Lucknow Dec 25 PTI A leopard was spotted on Saturday in the Gudumba area of the state capital officials said and added that efforts are on to search for itThe leopard was captured in CCTV footage of a private hospitalAniket Ani the owner of the hospital said The CCTV footage showed that the leopard was seen moving on the hospital premises at around 412 am The leopard stayed here for eight minutes After this the leopard went out and was seen moving in the bylanes Divisional Forest Officer Ravi Kumar Singh said that a team has been sent there and search for the leopard has started PTI NAV ANB ANB

Lucknow Dec 24 PTI Prime Minister Narendra Modi has begun worrying about cows and other livestock govardhan and pashudhan ahead of the assembly elections while UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath kept silent on their plight in cowsheds in the state state Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lalu alleged on Friday Lalu made the allegation a day after Prime Minister Modi observed in Varanasi that talking about cows today has been made a sin by some people but it is the mother and sacred for us Reacting to PMs observation Lalu said In the past four-and-half years the Adityanath government and the Modi government have done nothing to stop the atrocities committed on cows in gaushalas cowsheds nor did they take the name of the cow Now as the assembly elections are nearing in Uttar Pradesh the Modi government has begun thinking of govardhan cows and pashudhan livestock he said Modi ji is telling people that the cows are revered Who does not know it Modi ji should tell us what the UP government has done to improve the plight of cows in cowsheds he said The UP Congress chief also said the party general secretary has raised the issue of the poor condition of cows but the Adityanath government did not heed to it While addressing a rally in Varanasi after inaugurating and laying foundation stones of 27 projects including a dairy project PM Modi on Thursday had said those making jokes on cows and buffaloes forget that the livelihood of eight crore families depends on pashudhan livestock Talking about cow talking about govardhan has been made a matter of gunah sin by some people A cow can be a sin for some people for us it is our mother and sacred Modi had said PTI NAV RAX RAX

Lucknow Dec 24 PTI Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday promised regular and cheap power supply for agricultural domestic and industrial purposes if voted to power in next years Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls Had the proposed power plants in Etah and other districts been built the people of Uttar Pradesh would not have been compelled to buy electricity at the highest rate in the country his tweet in Hindi targeting the BJP government read When the SP government takes over we reiterate our resolve to provide more relief than anticipated and regular cheap electricity to agriculture households industries and businesses he said Refuting the allegations UP Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma in a tweet alleged that the previous Samajwadi Party government increased electricity rates by over 60 per cent There has been no increase in electricity rates in the Yogi Adityanath government he claimed Electricity is being provided without any discrimination Villages are getting more than 54 per cent electricity the minister said PTI SAB NAV RDK RDK

Lucknow Dec 24 PTI Leaders of Congress BSP SP and RLD including former home minister Rajendra Tripathi joined the BJP here on Friday According to BJP state co-media in-charge Himanshu Dubey former home minister and three-time Prayagraj MLA Rajendra Tripathi joined the BJP quitting Congress at a programme held at the latters headquarters here Former BSP MLA Krishnapal Singh Rajput Jhansi RLDs Muni Dev Sharma Bijnor BSPs Veer Singh Prajapati Bulandshahr and founder member of SP Kunwar Balbir Singh Chauhan were among those who joined the party on Friday Dubey said Retired IPS officer Gurbachan Lal was also inducted into the BJP he said While joining the leaders expressed faith in the nationalist policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath he added PTI AR SAB VN VN

Lucknow Dec 24 PTI Samajwadi Party SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday promised regular and cheap power supply for agricultural domestic and industrial purposes if voted to power Had the proposed power plants in Etah and other districts been built the people of Uttar Pradesh would not have been compelled to buy electricity at the highest rate in the country his tweet in Hindi targeting the BJP government read He further wrote When the SP government takes over we reiterate our resolve to provide more relief than anticipated and regular cheap electricity to agriculture households industries and businesses During a rally at Iglas in Aligarh on Thursday the SP-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance promised martyr status to the farmers who died during the agitation against the three farm laws and Rs 1 crore to each of their families if it formed the government PTI SAB CJ CJ

Lucknow Dec 24 PTI Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday issued orders to initiate strict measures including a statewide night curfew from December 25 in view of a rise in Covid cases in several statesThe coronavirus night curfew will be applicable from 11 pm to 5 am a senior official said hereChairing a high-level meeting the chief minister also instructed officials to cap the number of people attending events like marriages to 200 These events have to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines and organisers will be required to inform the local authorities about these the official saidAdityanath also asked the officials to ensure all traders follow the no mask no goods policy at their establishments he saidMasks should be made mandatory for everyone on the streets or in the markets Police should carry out continuous patrols to ensure the guidelines are followed the official saidAdityanath directed the officials to ensure that people arriving in Uttar Pradesh from other states or abroad are traced and tested for coronavirus and extra vigilance is maintained on buses railway stations and airports he saidHe asked for a close watch to be kept on the health of those coming from outside the state after testing them and if required they should be admitted to hospitals or be quarantined the senior official saidMonitoring committees did a commendable job in coronavirus management in the past and directives have been issued to reactivate them in villages and urban wards he saidThe chief minister said that in view of the possibility of a third wave of COVID-19 the state made systematic preparations in the past which needed to be re-examined Facilities available at all government and private medical institutions of the state should be examined closely and the Covid help desk and the day care centre in industrial units should be activated he saidThe situation in the state is under control at present Forty-nine new cases of the infection were confirmed in the investigation of over 191 lakh samples tested in the last 24 hoursIn the same time period 12 people recovered from the infection and the total number of active cases in the state now stands at 266 There are no Covid patients in 37 districts the official said PTI SAB IJT

Lucknow Dec 21 PTI The All India Muslim Personal Law Board AIMPLB has urged the central government to refrain from fixing the age of marriage and termed it as interference in personal liberty It said the government should do away with making such useless and harmful laws The Union Cabinet last week approved a proposal to raise the minimum legal age of marriage for girls from 18 to 21 years Marriage is a very important requirement for human life but no age of marriage can be fixed as it is also an issue related to the protection of the moral values Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani general secretary of the board said in a statement issued on Tuesday It is the reason why no age has been fixed for marriage in many religions including Islam he added It completely depends on the discretion of the parents If the guardians of a girl feel that their daughter is fit for marriage before the age of 21 and she can fulfill all her responsibilities after marriage then preventing her from marriage is cruel and also interferes with the personal liberty of an adult Due to this there is also a possibility of an increase in crime in the society Rahmani said He said Raising the minimum age of marriage of girls from 18 to 21 years and declaring marriage before the prescribed age as illegal is neither in the interest of the girls nor the society Rather it can cause serious damage to moral values The practice of marrying girls at an early age is slowly disappearing but sometimes a situation arises when marrying off a girl before the prescribed age is in her interest said Rahmai in the statement shared by the official handle of the board on Twitter PTI ABN AQS AQS

Lucknow Dec 20 PTI Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday inaugurated and laid foundation stones of road projects worth Rs 4160 crore in Jaunpur and Mirzapur districts of Uttar Pradesh an official release issued here said While in Jaunpur Gadkari laid the foundation stone for three national highway projects costing Rs 1123 crore he in Mirzapur inaugurated four national highway projects worth Rs 3037 crore the statement said Addressing the gathering Gadkari emphasised on infrastructure development for employment generation and economic prosperity He said We are committed for the development of Uttar Pradesh These road projects will give a boost to the development of state and provide better connectivity in the region The minister said these road projects will facilitate movement of goods with better connectivity in the region and facilitate access to markets for agricultural produce local and other products Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accompanied with the Union minister on both occasion PTI ABN RDK RDK

Lucknow Dec 20 PTI The capital city of Uttar Pradesh on Monday witnessed a drone show on the theme of Indias freedom struggle at the Residency area here with the state government claiming it to be the largest ever such event in the countryThe show was held as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations to mark 75 years of Indias independence a senior official said hereChief Minister Yogi Adityanath was the chief guest at the show which was organised jointly by the Union Ministry of Culture and the Uttar Pradesh governments department of tourism and cultureUnion Minister of State for Culture Meenakshi Lekhi was also present on the occasionAccording to the state culture department the story of Indias freedom struggle from 1857 to 1947 was presented through 500 drones in the sky accompanied by music laser light and colourful drone acrobatFor the event around 500 drones were brought from Russia it said PTI ABN NSD NSD

Lucknow Dec 20 PTI Former BJP MLA from Ballia Ram Iqbal Singh a known critic of his partys government in Uttar Pradesh on Monday joined the Samajwadi Party ahead of the 2022 UP Assembly polls In a tweet the SP dubbed the BJPs ex-MLA joining it as a sign of its growing caravan The growing caravan of SP Former BJP MLA from Chilkahar assembly constituency in Ballia Ram Iqbal Singh joined the SP along with his associates reposing faith in the leadership of its national president Akhilesh Yadav the SP said in a tweet Singh also a former member of the BJPs state executive committee was elected as an MLA from Chilkahar assembly constituency in the 2002 UP assembly elections Following the delimitation of assembly constituencies in 2008 Chilkahar ceased to exist On October 14 Singh had accused Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra of being behind the Lakhimpur violence and sought his sacking from Prime Minister Narendra Modi He had earlier said bureaucrats are running the government in the state and had also raised a question mark on the handling of the second Covid wave by the Yogi Adityanath government On November 10 Singh had taken a dig at Yogi Adityanath suggesting that if he is removed from the post of the chief minister he will immediately become a monk PTI NAV RAX RAX