n what may turn out to be a good news for the capital's dwellers, Minister of Culture and Tourism Kapil Mishra has said he believes in improving the city's nightlife and that attempts are underway in this direction.

"One thing missing in Delhi is a vibrant nightlife. I mean it is not just about bars and shopping malls but even generally where do people go out to at night in Delhi," Mishra asked at a culture conclave here on Saturday. 

The minister added that the Capital had enough opportunities to develop its nightlife. 

"I mean just look at Chandni Chowk area. There are so many eateries all around and if we can give permission to them to remain open throughout the night that is going to change a lot of things. People can just come walk around, eat and enjoy. 

"For now, we only go for movies or to India Gate. Other than these there are no options for the people. We are working on this and hopefully we will see some results," he said. 

The minister further stressed that the law and order problems exist because of the absence of nightlife and once a vibrant and thriving nightlife sets in the Capital, such problems will be done away with. 

The minister was speaking at an one-day Culture Conclave organised by Mail Today, a tabloid newspaper in the Capital. 

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said UP has been deprived till now, but the state will not be neglected anymore.

"Uttar Pradesh has been deprived till now, but the state will not be neglected anymore," the chief minister said after his arrival in his home constituency Gorakhpur on Saturday.

Saying that the BJP has placed a huge responsibility on all of them, he promised to fix the law-and-order situation and the other problems in the state.

"There will be no goondaraj, no differences in the name of caste, class or religion. There will only be development for all," he said.

Reiterating the PM's 'sabka haath, sabhka vikaas' slogan, he said that he will implement PM Modi’s vision.

"Will implement PM Modi’s vision of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and will take up the development challenge in the state," he said.

Adityanath on Saturday arrived in his home constituency Gorakhpur to grand welcome for the first time after assuming office.

He is on a two-day maiden visit to the city to celebrate in his constituency as the chief minister and will return on March 26 to Lucknow.

With posters of the priest-politician donning the walls and electricity poles, massive preparations are in place in the city as party members welcomed him with excitement.

Elaborate security arrangements are in place as the city wore a saffron look and security of the Gorakhnath temple has also been beefed up with metal detectors placed at all the entry points.

He will attend a function on Sunday on the occasion of the death anniversary of Yogiraaj Baba Gambhirnath and will address a gathering there.

After becoming the chief minister, the five-time MP from Gorakhpur has taken a series of actions which includes closing of illegal slaughter houses, forming ‘anti-Romeo’ squads and banning consumption of paan masala in offices.

The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Saturday directed officials to ensure daily water supply in Shimla city and its nearby areas and warned of strict action if they failed in checking leakages and overflow of water tanks.

During a meeting on the issue of shortage of water supply in Shimla, Virbhadra Singh directed officials to immediately repair and start Giri water supply scheme and ensure day-to-day distribution of water to the people of Shimla and its suburbs.

The Chief Minister also directed to complete work on Rs.105 Crore Garoh-Gandal water supply scheme in Shimla Rural assembly segment by April which would cater to the needs of 75,000 people of 41 panchayats.

It is worthwhile to mention here that the residents of Shimla city have been getting water on an alternative day or after two days all through the year.

Shimla has a population of over 1.70 lakh and around 50,000 households and the city requires 42 mn litres of water per day but is getting only 34-35 mn litres per day on an average.

While the total requirement outside Shimla Municipal Corporation area was around 4 MLD. After the repairs of Giri water supply scheme, it would add 5 to 6 mn litres per day to the existing supply.

Another drinking water supply scheme at Ashwani khad was closed on 1 January, 2016 due to leakage of sewage from Sewerage Treatment Plant which caused worst ever jaundice outbreak in Shimla, resulting in the death of 20 persons. The scheme, which used to cater to one third of the city, is still closed as the catchment area is contaminated.

Haryana education minister Ram Bilas Sharma on Saturday took a jibe at the Congress government's bid of ending the VIP culture in Punjab, saying that banning use of beacons is futile if the ministers in neighboring state still travel with a number security guards.

Sharma told The Statesman that merely advertising something is not enough as people believe in performance. "Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal today reached the Chandigarh Airport to greet Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari.

The minister was escorted by a number of security personnel. Accompanied by so many guards, the aim of ending VIP culture cannot be accomplished," he said.

Sharma is a senior BJP leader in Haryana having charge of education, tourism and parliamentary affairs.

His statement on the issue came after even his own party's newly elected Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath has announced to end the VIP culture by banning red beacons in his own state.

However, the minister kept mum when he was asked about banning the use of red beacons by the Chief Minister, ministers and other VIPs on the pattern of the neighboring states.

Immediately after coming to power in Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh led Congress, with a view to end the VIP culture in the state, put a ban on use beacons on government vehicles, foreign travel of ministers for two years and organising of banquets on state expense.

Punjab's move has even been welcomed in other states with Bihar Education Minister Ashok Choudhary also advocated the ban on the use of beacons on VIP vehicles.

After the Punjab government's move, a Chandigarh based RTI activist also approached the Haryana government to ban the use of red beacons culture in the state too.

RTI activist R K Garg in his representation to Haryana Chief Secretary D S Dhesi has requested the latter for reviewing and restricting the use of red beacons in Haryana immediately on the pattern of other states where the use of beacons on vehicles a symbol of VIP culture were restricted irrespective of their political ideology.

Garg even cited examples of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh where governments have announced to end VIP culture.

Taking a major decision in view of the upcoming academic session, the Punjab government has decided to make school text books available online from 1 April.

After taking a meeting with the officers of Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) on Saturday, the school education and higher education minister, Aruna Chaudhary disclosed that the textbooks can be read online at PSEB's website.

She said that 107 out of 350 textbooks have been made available at bard's website. As per the new initiative, the visitors of the website can find the online textbooks after clicking at book folder's e-books link to read the textbooks.

The minister further said that 22 more text books will be made available online till 15 April while 17 other such books will be
uploaded on the board's website till 17 May. Adding to this, 84 books have been adopted from the National Council of Educational Research and Teaching (NCERT) considering the national level curriculum.

"These books will be printed according to the necessity and feasibility of the board. The orders have been passed to upload these
books after getting NCERT's approval," said the minister.

She further said that they were into process to formulate such similar programs in consultation with the chief minister (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh.

The minister said that if there is any need of changes in 350 books from class I to XII, it will be done on an immediate basis to further
print the text books. This will help the students get books before the commencement of the academic session.

The books should be designed in such a manner so that they can help the students to develop their mental level," she added.

India’s bid to build quality all-weather roads along its border with China through to connect remote areas, move military weapons and equipment in the event of an aggression and ‘assert’ its territorial claims in the region near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has been compromised due to poor quality of road construction and alleged irregularities in border roads works.

In the wake of heightened road and track construction work undertaken by China along India’s Northern and Eastern frontiers in 1997, India constituted a China Study Group (CSG) "to study the requirement of road communication along the China border for brisk movement of troops in case of any aggression". The idea was to assert the country’s territorial claims and upgrade logistic sustenance capability in these areas.

At the end of its study, the CSG identified 73 strategically important roads along the India-China border as Indo-China Border Roads (ICBRs). The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in 1999 approved the construction of these roads and set the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) under the Ministry of Defence a tentative target of work to be completed between 2003 and 2006. The target was later extended to 2006-2012. But the work is far from over yet.

After more than 15 years since the project for the proposed 73 roads was first sanctioned, the country’s plans to have a network of high quality roads along its border with China remains a pipe dream.

The Indian military establishment which has tested the capability of some of these roads has found them unfit for the movement of heavy military guns like Bofors, Smerch and Pinaka. They have expressed their ‘dissatisfaction’ with the quality of the road works. Of the 73 sanctioned ICBRs projects, 61 cover a total length of 3409.27 km (Arunachal Pradesh ~ 1788.24 km; Himachal Pradesh ~ 116.99 km; J&K ~ 1093.14 km; Sikkim ~ 56.10 km; Uttarakhand ~ 354.80 km) ) scheduled to be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 4643.75 crore by 2012. The remaining 12 were to have been completed by local Central PWD, NBCC and state PWDS.

Some of the identified road projects with serious construction defects along the Sino-Indian border are: Bona-Gelling, Harong-Chushul Road, Sasoma-Saserla and Koyal-Photile-Chushmule-Zurasa.  

An audit of the project work by CAG has squarely blamed the poor quality, late completion, poor monitoring, over reporting of progress of works on the agencies entrusted with the execution of the ‘important’ project. As of March 2016, a total of 707.24 km as against 3409.27 km of roads at an estimated cost of Rs 4536 crore has been completed. This is ‘only 36 per cent’ of the total project covering only 22 of 61 roads under the project. Of the 24 roads examined in detail 17 were found to be substandard.

“Even six roads of length of 197 km which have been completed at a cost of Rs 164 crore were not fit for running of specialised vehicles/equipment such as Smerch, Pinaka and Bofors due to various limitations like steep radiant, less width, inadequate turning radius, effective alignment,etc.,” CAG in its report tabled in Lok Sabha on 10 March  has alleged.

The DG Border Roads in reply to the charges of various anomalies in the ICBRs projects on 15 July 2016 declined comment but maintained that the user, meaning Indian Army, has remained associated all along with the BRO. 

 The central audit body has now proposed a ‘Court of Inquiry’ expeditiously against the ‘erring officials’. It called for proper and timely action to resolve the defects or problems pointed out by the Chief Technical Examiner of the ICBRs project.

India’s bid to build quality all-weather roads along its border with China through to connect remote areas, move military weapons and equipment in the event of an aggression and ‘assert’ its territorial claims in the region near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has been compromised due to poor quality of road construction and alleged irregularities in border roads works.

In the wake of heightened road and track construction work undertaken by China along India’s Northern and Eastern frontiers in 1997, India constituted a China Study Group (CSG) "to study the requirement of road communication along the China border for brisk movement of troops in case of any aggression". The idea was to assert the country’s territorial claims and upgrade logistic sustenance capability in these areas.

At the end of its study, the CSG identified 73 strategically important roads along the India-China border as Indo-China Border Roads (ICBRs). The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in 1999 approved the construction of these roads and set the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) under the Ministry of Defence a tentative target of work to be completed between 2003 and 2006. The target was later extended to 2006-2012. But the work is far from over yet.

After more than 15 years since the project for the proposed 73 roads was first sanctioned, the country’s plans to have a network of high quality roads along its border with China remains a pipe dream.

The Indian military establishment which has tested the capability of some of these roads has found them unfit for the movement of heavy military guns like Bofors, Smerch and Pinaka. They have expressed their ‘dissatisfaction’ with the quality of the road works. Of the 73 sanctioned ICBRs projects, 61 cover a total length of 3409.27 km (Arunachal Pradesh ~ 1788.24 km; Himachal Pradesh ~ 116.99 km; J&K ~ 1093.14 km; Sikkim ~ 56.10 km; Uttarakhand ~ 354.80 km) ) scheduled to be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 4643.75 crore by 2012. The remaining 12 were to have been completed by local Central PWD, NBCC and state PWDS.

Some of the identified road projects with serious construction defects along the Sino-Indian border are: Bona-Gelling, Harong-Chushul Road, Sasoma-Saserla and Koyal-Photile-Chushmule-Zurasa.  

An audit of the project work by CAG has squarely blamed the poor quality, late completion, poor monitoring, over reporting of progress of works on the agencies entrusted with the execution of the ‘important’ project. As of March 2016, a total of 707.24 km as against 3409.27 km of roads at an estimated cost of Rs 4536 crore has been completed. This is ‘only 36 per cent’ of the total project covering only 22 of 61 roads under the project. Of the 24 roads examined in detail 17 were found to be substandard.

“Even six roads of length of 197 km which have been completed at a cost of Rs 164 crore were not fit for running of specialised vehicles/equipment such as Smerch, Pinaka and Bofors due to various limitations like steep radiant, less width, inadequate turning radius, effective alignment,etc.,” CAG in its report tabled in Lok Sabha on 10 March  has alleged.

The DG Border Roads in reply to the charges of various anomalies in the ICBRs projects on 15 July 2016 declined comment but maintained that the user, meaning Indian Army, has remained associated all along with the BRO. 

 The central audit body has now proposed a ‘Court of Inquiry’ expeditiously against the ‘erring officials’. It called for proper and timely action to resolve the defects or problems pointed out by the Chief Technical Examiner of the ICBRs project.

The Red Cross Society, Shimla in association with the India Run Festival will be organising a half Marathon on May 7.

Disclosing this on Saturday Additional Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kumar Prajapati while talking to mediapersons said the ‘Shimla Run’, half marathon is being organised to sensitise the masses to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

“As many as 1000 runners from across the country are likely to participate in the marathon”, he said.

The marathon will include two categories professional and non-professional.

The professional category will have two tracks, one covering a distance of 21 kms (Ridge to HIPPA, Mashobra and back), while the other a 10 kms distance (Ridge to Sanjauli chowk and back), he said. The registration fee for 21 kms track is Rs.600, while 10 kms track is Rs.500, he added.

The non-professional category ‘Run for Fun’ will cover two distances 5 kms and 3 kms from Ridge to St. Bede’s.

He further said that those interested can register themselves at various counters that have been set up at various locations in Shimla and also online registration was also available. Registration for students was also being through various schools, he added.

The Red Cross Society, Shimla in association with the India Run Festival will be organising a half Marathon on May 7.

Disclosing this on Saturday Additional Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kumar Prajapati while talking to mediapersons said the ‘Shimla Run’, half marathon is being organised to sensitise the masses to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

“As many as 1000 runners from across the country are likely to participate in the marathon”, he said.

The marathon will include two categories professional and non-professional.

The professional category will have two tracks, one covering a distance of 21 kms (Ridge to HIPPA, Mashobra and back), while the other a 10 kms distance (Ridge to Sanjauli chowk and back), he said. The registration fee for 21 kms track is Rs.600, while 10 kms track is Rs.500, he added.

The non-professional category ‘Run for Fun’ will cover two distances 5 kms and 3 kms from Ridge to St. Bede’s.

He further said that those interested can register themselves at various counters that have been set up at various locations in Shimla and also online registration was also available. Registration for students was also being through various schools, he added.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday arrived in his home constituency Gorakhpur to grand welcome for the first time after assuming office.

He is on a two-day maiden visit to the city to celebrate in his constituency as the chief minister and will return on March 26 to Lucknow.

With posters of the priest-politician donning the walls and electricity poles, massive preparations are in place in the city as party members welcomed him with excitement.

Elaborate security arrangements are in place as the city wore a saffron look and security of the Gorakhnath temple has also been beefed up with metal detectors placed at all the entry points.

After reaching Gorakhpur airport, he is likely to go on a roadshow to Gorakhnath temple, Nandanagar, Mohdipurpur, University Chowrah, Ganesh Chauraha and the MP Inter College grounds.

He will attend a function on Sunday on the occasion of the death anniversary of Yogiraaj Baba Gambhirnath and will address a gathering there.

After becoming the chief minister, the five-time MP from Gorakhpur has taken a series of actions which includes closing of illegal slaughter houses, forming ‘anti-Romeo’ squads and banning consumption of paan masala in offices.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday arrived in his home constituency Gorakhpur to grand welcome for the first time after assuming office.

He is on a two-day maiden visit to the city to celebrate in his constituency as the chief minister and will return on March 26 to Lucknow.

With posters of the priest-politician donning the walls and electricity poles, massive preparations are in place in the city as party members welcomed him with excitement.

Elaborate security arrangements are in place as the city wore a saffron look and security of the Gorakhnath temple has also been beefed up with metal detectors placed at all the entry points.

After reaching Gorakhpur airport, he is likely to go on a roadshow to Gorakhnath temple, Nandanagar, Mohdipurpur, University Chowrah, Ganesh Chauraha and the MP Inter College grounds.

He will attend a function on Sunday on the occasion of the death anniversary of Yogiraaj Baba Gambhirnath and will address a gathering there.

After becoming the chief minister, the five-time MP from Gorakhpur has taken a series of actions which includes closing of illegal slaughter houses, forming ‘anti-Romeo’ squads and banning consumption of paan masala in offices.

Pakistan has agreed to allow former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif to head a Saudi Arabia-led 39-nation Islamic military coalition formed to combat terrorism, according to a media report.

This was disclosed by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif in a programme of private Geo TV.

Citing Asif, the channel said official documentation to issue the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) had not been done but the government has agreed in principle to issue the permission because the Saudi leadership had formally requested through a letter to let Raheel take up the command of the coalition.

Asif said he had visited Saudi Arabia for Umrah earlier this year, and had also met officials of the Saudi government.

In May, the advisory board of defense ministers of member countries will attend a meeting on the issue, he said, adding the structure of the alliance had not been decided so far.

"When General (Retd) Raheel Sharif joins he will define a structure," he said.

In January this year, the defence minister had informed the Senate that the former army chief had not sought an NOC to lead a Saudi-led military alliance.

Asif had said Raheel had returned to Pakistan after performing Umrah in Saudi Arabia and if he applies for the NOC, then it will be decided according to law.

From a few politicians to retired army officers, journalists, intellectuals all had questioned the decision of a former Pakistani army chief to join a foreign military alliance after his retirement.

Pakistani leaders were initially taken aback when Saudi Arabia, without proper consultation with them, had announced in 2015 that Islamabad was also part of the new alliance.

Iran was not included in the grouping which appeared as a vague attempt to forge a Sunni Muslim alliance against Shiite Iran to curtail its influence in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and rest of the Middle East.

Pakistan was in an unenviable position as it has good ties with both Iran and Saudi Arabia. It was also not ready to be dragged into the politics of Middle East.

Later, Pakistan confirmed its participation in the alliance, but had said that the scope of its participation would be defined after Riyadh shared the details of the coalition it was assembling.

According to Saudi Arabia, the alliance is formed to fight ISIS and other militant outfits.

Pakistan has agreed to allow former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif to head a Saudi Arabia-led 39-nation Islamic military coalition formed to combat terrorism, according to a media report.

This was disclosed by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif in a programme of private Geo TV.

Citing Asif, the channel said official documentation to issue the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) had not been done but the government has agreed in principle to issue the permission because the Saudi leadership had formally requested through a letter to let Raheel take up the command of the coalition.

Asif said he had visited Saudi Arabia for Umrah earlier this year, and had also met officials of the Saudi government.

In May, the advisory board of defense ministers of member countries will attend a meeting on the issue, he said, adding the structure of the alliance had not been decided so far.

"When General (Retd) Raheel Sharif joins he will define a structure," he said.

In January this year, the defence minister had informed the Senate that the former army chief had not sought an NOC to lead a Saudi-led military alliance.

Asif had said Raheel had returned to Pakistan after performing Umrah in Saudi Arabia and if he applies for the NOC, then it will be decided according to law.

From a few politicians to retired army officers, journalists, intellectuals all had questioned the decision of a former Pakistani army chief to join a foreign military alliance after his retirement.

Pakistani leaders were initially taken aback when Saudi Arabia, without proper consultation with them, had announced in 2015 that Islamabad was also part of the new alliance.

Iran was not included in the grouping which appeared as a vague attempt to forge a Sunni Muslim alliance against Shiite Iran to curtail its influence in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and rest of the Middle East.

Pakistan was in an unenviable position as it has good ties with both Iran and Saudi Arabia. It was also not ready to be dragged into the politics of Middle East.

Later, Pakistan confirmed its participation in the alliance, but had said that the scope of its participation would be defined after Riyadh shared the details of the coalition it was assembling.

According to Saudi Arabia, the alliance is formed to fight ISIS and other militant outfits.

A Sikh-American girl was harassed on a subway train here by a man who mistook her as a Middle-Easterner and told her to "go back to Lebanon" and "you don't belong in this country", a media report said.

Rajpreet Heir recalled her ordeal in a video for a New York Times section, This Week in Hate, that tracks hate crimes and harassment around the country since the election of Donald Trump. 

Heir, a Sikh girl born in Indiana, was taking a subway train to a friend's birthday party in Manhattan earlier this month when a white man began shouting at her, reported the Times on Friday. 

The girl says in the video that she was looking at her phone when the man standing next to her yelled saying, "Do you even know what a Marine looks like? Do you know what they have to see? What they do for this country? Because of people like you."

The man told Heir that he hoped she was sent "back to Lebanon" and said, "You don't belong in this country".

Two fellow passengers stepped in to help Heir after the incident on the train. 

One woman tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she was all right. "That meant something," Heir said, "because when you're a minority, you're so used to just experiencing things on your own."

Another woman reported the incident to a police officer at a subway station, said the report.

As New York City works to respond to a rise in reports of discrimination and harassment, subways have emerged as a source of special concern, the Times reported.

Harassment has long been a problem on subways, in part because many strangers are packed together in narrow cars, sometimes for long periods, it said. 

"Even in a park, you're not going to be quite that close together," said Emily May, the executive director of the anti-harassment group Hollaback.

But since the election, the group has received nearly double the usual number of reports of harassment on the subway, and more than usual involve racist, Islamophobic or anti-immigrant comments, said the report.

A Sikh-American girl was harassed on a subway train here by a man who mistook her as a Middle-Easterner and told her to "go back to Lebanon" and "you don't belong in this country", a media report said.

Rajpreet Heir recalled her ordeal in a video for a New York Times section, This Week in Hate, that tracks hate crimes and harassment around the country since the election of Donald Trump. 

Heir, a Sikh girl born in Indiana, was taking a subway train to a friend's birthday party in Manhattan earlier this month when a white man began shouting at her, reported the Times on Friday. 

The girl says in the video that she was looking at her phone when the man standing next to her yelled saying, "Do you even know what a Marine looks like? Do you know what they have to see? What they do for this country? Because of people like you."

The man told Heir that he hoped she was sent "back to Lebanon" and said, "You don't belong in this country".

Two fellow passengers stepped in to help Heir after the incident on the train. 

One woman tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she was all right. "That meant something," Heir said, "because when you're a minority, you're so used to just experiencing things on your own."

Another woman reported the incident to a police officer at a subway station, said the report.

As New York City works to respond to a rise in reports of discrimination and harassment, subways have emerged as a source of special concern, the Times reported.

Harassment has long been a problem on subways, in part because many strangers are packed together in narrow cars, sometimes for long periods, it said. 

"Even in a park, you're not going to be quite that close together," said Emily May, the executive director of the anti-harassment group Hollaback.

But since the election, the group has received nearly double the usual number of reports of harassment on the subway, and more than usual involve racist, Islamophobic or anti-immigrant comments, said the report.

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath may be older in age but is "much behind" in work.

“CM ne kaha, humse ek saal badey hain. Hum kehte hain kaam me bahut pichey ho, umar mein toh badey ho skate ho. (CM said he’s a year older to me. Although, he is older than me, he is much behind in work),” Akhilesh said, reacting to Adityanath's remark on age difference on Friday.

At his first parliamentary speech on March 21, Adityanath said that he was year older than former CM Akhilesh and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. In a light-hearted vein, Adityanath said that he coming in between the two–the SP-Congress alliance–had made them lose bitterly in the state assembly elections.

“I am a year younger to Rahul Gandhi and a year senior to Akhilesh Yadav. May be they lost because I came in between them,” Adityanath said in the Lok Sabha.

Adityanath, the five-time MP from eastern UP’s Gorakhpur is 44 years old. Akhilesh, the youngest CM to hold office in 2012 is 43 years old.

Adityanath on March 19 was sworn in as the 32nd chief minister of the state.

The BJP won a massive 325 seats of the 403 assembly seats, while the SP-Congress alliance managed to bag just 54 seats.

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath may be older in age but is "much behind" in work.

“CM ne kaha, humse ek saal badey hain. Hum kehte hain kaam me bahut pichey ho, umar mein toh badey ho skate ho. (CM said he’s a year older to me. Although, he is older than me, he is much behind in work),” Akhilesh said, reacting to Adityanath's remark on age difference on Friday.

At his first parliamentary speech on March 21, Adityanath said that he was year older than former CM Akhilesh and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. In a light-hearted vein, Adityanath said that he coming in between the two–the SP-Congress alliance–had made them lose bitterly in the state assembly elections.

“I am a year younger to Rahul Gandhi and a year senior to Akhilesh Yadav. May be they lost because I came in between them,” Adityanath said in the Lok Sabha.

Adityanath, the five-time MP from eastern UP’s Gorakhpur is 44 years old. Akhilesh, the youngest CM to hold office in 2012 is 43 years old.

Adityanath on March 19 was sworn in as the 32nd chief minister of the state.

The BJP won a massive 325 seats of the 403 assembly seats, while the SP-Congress alliance managed to bag just 54 seats.