Varanasi, Jan. 30 : Scientists at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Uttar Pradesh have claimed that chickpeas or, "Choley" as they are known in local parlance here can cure Leukoderma, a chronic skin disease that causes loss of pigmentation, resulting in white patches on the skin.

So far there has been no knowledge of any kind of permanent and certain treatment for curing Leukoderma. Moreover, the allopathic medicines and ointments are not only expensive but also fail to cure the disease permanently.

Gorakhpur (UP), Jan 29 : Despite increasingly pervasive anti-tobacco legislation and tax structures to discourage tobacco consumption, farmers in Uttar Pradesh have taken up tobacco cultivation.

Significant numbers of farmers in Gorakhpur region of the state are resorting to tobacco cultivation more vigorously after prices of the commodity-hit spurt at domestic and international markets.

New Delhi, Jan 29 : A seventh review meeting of five states (Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand) on cases related to atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has revealed that Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of cases of cruelty, while Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are ranked after it.

Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Miera Kumar told reporters here, that the study was based on the data provided by state governments.

Kamptanda Village (UP), Jan 28 : With tigers prowling around, the scared people of Kamptanda village near Kishanpur sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh preparing to vacate their village and go to a safer place.

The proposal to shift out of the village originally came from the villagers after a tiger killed three children in the village. Fearing for their lives the villagers sent the proposal to the district magistrate of the area and also to the wild life department.

Rae Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh), Jan. 27 : Congress party President Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation stone of a railway coach factory in Rae Bareilly''s Lalganj area on Tuesday.

Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit of her Lok Sabha constituency, said that eight to ten thousand people would get jobs from this project, which is to come up on 522 hectares of land.

Claiming that no coalition Government has been able to achieve as much as the UPA regime, Gandhi said the government would soon announce a reduction in the prices of petroleum products.

The Congress party denied any impact on alliance between Congress and Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh following the joining of SP by former Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) leader and two time state chief minister, Kalyan Singh. However, some Congress leaders expressed reservation on Kalyan Singh factor due to his involvement in demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992.

The Congress in-charge of Uttar Pradesh affairs and party's general secretary Digvijay Singh said, "If Mr. Kalyan Singh now feels sorry for the Babri demolition and repents, and if this alignment leads to weakening the BJP, we won't have concerns."