Assam tea has failed to capture the market in the very country whose planters made it a marketable commodity in the state 150 years ago. The situation, however, can be turned around with a better marketing strategy, Mark Kibblewhite, an eminent tea scientist and a professor at Cranfield University in the UK, told The Telegraph on the sidelines of World Tea Science Congress which began at Tocklai Experimental Station at Cinnamara,...

-The Telegraph   Assam tea is now officially the state drink. Announcing this, chief minister Tarun Gogoi today said his government was also making a strong case with the Centre to declare tea as the national drink. Speaking at the inaugural function of the World Tea Science Congress at Tocklai Experimental Station (under Tea Research Association) here today, Gogoi said, “I, as the chief minister, am competent enough to announce tea as the...

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday said the Centre and the Assam Government would sign a peace accord with the militant outfit of the hill district Karbi Anglong — United Peoples Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) in Delhi on November 25. The UPDS was formed in 1999 in a merger of the erstwhile Karbi People's Front (KPF) and Karbi National Volunteers (KNV) . The UPDS entered into a ceasefire agreement with the...

The Assam Government has failed to utilise central funds meant for granting scholarships to minority students, prompting Delhi to ask Dispur to either come up with a transparent procedure or drop the scheme altogether. A long-winding process has apparently delayed the scholarships in Assam, though the Centre has sanctioned funds for the scheme for the past three financial years. A source told The Telegraph that the adviser to the Prime Minister, T.K.A....

Rural Development Ministry seeks to give the scheme a base Disregarding apprehensions sounded by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, the Ministry of Rural Development will press ahead with its pilot project to link payments under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Aadhaar number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India in a bid to give the scheme, which is currently stuck, a base. In Ramgarh district,...