30 October 2026
Himachal Pradesh has awarded the right to run Hotel Wildflower Hall at Charabra near Shimla to the Oberoi Group's East India Hotels Ltd for 35 years, through an e-auction. The winning bid gives the State 47.1 per cent of the hotel's annual gross revenue, which the government calls the highest share in India for a transaction of this kind. The State also receives an upfront licence fee of Rs 24 crore, and the operator has committed a minimum investment of Rs 50 crore in the property. The government puts the total revenue to the State over the 35 years at about Rs 2,000 crore. The State keeps full ownership of the hotel and its assets; only the operating rights are leased. The property came to the State after the Supreme Court ordered its transfer from East India Hotels in February 2024, ending about 25 years of litigation, and the State took possession on 31 March 2025.
Revenue share to State:
47.1% of annual gross revenue
Lease period:
35 years
Upfront licence fee:
Rs 24 crore
Expected total revenue:
About Rs 2,000 crore
Why it matters for exams: A named asset and a figure: Hotel Wildflower Hall at Charabra, leased for 35 years at a 47.1 per cent revenue share with a Rs 24 crore upfront licence fee.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
EIHL East India Hotels Ltd — The listed company of the Oberoi Group that runs the hotel.
Charabra Charabra — A place near Shimla in Himachal Pradesh where the hotel stands.
25 October 2026
Himachal Pradesh plans to invest between Rs 10,000 crore and Rs 15,000 crore in tourism over the next five years. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced this at the closing of the Koti Golf Cup 2026 at the Naldehra Golf Course near Shimla. The money is to go into high-end tourism, infrastructure and better air connectivity. Rs 3,000 crore is being spent on acquiring land to expand Kangra airport so that larger aircraft can land there. Rs 35 crore is being given under the Viability Gap Funding mechanism to support flight operations, and the government wants every district headquarters connected by heliport. Sixty eco-tourism sites have been leased out and have brought the State Rs 22 crore in revenue. Rs 1.82 crore was given for developing the Naldehra Golf Course, which is now open to tourists.
Planned tourism investment:
Rs 10,000 to 15,000 crore over five years
Kangra airport land acquisition:
Rs 3,000 crore
Eco-tourism sites leased:
60 sites, Rs 22 crore revenue
Why it matters for exams: Named figures and a named mechanism: Rs 3,000 crore for Kangra airport land, Rs 35 crore under Viability Gap Funding, 60 eco-tourism sites leased out for Rs 22 crore.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
VGF Viability Gap Funding — Government money that makes a service or project financially workable.
Heliport Heliport — A small airfield built only for helicopters.
30 October 2026
Himachal Pradesh has started giving out cash awards to its sportspersons at a function in Shimla, with about Rs 18 crore to be disbursed in all. The amount covers Asian Games medallists as well as national-level medal winners. The State had earlier announced Rs 5.33 crore in cash awards for its Asian Games medal winners. It then raised the award for the women's kabaddi gold medallists from the State to Rs 1 crore each. Bhawna Thakur, a member of the gold-winning women's kabaddi team, is to receive Rs 1 crore. Seema Kumari, who won bronze in the 10,000 m, and Sawan Barwal, who won silver in the marathon, are among the other medallists from the State.
Total being disbursed:
About Rs 18 crore
Announced for Asian Games medallists:
Rs 5.33 crore
Award for kabaddi gold:
Rs 1 crore each
Why it matters for exams: Named medallists and amounts: Rs 1 crore for a women's kabaddi gold medallist from Himachal Pradesh, within Rs 5.33 crore announced for Asian Games medallists and about Rs 18 crore in all.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Kabaddi Kabaddi — A team contact sport played on a court, included in the Asian Games.
30 October 2026
Himachal Pradesh has moved up sharply in the national measures of school education, the State's Education Minister Rohit Thakur said. On the Performance Grading Index the State has risen from 13th to sixth. In the National Achievement Survey 2025 it placed first in the country. The minister said Himachal Pradesh now stands fifth in the national quality education rankings, up from 21st in 2021. He was speaking at the 21st Foundation Day of the Vijay Group of Institutions at Bagla, in the Balh constituency of Mandi district. The Performance Grading Index and the National Achievement Survey are the two instruments the Union government uses to compare school education across States.
Performance Grading Index:
Sixth, up from 13th
National Achievement Survey 2025:
First in the country
Quality education ranking:
Fifth, from 21st in 2021
Why it matters for exams: Named instruments and ranks: sixth on the Performance Grading Index, first in the National Achievement Survey 2025, and fifth in the national quality education rankings for Himachal Pradesh.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
PGI Performance Grading Index — The Union government's index that grades States on school education.
NAS National Achievement Survey — A nationwide test of what school students have actually learnt.
30 October 2026
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has opened, by video link, a new Community Health Centre (CHC) building at Nohradhar in Sirmaur district.
The six-bed centre cost Rs 6.92 crore and is meant to serve about 50,000 people in 20 panchayats and 47 villages.
It offers care round the clock, and two medical officers and a staff nurse are already posted there.
The government says it wants staffing in health institutions to rise from 35 per cent to more than 70 per cent by March 31, 2027.
The Government Senior Secondary School at Sangrah is to seek CBSE affiliation.
A 5,000-litre-a-day milk chilling plant for the area will be considered.
Cost:
Rs 6.92 crore
Beds:
6
People served:
about 50,000
Why it matters for exams: Sirmaur's headquarters (Nahan) and the place of a CHC in India's rural health tiers are standard geography and health-policy questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
CHC Community Health Centre — The rural health facility one level above the Primary Health Centre.
CBSE Central Board of Secondary Education — The national school board to which the Sangrah school will seek affiliation.
29 October 2026
Himachal Pradesh has raised its incentive for milk producers from Rs 3 to Rs 6 a litre under the Doodh Protsahan Yojana.
It goes to eligible producers attached to non-government dairy cooperative societies.
The money will be paid straight into producers' bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
The government has set aside Rs 14 crore for it.
The State Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had approved doubling the assistance on October 10.
The scheme began in October 2025 at Rs 3 a litre for farmers selling milk to private cooperatives.
Incentive:
Rs 3 to Rs 6 per litre
Allocation:
Rs 14 crore
Payment mode:
DBT
Why it matters for exams: DBT and state dairy support schemes are recurring economy and agriculture questions; Himachal's Rs 6 a litre incentive is the new figure.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
DBT Direct Benefit Transfer — Paying a subsidy or benefit straight into the beneficiary's bank account.
Background
Flood control money for a stream in Lahaul-Spiti and a health centre in Sirmaur both come out of one administrative map, so it helps to know that map. The State government's own portal puts Himachal Pradesh at 55,673 square kilometres. The State is divided into 12 districts, with 83 sub-divisions and 117 tehsils below them. The portal gives the State's population as 68,64,602. It also records 168 police stations across the State. The Secretariat of Himachal Pradesh sits at Shimla, where the State's High Court also sits. A tehsil is the revenue unit below a sub-division, headed by a Tehsildar.
Area:
55,673 square kilometres
Districts:
12
Tehsils:
117
Sub-divisions:
83
Population:
68,64,602
Why it matters for exams: Durable administrative facts from the State's own portal: Himachal Pradesh has 12 districts, 83 sub-divisions, 117 tehsils, an area of 55,673 sq km and a population of 68,64,602.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Tehsil Tehsil — The revenue unit below a sub-division, headed by a Tehsildar.
Sub-division Sub-division — An administrative unit between the district and the tehsil.
Background
Himachal Pradesh is putting Rs 10,000 crore and more into high-end tourism, and Kullvi Nati is one of the things visitors come for. Nati is a community folk dance of the Kullu valley, danced in rows and circles with the dancers' hands joined. The official Kullu Dussehra portal of the State records that on 26 October 2015, during International Kullu Dussehra, 9,892 women and men danced the Nati together. That performance was registered in the Guinness World Records in the category Largest Nati Dance. A year earlier, on 7 October 2014, 8,540 men and women had danced at the Rath ground, and that event went into the Limca Book of World Records. The 2014 dancers moved to the ground to the beat of dhols and nagaras; the 2015 dancers danced to traditional Kulluvi beats. Both records were set during Kullu Dussehra, the valley's annual festival.
Record:
Largest Nati Dance, Guinness World Records
Dancers:
9,892
Date of the record:
26 October 2015
Earlier record:
8,540 dancers, 7 October 2014, Limca Book of World Records
Why it matters for exams: A record with a name, a number and a date: the Largest Nati Dance, 9,892 dancers on 26 October 2015 at International Kullu Dussehra, in the Guinness World Records.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Nati Nati — A community folk dance of the Kullu valley in Himachal Pradesh.
Nagara Nagara — A large drum used in Himachali folk music.
Kullu Dussehra Kullu Dussehra — The annual festival of the Kullu valley at which the Nati is danced.