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OBC quota: All set for implementation
Panel moots special schedule for nomadic tribes
Four killed in Indore violence during bandh
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Truckers’ Strike
Centre-State Relations
Arjun, Nitish woo minorities of Bihar
Indo-US trade touches new high despite N-deal impasse
Sinha calls PDP anti-national
‘Former J&K Guv responsible’
Bengal won’t ban Maoists
Cops gear up to tackle ‘noisy Kanwarias’
U’khand witnesses rise in HIV patients
Baby Coming Back to Life
Boy pushed out of running train by TTE
20 killed as bus rams into tree
Gurung ‘only interested’ in tripartite talks
4-year-old ‘locked up’ in classroom
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OBC quota: All set for implementation
New Delhi, July 3 The Bill, amended in the light of April 10 Supreme Court judgment allowing OBC reservation (creamy layer excluded), will allow the government to remove the existing hurdles in the way of quota implementation. In another major development today, the HRD ministry’s empowered committee on the implementation of OBC quota in central educational institutions cleared detailed project reports of 12 central universities (CUs). This clearance means these universities will have the necessary financial and infrastructure facility to accommodate enhanced intake consequent upon reservation. Approval has been granted to DPRs of Delhi University, JNU, Jamia Milia Islamia, BHU, Vishwa Bharati University (West Bengal), University of Hyderabad, Maulana Azad Urdu University, Hyderabad, University of Puducherry, and Hindi Vishwavidyala in Vardha (Maharashtra). Together, these universities, while maintaining the general category students, will add 42,000 seats over the next three years. Of these, 14,000 will be added this session, resulting in an increase of 1.18 lakh students after quota implementation. The decision with regard to the detailed project reports of the remaining CUs, nine in northeastern states, Aligarh Muslim University and IGNOU, will be taken later in consultation with the HRD ministry. For 12 CUs, the committee, headed by UGC chairperson Sukhdeo Thorat, has recommended allocation of Rs 3575.19 crore towards recurring expenditure (for five years) and non-recurring expenditure (for three years). Related allocation to HRD ministry this year is Rs 875 crore. “The tentative allocation for each central university was discussed taking into account the norms for expenditure both recurring and non-recurring per student,” mentions the committee, which has also approved the phasing out plan to implement OBC reservation over a maximum period of three years commencing this session. Most of the CUs proposed to implement 9 per cent OBC reservation every year.
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Panel moots special schedule for nomadic tribes
New Delhi, July 3 In a two-volume report on the condition of tribes in India, submitted today to the government, the commission recommended the creation of a separate schedule to accommodate tribes, which number over 10 crore in India. For this, a constitutional amendment will be required, states the report further recommending the extension of Prevention of Atrocities Act (applicable to SCs/STs) to tribes as well. The report argues for 10 per cent reservation for tribes under the Constitution. Chairperson of the commission Balakrishna Renake today told The Tribune that the commission had recommended 10 per cent quota because the tribes comprised 10 per cent of India's population and needed to be compensated for years of neglect. Their population, he said, was more, for which the commission had recommended a community-wise census. A census is needed to track the missing tribes that exist on ground but not in the government data, including the 1931 caste-wise census. The most significant recommendation of the commission is the creation of a separate schedule and a separate department/ministry at the Centre to handle the issues of tribes. "We have recommended state and district-level advisory committees to look into the problems being faced by tribes and a separate state-level ministry. The committees must be headed by the Chief Minister at the state level and the district collector at the district level," Renake said, adding that tribes may be called scheduled communities on the lines of SCs and STs, and granted constitutional safeguards. "At the state level, we need a separate minister to work for the welfare of tribes, who yet don't have access to housing or education. They don't even have the right to voting or citizenship. Our suggestion to the government is to hold immediate tent-to-tent survey and launch a special housing campaign to shelter these people," Renake said. The panel is for setting up special socio-economic settlement zones for tribes, and creation of residential schools for their children, complete with vocational linkages. The government had set up the commission two years ago to review the condition of tribes notified and denotified, and suggest welfare measures to improve their lot. The commission today gave its report to minister of social justice and empowerment Meira Kumar, who "took it positively and promised action".
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Four killed in Indore violence during bandh
New Delhi, July 3 The bandh evoked mixed response but Jammu region, the epicentre of protests since Tuesday, had no respite from violence when protesters set afire vehicles and fought pitched battles with the police at several places. The bandh was called in protest against revocation of Amarnath land transfer. Normal life was hit in parts of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Assam and Jharkand where incidents of stone pelting and road blockade were reported prompting the police to resort to lathicharge. The bandh had little or no response in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Tripura. In Delhi, no untoward incident was reported but several arterial roads were blocked. Shops and business establishments remained closed in a few areas. Curfew was imposed in four areas of Indore in Mahdya Pradesh after members of two communities indulged in violence. A violent mob also pelted stones at the Khajrana police station damaging vehicles parked on the premises, an official said, adding police canecharged and used teargas shells to control the situation. Protestors also damaged a Reliance Fresh store in Janjeerwala square "Two persons have been killed in violence in Khajrana area while six others are injured," Indore collector Rakesh Shrivastava told reporters. One of the injured is reported to be in a serious condition. As the situation turned violent in Indore, district administration imposed curfew in four areas including Muslim dominated Bombay Bazar and Mukeripura. The police have arrested five persons. With the state BJP opting out in Gujarat, the bandh got a lukewarm response in the state. In Left-ruled West Bengal, the bandh had little impact with public transport largely remaining unaffected. Some disruption in train schedules were reported in the Sealdah section as BJP workers squatted on tracks. Mumbai: Stray incidents of violence by activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other organs of the Sangh Parivar marked the daylong bandh. In different parts of Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and other parts of the state, protesters damaged public property and stoned buses in a bid to prevent people from going about their daily work. However, the efforts did not succeed due to the police presence in many places. Stone-throwing incidents were reported from different parts of Mumbai, the police said. Guwahati: All business establishments, educational institutions, banks and financial organisations remained closed throughout the state while the government offices in some of the places were run with skeletal presence of staffs. The government transport was off the road during the bandh period. The railway operation was, however, not affected. Only private vehicles were plying on the streets. An official source said the administration did not expect that the bandh would have such an overwhelming impact in the state, as the matter had not been given much priority by the local media here. Dehra Dun: Marked by stray incidents of stone-pelting and stopping of the Link Express train by the BJP-Bajrang Dal activists, the nationwide bandh received a mixed response in the state capital of Uttarakhand today. BJP and Bajrang Dal activists gathered near the Clock Tower in the morning and forcibly got the Paltan Bazaar closed. Thereafter, the protesters indulged in stone-pelting on the State Bank of India branch, following which the bank officials had to close the main gate. Authorities at the state secretariat were also compelled to close their offices following heavy sloganeering and protest.
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Truckers’ Strike
New Delhi, July 3 The Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT), a monitoring agency in the transport sector, said many owners had evaded tax duties and the notices were served to them. They have come up with frivolous demands to pressurise the government so that they can get away with cases against them. S.P. Singh, the coordinator of the organisation said while the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) was claiming the support of all truckers bodies from all over the country, the fact was that over 10 major state bodies had categorically announced their dissociation from the transport strike. According to Singh, the transporters from West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Karnatka, Kerala and Maharashtra have boycotted the strike. The truckers have been pressing for various demands but they have been particularly upset with notices issued to them by service tax field formations asking them to pay the tax at the rate of 12.36 per cent on packing, warehousing and labour services used in cargo handling, considering them as independent services. Besides service tax, the transporters are protesting against toll tax, diesel price and speed governors and mechanical tax. Trying to clarify the picture on the strike, which the AIMTC claimed was total, the IFTRT has also written to finance minister P. Chidambaram and transport minister T.R. Baalu apprising them about the situation. This came as the strike entered its second day. Incidentally, the trucker’s association was not called for a meeting by the government as had been assured yesterday. On the first day of the strike yesterday, the agitators twice met the transport ministry officials, besides holding discussions with the finance ministry. The AIMTC claims to represent nearly 4.8 million truck and two million mini-truck operators. In his letter, Singh has pointed out that lobbies in the transport sector were portraying an unrealistic picture of the situation in the transportation sector. The government yesterday said it was willing to give more concessions and exemptions needed to resolve the crisis in the transport industry and added that the issue of toll and service taxes was a minor point.
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Centre-State Relations
New Delhi, July 3 A host of other issues, like for example, infrastructure development and mega projects, form a part of the 64-page questionnaire that has been prepared by the Commission on Centre-State relations headed by former Chief Justice of India Justice M.M. Punchhi. The questions were finalised a couple of weeks ago in consultation with experts. These are in a booklet form and the same are to be sent-off to the states. The commission has been candid in admitting the shortcomings and the areas that need to be addressed. For instance it says “The power and functions of the Governor of state under article 200 and 201 of the Constitution in respect of assent to Bills have come for debate….” It may be mentioned here that these articles have irritated the states in the past when Governors have delayed assent or referred the Bills to the President. The commission would want that the Governors should go by the advice of the council of ministers of the states and refer only matters that seem unconstitutional to the President. On promulgation of Article 356 (imposition of Central rule by dissolving the state Assembly), the questionnaire asks the states to comment if Parliament needs to be empowered to review the continuation of proclamation of emergency under Article 356? At present, the President decides on imposing the Central rule. States like Punjab have been under the Central rule for more than 15 years at various times since Independence and resultantly it led to the collapse of democratic systems. The states have been asked to comment on what kind of mechanism should be in place for transfer of central funds to states. The government has also invited comments on the Finance Commission that allocates the funds. So far, the country has had 12 such commissions while the 13th has been constituted. Another major issue is utilisation of central funds by states. The Centre opines that they have been misused and directed elsewhere than intended. There are suggestions that the funds should be linked to the outcome at the ground level, says the commission in the questionnaire. Notably, the states have been demanding a greater share of the revenue collections. The commission has kept that in mind and asked the states to give detailed justification to change the tax collection system in view of the changed requirements of the modern economy. The states can also give comments on implementing the goods and services tax. On managing social conflict that leads to communal tension the commission wants the states to tell which kind of social tensions should be classified as “major and prolonged” acts of violence. The commission has asked the states if they would prefer to have central agency to co-ordinate the probe into inter-state crimes like terrorist violence, money laundering, drug trafficking, explosives and smuggling. Meanwhile a spokesperson of the government said special task forces had been formed. Fali S. Nariman, will head the one of the constitutional scheme of the Centre-state relations' and the one of criminal justice, national security and Centre-state cooperation. The issues between the Centre and the states have bee grouped into nine broad areas and nine task forces have been formed.
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Arjun, Nitish woo minorities of Bihar New Delhi, July 3 Both Arjun Singh and Nitish Kumar (political leanings apart) made it clear that they were interested in helping Muslims. Hence the event, which was about the launch of two projects - ‘Hunur’ for providing free skills training to 12,000 chosen Muslim girls enrolled with the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) Centres in Bihar; and a scheme for free education to SC/ ST students entering NIOS system in Bihar. Nitish said his government had set aside Rs 1.82 crore for skills training of 12,000 Muslim girls in the state; next year the number would be 50,000, he said, promising free tools like sewing machines to girls who acquire skills under “Hunur”. In the past, the JD(U) has tried, through some Congressmen, to cozy up to the Congress, which has chosen to side with Lalu Yadav’s RJD instead. A major dimension to the show came from M. A. A. Faatmi. A Lalu man, Faatmi, minister of state in the HRD ministry, occupied the dais at India Islamic Cultural Centre for the longest time ruing the backwardness of Muslims. “The condition is Muslims has gone from bad to worse,” he said, urging Nitish to bring all 14,000 madrassas and maktabs in Bihar under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). He also asked the Bihar Chief Minister to make all high schools in Bihar NIOS centres so that students have better access. Muslims of Bihar were represented today by heads of some “idaras”. Not all were, however, sugar and saccharine. Mohd Wali Rehmani of Rehmani Foundation openly criticised SSA coverage in Bihar and said the Sachar Committee report needed to be implemented properly considering after every one-lakh student entering schools, only 19 Muslims reach masters-level. The corresponding number for dalits is 449, said Rehmani.
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Indo-US trade touches new high despite N-deal impasse
Mumbai, July 3 After successful launch of Israeli, German and Canadian satellites from Shriharikota near Chennai, four US satellites are to be launched by Indian launch vehicles. “As part of the collaboration in space technology, four American satellites are to be launched by India in the next two years,” the outgoing consul-general Michael Owen told PTI. It is not correct to say that India-China trade is growing rapidly at the cost of Indo-US trade, Owen said. “No doubt India-China trade is growing fast. Nonetheless, Indo-US trade, has more than doubled from $ 20 billion to $ 42 billion in the last three years,” he said. The bilateral trade doubles every 3-4 years and “our next target is to take to $ 100 billion,” he said. Regarding defence collaboration with India, he said the American companies were responding to Indian competitive tender for military hardware and fighter aircrafts like F-16 and F-18. Another exciting thing will be the American companies are going for co-production with the Indian companies, Owen said. Elaborating on all time high relations between India and the US, he said, there had been a series of agreements in various fields like energy, agriculture, trade, investment and open sky policies which were not there 15 years back. Owen said the relationship was at two levels — government to government and the other is between the people and the relationship will continue to increase. Talking about collaboration in energy and agriculture, he said during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the US, emphasis was laid on collaboration with Agriculture Knowledge Initiative (AKI) and bringing researchers and technologists from both the countries together to improve productivity. This has to be done by developing new types of technologies, new methods of soil testing, irrigation, developing new types of seeds, crop management, packaging, marketing and storage. Efforts are on for the last three years to promote AKI and finding right kind of experts from both the countries to work together, he said, adding that it was going to take some time in doing that. There is a lot of scope in improving agricultural productivity in India, he added. In the field of energy, Owen said collaborations were on in having clean coals the US can have active trade partners in the areas of renewable energy sources.
— PTI
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Sinha calls PDP anti-national
New Delhi, July 3 At the centre of controversy over the land for Amarnath yatra, which paralysed the valley in recent days, Sinha denounced the PDP as “anti-national”. Sinha, who laid down office eight days ago, admitted that his relation with Sayeed, who was the state's Chief Minister between 2002 and 2005, had been “very bad from the very beginning”. Disclosing that he was writing a book throwing light on his eventful tenure, Sinha said Sayeed played the “most sinister role in reviving communalism in the valley” using the ploy of transfer of 100 acres in the valley which was to be used to provide facility for Amarnath pilgrims. Two of the PDP ministers in the cabinet, Qazi Afzal (forest) and Muzzafar Hussain Beigh (law), were involved in the decision to direct this forestland at Baltal, but Sayeed had used the issue to “promote his agenda”, he said. “He (Sayeed) wanted to take electoral advantage of the developing situation, but I think it has rebounded on him. The people have found out the duplicity of his party,” he said. Sinha (82) also did not spare the central government and charged the Congress high command with undermining its own party Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. “PDP has performed an anti-national role in Kashmir and the pity is that the PDP, for all these years, has been enjoying patronage of Delhi to the extent that Congress high command has even undermined the position of its own party's Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad,” the former Governor said. He denied that he had put any pressure on the state government for the transfer of land and said that the proposal was lying with it for the past three years. Sinha regretted the revocation of the order and termed it as a “policy of appeasement and total surrender” followed by the state government and done with “total lack of grace”.
— PTI
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‘Former J&K Guv responsible’
New Delhi, July 3 In a sharp reaction to Sinha’s charge that PDP patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was “hand in glove” with communal and fundamentalist elements, party president Mehbooba Mufti said Sinha had lived up to his reputation of running into controversies and “was able to serve his masters well by pushing the state into a communal fire”. Asked to comment on Sinha’s allegation that the PDP and particularly Sayeed had been in league with communal elements, she said, “If he (Sinha) is labelling our party as anti-national, then I will certainly like to understand his definition of nationalism”. Sayeed had forseen the tension over the land transfer to the Amarnath Shrine Board even before the state cabinet passed it, his daughter said. She defended the party's change of stand on the land transfer issue and said the proposal by two of its former ministers in this regard was sent in “good faith”. The proposal was like a “trap” in which two of our ministers fell, she said.
— PTI
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Bengal won’t ban Maoists
Kolkata, July 3 Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee told the state Assembly today that the government did not think that a mere ban would be able to check the Maoists. He told the leader of opposition, Partha Chatterjee, that several states had suggested a ban on the Maoists during a recent meeting with the Prime Minister in Delhi, but the West Bengal government did not subscribe to such a view. The state government, he said, would like to undertake socio-economic development of the areas now considered Maoist-infested. He referred to the resolution of the militancy problem at Naxalbari in the past through political and administrative means. Accusing the Maoists of committing murders, loot, terror and dacoities, the Chief Minister said the government had been keeping a strict vigil on the ultras and had stepped up security in the Maoist-infested areas of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore districts. The Maoists have killed 12 policemen and injured 70 in the state ever since they became active. In the period between 2005 and 2008, 42 political leaders, mostly belonging to the CPM, lost their lives and 47 were injured at the hands of the Maoists, Bhattacharjee said.
— PTI
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Cops gear up to tackle ‘noisy Kanwarias’
Dehra Dun, July 3 Around 70 lakh ‘Kanwarias’ from all over the country come to Uttarakhand to fetch water from the holy Ganga river, which they offer at Shiva temples in their respective native places. Majority of them come on foot, but off late, a large number of them have started arriving in trucks labelled as
‘Dak Kanwar’. Most of these mini trucks loaded with young ‘Kanwarias’ have high voltage music systems and have created problems for the police and administration. Many of them have even started going up to Gangotri to fetch Ganga waters and have had problems with the local people enroute. However, to check the menace this year, police forces of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan have joined hands. Senior police officials have already met at Meerut last week to chalk out a strategy to deal with the ‘Kanwar Mela’ rush.
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U’khand witnesses rise in HIV patients
Dehra Dun, July 3 The health directorate has tabulated the population of AIDS patients in the state. There are 217 registered AIDS patients out of which 164 are men and 53 women. Besides, there are 29 pregnant women registered as AIDS-infected patients. Speaking to The Tribune, Dr D.N. Dhyani, USACS project director, informed that the people of the state were aware of the disease, but not sensitised. He added, “Though the number of HIV patients in the state are less as compared to other states, there is a substantial rise in the recent past”. The authorities believe that awareness campaigns and programs are being done on regular basis, but the people do not follow them. Dhyani also said due to the increase in the migrant population the state might witness higher number of HIV/AIDS cases. Experts suggested that folk songs and other programs broadcasted on television or radio should be based on local language to spread awareness regarding the disease. There are 39 ICTS centres in the state for HIV testing while eight more centres are proposed to be set up at places like Rudraprayag, Champawat and Bageshwar.
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Baby Coming Back to Life
Kolkata, July 3 Disputing that the incident at Belle Vue Clinic on Monday was a case of medical negligence, its CEO P Tandon said: “The baby was a unique case of ‘suspended animation’ where the patient shows no sign of life when clinically examined, but can come back to life even after a span of ten hours. “The baby didn’t respond to medical treatment and so the nurses and the medical staff declared it dead, but it came back to life. It cannot, in any way, be termed as medical negligence,” Tandon said. Parag Pal of the government-run RG Kar Medical College, who is working on ‘suspended animation’, said it is not new in medical history and a lot of research has taken place on the matter. “But a person coming back to life after ten hours is rare,” Pal said. Sangita Das, a resident of Belilious Road, Howrah, who delivered the baby boy on Sunday, was told that it was stillborn, but her family found it to be alive when the body was handed over. Meanwhile, doctors at the Calcutta Medical Research Institute, where the baby boy was transferred from Belle Vue, said he still had problems in the heart and kidney, and was also having problems in breathing.
— PTI
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Boy pushed out of running train by TTE
Bhubaneshwar, July 3 Shankar Singh, a resident of the Veda Vyas slum colony, used to earn his livelihood by sweeping the floor of trains when they halted at Rourkela railway station. The police said the boy found a 50-rupee note while sweeping a second class compartment of the Mumbai-Howarah Geetanjali Express at the station yesterday The TTE on duty claimed that the note belonged to him and ordered the boy to give the money to him. When Shankar refused, it led to a tussle between the two. In a fit of rage, the TTE allegedly pushed the boy out of the running train. The boy fell on the tracks and his right leg and right hand were severely injured. Later, a group of boys engaged in similar work found him writhing in pain about 100 metres away from the station and, with the help of some local people, got him admitted to the Rourkela government hospital.
— UNI
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20 killed as bus rams into tree
Dehra Dun, July 3 The bus carrying 48 passengers was going to Kashipur from Haldwani when a front tyre of the vehicle burst and it hit a tree, Nainital SSP G.S. Mortolia said, adding that the impact of the collision was so high that bus broke into two pieces. While 15 persons were killed on the spot, five others succumbed to injuries at the hospital, he said. The condition of some of the injured is stated to be critical. The injured were admitted to base hospital at Haldwani. Uttarakhand Chief Minister has ordered a magisterial inquiry and announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 50,000 to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 25,000 to the injured. Yesterday, 13 people were killed and 29 injured when a bus in which they were travelling fell into the swollen Bhagirathi river in Uttarkashi district. Since the new state came into being, on an average more than 500 pilgrims have lost their lives and thousands have been injured in road
mishaps.
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Gurung ‘only interested’ in tripartite talks
Siliguri, July 3 GJM president Bimal Gurung made the comment while reacting to West Bengal Home Secretary A.M Chakraborty's recent statement here last week that further talks between the GJM and the state government were required to find a solution to the Darjeeling problem. Gurung said that during talks with the West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, in the last week of June, the GJM leaders had requested Bhattacharjee to take the initiative for tripartite talks involving the Centre, the state government and the GJM.
— PTI
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4-year-old ‘locked up’ in classroom
Kannur, July 3 The LKG student, Prayag, was freed by people close to the school on hearing the cries of the boy. The police registered a case against the authorities of Providence English Medium School at Peruvalathuparambu here after the incident that happened on Tuesday and came to light yesterday.
— PTI
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Fire at Mahalaxmi racecourse Akhilesh asked to vacate Lodi Estate bungalow 5 NLFT insurgents surrender Bhatt’s take on reality shows 5 NLFT insurgents surrender 
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