Page 50 - Himachal Pradesh

2 earthquakes hit Himachal Pradesh's Kangra; 1 of medium intensity

Two earthquakes, one of a medium intensity measuring 3.2 magnitude on the Richter scale, hit Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district on early Saturday, the state disaster response department said

Best of BS Opinion: Beyond Joshimath, ChatGPT vs humans, and more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Himachal Pradesh restores old pension scheme for 136,000 employees

The just over a month old Congress government in Himachal Pradesh on Friday fulfilled a key poll promise, with the Cabinet, at its first meeting, deciding to provide OPS to all government employees

Himachal Pradesh receives fresh snowfall, more likely in next 48 hours: IMD

In the Kullu district, the sky will partly be cloudy with a relative humidity of around 90 per cent for the next two days, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast

LIVE: Former Union Minister Sharad Yadav passes away, confirms his daughter

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Portfolios allotted to newly-inducted ministers in Himachal Pradesh cabinet

The newly-inducted ministers of the Himachal Pradesh cabinet were allotted portfolios on Wednesday and the youngest of them, former chief minister Virbhadra Singh's son Vikramaditya Singh, was given the charge of the public works, youth and sports departments. Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar distributed the portfolios on the advice of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. The eldest member of the cabinet, Dhani Ram Shandil from Solan, was given the charge of the health and family welfare, social justice and empowerment and labour and employment departments. Shandil was the social justice and empowerment minister of the hill state from 2012 to 2017 as well. Chander Kumar, the only minister from Kangra district, has got the agriculture and animal husbandry departments, while Harshwardhan Chauhan from Sirmaur has been given the industries, parliamentary affairs and ayush portfolios. Both Kumar and Chauhan are six-time MLAs. Jagat Singh Negi from the tribal Kinnaur district has b

Delhi colder than hills of Uttarakhand, Himachal for 5th day on trot

Delhi saw cold wave conditions for the fifth consecutive day on Monday as very dense fog reduced visibility to just 25 metres, hitting road, rail and air traffic movement, officials said. The cold wave spell in Delhi has been so intense that the national capital has recorded a minimum temperature lower than that of most places in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for five days on the trot. Meteorologists attribute the long spell of intense cold to a large gap between two western disturbances, which meant frosty winds from the snow-clad mountains blew in for a longer-than-usual period. The visibility levels dropped to 25 metres at the Palam observatory, near the IGI Airport, and the Safdarjung observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Around 29 trains have been delayed by two to five hours due to the foggy weather, a railway official said. Around 15 flights were delayed and one was diverted due to the bad weather, ..

Congress-led Himachal govt hikes VAT on diesel by Rs 3.01, BJP slams move

With this, the diesel is now costs Rs 86 per litre in the state

LIVE: Delhi pvt schools to remain closed till January 15 due to cold wave

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Leaders from Shimla district, Rajput community lead in HP cabinet extension

Leaders from the Shimla district and Rajput community dominated the extended state cabinet, with three out of seven newly inducted ministers, coming from Shimla district alone. Kangra, Solan, Kinnaur, and Sirmaur contributed a minister each. Four of the seven ministers hail from the Rajput community, while one each is from Schedule Tribe (ST), Other Backward Caste (OBC), and Schedule Caste (SC). The profile of the new minister is as follows: Vikramaditya Singh: Son of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and state Congress chief Pratibha Singh, Vikramaditya Singh, is a two-time MLA and holds a Post Graduate (History) degree from St Stephen's College, Delhi. He was earlier nominated as member, public undertakings and e-Governance-cum-general purposes committees. Singh has been quite active in the party and had campaigned in over 15 assembly segments in the recently held assembly elections. Earlier, he was also a president of Himachal Pradesh Youth Congress. He has represented H

Imbalanced regional representation in new Himachal cabinet: Jai Ram Thakur

The Congress government has failed to give adequate representation to various regions in the cabinet expansion on Sunday, Leader of Opposition in Himachal Pradesh Assembly Jai Ram Thakur alleged here. The BJP leader and former chief minister also criticised the government over the appointment of six chief parliamentary secretaries, saying it would put a burden of crores of rupees on the state exchequer. Out of the 13 appointments made by the Congress government, eight MLAs have been appointed from Shimla parliamentary constituency while the rest of the three parliamentary constituencies have not been given adequate share, Thakur said in a statement here. Taking a dig at the Congress government, he said during the three days of assembly session that concluded recently, the Congress leaders talked about reducing the expenditure in Himachal but now they have appointed six CPS and put additional burden on the state exchequer. He said that as of now Himachal is under a debt of Rs 74,622

7 ministers inducted into Himachal Pradesh Cabinet; total strength at 9 now

The Himachal Pradesh cabinet headed by Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was expanded on Sunday with the induction of seven ministers, taking the total strength to nine. Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath to the newly inducted ministers at a ceremony at the Raj Bhawan. The newly inducted ministers include eldest MLA Dhani Ram Shandil from Solan, Chander Kumar from Jawali in Kangra district, Harshwardhan Chauhan from Shillai in Sirmaur district and Jagat Singh Negi from tribal Kinnaur district. Rohit Thakur, Anirudh Singh and Vikramaditya Singh from Jubbal-Kotkhai, Kasumpti and Shimla (Rural) in Shimla district respectively were also among those inducted. Besides the post of deputy speaker, three berths are still vacant as maximum number of ministers, including the chief minister, cannot exceed 12. Chief Minister Sukhu and Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri were sworn in on December 11.

New members of Himachal Pradesh cabinet led by Sukhu to swear in today

The swearing-in ceremony of the new members of the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet will take place today

Himachal Pradesh Cabinet to be expanded on January 8: Raj Bhavan

The much-awaited expansion of the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet will take place on Sunday, according to Raj Bhavan sources. The swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers would take place at the Raj Bhavan here on January 8 at 10 am, the sources said on Saturday. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu earlier in the day said he has handed over the list of probables for induction in his ministry to the Congress high command for approval. Cabinet expansion is possible on Sunday or later, he had told reporters here after returning from Delhi where he held deliberations with top party leaders on the issue. There has been much speculation over the names of new ministers since Sukhu and his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri took oath nearly a month ago following the Congress' win in the assembly election. The list has been handed over to the high command and expansion would be done only after it is cleared by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sukhu said. There are 10 vacancies in

Himachal: Atal Tunnel witnesses 60% increase in vehicular traffic in 2022

The maximum monthly traffic was registered in the months of June, December and May (in descending order), ie 2,25045, 2,02,974 and 2,11,824 respectively

Himachal cabinet expansion after assembly session: Congress' Rajeev Shukla

The Assembly session is scheduled to be held from January 4 to January 6 in Dharamshala, after being postponed last month

GST collection in Himachal rises 25% to Rs 4,052 cr till Dec this fiscal

The Goods and service tax (GST) collections in Himachal Pradesh increased by 25 per cent to Rs 4,052 crore till December this fiscal from Rs 3,172 crore in the year-ago period, an official spokesperson said here on Monday. In a release issued here, he said that the State Taxes and Excise Department collected Rs 341 crore under GST in December 2022, and attributed the growth in GST collections during the current financial year to strengthened enforcement and improved taxpayer compliances. "The department continues to focus on improvement in return filing, speedy scrutiny of returns and timely completion of GST audits with strong enforcement measures. The department has verified 10 lakh e-way bills during road checkings conducted in the current financial year," he added. The department remains committed to improving voluntary compliance with time-bound redressal of the issues of the stakeholders under the 'Tax Haat Programme'. "The department continues to focus on capacity building o

Himachal Pradesh government to come up with open policy to woo investors

The Himachal Pradesh government will soon come up with an open policy to woo private players to invest in the hydro sector, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Friday. The chief minister also directed officials to ensure the time-bound completion of all power projects so that the state is not deprived of royalty from these projects. He saw a presentation made by Sai Eternal Foundation, New Shimla. Sukhu also released a song composed by Ravinder Thakur and has been directed by the Congress candidate of the assembly elections 2017 from the Jogindernagar assembly segment, Jeevan Thakur. The song has been sung by Sandeep Sharma and the music was given by Anil Thakur.

Persuade visitors to adopt Covid-19 appropriate behavior: Himachal CM

Directing to ensure Covid-19 appropriate behaviour, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu directed the Health Department to keep vigil on the number of cases and keep the men and machinery ready

Himachal: Congress should take action in paper leak case, says BJP

The Congress government in Himachal Pradesh should take action against the accused in the JOA (IT) paper leak case rather than blaming the previous BJP regime, the president of the saffron party's state unit, Suresh Kashyap, said on Tuesday. In a statement issued here, Kashyap alleged that the new government led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has failed on all fronts and the latter had to address a press conference to hide his failures. He said the chief minister should remember that the JOA (IT) paper leak has happened during his tenure and that he is answerable to the public. The previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had formed a special investigation team (SIT) to look into the constable recruitment examination paper leak case and subsequently, handed over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Kashyap said while accusing the Congress of doing politics over the instant case. Sukhu addressed his first formal press conference on Tuesday after