The famed Darjeeling tea may have slip to a new production low in 2025, as changing weather patterns, a shortage of pluckers and mounting economic stress weigh on the region's gardens.
Sarita Yolma is the first woman Train Ticket Examiner on the 145-year-old Darjeeling Hill Railway. 'It is a dream journey,' she says.
Darjeeling is slowly recovering from the devastating impact of relentless rainfall and massive landslides that struck the region. The natural calamity left homes shattered, roads blocked, and communities displaced.
Historically, October has seen some of the worst landslide events in Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas.
At least 23 people, including children, were killed as relentless rain triggered one of the worst landslides in a decade in Darjeeling hills and adjoining areas on Sunday, sweeping away homes, cutting off roads, isolating villages, and leaving hundreds of stranded tourists amid widespread devastation, officials said.
The death toll from landslides in Darjeeling, West Bengal has risen to 24, with rescue operations continuing amidst challenging conditions. Thousands of tourists are stranded as roads remain blocked.
The recent flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain in north Bengal have caused massive destruction in at least 30-35 tea gardens in Darjeeling, with reports of loss of plantation areas, deaths of workers and damage to houses of labourers, prompting planters to convene a meeting to assess the situation, stakeholders said.
'He was the Michael Jackson of the community.'
Prashant Tamang's wife Martha Aley shut down all speculation about his sudden death on January 11 by confirming that his death was 'natural' and occurred while he was asleep.
Prashant Tamang's wife Martha Aley paid her last tearful respects to him on Monday, when his mortal remains were brought to the Bagdogra airport in Siliguri.
'My lasting memory of you is your absolute humility in the face of hardships as well as success.'
'Mark had such a profound understanding of India, which was, of course, the land of his birth as well as of his death... He loved India, and lived two-thirds of his life here.'
Mark Tully, the renowned journalist, author, and Indophile, has passed away at the age of 90. He spent a lifetime in India as a journalist, mingling with its people and telling their stories.
Delhi recorded its coldest January morning in three years with the minimum temperature dropping to 3 degrees Celsius. Cold wave conditions are expected to persist, and air quality has deteriorated to the 'very poor' category.
Just where are the stars welcoming the New Year?
Competition from Nepalese teas -- which has duty free access to the Indian market -- has emerged as a lower-cost alternative to Darjeeling tea, challenging its viability.
These 8 states emerged as the country's most-travelled destinations for local Indian visitors, according to Ministry Of Tourism's most recent statistics which are from 2024.
New Zealand has taken a binding commitment under its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India to amend its laws within 18 months of the pact's implementation to facilitate the geographical indication (GI) registration of Indian goods besides wines, and spirits in the island nation. The current GI law of New Zealand only allows India's wines and spirits to be registered.
All 25 victims killed in the Goa nightclub fire tragedy have been identified, including 20 members of the staff and five tourists, authorities said on Sunday night.
The national capital was in the grip of a cold wave, with the sun largely obscured by clouds and pollutants lingering in the atmosphere, leading to reduced visibility. At least 129 flights were cancelled at the Delhi airport on Saturday due to dense fog, according to an official.
'At a time when there was little awareness of world music, playing western tunes on eastern instruments like the flute and the dholak, blending vocal polyphony with Indian folk and contemporary styles, Salilkaku created a new musical genre in Bengal called Gana Sangeet.'
India, the land that gave the world Darjeeling and Assam tea, risks losing its place at the global tea table, not because of its leaves, but because of its lost opportunities, notes Kanika Datta.
Mamata said at Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri district that the losses occurred owing to rainwater flowing down from Bhutan through various rivers.
Which were India's first companies that still exist today? Many trace their origins to over a century back. These venerable organisations are business entities. But they chronicle the beginnings of Corporate India.
Chatterjee had quit the TMC in November 2018, resigning as minister, mayor and district president, citing personal reasons.
The West Bengal government has transferred over 500 bureaucrats ahead of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The move has drawn criticism from the opposition BJP, who allege it is an attempt to manipulate the electoral process.
The BJP claimed that the attackers were TMC-backed goons, accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of allowing violence against opposition leaders even in times of humanitarian crisis.
BJP MLA Manoj Kumar Oraon was allegedly attacked by TMC workers while distributing flood relief materials in Alipurduar. The TMC has denied the charges.
'For him what's important is relationships, his role, and, of course, the script.' Rediff celebrates Shah Rukh Khan's 60th birthday on November 2 with a special series that introduces us to the man behind the superstar.
For Luxmi, the Brew Tea deal ticks key boxes in its strategy, mainly, focusing on quality and branding.
A high alert has been sounded in Uttar Pradesh's seven districts bordering Nepal. The districts are Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar, Balrampur, Shravasti, Bahraich, Lakhimpur Kheri and Pilibhit.
'Anyone they don't like can be potentially arrested and thrown in jail for 30 days to induce regime change.'
'If the INDIA bloc ever forms the government, they will be more than tempted to use such provisions to bring about regime change in BJP-ruled states.'
'While the concept was introduced globally over four decades ago, branded residences have taken off now in India.'
Strong demand for cultural and spiritual hubs is expected for destinations like Varanasi, Kolkata during Durga Puja, and Pushkar for the camel fair, besides leisure destinations like Goa, Udaipur, Jaipur and Coorg.
A consumer redressal commission in Mumbai has said if meat-based food hurts a "strictly vegetarian" person's religious sentiments, why should the individual opt to order from a restaurant serving both veg and non-veg items.
Geopolitical headwinds leading to lower demand from export markets, coupled with lower domestic buying, have dragged the auction average of Darjeeling tea to its lowest level since 2015. Data from Calcutta Tea Traders Association (CTTA) shows that the average price of Darjeeling tea at Kolkata auctions for January-December 2023 was Rs 319.74 per kg. The last time it dipped below this level was in 2015 at Rs 285.71 per kg.
In the last three years, 20 gardens have changed hands, and 90 per cent of the buyers are from non-tea background.
'Most of Tagore's important correspondence is held in institutional archives. So offerings like this in the public domain are few and far between.'
Darjeeling has 87 tea gardens spread across roughly 19,000 hectares, employing about 52,000 permanent workers.
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