41 Maoists surrender to Telangana police
Hyderabad (PTI): In a major setback to the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation, 41 underground cadres, including six senior functionaries at the Company Platoon Committee and Divisional Committee levels, surrendered to Telangana police, officials said.
The cadres formally renounced violence and joined the mainstream of society, Telangana Director General of Police B Shivadhar Reddy said in a press release on Friday.
The surrendered ultras handed over 24 firearms, including one INSAS LMG, three AK-47 rifles, and five SLR rifles, along with 733 live rounds of ammunition of various calibres, to the police.
"The surrender represents a significant erosion of organisational strength, morale, and leadership credibility of the CPI (Maoist)," the release said.
Police said the cadres decided to surrender as the CPI (Maoist) leadership had been arbitrarily deploying members to unfamiliar and distant areas without their consent, often to regions where they lacked basic geographical knowledge and local support.
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The total eligible reward of Rs 1.46 crore will be disbursed to the surrendered cadres under the state and central relief and rehabilitation policy after completion of documentation and opening of bank accounts, the release added.
In 2025 alone, 509 underground CPI (Maoist) cadres—including two Central Committee members, 11 State Committee members, and three Divisional Committee secretaries—have surrendered to Telangana police, underscoring the steady decline of the organisation, it said.
Reddy said the CPI (Maoist) leadership has instructed its cadres to move out of Chhattisgarh and disperse to other areas until March 2026, the deadline set by the Centre for eliminating the menace.
The leadership has told cadres that security operations will be scaled down after this date, allowing them to resume underground activities.
However, the police described this assurance as misleading and a false promise.
The DGP said arbitrary deployments to unfamiliar and distant areas had caused serious mobility constraints and acute logistical difficulties, including shortages of essential day-to-day necessities.
Such conditions created growing frustration and hardship among the cadres, compelling many to disengage from the CPI (Maoist) organisation and return to the mainstream of society, he added.
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Andhra to be developed as knowledge, creator economy hub: CM Naidu
New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms.
"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.
Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems.
He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion.
The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production.
He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative.
Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education.
He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit.
Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.
