Affidavit filed by the West Bengal Pollution Control Board in the matter of Bharat Prakash Rai Vs State of West Bengal dated December 16, 2022. The matter related to felling of trees in a tea estate, Darjeeling. In order to control soil erosion and stabilize landslides, land slip as well …
pipeline blast: Suspected tribal rebels recently blew up a gas pipeline in Pakistan. This led to the closure of the nearby Uch power plant, which is owned jointly by the US and the uk, for the second time in January 2006. The blast damaged a 60 cm-diameter pipeline in the …
sri lanka is to export some 12,000 tea plants to Iran under a bilateral agreement, an issue that has raised the ire of environmentalists who say the move will jeopardise the country's tea trade. Sri Lanka is the world's biggest tea auction and trading centre and tea is the country's …
even as it scrambles to enforce internationally recognised standards for its agricultural exports, Sri Lanka has requested for a six-month extension of the eu 's new food hygiene rules on imports, to be effective from January 1, 2006. Tea, the country's top agricultural export, is expected to be the worst …
• A coalition of environmental advocacy groups based in the UK participated in a weeklong protest outside the London headquarters of the major grocery chain, Sainsbury. Activists gathered every morning from June 13-17 to remind Sainsbury of its pledge to discontinue sale of genetically modified milk, meats and other food …
Nestled amid the lush hills of Kurseong in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, is a tea estate that has been transformed by organic farming. About two decades ago, the Ambootia tea estate was close to financial ruin: heavy dependence on chemical farming had been its undoing. Today, the 966-hectare estate …
Three small villages near Lebong town in Darjeeling district of West Bengal no longer need the government for water, or to earn a livelihood. Yangkhoo, Dabaipani, and Harsing together run their own 24-hour drinking water supply system and export certified organic tea. All plans, like the latest one to export …
The northeast would become India's economic bridgehead for trade with southeast Asia, Prime Minister A B Vajpayee has promised. He was addressing the chief ministers of the seven northeast states, rubbing shoulders with corporate honchos in Delhi at the Second North East Business Summit, January 21-22. The Centre declared that …
There are worry lines all over the face of M K Bhojan, a small tea grower in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. Tea prices have fallen cataclysmically in the last few years, affecting small farmers like Bhojan most acutely. In 1997-98, one kilogramme (kg) of green tea leaf fetched …
an exotic fungus may help save your favourite cup of tea. Scientists are planning to introduce a rust fungus to combat a weed that is strangling India's tea crops all over Assam and Darjeeling. However, the biological agent to kill Mikania micrantha may not be as good as claimed
Bharat Bhugel mopped his brow at 4.30 am on a chilly day in January 2003. Under the cover of darkness, he and three others had chopped down a huge sal tree inside the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary in the foothills of Darjeeling in West Bengal. Bhugel has been carrying out such …
A major conservation issue, particularly in the tropics, is habitat loss and fragmentation due to developmental activities and increasing human populations. Ecologists today recognise that much of the once pristine forests that are now secondary forests, as well as large areas outside existing conservation resources, harbouring significant levels of biological …
The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Union ministries of agriculture, chemical, fertiliser and petrochemicals, health and family welfare, environment and forests, and food and consumer affairs over the contamination of food items. A bench comprising Chief Justice V N Khare and Justice S B Sinha included wheat, milk, …
darjeeling tea may soon have its characteristic aroma patented. The Centre for dna Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (cdfd), Hyderabad, is soon starting a project to develop molecular markers, which will distinguish this world famous variety from its cheaper cousins and protect its market value. The Union ministry of commerce has recently …
In 1995, Indian exporters got a rude shock when a consignment of Darjeeling tea was rejected by Germany. The reason for this drastic measure: the tea leaves contained excessive pesticide residue levels. The unsavoury incident left a bitter aftertaste in India, but the fact remains that the tea did contain …
Tea and wine tasting is among the most difficult jobs for a person. The subtle flavours and tastes of these beverages have to be deciphered by specialist who unfortunately lose their sense of taste after a while. Now a new hand-held electronic tongue promises to give reliable taste measurements for …
the Himachal Pradesh (hp) government plans to launch a Rs 130 crore biotea production project to boost the traditional tea industry in the state. "Biotea is ecofriendly as its production does not require the use of fertilisers or insecticides. It is widely accepted as a health drink and research is …
