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.

Akhilesh Yadav, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh has asked the central government to extend the extend the Delhi metro rail service in the National Capital Region (NCR) area that falls under Uttar Pradesh.

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.

Agra, April 30 : The city of the Taj is now aiming to show visitors that there is much more to it than the monument to love. Discovering Oriental Agra, a new tourist circuit, will showcase not just heritage monuments but also the city's culture, cuisine and industry - in electric rickshaws.

Described as a "journey through the heart of the Taj city", the daily hour-long tour that was formally launched Sunday has been organised by members of Agra Beat, a group seeking to promote alternative tourism. While a number of rehearsals have been conducted, regular tours will begin in the first week of May.

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.

Ghaziabad, April 16 : A CBI investigator Tuesday told a Ghaziabad court, hearing the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder, that there were indications that the teenaged girl may have been killed in 2008 by her dentist parents Nupur and Rajesh Talwar.

Investigation Officer (IO) I. G. L. Kaul appeared before Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge S. Lal and said during the probe no signs were visible to suggest that an outsider entered the Talwars' house, where the murders took place.

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.

India's union Finance Minister P Chidambaram has reached out to Akhilesh Yadav, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh with praise for his work and also promised central assistance for the development of the state.

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.

Greater Noida, March 25 : Some Indian cricketers let their hair down after their historic whitewash of Australia by zooming and careening around the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) here Monday morning.

Here, too, the leader of the pack was bike enthusiast and India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who rode down from the national capital on his fancy roadbike, Hellcat, to see what it feels like riding on a Formula 1 track.

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.

Greater Noida, March 16 : Thomas Aiken, who chose golf ahead of cricket and tennis because it offered better scenery, could enjoy it even more Sunday as he grabbed a three-shot lead Saturday in the Avantha Masters at the Jaypee Greens Resort.

His three-shot lead in a tournament that has been very tight thus, indicated that the lovely Avantha Masters could once again be headed to South Africa for the second year running, taking over from Jbe Kruger, who missed the cut Friday.