Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said on Saturday the loss to the public and private property due to flash floods in the state could be much higher than the state government's preliminary estimate of around Rs 2,575 crore. He said the detailed estimate of flash floods loss would be assessed after normal life is restored in the entire area.
uring the meeting at the Cecil Hotel in Shimla, discussions were being held and feedback taken from MLAs, sources said.
As many as 720 roads, including four national highways, in Himachal Pradesh are blocked following snow while 2,243 transformers are disrupted.
On the eve of the Haryana assembly poll results, the issue of chief minister-ship has taken centre stage in the Congress with all eyes on its high command's next move as the party expects to regain power after 10 years in the state.
Rebel Himachal Pradesh Congress MLA Rajinder Rana on Saturday claimed that nine more party legislators 'feeling suffocated' due to Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's style of functioning are in touch with him as he called the chief minister 'liar number one'.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has submitted a "chargesheet" to President Pranab Mukherjee demanding the ouster of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh over graft allegations.
Mukesh Agnihotri, the leader of opposition in the outgoing assembly, was administered the oath as the deputy chief minister.
A case of criminal conspiracy, corruption practices and undue influence on election has been registered on the complaint of two Congress MLAs, police said on Sunday.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has criticized the Centre over the landing of US planes carrying illegal Indian immigrants at Amritsar airport, calling it a "deport centre." He stated that the holy city is known for its religious sites and should not be used for deportations. Mann has also questioned the choice of Amritsar as the landing site, suggesting that other airports in the country could have been used instead. The second US flight carrying 119 illegal Indian immigrants is slated to land in Amritsar on Saturday night. The Punjab government has made arrangements to take the residents of Punjab from among the second batch of deportees to their hometowns.
The United States will deport 119 Indian nationals who were living in the country illegally. The individuals will arrive in Amritsar, India, on Saturday, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted the need to combat human trafficking. This deportation follows the arrival of a US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal immigrants earlier this month. Prime Minister Modi and President Donald Trump discussed the issue of illegal immigration during their joint press conference, emphasizing the need to dismantle the "ecosystem" of human trafficking. Modi emphasized India's willingness to take back its citizens residing illegally in the US, and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri confirmed that the issue of illegal immigration was raised during the discussions, stressing the need to address the root causes of the problem. India seeks cooperation from the US to dismantle the rackets and ecosystems that facilitate illegal immigration, potentially involving collaboration between law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Well ahead of the November 12 assembly elections, the BJP projected Thakur as the next chief minister.
UCC is a good step. It is being examined in the state, CM Jai Ram Thakur siad.
Anil Vij badly wants to be Haryana chief minister, but has been spurned twice by the BJP's Modi-Shah leadership.
The BJP on Saturday accused the Congress of repeatedly supplying "oxygen" to Pakistan, and slammed the opposition party for its leader Charanjit Singh Channi's remarks questioning the veracity of Balakot air strikes after the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged that the Congress is full of pro-Pakistan leaders who make statements against India's interests, and mocked the party for its letter that had advised its functionaries to toe the official line on the issue. Patra also criticized other Congress leaders for their comments on the Pulwama and Pahalgam terror attacks, accusing them of lowering the morale of the armed forces. He further slammed the Congress for claiming credit for the government's announcement of the caste census and said the party never carried out the exercise during its over 60-year stint in power.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said the views of the newly-elected MLAs in Himachal Pradesh were being sought to bring out a consensus on who will be their leader.
Himachal Pradesh seam bowler Sidharth Sharma died in a hospital in Vadodara after a brief illness.
A notification in this regard was issued on Thursday evening which further said that these six MLAs ceased to be members of Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly with effect from February 29.
Reddy dared the saffron party to prove its claim that the Congress government in the southern state did not fulfil its poll guarantees.
The bodies of the last four of the trapped labourers were pulled out from the site of the avalanche-hit Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp in Chamoli on Sunday, taking the death toll to eight as authorities ended the nearly 60-hour rescue operation.
Choppers belonging to the Western Air Command carried out over 50 sorties over the last 48 hours, rescuing over 780 citizens in the flood-affected areas of Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh, Indian Air Force officials said.
Shah made the announcement at a public meeting, putting to rest speculation over the party's choice for the top post.
The chief minister further informed that an FIR has been registered following the incident and a probe has been ordered to nab the culprits.
Going by Himachal Pradesh's "riwaj", or tradition, it should be the Congress' turn to form the next government.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi also appointed Harsh Mahajan, Rajender Rana, Pawan Kajal and Vinay Kumar as the new working presidents of the Himachal Pradesh PCC.
A day after a goof-up over serving snacks to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu snowballed into a major controversy necessitating a CID probe, state Bharatiya Janata Party chief Satpal Satti on Friday claimed the Congress government has become a 'laughing stock' for ordering an 'inquiry into samosas'.
According to the state government, 60,000 tourists have so far been evacuated from the hill state.
If the BJP doesn't do something quickly, Anurag Thakur and P K Dhumal will be the ones having a quiet last laugh.
The Himachal Pradesh Congress on Monday challenged Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut to prove her allegation that the state government took loans and diverted the money to Sonia Gandhi, failing which it said it would file a defamation case against her.
Thakur, in a tweet, said he had quarantined himself at his residence last week after coming in contact with someone who had coronavirus.
From the morning itself, Congress MLAs made a beeline to Cecil Hotel in Shimla where the party's central observers -- Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda -- were staying.
The DMK protested in the Lok Sabha after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan criticized the Tamil Nadu government for refusing to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) and accused them of "politics." Pradhan alleged that the state had initially agreed to the PM SHRI scheme but later backed out. The DMK, however, asserted that they have issues with the NEP and the three-language formula, and cannot accept it in full. The protests disrupted House proceedings, leading to an adjournment. The DMK members were angered by Pradhan's accusations, demanding the release of funds allocated for education in the state.
The Centre has denied political clearance to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for his visit to Paris to support the Indian Hockey team at the Olympic Games, an official source said on Saturday.
Considered close to former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, he had served as the state's industry minister.
As trends indicated a comfortable win for the grand old party in Himachal Pradesh, Shukla said the party was happy that it is getting an opportunity to form the government in the state and asserted that the party will do everything to fulfill the 10 guarantees made to the people of the state and would provide better governance to people.
As per the orders issued on Monday by the chief secretary, appointments of all chairman, vice-chairman, and nominated members in boards and corporations, autonomous bodies, cooperative institutions and other committees, including temple committees and urban local bodies be terminated forthwith.
AAP's presence in both states has complicated the contests for the BJP and its Congress rival.
Forty-one Border Road Organisation labourers working to clear snow near the high altitude border village of Mana in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district were trapped under an avalanche on Friday.
Fund crunch may come in the way of infrastructure development; women's safety another issue that will be in focus.
The Himachal Pradesh government on Friday introduced a bill in the state assembly to enhance the punishment and add a specific mention of "mass conversion" in an existing law that forbids change of religion through force or allurement.
The prime minister will address a public meeting after inaugurating AIIMS in Bilaspur and participate in the famous Kullu Dussehra celebrations during his visit to the state.
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