Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh passes away

WHY IN NEWS?

• Senior Congress leader and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh, has passed away. The veteran politician was the 4th and longest-serving Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.
• He served as the Chief Minister of the state six times, from April 8, 1983, to March 5, 1990, December 3, 1993, to March 23, 1998, March 6, 2003, to December 29, 2007, and then for the sixth time from December 25, 2012, to December 26, 2017.
• Apart from this, Singh also served as union deputy minister in Tourism and Civil Aviation, Minister of State for Industries, Union Minister of Steel and Union Minister of micro, small & medium enterprises (MSME).