-The Hindu Houses belonging to weavers’ community were torched on June 23 A row of kuccha and pucca houses lie in a rubble of mud, stone and bricks. Those that stand have blackened walls, dismantled roofs and half-doors. Some have no doors. Ashes of hay and grains are strewn outside the granaries. The local mosque looks desolate; its gate is oddly locked. An eerie sense of calm surrounds the place. This is the...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: The akhilesh yadav cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to put the office of Lokayukta outside the RTI Act purview. The cabinet said there was a need to maintain secrecy while investigating corruption charges against officials. Since the office of the Lokayukta functions as an investigating agency, any queries about ongoing investigations can hamper probes, the government said.  In its election manifesto, the Samajwadi Party had promised...

-The Indian Express Government exercises discretionary powers in land allotment to benefit a favoured few The story of the 28 plots allotted in Uttar Pradesh in 2005 by the erstwhile Samajwadi Party government headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav appears to be another textbook case of how state governments use their discretionary powers in land allotment to give great deals on prime property to politicians and government officials, and their cronies and families....

-PTI Farmers should not be forced to vacate their land for development projects, Uttar Pradesh chief minister akhilesh yadav said, advocating adequate compensation for them. "Land acquisition should be done with the consent of the farmers by giving them adequate compensation and if required after adjusting the affected family in job," Yadav said in a conclave in Lucknow on Friday. He said the state government is planning to construct a road to connect...

-The Times of India The Supreme Court on Thursday entertained a petition challenging the akhilesh yadav government's first Cabinet decision to do what was statutorily impermissible — re-induct Justice N K Mehrotra as UP lokayukta after he had completed a six-year non-renewable term as the head of the watchdog.  Petitioner advocate Mohd Saeed Siddiqui alleged that the decision to re-employ Justice Mehrotra was in contravention of Section 5 of the UP Lokayukta...