies.

Jamia has a long history of controversies

This is not the first time Jamia has found itself deep in controversies. The foundation of Jamia Milia Islamia was laid by Maulana Mahmud Hasam. One of its founders was Mohammad Ali Jauhar who dreamed of Hindustan Darul Islam and had opposed Vande Mataram in 1923. During the anti-CAA protests, Jamia students were allegedly involved in demonstrations and violence.

After outrage, Twitter removes tweet by Chinese Embassy in US that took pride in a ‘re-education camp’ for Uyghur Muslims

OpIndia Staff
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After outrage, Twitter removes tweet by Chinese Embassy in US that took pride in a ‘re-education camp’ for Uyghur Muslims

A tweet from the Chinese embassy in the US claiming that Uyghur Muslim women held in internment camps in the Xinjiang province of China had been “emancipated” and were “no longer baby-making machines” received severe backlash from many quarters. Subsequently, Twitter has removed the outrageous content.

Tweet by Chinese Embassy in US no longer available

On Thursday, the Chinese Embassy in the United States took to Twitter to share an article published in the China Daily, a mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, that claims that as China has eradicated “religious extremism” from the region.

Tweet by Chinese embassy in US, now removed

The article further made some claims saying that Uyghur women have freely chosen to use birth control more, leading to a decline in birth rates in the region. It dismissed claims made by some Western scholars and politicians that China has engaged in forced sterilizations of Uighurs.

“Study shows that in the process of eradicating extremism, the minds of Uygur women in Xinjiang were emancipated and gender equality and reproductive health were promoted, making them no longer baby-making machines,” the tweet said. adding that the Uygur women are more confident and independent.

Social media outrage against Chinese Embassy tweets against Uyghurs

Following the tweet by Chinese embassy in US, a massive outrage erupted on social media condemning the treatment meted out to the Uyghur Muslims in China and also attacked China for proudly commenting upon the forced sterilisation they carried out on Uyghur women on the social media.

However, Twitter, instead of removing the hateful content at the first instance, rather categorically stated that a Chinese government tweet praising China’s treatment of its Uyghur ethnic minority did not violate its policy against hateful conduct.

It is a known fact that Twitter regularly takes down content citing violation of rules just like it did to President Trump’s account. Twitter’s rule against hateful conduct states that users “may not promote violence against any particular group” and also bans “the dehumanization of a group of people” based on their religion, race, or ethnicity.

As Twitter did not remove the content from its platform, several netizens took to Twitter to not only condemn China for its persecution of minority Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province but also attacked Twitter for not removing such hateful content on social media.

Another user asked Twitter to at least categorise the content as manipulated and alert the users for the disputed claims.

After several social media users including wokes and Islamists tweeted, the micro-blogging site seems to have buckled under pressure and the content posted by the Chinese embassy against Uyghur Muslims in China.

‘No more appeasement of the Communist regime in Beijing’: US removes self-imposed restrictions on interactions with Taiwan

OpIndia Staff
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‘No more appeasement of the Communist regime in Beijing’: US removes self-imposed restrictions on interactions with Taiwan

In a major development, the State Department of the United States announced on Saturday that decade-old internal restrictions imposed on its diplomats, and officials, during their interaction with Taiwanese counterparts, would be removed.

US State Secretary Mike Pompeo informed, “The United States government took these actions unilaterally, in an attempt to appease the Communist regime in Beijing. No more.” Hailing Taiwan as a ‘vibrant democracy’ and a ‘reliable partner’, Pompeo emphasised that all ‘self-imposed’ restrictions would be lifted. “Executive branch agencies should consider all “contact guidelines” regarding relations with Taiwan previously issued by the Department of State under authorities delegated to the Secretary of State to be null and void,” he said in a statement

The US State Department further stated that all sections of the Foreign Affairs Handbook, which restrict executive-branch engagement with Taiwan, other than the ones handled by the non-profit American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), would be considered as null and void. Hailing shared values of democracy, human dignity, and rule of law, Mike Pompeo added, “Today’s statement recognizes that the U.S.-Taiwan relationship need not, and should not, be shackled by self-imposed restrictions of our permanent bureaucracy.”

Taiwan thanks US State Department for its renewed foreign policy

Following the press release by the US State Department, the Foreign Ministry of Taiwan thanked the United States for removing self-imposed internal restrictions for executive-branch engagement.”I am grateful to Secretary Pompeo & State Department for lifting restrictions unnecessarily limiting our engagements these past years. I’m also thankful for strong bipartisan support in Congress for the #Taiwan?? Assurance Act, which advocates a review of prior guidelines,” it tweeted.

Taiwan Foreign Ministry further emphasised, “The closer partnership between Taiwan & the US is firmly based on our shared values, common interests & unshakeable belief in freedom & democracy. We’ll continue working in the months & years ahead to ensure Taiwan is & continues to be a force for good in the world.”

China threatens the US with ‘heavy price’

On Thursday, China threatened the United States with ‘heavy price’ if US ambassador Kelly Craft goes ahead with his upcoming visit to Taiwan between January 13-15. The Chinese envoy to the United Nations warned, “The United States will pay a heavy price for its wrong action. China strongly urges the United States to stop its crazy provocation, stop creating new difficulties for China-US relations and the two countries’ cooperation in the United Nations, and stop going further on the wrong path.”

However, the American UN mission informed that Kelly Craft would meet Taiwanese officials and continue their strong and ongoing support to Taiwan. Welcoming her visit to Taiwan, Presidential spokesperson Xavier Chang said that it symbolised ‘firm friendship’ between the two countries.

YouTube removes Steve Bannon’s ‘War Room’ podcast for violating ‘community guidelines’, Trump purge by Big Tech continues

OpIndia Staff
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YouTube removes Steve Bannon’s ‘War Room’ podcast for violating ‘community guidelines’, Trump purge by Big Tech continues

The Big Tech War against Donald Trump and his base continues unabated. The latest casualty in that war is Steve Bannon. YouTube has pulled down the former White House chief strategist’s podcast “War Room” following the storming of Capitol Hill.

YouTube claimed that the podcast did not comply with its community guidelines. “In accordance with our strikes system, we have terminated Steve Bannon’s channel ‘War Room’ and one associated channel for repeatedly violating our Community Guidelines,” it said in a statement.

The statement continued, “As we said yesterday, any channel posting new videos with misleading content that alleges widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election in violation of our policies will receive a strike, a penalty which temporarily restricts uploading or live-streaming. Channels that receive three strikes in the same 90-day period will be permanently removed from YouTube.”

The podcasts are still available on Bannon’s website. It is available there with the note, “While YouTube announces broad censorship mandates for any channel discussing the election, Steve Bannon discusses the latest on the coronavirus pandemic and the latest updates on the state of the election.”

Steve Bannon was suspended from Twitter in November after he called for Anthony Fauci’s head “on pikes”.

Social media platforms have been on a crusade against Donald Trump and his supporters ever since he was elected president. However, the storming of Capitol Hill appears to have accelerated trends that already existed. A lot of deplatformed Trump supporters, and Donald Trump himself, moved to Parler, an alternative to Twitter but Big Tech is attempting to shut that down as well.

After Twitter suspension, Forbes warns companies against hiring people who worked with Donald Trump past four years

OpIndia Staff
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After Twitter suspension, Forbes warns companies against hiring people who worked with Donald Trump past four years

Just a day after Twitter banned US President Donald Trump, the left-liberals across the world are now seeking to ostracise and boycott not only POTUS Trump but also people associated or worked with him in the last four years.

Continuing to carry out a vendetta against the ideological opponents, the American business magazine Forbes has now given an ultimatum to companies that want to hire people who have been working for President Donald Trump throughout the last four years.

In an article published by Forbes’ chief content officer and editor Randall Lane this week titled, “A Truth Reckoning: Why We’re Holding Those Who Lied For Trump Accountable”, the American magazine warned companies against hiring people who were associated with the Trump administration during his tenure as POTUS. It said that they would be scrutinising such businesses if they employ Trump supporters and staff.

In his article, Lane citing the protests that erupted outside Capitol Hill on Wednesday said, “Yesterday’s insurrection was rooted in lies. That a fair election was stolen. That a significant defeat was actually a landslide victory. That the world’s oldest democracy, ingeniously insulated via autonomous state voting regimens, is a rigged system. Such lies-upon-lies, repeated frequently and fervently, provided the kindling, the spark, the gasoline.”

Listing out all of Trump’s press secretaries throughout his presidency, Lane claimed these staff helped Donald Trump allegedly spread lies and threatened companies saying that if they plan on hiring one of these press secretaries, Forbes will scrutinise those businesses. The four press secretaries were Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham, and Kayleigh McEnany.

Lane claimed that this was a time of transition and pain in the United States and reinvigorating democracy requires a true reckoning. According to him, the reckoning would come by starting to act against the people who were paid by the people to inform the people.

Lane wrote, “Hire any of Trump’s fellow fabulists above, and Forbes will assume that everything your company or firm talks about is a lie. We’re going to scrutinize, double-check, investigate with the same scepticism we’d approach a Trump tweet. Want to ensure the world’s biggest business media brand approaches you as a potential funnel of disinformation? Then hire away.”

Twitter suspends US President Donald Trump

The warning by the left-liberals, who often proclaims to be the champion of free speech, comes just after a day the big-techs banned sitting United States President Donald Trump from all their platforms citing that he allegedly incited violence.

In what was seen as a major blow to free speech, Twitter on Friday permanently banned the personal account of Donald Trump (@realdonaldtrump). The action by Twitter to ban a sitting President and big-tech companies playing a direct role in country’s politics has now caused a massive shock to the citizens worldwide, invoking fear about big-tech’s intent to censure contrary viewpoints.

In a statement, Twitter said, “After a close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”

Following the permanent suspension, the POTUS issued a scathing response accusing Twitter of conspiring with his political enemies “to silence” him. Declaring war on big-techs, President Trump issued a statement over the shocking action of Twitter to ban free speech saying that micro-blogging site is colluding with Democrats and radical left elements to silence him and the 75 million people who voted for him.

The President of the United States, end his statement to his followers said, “STAY TUNED!”.

Australian fans resort to racial abuse yet again against Mohammad Siraj, security kicks them out after complain

OpIndia Staff
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Australian fans resort to racial abuse yet again against Mohammad Siraj, security kicks them out after complain

A day after Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) formally registered a complaint with the match referee David Boon, following racist behaviour of Australian cricket fans towards Indian pacers Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah, such a spectacle was yet again witnessed during the 4th Day of the 3rd ODI match between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Sunday.

After a section of ‘drunk’ Australian supporters hurled racist slurs at Mohammed Siraj, he promptly complained to the on-field umpires. Siraj was supported by all his teammates, including the captain Ajinkya Rahane. The match came to a halt temporarily, with the authorities and security officials desperately trying to find the accused.

When Mohammed Siraj pointed in the direction of the stands, the officials quickly investigated the matter and kicked out a group of 4 men, followed by two others, from the stadium.

The crowd cheered on while the accused were escorted out of the stadium.

What does the rule say?

The ICC policy states, “It shall be a breach of the terms and conditions of entry to the venue for any ticket-holder to engage in any conduct (whether through the use of language, gestures or otherwise) which is likely to offend, insult, humiliate, intimidate, threaten, disparage or vilify any other person (including players, match officials or spectators) on the basis of their race, religion, culture, colour, descent, nationality, ethnic origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, marital status and/or maternity status.”

Any such action, on the part of a spectator, can lead to eviction from the ground, future ban on attending any match at the said venue or even criminal prosecution.

BCCI lodges complaint with match referee

Yesterday, during the 3rd day of the Test match, Indian cricketers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj were subjected to racial abuse. They, however, complained to the on-field umpire and match referee, only at the end of the day’s play. A official stated, “BCCI lodged a formal complaint with ICC match referee David Boon about two of their players, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, being abused by a drunk spectator.”

Although the complaint has been filed with the ICC, only the hosts aka Cricket Australia can probe the matter. At the end of the day’s play, the umpires and the referee had a long discussion with the two Indian pacers as well as the Indian captain. Reportedly, Mohammed Siraj was referred to as a ‘monkey’ by a drunk spectator yesterday.

After Twitter banned US President Donald Trump, Islamists give a call to get PM Modi removed from Twitter

OpIndia Staff
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After Twitter banned US President Donald Trump, Islamists give a call to get PM Modi removed from Twitter

Following the attack by pro-Trump supporters on the Capitol Hall in Washington DC social media companies have cracked down on President Trump’s account across all platforms.

Tech giants including Twitter, Facebook and others have permanently suspended President Trump’s personal accounts from their platform and restricted the official POTUS accounts. Also, those who were associated with Donald Trump or supported him during this time of crisis in the country faced the heat as their social media accounts were suspended. Several channels with hundreds of videos were also removed from Facebook and Youtube as they were Trump supporters.

Anti-Modi Islamists demand ban on PM Modi’s social media accounts

Watching the Trump supporters helpless on social media platforms, the anti-Modi brigade of Islamists have risen in India and across the world demanding a ban on his social media accounts.

CJ Werleman, a serial fake news peddler and an anti-India propagandist, said that it would be a logical move to ban PM Modi. He said, “It would seem logical to ban @narendramodi from Twitter for inciting the mass murder of more than 2,000 Muslims in 2002 and then another 50 in 2019, not to mention the way in which he has mass radicalized Indian society to pre-genocidal levels.”

In 2002, communal riots in Gujarat broke out after a train returning from Ayodhya was set on fire by radical Islamist mob in Godhra where in 59 karsevaks were burnt alive. Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat. In the subsequent riots, people of both the communities, not just Muslims, lost their lives.

Khaled Beydon, an Islamist professor, called to trend hashtag #ModiNext while calling for the suspension of PM Modi’s account. He said, “Well, suspending Narendra Modi from Twitter would be the logical next move, @Jack. Authoritarian incitement by the chief executive isn’t only an American phenomenon.  Get it trending #ModiNext.”

Khaled Beydoun’s tweet

Raheel Shafi, a biomedical scientist and physician from USA (appears to be of Pakistani descent, quoted Werleman and demanded a ban on PM Modi’s account.

Tweet by Raheel Shafi

Rameel Khan from Mumbai wrote that everyone would agree to PM Modi’s account suspension.

Rameel Khan demanding banning of PM Modi’s account

Zaynab Honnora who claims to be from Italy called President Trump an ‘evil oopmaloopa’ (Man with orange-coloured skin) and called for a ban on PM Modi’s account.

Zaynab Hannora’s tweet

Hafeez Al Akbar who claims to be from Chennai called PM Modi mastermind of several riots in India and demanded a ban on his account.

Source: Twitter

Another user from India Mohammad Akhtar also quoted Werleman and agreed with him for call for PM Modi’s account suspension.

Source: Twitter

Earlier Senior Youth Congress leader Srivatsa had called on Twitter India to ban on BJP’s leaders’s Twitter accounts.

“Is it a war?” Power blackout in Pakistan triggers fear, panic and dark humour as Pakistanis scramble on Twitter

OpIndia Staff
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“Is it a war?” Power blackout in Pakistan triggers fear, panic and dark humour as Pakistanis scramble on Twitter

Late night on Saturday, panic gripped across Pakistan after the country suffered yet another blackout. According to the reports, major Pakistani cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Multan plunged into darkness following massive power outage.

The blackout was also seen in Pakistan occupied Kashmir affecting critical services like healthcare, communications, etc. Operations at country’s major airports were also hit by the blackout.

However, as soon as Pakistan got hit with another blackout, the poor citizens of the country became panic-stricken as they expressed fear about another surgical strike by the Indian Armed Forces inside their country.

Several social media users, fearing another attack, scrambled on Twitter to know from their fellow citizens whether they were under attack from India again. Following the blackout, Reham Khan, the former wife of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted asking whether it was a ‘war’ in Pakistan.

Reham Khan’s tweet

Similarly, another user also expressed fear questioning on Twitter whether their country was not yet again at the receiving end of Indian Armed Force’s anti-terror operation.

More panicked Pakistanis

Zaid Hamid, who is considered to be Pakistan’s equivalent to Pro-AAP vZalogger Dhruv Rathee, too thought that the blackout was nothing but a prelude to a war between Indian and Pakistan. He asked Pakistan Air Force to be red alert following the power breakdown.

Zaid Hamid panicking
Panicked Pakistanis

While most of the social media from Pakistan feared about a strike from India, some also put out their apprehensions about the internal aggression within Pakistan by the Pakistan Army to snatch the power from the elected government. Pakistani netizens got all nostalgic and asked whether the power outrage was just a reason for carrying out coup by the Pakistan military against the Imran Khan government.

Pakistanis being nostalgic about the Musharraf led coup

Another social media user declared that Pakistan was already under the military rule claiming that General Bajwa removed Imran Khan from power after declaring Martial Law in the country.

Pakistanis wilding on Twitter

Nevertheless, Pakistan who are almost at war all the time against somebody or the other, seems to be habituated with such blackouts, coup, terror strikes etc. However, as far as Indian concerned, there has been no anti-terror operations being carried out against terrorists inside Pakistan. So far, at least, the Indian Armed Forces have not confirmed about any such surgical strikes.

However, not all was lost for Pakistan. Some of them resorted to dark humour (pun intended) and make fun of their own poverty and otherwise terrible lives.

Cherry Hamza tweeted the now infamous tweet text on the eve of Balakot Air Strike by Indian Air Force on terror camps in Pakistan. Since attempted coups are flavour of the season, even Pakistanis could not resist. Pakistan PM Imran Khan was the favourite punching bag. And then the bitter truth.

Meanwhile, power has been restored in most part of Pakistan. As per Pakistani Energy Minister, the power breakdown was caused after the frequency in the national power distribution system suddenly fell from 50 to zero. The reason for such drop was currently being investigated.

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