Darjeeling tea faces climate risk

The West Bengal State Climate Action Plan expressed concern over reduced productivity of Darjeeling tea due to increase in extended drought periods

Nepal battles poor food safety standards

Pramod Koirala is the spokesperson for the department of food technology and quality control of Nepal. He was in Delhi recently to attend a media …

Climate change is real: Assam tea did not see a second flush this year

Measures to mitigate the impact of climate change on the tea industry need to be urgently undertaken, say tea experts

India’s timekeeper says country needs two time zones

It is technically feasible to have two time zones & two ISTs in India-IST-I for most of India, IST II for Northeastern region-separated by an …

Tea tag takeaway

The Geographical Indication tag for Darjeeling tea may have opened a window of opportunities for big estates, but there are huge challenges for …

Tea garden workers celebrate Dehradun’s failure to make it to smart cities list

City residents say the smart city is proposed in an area with tea gardens which are home to rich biodiversity

Land of discord

Origin of the relentless strife in Bodoland lies in a series of blunders, right from colonial times

COVID-19: Global financial crisis could cripple Indian tea industry

Centre and state governments should keep political rivalry aside and develop multiple strategic management plans

COVID-19: Child trafficking, assault on the rise in north Bengal

Most tea growers lost livelihood to the pandemic; cases of sexual assualt do not reach courts

A flower which can treat skin cancer and prevent greying of hair

Used for worship and hair colouring, modern entrepreneurs have found new uses for the hibiscus flower

Toxicitea tangle

Safeguards have been erected to weed out the supplies of tea laden with high pesticide residue levels. But when governments use these benchmarks …

No price panel meetings in 10 Assam tea-growing districts in 5 years, finds CAG

Less than 4 meetings held in the rest of the 8 districts; less than two meetings per year took place in 5 West Bengal tea districts during 2016-…

India’s Manas National Park illustrates the human dimension of rhino conservation

 The fortunes of the park’s rhinos are intertwined with ethnic politics in India’s restive Assam State

Comfort backpack

An improved plucking basket promises to alleviate muscular pain and fatigue, two major health problems faced by tea garden workers

Just like a forest

Analog forestry mimics a forest to create an economically productive and ecologically diverse landscape

Vignettes from Sri Lanka's cloud country

In Sri Lanka, organic farmers draw inspiration from endemic practices such as home gardens or analog forestry, and have also adapted ‘…

Tata Tea under scanner for poor living condition and coercion of workers

World Bank authorises enquiry after investing US $8 million in the global beverages company

West Bengal labour department's tea garden survey kept under wraps

Excerpts and recommendations from the unpublished survey report of all tea gardens in the state that reveals miserable living conditions of …

Polluting units shut in Kaziranga

Green tribunal fines state, Centre for allowing stone crushers, brick kilns near Assam park

Crisis brewing

Collapse of the former Soviet market and an indifferent attitude to quality clips Nilgiris tea industry

West Bengal’s tea-tribe voters have a jumbo problem

Workers in Majherdabri tea estate say no candidate is addressing their fear of elephant attacks

Assam moves to curb pesticides in vegetables, tea

Pesticide limits to be set for vegetables; cultivators could be fined or banned from undertaking cultivation if their products exceed limit

Why are tea plantation workers dying of hunger?

Lack of oversight by state governments, along with low wages and tough working conditions, is causing starvation deaths, says a fact finding team

Simmering discontent over tea

The newfound success of brand Darjeeling is fuelling suspicion between planters and workers. Sayantan Bera reports

Worms thriving in brains, Assam’s tea garden workers lose lives, livelihoods

Neurocysticercosis triggered by tapeworms that easily travel between humans and pigs present a real, imminent danger of zoonosis; an …