Home Minister Amit Shah reviews security situation, development projects in Naxal-hit areas with CMs
New Delhi(PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah Sunday reviewed the security situation and the implementation of development projects in Naxal-affected areas with six chief ministers and top officials of four states.
The chief ministers who attended the meeting were: Naveen Patnaik (Odisha), K Chandrashekar Rao (Telangana), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Uddhav Thackeray (Maharashtra) and Hemant Soren (Jharkhand), official sources said.
The chief ministers of West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala were also invited for the meeting. However, these four states were represented by either a state minister or top officials.
The home minister reviewed with the chief ministers and officials the security situation and ongoing operations against Maoists and development projects being carried out in Naxal-hit areas, the sources said.
Shah took stock of the requirements of the states, the strength of forces deployed to tackle the extremists, development works like the construction of roads, bridges, school, and health centres being carried out in Naxal-hit areas.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the Maoist problem has been reduced to only three districts in his state and the meeting discussed what is required to be done to reduce it further.
Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw, Giriraj Singh, Arjun Munda and Nityanada Rai also attended the meeting.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Director of Intelligence Bureau Arvinda Kumar, senior civil and police officers of Central and state governments also attended it.
According to the Union Home Ministry data, Maoist violence has reduced considerably in the country and the menace is prevalent now in just about 45 districts.
However, a total 90 districts in the country are considered Maoist-affected and are covered under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme of the ministry.
The Naxal problem, also called Left Wing Extremism (LWE), were reported in 61 districts in 2019 and in only about 45 districts in 2020. About 380 security personnel, 1,000 civilians and 900 Naxals were killed in different violence in LWE affected areas since 2015 till 2020.
A total of about 4,200 Naxals have also surrendered during the same period, the data said.
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Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 100th Saudi Pro League goal
Riyadh (AP): Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th Saudi Pro League goal as Al-Nassr beat Al-Shabab 4-2 to move five points clear at the top of the table.
The 41-year-old forward converted a Sadio Mané cross at the near post with 15 minutes remaining to record the 971st goal of his career on Thursday. It was also his 26th league goal of the season.
“Ronaldo is always dangerous going forward and we saw that again today,” Al-Nassr coach Jorge Jesus said.
João Félix, signed from Chelsea in July, scored three goals for the league leaders.
The win took Al-Nassr to 82 points from 32 games, five ahead of Al-Hilal, which has three matches, one more than Nassr, left to play. Al-Hilal meets Al-Kholood on Friday and faces Nassr on Tuesday in what could be a title decider against its Riyadh rival.
“Now we have a derby match against our rival, which is a difficult encounter,” Jesus said.
“We are fully aware of its importance, and we are dealing with it with complete focus as we know that small details could decide the result.”
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d'Or winner, has yet to secure a major trophy in Saudi Arabia since signing with Al-Nassr in December 2022.
