The Congress party's traditional bastion among the tea workers in Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Tezpur Lok Sabha constituencies holds the key to the party's fortunes in the first phase polling on April 7 in Assam. The BJP has been trying hard to make inroads here.
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Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance in Assam as coming together of "two dangerous forces of communalism and divisiveness", Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "insulting" people of the state
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Darjeeling is on the boil over the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state. June and July are bad months to have a strike. Tea picking during its most valuable season has been affected. Those consequences will be felt all over the world and ultimately damage Darjeeling tea.
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The tea industry's cup of woes brimmeth - scanty rainfall and pest attacks have dragged down production in May, prices are lower than last year, and demand from some export markets is muted. Production in North Bengal - comprising the Dooars, Terai, and Darjeeling - is majorly affected; parts of Assam are also hit. Arijit Raha, secretary general, Indian Tea Association (ITA), said that the Tea Board numbers for April show a crop loss of about 9 per cent for North Bengal, compared to last year.
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A hamper of fresh Darjeeling tea takes the author back to warm days and cold nights in this colonial town.
Being a victim of recurring political unrest over three decades, low productivity and escalating production cost, the Darjeeling tea industry has not been in good financial health over a long time.
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The Assam government has taken the initiative to pay workers their wages electronically and has asked banks to open branches adjacent to tea gardens and install ATMs in estates.
The world-famous Darjeeling tea is losing its flavour even as it struggles with falling production, says Avishek Rakshit.
Out of the 745 gardens in Assam, which accounts for over 55 per cent of total tea production, an alert has been sounded for 88 gardens, while for West Bengal, out of the 377 gardens, 65 have been cautioned.
This will "stop the influx of illegal foreigners" and the state government will be 'very strict" in issuing Aadhaar cards, he said.
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Senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Tuesday asserted that her party, if voted to power in Assam, will bring a new law to 'nullify' the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the state.
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The CM also said that to prevent the sale of land from the indigenous communities like tribals and Adivasis to others in undivided Goalpara district, a strong law will be brought.
It's a busy season for Indian producers of orthodox tea. As Sri Lanka, the world's largest supplier of orthodox tea, struggles with its worst economic crisis, a window of opportunity has opened up in neighbouring India. Calls to Indian planters and exporters from foreign buyers of Sri Lankan orthodox tea are pouring in and the buoyant sentiment is reflecting in prices at auction centres. Orthodox tea refers to loose-leaf tea which is produced using traditional or orthodox methods such as plucking, withering, rolling, oxidation and drying.
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The bypolls were held in six constituencies - Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur, Taldangra, Sitai (SC), and Madarihat (ST) - following the resignation of MLAs who had vacated their assembly seats after securing victories in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
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As the economic crisis in Sri Lanka - the world's largest exporter of orthodox tea - continues to rage across the island nation, tea producers in India look to cash in on the opportunity to seize the market. The country's largest tea growing company, McLeod Russel India, expects orders to come in from July. "A huge opportunity is coming up for everyone in India. "McLeod Russel is well placed because we have the capacity for orthodox tea," said Azam Monem, director, McLeod Russel. About 10 per cent of McLeod's production is orthodox tea.
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'It feels like Assam is good just as a tourist spot and not a place to earn and live.'
A jawan was seriously injured in an ambush by ULFA (I) militants at Kanobari in Assam's Sibsagar district on Friday.
While addressing a rally at Alipurduar, Banerjee accused the Election Commission of removing the deputy inspector general of police of Murshidabad at the behest of the BJP.
The tea industry, hit by rising costs, falling prices and political unrest in the North Bengal plantations, is especially vulnerable to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Production cost in Africa varies between $1 and $2 a kg while in Assam it is $1.9 and in West Bengal over $2
The industry began to upgrade its practices even before the NGO alleged Indian tea contained harmful pesticides.
Over the past year, McLeod sold 21 gardens in India, reducing almost 32 million kg in production.
