LUCKNOW: The Upper Ganga Canal Expressway, an ambitious projects of the Mayawati government, proposed during the fag end of the regime, has hit a roadblock. The Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) has sought a clarification from the state government on the project. And work on the project is yet to be started.

The best developed district in Uttar Pradesh is six times more so than the worst, state government figures indicate. Districts in western UP, closest to Delhi, far outpace those in other regions, not just those in Bundelkhand, according to the department’s Niyojan Atlas, which considers 36 indicators. The atlas is published every year but it is so delayed that the latest available edition is that for 2008. It gives Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) a composite development index of 431.44, against which even western UP neighbours like Ghaziabad (170.52) and Meerut (147.72) pale in comparison.

The CBI on Thursday registered three cases relating to alleged irregularities in the NRHM funds in Uttar Pradesh to the tune of Rs 250 crore. It booked IAS officer and the then Principal Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department of the State Pradeep Shukla and others and conducted searches at 44 locations in six cities of the State besides Delhi. Shukla is presently member of the revenue board and has been named in all the three cases.

Karnal: The farmers suffering huge losses due to damage to sugarcane crop beause of the dreaded “white grub” disease can heave a sigh of relief as the scientists at the Sugarcane Breeding Centre, Karnal, have discovered a pesticide for effective control of the disease. The disease was rampant in several districts of UP, parts of Haryana and Punjab and, at many places, the farmers had been forced to root out the crop to get rid of the disease.

Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday announced the creation of three more districts taking their number to 75 in Uttar Pradesh, the biggest state of the country. The newly-created districts will be known as Prabuddh Nagar, Panchsheel Nagar and Bheem Nagar.

The announcements were made in three separate meetings held at Shamli, Hapur and Sambhal where the Chief Minister had gone to review developments projects.

Shoumojit Banerjee Proposed asbestos project could lead to a ‘Turner & Newall' epidemic Marwan (Muzaffarpur): There is a spectre over the verdant fields of Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, hitherto suppressed by the clamour and euphoria of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's massive electoral mandate.

Worse To Come As Weatherman Predicts More Rain Ahead
New Delhi: The mercury dived dramatically across north India on Sunday, producing a cold snap that killed at least four people in separate places in Uttar Pradesh. One person died in Delhi.

Officials said the dead included two minors and identified one of the four as Munshi Ram (50) in UP

The flood situation continues to be grim as large swathe of area remained inundated after rains lashed large parts of the state in last 48 hours. Many schools have been turned into relief camps. Villagers are being evacuated from villages and shifted to these camps.

"Situation is very bad in Barabanki and Gonda where Ghaghra is in spate.

LUCKNOW: There's dispute brewing over the holy waters of Ban Ganga and Saloni rivers in Muzaffarnagar district of UP. And it all started when huge quantities of dead fish appeared, four days ago, on the surface of river waters of Shukratal -- regarded as mini-Haridwar of the region.

MUZAFFARNAGAR: A flood alert has been sounded in ten districts of western Uttar Pradesh with swelling of Yamuna while water level in Ganga was also rising at many places.

Deputy secretary of the revenue department Raj Raten said that the flood alert has been issued in Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Baghpat, Meerut, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Hathras and Mathura districts.