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Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed Uttar Pradesh as an example where development goes hand in hand with heritage in a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the state's foundation day. Modi hailed the state's transformation from a 'Bimaru' state into one of India's key growth engines and lauded its cultural, economic and infrastructure resurgence while underscoring the tourism potential of the state. He also said the BJP government was removing decades of mistrust of common people by executing projects at a rapid pace. Sharing the letter on social media platform X, Adityanath thanked the prime minister for his "affectionate and inspiring wishes" on Uttar Pradesh Day. In his letter dated January 24, Modi extended his heartfelt greetings to all the people of UP on 'Uttar Pradesh Day'. "I am a Member of Parliament from Kashi, and it is the people of Uttar Pradesh who elected me and sent me to the Lok Sabha; therefore, this day becomes even more special for me. The affection and
President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday greeted people of Uttar Pradesh on their statehood day and expressed confidence that it will continue to advance on the path of continuous progress. "I wish for a bright future for the hardworking and talented people of this state," Murmu said in a post on X in Hindi. Uttar Pradesh was earlier known as United Provinces. On January 24, 1950, it was recognised as Uttar Pradesh. "My best wishes to the people of the state on the occasion of Uttar Pradesh Day. This land of glorious history and rich culture has been a strong pillar in India's journey of development. I am confident that Uttar Pradesh will continue to advance on the path of continuous progress," the president said.
The Uttar Pradesh State Information Commission has ruled that CCTV footage can be provided only if it forms part of a court order or a police probe, noting that the RTI Act can not be treated as a substitute for investigation or trial. The ruling was given by a bench headed by State Information Commissioner (SIC) Mohammad Nadeem, while hearing a plea under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking CCTV footage from a hospital in the Bijnor district. In his order, the information commissioner said, "Unless the CCTV footage of a hospital premises is part of a police investigation or a judicial order, it cannot be made available to any individual merely on demand." Hearing an appeal filed by Kulwant Singh, the SIC observed that even if allegations related to fake medical practices are assumed to be true, their examination should be carried out through a police investigation, a competent court or departmental disciplinary proceedings. The RTI Act, he said, cannot be treated as a ...
Uttar Pradesh government will honour five distinguished luminaries, including Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla, who have brought laurels to the state at the national and international level. This year, the personalities include those who have made remarkable contributions in diverse fields such as space science, education, literature, women empowerment and agriculture. They will be honoured with 'Uttar Pradesh Gaurav Samman' during the three-day event, Uttar Pradesh Day 2026, which will begin on Saturday. The event is being organised this year at the newly-constructed Rashtra Prerna Sthal in Lucknow, and Union home minister Amit Shah will inaugurate the programme, the UP government said in a statement on Friday. Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla, Lucknow's local boy, is among those to receive UP Gaurav Samman. Shukla created history by reaching the International Space Station (ISS) after launch by SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on June 26, 2025. He beca
More than one crore devotees took a dip in the Ganga and at the Sangam during the Basant Panchami bathing festival at the ongoing Magh Mela in Prayagraj on Friday, officials said. An official of the Prayagraj Mela Authority said devotees began arriving in large numbers at the Sangam area from late Thursday night, and by 8 am on Friday, around 1.04 crore people had taken a ritual bath in the Ganga and at the confluence. Tirtha purohit Rajendra Mishra said Basant Panchami holds special significance in Prayagraj as the city is believed to be the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. He said the day is traditionally marked by wearing yellow clothes, donating yellow items and worshipping Goddess Saraswati. Mishra said the festival also signals a change in season and is celebrated as a cultural event, with people applying gulal and observing rituals associated with the onset of spring. Divisional Commissioner Saumya Agrawal said the Magh Mela has been organised acr
Fujiyama Power Systems on Thursday announced commissioning of a 1 gigawatt capacity solar cell plant at Dadri, Uttar Pradesh to strengthen its in-house manufacturing capabilities. The manufacturing facility has been completed with a total investment of Rs 300 crore, funded through a combination of internal accruals and debt, the company said in a statement. Solar cell is a key component used to produce solar panels. The government is encouraging solar players to set up cell manufacturing capacities to reduce import dependence. The company currently operates with a total 1.6 GW of solar panel manufacturing capacity, of which 1.2 GW is located at Dadri. Fujiyama said the newly added 1 GW solar cell capacity will be utilized entirely for captive consumption. "Our solar cell manufacturing facility represents a significant step in strengthening manufacturing integration. By bringing solar cell production in-house, we are improving visibility and control across the value chain, reducing
Another FIR has been lodged against five builders of Lotus Greens Construction Pvt Ltd and MZ Wiztown Planners Pvt Ltd for alleged violations of environmental and pollution laws in connection with a large waterlogged pit in Sector 150, which led to the death of a software engineer, officials said on Thursday. The FIR has been lodged even as a Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday continued its probe into the matter on the third day. Officials aware of the developments said the SIT has sought details from various departments of the Noida Authority, including civil, projects, and traffic cell, about works done in Sector 150, particularly around the spot where the software engineer died. The three-member team has to submit its report to the government by Saturday, SIT head ADG (Meerut Zone) Bhanu Bhaskar had told reporters on the first day of inspections here. On Wednesday, a fresh case was registered at the Knowledge Park police station .
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said that Uttar Pradesh is the largest 'consumer market' in the healthcare sector as he inaugurated the three-day 'UP Health Tech Conclave' here. Addressing the event, Adityanath said, "This conclave is important for us because Uttar Pradesh is the largest consumer market in this sector" and highlighted that UP, with its population of 250 million, also bears the burden of providing healthcare facilities to the neighbouring states and the neighbouring country (Nepal). Claiming significant changes in the healthcare sector before the formation of the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 and the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, he said that the state, in collaboration with the Centre, has been able to transform the sector in the last eight to nine years. "Before 2017, there were a total of 40 medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh, including both government and private institutions, and today, there are 81 fully functional ...
Schools up to Class 8 across Gautam Buddh Nagar will remain closed on Friday and Saturday due to dense fog and extreme cold, the district administration said on Friday. The order, issued by Basic Education Officer Rahul Panwar, said the decision was taken in compliance with the directions of the district magistrate in view of prevailing weather conditions. "All schools from Nursery to Class 8 affiliated with CBSE, ICSE, IB, UP Board and other boards operating in Gautam Buddh Nagar district shall remain closed on January 16 and 17," the order said, adding that it must be strictly followed. The basic education officer warned that action would be taken as per rules against any school found violating the order and reopening during the closure period. Earlier, the district education department had extended the winter break for schools in the district till January 15 amid the cold wave conditions.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday confirmed its earlier order granting interim bail to Uttar Pradesh MLA Abbas Ansari, son of late gangster Mukhtar Ansari, in a case under the state's Gangsters Act. On August 31, 2024, an FIR was lodged at Kotwali Karvi police station in Chitrakoot district under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, against Ansari and others on charges of extortion and assault. On March 7 last year, the top court granted six-week interim bail to Ansari in the case. On Tuesday, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Nizam Pasha, appearing for Ansari, and regularised the interim bail granted earlier in the case. The relief from the top court in March 2025 had paved the way for Ansari's release from Kasganj jail. He had been granted bail in all other criminal cases against him. The bench ha
Puch AI co-founder and CEO Siddharth Bhatia on Monday described artificial intelligence as the "next big thing" and appreciated the Uttar Pradesh government's clear and focused approach towards adopting future-oriented technologies. After meeting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath here, Bhatia said the state government's vision and policy direction on AI were well-defined, which would translate into tangible outcomes in the coming years, including large-scale employment generation. He said universal and inclusive access to AI had the potential to transform both Uttar Pradesh and the country. The rapid adoption of AI across sectors in the state reflected the government's commitment to building a developed India and a developed Uttar Pradesh, according to a statement issued by the government. Bhatia said the use of AI in India has grown significantly in recent years, but stressed the importance of ensuring that the country's data remains within India. Secure domestic data would enable m
The BJP on Saturday asked Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav to refrain from making a spectacle of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh by making contradictory claims about the exercise. The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is a constitutional process, which the Election Commission is carrying out with complete professional and technical expertise, BJP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said, and asked Yadav and others in the opposition INDIA bloc to cooperate in the exercise with all seriousness. The remarks came after Yadav on Saturday claimed that the BJP leaders in Uttar Pradesh knew how many voters would be removed from the draft electoral roll even before it was published, and questioned the poll panel's credibility. Slamming Yadav, Trivedi said the Samajwadi Party (SP) chief should first make it clear that names of which party's voters have been removed from the draft rolls, because recently he was claimin
A 17-year-old girl went live on Facebook, apparently attempting suicide. The video, showing her consuming pills while a melancholic song played on, triggered an automatic alert from Meta AI to the Gorakhpur police, who rushed in only to find it was a prank. She captioned the video, addressing it to her friends, "If I die, don't ask why I died. Just think for yourself what could have been the reason." Responding promptly upon receiving the alert, a police team traced her location and reached a rented room in the Gulriha area. During questioning, she revealed that the video was merely a prank for her friends, a police officer said. The girl, a native of Gopalganj district in Bihar, works as a chef at a local hotel and is active on social media, Gulriha Station House Officer (SHO) Vijay Pratap Singh said. She also told the police that the "pills" in the video was chewing gum, and she had no intention of harming herself. Confirming the incident, the officer said, the police responded
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched a "Book-a-Call with BLO" facility to make voter services more accessible during the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh, even as the claims and objections period remains open till February 6, 2026. According to an official statement, voters can now book a phone call with their respective booth level officer (BLO) to seek information or assistance related to the electoral roll, including inclusion, deletion or correction of details. The service is available through the ECI portal voters.eci.gov.in and the ECINET mobile application. After logging in with a registered mobile number or completing the sign-up process using an OTP, voters can book a call by entering their EPIC or reference number, or alternatively by providing details such as state, district, assembly constituency and booth number. The concerned BLO will contact the voter within 48 hours. The draft electoral roll for Uttar Pradesh