Lucknow, May 18 : Voted to power with a promise to weed out corruption and send the guilty behind bars, the Akhilesh Yadav government has, a year-and-a-half later, not been able to take much action in cases involving high-ranking figures of the Mayawati regime despite damning evidence emerging out of the Lokayukta's investigations.

Lucknow, May 1 : Uttar Pradesh minister Shivpal Singh Yadav's letter to US President Barack Obama on cabinet colleague Azam Khan being detained at Boston airport has triggered a controversy with opposition parties and civil society activists terming it objectionable.

In a petition sent to Governor B. L. Joshi, activist Urvashi Sharma termed the letter written by the Public Works Department (PWD) minister as unconstitutional and against diplomatic norms under which external affairs is a central not a state subject.

"This is highly objectionable and cannot be wished away," Sharma told IANS.

Lucknow, April 17 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati Wednesday said that her party was prepared for the Lok Sabha elections whenever they are held.

Addressing party workers here, the BSP supremo appreciated their efforts in spreading the philosophy of the Dalit movement and said they should now work to translate it into votes.

Pointing out that the Lok Sabha elections could be held anytime now, Mayawati said the people were fed up with the union government and a political uncertainty could necessitate the polls before they are scheduled in 2014.

Lucknow, April 11 : The Uttar Pradesh government Thursday announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs. 20 lakh each to the families of two of the five Indian soldiers killed in South Sudan.

Hawaldar Hira Lal and Naib Subedar Shiv Kumar Pal were from Uttar Pradesh. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav expressed his condolences to their families.

The two lost their lives in an ambush in South Sudan where they were part of a UN peacekeeping mission.

Earlier, the mortal remains of Pal, who hailed from Pratapgarh, arrived here by a special flight and was received by army and civil administration officials.

Lucknow, April 8 : In a major sop to the media, the Uttar Pradesh government Monday okayed a proposal for free treatment to all state accredited journalists at the multi-specialty Sanjay Gandhi Post-graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI).

The facility of free medical treatment was so far extended to journalists at all state government hospitals and health centres. With Monday's cabinet decision, the state accredited journalists would be entitled to free treatment at the premier SGPGI, considered to be out of reach because of the high cost of treatment there.

Lucknow, April 2 : Uttar Pradesh will soon set up an infrastructure development fund (IDF), Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced here Tuesday.

Speaking in Lucknow while launching projects worth Rs. 3,337 crore for Noida, Greater Noida and the Yamuna Expressway Authority, Yadav said the fund would ensure all-round development in the state.

"Development has become the fiefdom of a few districts and cities like Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Lucknow. Our government wants development to be all inclusive," he said.

Lucknow, March 30 - Five persons including a child were killed late Friday night in a head-on collision between two motor bikes, police said.

The accident took place at Bhadoiya village in Mallihabad area of the state capital, when 25-year-old Raju was returning from a relative's house. He was hit by a speeding bike coming from the opposite side at the Tikrihaar turn.

The impact of the collision was so severe that the bikes became a mangled heap of steel.

Lucknow, March 29 : Finance Minister P. Chidamabaram Friday said the central government was committed to the development of Uttar Pradesh and that it would look into the state government's request of financial assistance in this regard.

"UP is a very important state and I would like to assure Netaji (as Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh is referred to by his supporters) that the union government is committed to the development and progress of the state," Chidamabaram said while inaugurating 300 new bank branches in the state at a function here.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was also present at the opening ceremony.

Lucknow, March 29 : Over cups of steaming coffee, idli and sambhar, union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav Friday talked business as speculation mounted over the future of the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Congress equation.

The meeting comes amid speculation that the SP and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) are headed for a split.

Lucknow, March 28 : Efforts of the Uttar Pradesh government to increase the ratio of banks to population in the state are set to get a major boost Friday as union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram comes here to inaugurate
300 new bank branches.

The new bank branches, to be inaugurated in the presence of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, come up after months of lobbying by the state government with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that the state needed at least 3,000 new branches to come at par with the all India ratio of banks per population.

Lucknow, March 23 : Samajwadi Party (SP) president Mulayam Singh Yadav Saturday publicly heaped praise on Lal Krishna Advani here, saying the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader "does not lie".

"Advani ji told me that if law and order was not taken care of immediately, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav would be labelled as a failed administrator... I have known him for long and I know that he does not lie," the SP chief said at a function here to commemorate the 103rd birth anniversary of socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia.

Lucknow, March 21 : Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan Thursday had a tiff with security personnel at the Chowdhary Charan Singh airport here after he was asked to vacate the VIP lounge.

An ugly row ensued when the actor sat in the VIP lounge and was asked to move out by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) as he was not in the list of VIPs entitled to the facility.

"When the actor refused to move out and tried to throw around his weight, he was forcibly evicted from the lounge," said an airport source.

Lucknow, March 20 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Wednesday said his Samajwadi Party (SP) was prepared for Lok Sabha polls anytime but the final decision on continuing support to the UPA government will be taken by party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Addressing a traders' gathering here, he admitted that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was in turmoil and speculation was rife on its survival.

Lucknow, March 18 : Faced with unrelenting criticism on the state's poor law and order, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Monday pulled up senior police officials and asked them to improve their and the force's functioning and act tough against criminals.

At a high level meeting of senior police officials, he directed police to immediately reach crime scenes and activate their networks.

Only timely intervention and prompt action, he pointed out, can prevent serious and bigger crimes from happening.

Lucknow, March 16 - Facing brickbats over the soaring crime graph, the Uttar Pradesh Police is all set for an image makeover.

Police recently got a reprimand for poor response time even on heinous crimes from Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who asked them to improve their image, a senior official said.

Following the missive, a meeting of senior officials was held and inputs were sought from the information and public relations department on ways to improve the image of the force.

Lucknow, March 15 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who completed his first year in power Friday, conceded that law and order in the state was a "matter for concern" and that "one bad incident can destroy the image and efforts" of his government.

Interacting with media persons, he said he was watching officials and would take action against those not working.

"There are good officials and bad officials, I urge everyone to work for the prosperity of the state," he said while spelling out the priorities of the state government.

Lucknow, March 13 : There is a revolution waiting to happen in rural Uttar Pradesh but capital and technology were needed to unleash the state's unlimited potential, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said at a business summit here Wednesday.

"Rural UP is the revolution waiting to happen," the chief minister said while addressing delegates at the summit 'Destination Uttar Pradesh-Investing in Future', which showcases the state as a business and investment destination for US entrepreneurs.

Lucknow, March 9 : The bonhomie between the Samajwadi Party (SP) government in the state and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government notwithstanding, the two seem headed for a confrontation. This, as the UP government has failed to spend large amounts of the budget of central government-aided schemes and projects as the financial year draws to a close.

Lucknow, Mar 7 : The Allahabad High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition by a local activist seeking a probe into allegations of irregular land dealings against Robert Vadra levelled by Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal.

Nutan Thakur had filed her petition onOctober 9, 2012, and on Thursday, it was dismissed by the court''s Lucknow bench, consisting of Justices Uma Nath Singh and Virendra Kumar Dixit.

Thakur’s petition was submitted by her lawyer Ashok Pandey.

The court said that it was matter that had to be dealt by the Prime Minister''s Office.

Lucknow, Mar7 : Former Uttar Pradesh minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya was named as an accused in the murder of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Zia-ul-Haq on Thursday by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), based on a complaint filed by Haq’s widow, Parveen Azad.

Raja Bhaiya has also been charged with criminal conspiracy after Parveen alleged that the former minister, an Independent legislator from Kunda, had conspired to kill her husband.