A report in the Financial Express has said that the sugar output in the state of Uttar Pradesh could rise by 31 percent over the previous forecast.

The sugar production could be as much as last year's 40.64 lakh tonne which is higher than the earlier forecast of 30-35 lakh tonne. The industry has faced many problems such as farmer agitation and low availability of the cane in the recent months.

The state has already achieved 30 lakh tonne in production. Some analysts not only expect the state to reach the level of the last year but also surpass it by March.

Lucknow, Jan 22 : Nearly 4,200 quintals of illegally stocked sugar worth Rs. 2 crore (Rs. 20 million) were seized from a flour mill in Uttar Pradesh's Hardoi district, an official said Friday.

The stock was seized Thursday night from Lakshmandas Flour Mill in Nakaganj area of Hardoi, some 110 km from Lucknow.

"Flour mill owner S. P. Goyal has been booked under relevant sections of Essential Commodities Act," Hardoi District Magistrate Balkar Singh told reporters.

A police officer said Goyal and other workers of the mill were at large.

Aligarh, Jan 19 - Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan will visit the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Jan 23 to hold "interactive sessions" with the varsity students, an AMU official said Tuesday.

"Shah Rukh recently had expressed his desire to interact with the varsity students. In this regard he even contacted the varsity's vice chancellor P. K. Abdul Azis," AMU official spokesperson Rahat Abrar told reporters in this Utar Pradesh town, some 300 km from state capital Lucknow.

The Chief Minister of the country’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati while celebrating her 54th birthday announced welfare schemes worth Rs.7,312 crore today.

Mayawati kept the celebration low key at her official residence. The main event was the unveiling of 265 foundation stones and plaques by the minister.

The various inaugurations included foundation stone laying of new bridges, construction of new roads, installation of new ambitious power projects, drinking water and sanitation projects under development schemes while she also announced a host of schemes for the poor.  

Ms Mayawati, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and Mr Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar, has blamed the ‘faulty’ economic policies of the centre for the high inflation in the country. Union minister for food and agriculture Sharad Pawar had earlier blamed the states for rising food prices in the country.

Nitish kumar said whenever congress party comes to power at the centre the prices of essential commodities go up and this tenure is no exception while Mayawati accused the centre’s policies to be under the influence of capitalists and said that they are helping ‘blackmarketers and hoarders’.

Lucknow, Jan 11 : The Congress party has demanded immediate countermanding of the election to 36 vacant seats of the 100-member Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.

A petition to that effect was moved before the Election Commission by state Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi here Monday evening.

The poll was held here on Jan 7 and the counting was scheduled for Jan 13. Only members of local bodies were to elect these 36 members.

Ghaziabad, Jan 11 : Two employees of an apparel store in a Sahibabad mall in Ghaziabad district were robbed of Rs. 18 lakh by a group of robbers who threw chilli powder in their eyes, police said Monday.

According to police, Kuldeep Sharma, an assistant manager with Chunmun Stores inside Pacific Mall, and his colleague Rajeev Sharma were going a motorcycle to deposit the store's cash, amounting to Rs. 18 lakh in Punjab National Bank branch at Kaushambi near the Anand Vihar border with Delhi.

Mathura, Jan 11 : American landscape experts, who are drawing up a conservation plan for Mount Govardhan -- significant in Hindu mythology -- feel the hill deserves to be recognised as a world heritage site.

"Goverdhan hill is unique in the world, visited by more than ten million people annually. However, its ecosystem is in a shambles, the water bodies have been destroyed and the green cover almost disappeared," Amita Sinha of the Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, US, told IANS.

Sinha and her team have completed a weeklong study of Goverdhan hill, which Lord Krishna is believed to have lifted on his little finger to protect residents from the wrath of Indra the god of rain.

Lucknow, Jan 11 : The return of a cold wind and a sharp fall in the day temperature disrupted rail, air and road services across Uttar Pradesh Monday. The state administration has ordered the closure of all educational institutions for two more days until Jan 13.

After a brief sunny spell for two days, a thick overcast sky has again engulfed large parts of Uttar Pradesh, where freezing cold conditions and fog have forced a delay in schedules of both trains, flights as well as road transport.

While Mirzapur recorded the state's lowest temperature at 4.2 degrees Celsius Monday, the mercury dipped to 7.1 degrees in the state capital here.

Ghaziabad, Jan 11 - A woman stabbed her husband to death in Ghaziabad after he came home drunk, police said Monday.

The incident occurred around midnight in Bagu Krishna Nagar locality in the city, adjacent to the national capital.

According to police, 30-year-old Rinki stabbed her husband Mahendra when he reached the house in an inebriated state. Angered by his daily drinking habit, she took a scissor and stabbed Mahendra thrice in his abdomen.

Mahendra, 31, succumbed to his injuries in the district hospital.

"We have arrested the wife and the scissor has been seized," said circle officer R. K. Gautam. (IANS)

Lucknow, Jan 11 - Nine people were injured when an under construction flyover between the twin towns of Faizabad and Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh caved in early Monday, police said.

Four of the injured, stated to be serious, have been rushed to Lucknow medical college trauma centre and the rest were undergoing treatment at the Faizabad district hospital.

"All the injured are out of danger," Faizabad Senior Superintendent of Police R. K. S. Rathore said.

"The cause of the mishap is yet to be ascertained," he added. No case has been registered so far against the builder, Hindustan Construction Company. (IANS)

Lucknow, Jan 11 : Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat expressed concern over attacks on Indian students in Australia.

Addressing a gathering at an RSS function organised here on Sunday, Bhagwat said that Indians were being attacked, as the world did not respect the country''s strength.

"Strength of India is not respected in the world, whether you go in Fiji, Australia, Uganda, America or England, people, there will attack you. No one dares to attack Jews, because one knows that Israel is so powerful that it would break hands," he added.

He also asked the central government to take adequate measures for protection of Indians not only in Australia, but in other countries also.

Ghaziabad, Jan 10 - Two carpenters working at a construction site in Ghaziabad were discovered lying dead in their room, police said, adding it seemed both died of suffocation.

The deaths were discovered when the site manager Deepak Kumar Raghav, not finding them on duty, went to their room in the building Saturday morning. When they did not open the door even after several knocks, he forced open the door and found the carpenters lying in their bed covered with blankets. Thinking that they were sleeping, he pulled off the blankets and found them dead, police said.

Lucknow, Jan 9 : Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat Saturday called upon its workers "to make serious efforts for uniting different Hindu castes" to help establish a "discrimination-free society".

Addressing a gathering of RSS and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) workers here, Bhagwat urged them to work towards integration of different Hindu castes and aim to establish co-ordination amongst the different castes, which in turn would strengthen the community, a RSS leader told IANS.

The RSS chief advocated adherence to the philosophy of Hindutva rather than castes as the "answer to a number of problems pertaining to social unrest lies in Hindutva".

Lucknow, Jan 9 - Thirteen children have died due to "infectious diseases" in the last three weeks in an Uttar Pradesh village, bringing the health authorities under the scanner.

People of Rajthal village in Badaun district, some 250 km from Lucknow, said while all the 13 children died of water-borne diseases, including cholera, dysentery and typhoid, nearly 70 others were in the grip of such infections.

"It was bound to happen... It's all due to the contaminated water supply to our village. For the past several weeks we are receiving contaminated water. Moreover, the regular sanitation drive has not been conducted for the last three months," Dilwari Devi, a resident of the village, told reporters Saturday in Badaun.

Lucknow, Jan 9 - Mystery surrounds the death of a tiger whose carcass was discovered four days ago in a forest area in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur district as the autopsy report has failed to ascertain the exact cause of death.

"Veterinary doctors have rejected the theory of the forest officials that the feline died of electrocution," a source in the state forest department said here Saturday.

The eight-year-old male tiger was found dead Jan 5 in Paraspur forest under the North Kheri division, about 180 km from state capital Lucknow.

Haridwar, Jan 9 : Preparations are in full swing in Haridwar for the Kumbha Mela, the largest religious gathering of Hindus in the world.

Over 10 million people are expected to arrive in the city to participate in the event, starting January 14.

Officials claimed that all preparations are done and the city is ready to welcome pilgrims from all cross the globe.

Vardhan, a special fair officer, said that the renovation of roads is done and adequate measures are taken to ensure smooth supply of drinking water and electricity.

Lucknow, Jan 8 : Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat arrived here Friday evening on a three-day visit, during which he would have "special sessions" with young workers of both the RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to "develop their leadership skills".

While the RSS has not mentioned any specific objective behind Bhagwat's three-day visit, sources said he would focus on promoting and finding "new generation leadership" in the RSS and the state unit of the BJP.

Lucknow, Jan 8 : The counting of votes for 36 seats in the biennial election to Uttar Pradesh legislative council has been postponed and will now take place Jan 13, an official said Friday.

"Earlier the counting was scheduled for Jan 9, but following the directions of the Election Commission (EC), it will take place Jan 13," a government spokesman said.

Lucknow, Jan 8 : A criminal facing a score cases was lynched by a group of villagers in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh after he was caught sneaking into a house with an intention to loot, police said Friday.

Ibrahim (30), who was facing nearly 20 criminal cases of attempt to murder, abduction, loot and other crimes, was Thursday night beaten to death by the residents of Basdandi village in Bareilly, around 200-km from Lucknow.