Uttar Pradesh

JEECUP 2026 registration begins today for UP Polytechnic; exams from May 15

JEECUP will begin the application process for the JEECUP 2026 session today, Jan 15, 2026. The notification says that the exams will be held from May 15 to 22, 2026

SC confirms interim bail granted to Abbas Ansari in Gangsters Act case

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 founder meets Yogi Adityanath, praises UP's future-tech push

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

Uttar Pradesh govt ramps up ecommerce push to boost MSMEs and exports

The state government is tying up with ecommerce majors and online marketplaces to strengthen the MSME sector, which consists of more than 9 million units spread across 75 districts

SIR is constitutional, stop the spectacle in UP: BJP hits out at Akhilesh

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

UP teen's live 'suicide' on Facebook triggers alert, turns out to be prank

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

EC launches 'Book-a-Call with BLO' facility for UP electoral roll revision

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

Surge in non-NCR regions pushes 19% rise in new project registration in UP

Uttar Pradesh saw a 19% rise in real estate project registrations in 2025, with non-NCR cities driving more balanced growth, UP Rera data showed

Over ₹34,000 cr investment made in UP's defence corridor nodes: Rajnath

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said Uttar Pradesh has emerged as a major hub of defence manufacturing, with investments of over Rs 34,000 crore already made across six nodes of the state's defence corridor, marking a decisive shift towards India's self-reliance in weapons and ammunition production. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating Ashok Leyland's state-of-the-art electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plant here, Singh said India is no longer dependent on other countries for weapons, missiles or defence equipment, as these are now being manufactured domestically, including in Uttar Pradesh. He said the defence corridor, spread across Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi, Agra, Aligarh and Chitrakoot, is producing arms, ammunition and equipment related to fighter aircraft, with large companies setting up manufacturing units in the state. "I have been told that investments worth around Rs 34,000 crore have been made in these defence corridor nodes," Singh said. Referring to the Ut

Uttar Pradesh govt announces sops for GCCs and semiconductor plants

Uttar Pradesh unveils fresh incentives for GCCs and large semiconductor projects to boost FDI and advance its $1 trillion economy ambition

New sugarcane variety 'Bismil' gets nod for cultivation in 4 more states

The Uttar Pradesh Sugarcane Research Council, Shahjahanpur, has developed a new high-yielding sugarcane variety named 'Bismil', after freedom fighter Ram Prasad Bismil, which has now been approved for cultivation in four more states, officials said on Thursday. The variety, earlier approved only for Uttar Pradesh, has received clearance for cultivation in Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Rajasthan following approval by the central committee, Council Director V K Shukla said. Developed under the All India Coordinated Research Project of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the variety is officially designated as CoSha 17231 (Coimbatore-Shahjahanpur). It is resistant to red rot disease, a major threat to sugarcane crops, and has an average yield potential of 86.35 tonnes per hectare with a sugar recovery (pol per cent in cane) of 13.97 per cent, its breeder Dr Arvind Kumar said. Senior scientist Ajay Tiwari said the new variety would significantly boost farmers' incom

Sambhal authorities give 15 days to remove mosque, shrine on graveyard land

The Sambhal administration has issued an ultimatum to a committee overseeing a shrine and a mosque built on land recorded as a graveyard in the Chaudhary Sarai area to remove the "illegal" structures, officials said on Wednesday. Tehsildar Dhirendra Pratap Singh visited the site and served a notice, warning of legal action if compliance is not ensured. Speaking to reporters, the tehsildar said the land is officially recorded as a graveyard, but a mosque and a shrine associated with Dada Fakhruddin Rehmatullah have been constructed on it. He said that a large market is held at the site every Friday, but its organisers now must obtain permission from the sub-divisional magistrate before holding it. "The land is registered as a graveyard. It should be used only for burial purposes and not for a mosque or any other structure," Singh said. He added that the committee has sought 15 days and assured the administration that the weekly market would be discontinued and the structures remove

SIR: Lucknow, Ghaziabad top in delisted voters; Bundelkhand least hit

Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Balrampur and Kanpur Nagar are among the top districts in Uttar Pradesh that have recorded the highest percentage of electors whose forms remained uncollected during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll, according to official data. Districts like Lalitpur, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jhansi and Chitrakoot in the Bundelkhand region of the state had the least removals from the draft roll. The draft electoral roll published on Tuesday after the SIR excludes 2.89 crore voters but retains 12.55 crore. The 2.89 crore voters, or 18.70 per cent, of the 15.44 crore listed earlier could not be included in the draft list due to deaths, permanent migration or multiple registrations, UP Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said. According to district-wise draft roll data published on January 6, Lucknow topped the list with 30.04 per cent uncollected forms, involving about 12 lakh electors. The district's electorate declined from 39.94 lakh in October 2025 to 27.

UP SIR draft voter list out: 28.9 million dropped, 125.5 million retained

The draft electoral roll for Uttar Pradesh was published on Tuesday after a special intensive revision (SIR) exercise, with 12.55 crore voters retained out of 15.44 crore listed earlier, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa said on Tuesday. The remaining 18.70 per cent, or about 2.89 crore voters, could not be included in the draft list due to deaths, permanent migration or multiple registrations, he said while addressing a press conference here. Rinwa said the Election Commission had undertaken a door-to-door enumeration drive in which enumeration forms were to be filled and signed by voters or their family members. While the exercise was originally scheduled to end on December 11, the state sought an additional 15 days after noticing that the names of a large number of voters, nearly 2.97 crore, were getting excluded from the draft list.

UP tops 'Deregulation 1.0' rankings for investment-friendly states

Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the leading state in implementing reforms for making business operations simpler, transparent and investment-friendly in the 23 key priority areas identified by the Centre, officials said on Monday. As per the state-wise ranking under the 'Deregulation 1.0' report of the central government, the state has been ranked first, a statement issued here said. The assessment focused on the effective implementation of 23 priority reform areas spanning five major sectors -- land, building and construction, labour, utilities and permissions -- along with overarching reform priorities. Uttar Pradesh is the first state in the country to fully implement all 23 priority areas in a comprehensive manner, the statement said. Under the land-related reforms, the state adopted a flexible zoning framework enabling mixed-use development, simplified and digitised the land-use change process and rationalised minimum road width norms for industries in rural areas, it noted. "In

UP govt grants 3-year one-time age relaxation for 32,679 police posts

The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday announced a one-time relaxation of three years in the upper age limit for the upcoming police recruitment drive, offering major relief to aspirants preparing for constable-level posts. The age relaxation will apply to all categories of candidates for the proposed 2025 direct recruitment to the police force, following the directions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, an official government statement issued here said. The decision is expected to benefit aspirants who missed earlier recruitment opportunities due to age limits, especially after delays caused by the pandemic period, officials said. The decision has been taken under the provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Public Services (Relaxation of Age Limit for Recruitment) Rules, 1992, it added. The relaxation will cover recruitment to 32,679 posts, including constable (civil police) for men and women, PAC and armed police constables, special security force constables, women battalion constables,

UP Board Exam 2026: Pre-Board exam schedule released for classes 10, 12

Class 10 and 12 UP Board pre-board exams are scheduled for January 8-21, 2026. Check the full timetable, its significance as essential rehearsal for main boards for students

Land acquisition for townships near UP's religious cities in last stages

Ayodhya, Varanasi & Mathura in top bracket, says Housing Commissioner Balkar Singh

UP SIR: Permanent migration led to 28.8 mn uncollectable voter forms

Permanent migration has emerged as the primary reason for electoral discrepancies in Uttar Pradesh, accounting for nearly 1.30 crore of the 2.88 crore uncollectable electoral forms identified during the Special Intensive Revision. Official data as of December 27, 2025, shows that permanent shifting of voters constitutes 8.40 per cent of the total electorate. Election officials said this trend reflects large-scale inter-district and inter-state migration, with the highest impact observed in urban and semi-urban areas. Apart from 1,29,77,472 cases of permanent shifting, the second largest category includes untraceable or absent electors. This accounts for 79,52,190 cases, or 5.15 per cent of the electorate, and is largely attributed to temporary migration, frequent changes in residence and inaccurate addresses. Deaths of registered voters accounted for 46,23,796 forms, or 2.99 per cent of the electorate, indicating outdated entries in the rolls due to the time gap between revisions, .

Death of relationships: Broken families behind UP's most violent crimes

In a year when Uttar Pradesh grappled with violent crime, some of the most disturbing cases were not about strangers or organised gangs, but about families imploding from within where trust collapsed, blood ties snapped, and relationships ended not in separation but in death. Police records, post-mortem reports and court proceedings across districts told variations of the same story of relationships curdling into hostility and private disputes turning fatal. One of the most chilling cases surfaced in September when police in Sambhal uncovered what they described as an "insurance mafia" operating from within a family. It was alleged that Vishal Singhal killed his parents years apart and later his ex-wife, to claim insurance payouts exceeding Rs 50 crore. His mother's death in 2017 and his father's death in April this year were projected as road accidents and quietly closed at the time. It was only after a woman from Meerut approached police that the pattern emerged 64 insurance ..