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India's Debt Up, Next Greece?

Debt % of Total GDP


Portugal = 92%
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India = 82%
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France = 67%
Spain = 60%
UK = 47%
China = 16%

India's Debt to GDP is 82%?!? Really, how about you substantiate that claim?? I would love to see some sane economist or publication endorsing your corrupt view.

Secondly, India's debt is in the vicinity of 65% of GDP. However, one needs to appreciate the fine print. India is hedged against risks posed by a potential debt crisis - simply because a large chunk of the debt is rupee denominated and owed to Public Sector Banks, where the govt has a majority stake. In practice, what is means is that the govt owes money to no one else, but itself. It can tweak the terms of debt, via the Public Sector Banks - which in turns allows the indian finance minister considerable space in terms of repayment and servicing of debt. Kapish??

Thirdly, Mr. Riaz Haq (SouthAsiaInvestor.blogspot) has wasted the last few years trying to assuage hurt pak pride by dismissing India in every sphere. He engages in bigotry, to shame people with dissenting voices, who he likes to call "bigots". The point is - Mr. Haq's knack for rhetorical rants doesn't make him an authority on the subject of economics, trade and debt management. Next time, try to quote someone not suffering from a myopic view, and someone who knows what he/she is talking about.
 
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India's debt threat: Rises to historic high in 2011

India's debt threat: Rises to historic high in FY11 - CNBC-TV18 -

---------- Post added at 09:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:33 AM ----------

India’s Debt at 70% of GDP Is ‘Constraint’ to Higher Rating, Moody’s Says

Moody’s rates India’s rupee sovereign debt a Ba1, the junk grade.India’s foreign-currency debt is rated at Baa3, the lowest investment grade.

India

Well aren't you the same huy who was celebrating the possbility of Indonesia, replacing India as the "I" from BRIC?!

Well if you had read the bloomberg report that you qouted - you would have known that even a country like Indonesia shares the same "soverign debt rating" of Ba1, as india.

So given that India has a much higher debt on the books, there must be something that india's is doing better to deserve tha same rating.

Besides, despite the juvenile attempts to compare india to greece or portugal - the currency markets (a fair reflection of the economic concerns of any nation) in india have mostly impressed in 2012. After being punished in late 2011, the rupee has been one of the best performers so far.

So "lol" right back at you, cause guys who really matter, unlike you, are placing strong bets on india, not against it - as is visible from the rupee performance.
 
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India plans major boost to health sector, to invest 2.5% of GDP by 2017 - The Times of India

NEW DELHI: In a major boost to the healthcare sector, total government expenditure on health would be increased to 2.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2017, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said on Wednesday.

The decision was taken in a meeting held in the PMO on the government's priorities in health sector, particularly over the next five years.

"The meeting decided that we must work towards increasing the total government health expenditure to 2.5 percent of GDP by the end of the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) from current 1.4 percent. The Planning Commission was requested to allocate adequate resources to achieve the target," said an official statement.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has emphasised the need for increased outlay on health sector during Twelfth Plan so that adequate funds are made available for the sector, the statement further said.

"There is a need to create adequate capacity at the centre and the states to meaningfully absorb the increased outlay," the statement said, quoting Manmohan Singh.

The health ministry is working towards the goal of universal health care for all.

It was decided in the meeting that the ministry would also work towards strengthening public health through the creation of necessary human resource capacities at all levels.

The meeting specifically focused on implementation of recommendations of the National Commission for Macroeconomics & Health (NCMH) and the High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Health set up by the Planning Commission.
 
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Auto sales rise in Feb; market shows revival after slowdown
Last Updated: Thursday, March 01, 2012, 20:50 0

New Delhi: Major auto makers, including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp, Thursday reported increase in their sales in February, showing a revival in the market after prolonged sluggishness.

In January also, car makers, including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors, had seen their sales increasing, indicating buoyancy in the auto industry in the New Year.

Last month, the country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki recorded its highest domestic sales for the current fiscal at 1,07,653 units compared to 1,01,543 units in the year-ago period, registering a growth of 6.02 percent. The figure in last month was the second highest in its history after 1,10,424 units that was registered in March 2011.

Similarly, rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) also witnessed its highest ever domestic sales at 36,805 units last month as against 32,629 units in the year-ago period, registering a growth of 12.80 percent.

"Even in the tough market situation, Eon sales have helped us to achieve the highest ever domestic sales," HMIL Director (Marketing and Sales) Arvind Saxena said.

Homegrown Tata Motors' total passenger vehicles sales in the domestic market stood at 34,832 units in February, up 9.16 percent from 31,909 units in the same month last year.

Another auto major Mahindra & Mahindra's (M&M) total sale of passenger vehicles, including Scorpio, XUV500, Xylo, Bolero and Verito, stood at 20,573 units during the month under review as against 15,439 units in February 2011, a growth rate of 33.25 percent.

"We are happy to maintain a healthy growth in February 2012 with all our brands doing well. While the XUV500 continues to create excitement in the market, the recently launched New Xylo has also evoked a very positive response from customers," M&M Chief Executive (Automotive Division) Pravin Shah said.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported 78.98 percent increase in its sales at 16,659 units in February, driven by robust demand for its latest 'Etios' and 'Liva' models. It had sold 9,308 units in the corresponding month last year.

"We have seen good sales last month across all our products. The Etios series continues to lead the sales. New Innova and New Fortuner are registering good sales numbers," TKM Deputy Managing Director (Marketing) Sandeep Singh said.

Another carmaker Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) saw its sales climbing up by 82.86 percent to 8,856 units from 4,843 units in the same month last year.

"With normal production resuming in our Greater Noida plant from middle of last month, we are working towards normalising the supplies and cater to the growing demand of our cars," HSCI Senior Vice President (Sales and Marketing) Jnaneswar Sen said.

However, General Motors India posted a 4.32 percent decline in its sales at 8,901 units compared to 9,303 units in the same month last year.

"The sales were not on the expected lines as the market continues to be sluggish. High interest rates, hike in fuel prices, commodity prices, growing inflation and negative market sentiments continue to put lot of pressure on the automobile market," GM India Vice-President P Balendran said.

Car maker Ford India also reported a 2.82 percent fall in its total sales during February at 10,424 units as against 10,726 units in the corresponding month last year.

In the two-wheeler segment, market leader Hero MotoCorp reported 10.89 percent rise in its sales for February at 5,23,465 units. It had sold 4,72,055 units in February 2011.

"We have been consistently clocking over five lakh units in sales, and our performance in the first two months -- January and February -- has maintained that trend in both despatch and retail sales," Hero MotoCorp Senior Vice President (Marketing and Sales) Anil Dua said.

Rival two-wheeler manufacturer Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India saw 41.30 percent growth in its total sales for February at 2,06,043 units compared to 1,45,819 units in the corresponding month of the previous year.

Another two-wheeler maker India Yamaha registered a 23.03 percent increase in its total sales at 40,655 units as against 33,046 units in the same month last year.

"We are very pleased with the sales growth that we've witnessed in the past month on account of our strong product portfolio and high customer confidence in us," India Yamaha Motor National Business Head Roy Kurian said.

Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd (SMIPL) reported a 29.85 percent increase in its sales during February to 37,336 units from 28,754 units in the same month last year.

Commenting on the sales growth, SMIPL Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) Atul Gupta said, "We have received a good response from the market for all our products, including the newly launched Swish 125. The growing customer satisfaction has led to positive word-of-mouth in the market."

However, Chennai-based TVS Motor Company's total two-wheeler sales fell by 2.43 percent last month to 1,68,996 units from 1,73,200 units in the year-ago period.

Auto sales rise in Feb; market shows revival after slowdown

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Exports grow 10.1% in Jan to $25.34 billion
Last Updated: Thursday, March 01, 2012, 19:41 0

New Delhi: Weak demand in western markets weighed on India's export performance, with shipments growing by mere 10.1 percent in January on year-on-year basis to USD 25.4 billion.

However, exports growth rate was a marginally higher than that of December, 2011, when the shipments were up by 6.7 percent.

On the other hand, imports grew at a faster rate of 20.25 percent to USD 40.1 billion, leaving a trade deficit of USD 14.76 billion, according to the Commerce Ministry data released Thursday.

From a peak of 82 percent in July 2011, export growth has slipped to 44.25 percent in August 2011, 36.36 percent in September 2011 and 10.8 percent in October last year.

For cumulative April-January period, exports aggregated to USD 242.79 billion, showing a healthy growth of 23.47 percent, thanks to sterling trend witnessed in the previous months of the current fiscal.

Imports during the 10-month period stood at USD 391.45 billion, an increase of 29.4 percent. The trade gap aggregated to USD 148.66 billion.

Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar has said that the exports and imports may touch about USD 300 billion and USD 460 billion, respectively. The balance of trade would be around USD 160 billion. He has also cautioned that the exporters’ community would face demand problem in 2012-13 as well.

FIEO President Rafeeque Ahmed too said that the figures clearly indicate that 2012 would be a difficult year for exports in view of growing uncertainty in the euro-zone area.

"Exporters would definitely face demand problems in 2012-13," Kush Suri, a leading dry fruit exporter, said.

Exports grow 10.1% in Jan to $25.34 billion
 
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India PMI Grows at Fastest Pace in 8 Months

India’s manufacturing grew at close to the fastest pace in eight months, adding to signs global economic prospects may improve after a Chinese gauge climbed.


The Purchasing Managers’ Index was at 56.6 in February from 57.5 in January, HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics said in an e-mailed statement today. A number above 50 indicates growth.


Recent reports have shown gains in capital spending by Japanese companies, South Korea’s largest climb in exports in six months and an increase in a Chinese purchasing managers’ index for a third straight month. India’s central bank is due to assess the nation’s economic outlook, including slowing inflation, when it sets interest rates on March 15.

“Activity in the manufacturing sector continued to expand in February, although at a slightly slower pace,” said Leif Eskesen, an economist at HSBC in Singapore. Rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India, which are expected to begin in April to June, will “have to be gradual,” he said.

The rupee weakened 0.4 percent to 49.2013 per dollar at 1 p.m. local time. It has rebounded 7.9 percent so far in 2012 after sliding 16 percent last year. The BSE India Sensitive Index (SENSEX) declined 1.2 percent. The yield on the 8.79 percent note due November 2021 rose two basis point, or 0.02 percentage point, to 8.22 percent.

Governor Duvvuri Subbarao reviews borrowing costs the day before Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee unveils the budget for the next fiscal year.
Easing Inflation

Indian inflation eased to a 26-month low of 6.55 percent in January, after exceeding 9 percent for most of 2011. The economy expanded 6.1 percent last quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace in more than two years.

The Reserve Bank raised rates by a record 3.75 percentage points from March 2010 to October last year, to 8.5 percent, in an attempt to restrain price rises. Costlier credit and slower exports as Europe’s debt crisis hurt demand contributed to the slowdown in Asia’s third-largest economy in 2011.

The Reserve Bank on Jan. 24 cut the amount of deposits lenders need to set aside as reserves for the first time since 2009, seeking to ease a cash squeeze.

It said inflationary threats, such as the fiscal deficit and energy prices, made it “premature” to start reducing borrowing costs, while reinforcing guidance that future rate actions will be towards lowering them.
Fiscal Deficit

The pace of price increases in India is the fastest in the so-called BRIC group that also includes Brazil, Russia and China.

In China, the purchasing managers’ index rose to 51.0 in February from 50.5 in January, the statistics bureau and logistics federation said.

Indian inflation remains an area of concern in the current financial year, Chakravarthy Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, said in the southern Indian union territory of Puducherry today.

The budget shortfall may surge to 6.1 percent of gross domestic product in the year to March, according to Nomura Holdings Inc. and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., exceeding Mukherjee’s goal of 4.6 percent.

Indian companies have struggled as economic expansion eased. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., India’s biggest carmaker, posted a 64 percent drop in third-quarter net income after a strike by workers and lower demand damped sales.

India PMI Grows at Fastest Pace in 8 Months - Businessweek
 
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Iran's payback problem solved... :)

EXCLUSIVE - Iran starts paying Indian exporters in rupees

(Reuters) - India's exporters have begun receiving the first rupee payments from Iran, Indian government and trade sources said on Thursday, kicking off a mechanism to skirt Western sanctions which have made doing business with Tehran tougher.

About $3 billion in Iranian import arrears have accumulated since December 2010 when a previous payment conduit was closed under pressure from Washington, which is using sanctions to try to stop Tehran's contentious nuclear programme.

Payments to Indian exporters are being remitted through Iran's Bank Parsian which has opened an account with India's UCO bank, the sources said. Bank Parsian is among private Iranian banks that are free from sanctions against Iran's state-owned banks.

The agreement came after meetings between a visiting Iranian delegation and officials from India's finance and banking sectors over the past two days.

"Payments (to Indian exporters) have started coming very recently through Bank Parsian's account with UCO bank," said M. Rafeeque Ahmed, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, the top exporters' body, told Reuters.

"Whatever has been stuck in the pipeline, that will be cleared."

Ahmed is taking part in government negotiations to find a solution to the payment problems that have hit trade between the two countries after U.S. sanctions on dollar deals. His organisation is a quasi-government body set up by the trade ministry.

Two government sources said the conduit through Bank Parsian and UCO bank was only to settle payments for Indian exports to Iran.

Indian oil importers have been paying for around $11 billion a year of crude since the middle of 2011 through Turkey's Halkbank (HALKB.IS), but this route would have been expensive for Iranian importers given sharp falls in the rial.

India was Tehran's second-biggest crude oil customer last year after China. Iranian oil accounts for about 12 percent of its needs.

Most of the Iranian arrears are for imports of iron and steel, chemicals and cereals, machinery and pharmaceuticals.

Indian rice suppliers have also reported defaults by Iranian buyers and have said they are owed at least $144 million.

With payments for oil through Halkbank now looking vulnerable to fresh sanctions, India and Iran have agreed to settle 45 percent of this trade in rupees and boost exports to narrow their trade gap. Oil buyers are waiting for tax issues to be cleared up before they use the mechanism.

India abides by United Nations sanctions on Iran, but has refused to go along with new financial measures imposed by the United States and European Union that aim to punish Iran for its nuclear ambitions.

India has pushed back the visit of a delegation to Iran to March 10-14 from this month to explore boosting exports. Ahmed will be part of that team.

EXCLUSIVE - Iran starts paying Indian exporters in rupees | Reuters
 
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Made in India, faked in China- $5bn loss

New Delhi: Chinese manufacturers are increasingly "faking" popular Indian products of consumer goods giants such as Dabur and ITC, undermining the legitimacy of brands and causing losses worth as much as $5 billion annually, officials said.

"A lot of counterfeit Dabur products are made in China. We have conducted at least 20 raids in China but no proper action has been taken by the Chinese," said Ashok Jain, general manager of finance at Dabur India, the country's fourth largest FMCG firm.

He said such fake products manufactured in China with "Made-in-India" tag are supplied across the world, mostly in India and African countries.

"It causes huge damage to the brand. Those fake products are obviously not up to our standards and supplied at very low prices," Jain told IANS.

Dabur, which has nearly $4 billion market capitalisation, operates in key consumer product categories like healthcare, skin care, hair care and oral care. The company's revenue last fiscal was $910 million.

Pradeep Dixit, a senior official of ITC, a $33-billion conglomerate, said the popular FMCG brands of the company were counterfeited by unscrupulous firms and supplied in domestic as well as foreign markets.

"Our popular cigarette brand is faked and supplied widely in the states like Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh," he said.

"China is a big problem everybody is facing," said S.K. Goel, chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs, told IANS.

Goel said the big international brands like Nokia, Adidas, Reebok and Nivea were also widely counterfeited in China and supplied in India and other parts of the world.

Chinese manufacturers are also faking drugs, endangering lives of patients. Fake drugs, carrying " Made in India" tags, supplied from China were recently detained in Nigeria and other African countries.

K.K. Vyas, Delhi's deputy commissioner of police (crime), said the police have seized and confiscated a lot of fake and counterfeited products of popular brands in the national capital recently.

Vyas emphasised on the need for enhancing punishment for unscrupulous manufacturers and importers. "Punishment needs to be enhanced. Also there is need that judiciary addresses these issues quickly."

"Counterfeiting is a big menace. It is hurting everybody - consumers, industry and the exchequer," said Anil Rajput, chairman of the anti-smuggling and anti-counterfeiting committee of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Recently, FICCI formed a panel called "FICCI-Cascade" that expands into a committee on anti-smuggling and counterfeiting activities destroying the economy. Chaired by Rajput, the committee is working closely with the government to curb this menace.

According to a report by think tank Indiaforensic Research Foundation, the total loss to the economy annually due to crimes such as counterfeiting, commercial fraud, smuggling, drug trafficking, bank fraud, tax evasion and graft is estimated at Rs.22,528 crore.

made-in-India.jpg
 
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Made in India, faked in China- $5bn loss

Lots Indians are running business in China. It is immensely possible that some Indians fake stuffs in China and sell them to their fellow Indians back home, because they know the connections back there.

Some immigrants (including some Chinese) do the similar thing in US.
 
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Lots Indians are running business in China. It is immensely possible that some Indians fake stuffs in China and sell them to their fellow Indians back home, because they know the connections back there.

Some immigrants (including some Chinese) do the similar thing in US.

Nope, these are actually faked in china, where many cos and mafia type groups copy popular brands (although the quality is purely chinese :lol:). and then, brand copying isn't a new thing in china everything from adidas to BMW has been copied... :lol:
 
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Chinese Imports Invade India
By Bruce Einhorn and Kartikay Mehrotra on February 23, 2012

Outsourcing specialist Tata Consultancy Services (TCS:IN), the largest Indian IT services company, moved into the China market 10 years ago, eventually teaming up with the Chinese government to provide outsourcing services to state-owned banks and other financial institutions. A decade later the TCS head count in China is not even a rounding error in the company’s ledger: only 2,000 employees, compared with a global TCS staff of 235,000. Even with the government as a partner, an Indian company has to work hard at building relationships with potential Chinese customers. “It’s disappointing,” says Girija Pande, chairman of Asia-Pacific for TCS. Making headway in China “will take time.”

Of the 2.7 million people India’s IT services industry employs worldwide, just 16,000 are in China, according to trade association Nasscom. Indian companies struggle in China with nontariff trade barriers such as requirements to obtain security clearances before doing business with government-backed companies, according to Nasscom President Som Mittal. “The markets are really closed,” says Mittal, who wants Indian officials to make improved access a priority in talks with Chinese leaders.

In the fiscal year ending March 2011, China exported $43.5 billion in goods to India, up from $10.9 billion in 2006, according to India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry. India’s exports to China were only $19.6 billion, up from $6.8 billion in 2006. Cheap Firefox bicycles are ubiquitous in New Delhi. Technically, it is an Indian brand—except the bikes are made almost entirely of Chinese components. Chinese-made phones and telecom equipment “have flooded the Indian market,” says Srikanth Kondapalli, a professor at the Centre for East Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. “There is no reciprocity for Indian products.”

The surge of cheap goods has led some Indian executives, like their U.S. counterparts, to say government-aided Chinese rivals are undermining India’s industrial base. “Without a duty to control Chinese imports, we will continue to lean on cheaper, unproven equipment instead of building our own technology and our own industry,” says B. Prasad Rao, chairman of Bharat Heavy Electricals. The $13 billion New Delhi-based producer of power equipment is struggling to compete against lower-priced products from Shanghai Electric and Dongfang Electric. Chinese-made power equipment, such as steam turbines and boilers, is about 20 percent cheaper than equivalent Indian products, according to Ashok Khurana, director-general of the Delhi-based Association of Power Producers. “The Chinese are very shrewd marketing people and we know our side is full of suckers,” says Subramanian Swamy, president of the Janata political party and Minister of Commerce in 1991, when India signed its first free trade agreement with China.

Two months prior to the August bankruptcy of Solyndra, which highlighted the inability of U.S. solar panel makers to compete with the Chinese, Indosolar (ISLR:IN), India’s largest maker of solar cells, defaulted on $56 million in bank loans. “China’s doing a spectacular job of keeping India’s economic growth under its thumb,” says L.R. Shrivastav, chief executive officer of Moser Baer Power & Infrastructure, another Indian solar panel producer. The Indian government may join a U.S. complaint to the World Trade Organization targeting alleged dumping by Chinese solar companies.

To keep a closer eye on dumping and government-subsidized bids for domestic contracts, India’s Department of Commerce will launch the Directorate General of Trade Remedies this spring, according to two government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Forty-four of India’s 69 active antidumping cases before the WTO are against Chinese industries, according to the international trade body. “Manufacturers are afraid and want barriers,” says Biswajit Dhar, director-general of Research and Information Systems for Developing Countries, a New Delhi-based think tank. “Either we’re trying to block them or we’re getting pummeled by them.”


The bottom line: China exports to India twice as much as India exports to China, stirring concerns in India that local industries cannot compete.


Einhorn is Asia regional editor in Bloomberg Businessweek's Hong Kong bureau. Mehrotra is a reporter for Bloomberg News.

Chinese Imports Invade India - Businessweek

Coupe of points to make:

First, it is not true that the Chinese don’t have to have security check before doing certain business such as telecom

...

In the past, several proposals by Chinese companies for investment and technology participation in India have been blocked due to security concerns, and on numerous occasions Chinese-made equipment rejected along similar grounds.

Asia Times Online :: China News, China Business News, Taiwan and Hong Kong News and Business.

Second, instances such as Firefox bicycle are Indian brand with parts are mostly made-in-China. This type is a typical business behavior to maximize profit. Nothing so called “faked-in-China” in such an instance. All legitimate.

Third, I fully agree with this: “The Chinese are very shrewd marketing people and we know our side is full of suckers,”… Lots of suckers are of course in no match with lots of shrewd businessmen.

---------- Post added at 01:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:13 PM ----------

Nope, these are actually faked in china, where many cos and mafia type groups copy popular brands (although the quality is purely chinese :lol:). and then, brand copying isn't a new thing in china everything from adidas to BMW has been copied... :lol:

Please read my above post about Firefox bicycle, my friend. I assume you have business knowledge 101.

In my earlier post, I did not deny that they are faked in China, rather I said they are perhaps faked in China by Indians living in China.
 
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Lots Indians are running business in China. It is immensely possible that some Indians fake stuffs in China and sell them to their fellow Indians back home, because they know the connections back there.

Some immigrants (including some Chinese) do the similar thing in US.

We don't discuss if's here if u have proof post here and we will discuss about it.
 
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