‘Dehra Utsav’ is to be made an annual affair to promote local culture and attract tourists.

“The parents are losing young children due to the addiction and overdose of synthetic drugs. The lyrics of the song are motivational, creating a sense of responsibility and sensibility towards their duties and importance for their country and parents,” she added.

CM calls on farmers to shift to chemical-free farming given the rising cases of cancer in the state.

Rescue operations are ongoing to locate approximately 30 people who went missing after the July 31 flash floods in Kullu, Mandi, and Shimla districts. Unfortunately, only 28 bodies have been recovered so far. 

Road closures have been reported in Kullu (30), Mandi (25), Lahaul and Spiti (14), Shimla (9), Kangra (7), and Kinnaur (2).

The state government has announced immediate relief measures, including a one-time payment of Rs 50,000 and monthly assistance of Rs 5,000 for rent, gas, food, and essentials. 

"Railway projects are sanctioned and executed Zonal Railway wise and not State/District/City wise as Railway projects may span across State boundaries," Vaishnaw said.

According to a government spokesperson, 10 farmers from each panchayat will be encouraged to adopt chemical-free farming in the scheme's first phase. The scheme aims to connect around 36,000 farmers with natural farming in a year.

This decision follows a similar approach taken for the Bulk Drug Park in Una district, where the state government chose not to involve private agencies and instead allocated Rs 1,000 crore from its own resources.  

In order to prepare the tender document, a Consultant for said task was hired from HP State Electronics Development Corporation and as per the Himachal Pradesh Financial Rules -2009, a Tender Committee was constituted to evaluate, award and implement the design, development, implementation and maintenance of integrated management system.

Meanwhile, the local Met office has issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rain, thunderstorms, and lightning in isolated areas of the state on Monday and Tuesday. The monsoon activity is expected to increase in the next two to three days, with moderate to heavy precipitation in the state.

Two other MLAs, who won the by-polls held on July 10, Hardeep Bawa of Congress from Nalagarh in Solan district and Ashish Sharma of BJP from Hamirpur in Hamirpur district also took the oath of office today.