Author: Pullock Dutta

Author: Pullock Dutta

Assam Planters Rebut Oxfam Report on the Plight of Tea Workers
October 28, 2019 News Pullock Dutta

Workers on tea estates in Assam currently receive the equivalent of just $0.04 per 100g of bagged black tea sold to consumers. Increasing this amount by the equivalent $0.10 would enable a living wage, according to Oxfam. Photo by DB World JORHAT, Assam A report by Oxfam International likely to discourage UK supermarkets from sourcing

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Fatal Assault on Tea Estate Physician Prompts Legislation to Protect Healthcare Workers
September 9, 2019 News Pullock Dutta

Indian medical association chief Santanu Sen with the family members of Dr Deben Dutta, who was killed by laborers at Teok Tea Estate in Assam Jorhat district. (Photo by Nirmalendu Pathak) In June doctors across India protested a brutal attack on one of their colleagues by the relatives of a patient who died during treatment

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Assam at a Crossroads, Grants Workers the Maximum Holiday Bonus
September 9, 2019 News Pullock Dutta

Durga Puja is an annual 10-day Hindu festival that reveres the goddess Durga. Ceremonies begin Oct. 4. (Photo by Tarikul Raana for Unsplash) JORHAT, Assam Earlier this month, the crisis-ridden Assam tea industry averted a showdown with several hundred thousand workers with the approval of a 20% holiday bonus, but tensions remain high. The (ATTSA),

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The Grand Old Man of Indian Tea
May 28, 2019 News Pullock Dutta

KOOMTAI, Assam Sagar Mehta Forty years ago executives of Goodricke Group, which had just split from Duncan Brothers & Company Ltd., sent one of their best estate managers to Koomtai Tea Estate, a company-owned garden in Assam’s Golaghat district. His mission was to assess whether to sell off the sick property or revive it. The

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Ancient Wild Forest of Assamica Trees Discovered
February 4, 2019 News Pullock Dutta

Noktey tribesman making tea (Photo by Dr. Pradip Baruah/Tocklai Tea Research Institute) A tea researcher exploring the hilly Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh has photographed an ancient wild forest of Camellia Assamica, a species of large-leaf tea distinct from China’s Camellia Sinensis. Pradip Baruah, a renowned tea researcher and explorer, has hiked the jungles that

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Concerns About Quality Prompt India’s Tea Board to Close Tea Factories During Winter
November 6, 2018 News Pullock Dutta

(Photo/Adobe Stock) JORHAT, ASSAM To be tasty tea must be processed within a few hours of plucking. Since plucking in north-eastern India ends in December the Tea Board of India announced for the first time a mandatory closing of factories during the winter to prevent the processing of stale leaves. Gardens in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram,

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Arunachal Pradesh Brings to Market First Wild Harvest Purple Tea
November 6, 2018 News Pullock Dutta

Purple tea plants in Kenya (Photo courtesy of the Tocklai Tea Research Institute) JORHAT, Assam A unique purple tea, which has its origin in Assam, made a memorable debut in India at auction selling for INRs 24,501 ($335) per kilogram, far more than it brings in Kenya which is aggressively marketing a purple varietal. The

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India Research Center Launches Tea Brands
October 9, 2018 News Pullock Dutta

Tocklai Tea Research Institute JORHAT, Assam , the world’s oldest and the largest tea research center, applied a century of knowledge to produce its own tea. It has launched two varieties of tea in its moves to supplement its operating budget. Two new yellow and green teas were formally launched on Sunday by chief minister of

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Maternity Leave Doubled for India’s Tea Workers
August 27, 2018 News Pullock Dutta

Nazdeek Report cover Pregnant tea workers balance the weight of their unborn child and the tea basket on their back, working as long as practical to earn money to meet their baby’s needs. This double burden takes its toll in the nutritional wellbeing of both mother and child, a concern being addressed by the Assam

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Sustainability of Assam’s Tea Industry Questioned
August 13, 2018 News Pullock Dutta

Prabhat Bezboruah, India Tea Board Chair Stagnant prices lead industry captains to question the long-term sustainability of the tea industry in Assam. Speaking at the general meeting of the Assam Tea Planters’ Association (ATPA), the oldest body of ethnic tea planters in the Brahmaputra Valley, India Tea Board Chairman Prabhat Kamal Bezboruah last month cautioned

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