Journal articles on the topic 'Indian tea economy'

The tea plantations in the Northeast Indian state of Assam, launched by the British colonial regime in the mid-nineteenth century, had considerably transformed the socio-economic profile of the state. Its impact on the state’s peasant economy, however, was enervating. Controlled by the British companies, the plantation sector saw few local planters, although a section of the Assamese peasants traditionally engaged in tea cultivation in their homestead on a small scale. After India’s independence, many Indian entrepreneurs entered the plantation sector largely because of the departure of the British planters. The Assamese entrepreneurs found it difficult to emulate this due to lack of capital. Since the 1970s, however, a significant section of the local small and middle peasants, as a part of a conscious drive, took to small tea plantation (STP). The last two decades have witnessed a dramatic growth in the number of such small planters, which has brought about a major change in the rural social landscape of Assam.

The victim of both geographical, historical and administrative isolation, Darjeeling owed its growth to tea cultivation in the hills by migrants from neighbouring Nepal collectively called Gorkhas. Their contributions notwithstanding, they felt discriminated by West Bengal’s residents to whose state they were administratively attached. Poverty and poor working conditions, with no voice in the tea estates, and poorly maintained infrastructure that brought frequent landslides have fuelled demands for “Gorkhaland”, a homeland separate from West Bengal, where the distinctiveness of their identity and their role as Indian citizens would be fully recognised. It did not help that the Darjeeling district had been administratively detached from the political mainstream. Periodic agitations against the state government have weakened local institutions, disrupted the local economy impacting adversely tea production and tourism on which the local economy and the Gorkhas depend. The West Bengal government had partly recognised Gorkha demands by establishing the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) each vested with limited autonomy. But disagreements on autonomy have left the Gorkhaland issue unresolved. In the meantime, Darjeeling continues to experience gradual decay, absent adequate support from the West Bengal government and from Darjeeling’s local government, including the GTA itself.

BACKGROUND: In November 2016, the government of India declared 86%of the total money in circulation as demonetized. This policy was brought into effect overnight, and it had great macro socioeconomic impact not only on the economy of the country but on the common people, especially the socioeconomically challenged. While several researchers have focused on, and continue to investigate, the effects of demonetization on the economy, its impact on the psychosocial health of workers has not yet been studied. OBJECTIVE: To provide an exploratory investigation of the psychosocial consequences of demonetization on the workers in Indian tea gardens. METHODS: A qualitative research approach was employed. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with seven key informants (clinicians and executives/managers), and 36 tea garden workers were involved in six focus groups. Collected data were analyzed using the Template Analysis technique. RESULTS: From the data analysis, five main themes emerged concerning the psychosocial factors involved in demonetization effects: socioeconomic changes, organizational consequences, workplace interpersonal relationships, work-family interface, and psychophysical symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary study highlighted the significant impact that demonetization had on tea gardens at both the organizational and individual levels.

Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy. Nearly 70 percent of the population depends on agriculture for their daily livelihood directly or indirectly. In that, 20 per cent of the villagers now depend solely upon agricultural income for their livelihood directly. The agricultural produce sector has been one of the most important components of the Indian economy. Considerable progress has to be achieved in scaling new heights in the production of food grains, commercial crops like cotton, sugarcane, tea, fruits, vegetables and milk. The increasing trend of agricultural production has brought new challenges in terms of finding market for the marketed surplus. There is also a need to respond to the challenges and opportunities, that the global markets offer in the liberalized trade regime. The following are the specific objectives of the study. 1. To study the functioning of the agricultural marketing in general. 2. To know the different varieties of the vegetables produced and sold.

During most of the nineteenth century, the economy of the British crown colony Ceylon depended almost exclusively on the export of plantation products. After modest beginnings in the 1820s and 1830s, coffee cultivation spread on the island in the 1840s. During the 1880s, the coffee plantations were superseded by plantations of a new crop—tea. Both cultivation systems were almost pure export monocultures, and both relied almost exclusively on imported wage labour from South India. Thus, it is surprising that labour immigration—a process vital to the efficient functioning of the plantation economy—received practically no government attention for the better part of the nineteenth century. Migration between South India and Ceylon was free of government control, support or regulation. Instead, certain functional equivalents—such as the kangany system—organised immigration and coordinated supply and demand. Only very late in the century, when the kangany system had revealed a number of dramatic organisational weaknesses, the Ceylon Government started to get directly involved in labour and immigration policy.The author can be contacted at roland.wenzlhuemer@staff.hu-berlin.de

The seven districts of present-day Assam state, comprising 7.8 million hectares (78,496 km2), lie in the valley of the Brahmaputra river in the extreme northeast of India. On the map they form an extended finger of riverine land pointing toward the mountain boundary. Assam has been a steadily developing frontier region since the middle decades of the nineteenth century. One arm of this development has been that of the plantation economy devoted to tea production in the highlands. British capital, British managers, and Indian coolie labor formed the essential elements in this growing export-oriented economy. From 1870 another settler-based frontier society emerged when peasant migrants from Bengal and ex-tea-laborers took up government-owned wastelands along the Brahmaputra and its tributaries to grow paddy rice. Together these two forces have transformed the face of the land and created a new society in Assam over the past century. The British colonial regime's policies generally favored the development and growth of both the estate and the smallholder sectors of Assam's economy. In this process the indigenous Assamese — whether peasant cultivators or tribal hill peoples — have faced immense pressures on their society and way of life. The purpose of this essay is to delineate the transformations in the land and the agricultural economy that accompanied this process in Assam.

AbstractEl Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is an aperiodic oscillation of sea surface temperature (SST)-induced interannual rainfall variability in south India (SI) that has a direct impact on rain-fed agricultural production and the economy of the region. The study analyzed the influence of ENSO-related rainfall variability on crop yield of south Indian tea-growing regions (SITR) for the period of 1971–2015. The relationship between SST anomalies from June to August over the Niño-3 sector of the tropical Pacific Ocean and tea production anomalies of SI shows a positive correlation. However, SST has a negative relationship with rainfall in the regions of the southwest monsoon but not with the northeast monsoon region of the Nilgiris. The correlation between rainfall and crop yield in SI (r = 0.045) is positively weak and statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). Tea production is influenced more by the cold phase than the warm phase of ENSO, whereas rainfall is greatly influenced by the warm phase. Tea production across the regions indicated that none of the ENSO phase categories based on Niño-3 has significantly greater production than any of the other ENSO phases. Therefore, the predictability of tea production on the basis of ENSO phases is limited. Our findings highlight that the crop production of SITR appeared to be less responsive to the ENSO phases. This may be due to improvements in production technology that mitigated the problems associated with rainfall variability.

Marked as a dark swan occurrence and compared to the monetary scene of World War Two the flare-up of COVID-19 has detrimentally affected worldwide medical care frameworks with a gradually expanding influence on each part of human life. Despite all the measures taking into account proceeding with limitations on developments of individuals and vehicular traffic, concerns have been raised with respect to negative ramifications of COVID-19 pandemic on the farm economy. With an expanding populace, there is a relating ascend in food request in India. A post-COVID circumstance offers that one of a kind chance to repurpose the current food and farming strategies for a more beneficial population. India, being trade surplus on objects like rice, meat, milk objects, tea, plant objects, and so forth might also additionally take benefit of the fortunate breaks via way of means of sending out such objects with a strong agri-trades policy. Development of fare steady framework and coordination would require ventures and backing of the private division that will be in the drawn out interests of ranchers in boosting their income. This is for sure uplifting news in the COVID situation, accepting agribusiness can rehearse to a great extent unscathed. Designing rural arrangements, post-COVID situation, must incorporate these goals for a food frameworks change in India. The end of the lockdown won’t end the issues. The need of great importance is to amplify potential outcomes of agriculture, which has shown its utility and flexibility in attempting times.

Цель статьи – исследовать инструменты государственного регулирования торговой деятельности в современной Индии. Особенностью институциональной структуры регулирования торговли в Индии является значительная роль неправительственных и некоммерческих организаций, а также наличие специальных государственных агентств индийского правительства, осуществляющих содействие в выращивании, обработке и реализации ключевых для индийской экономики плантационных культур, таких как чай, сахар, табак, каучук и др. В статье рассмотрена система правовых актов, регламентирующих торговую деятельность в Индии, а также особенности регулирования цен на основные (жизненно-необходимые) товары. Научная новизна заключается в систематизации институтов и экономико-правовых инструментов государственного регулирования торговли в Индии. The purpose of the article is to explore the instruments of state regulation of trading activities in modern India. A feature of the institutional structure of trade regulation in India is the significant role of non-governmental and nonprofit organizations, as well as the presence of special state agencies of the Indian government that assist in the cultivation, processing and sale of key plantation crops for the Indian economy, such as tea, sugar, tobacco, rubber, etc. The system of legal acts regulating trade activities in India, as well as the peculiarities of regulating prices for basic (vital) goods are considered. Scientific novelty lies in the systematization of institutions and economic and legal instruments of state regulation of trade in India.

In mediterranean countries, water is considered as the most basic assets for economic sustainability growth. For cultivation, water is not only essential but also essential in different sectors such as in industries and economic growth. It is considered as also an important component of the environment with significant impact on natural conservation and health. Around 70% of fresh water withdrawals goes to agriculture. The use of water within the sectors are very diverse and included mainly for irrigation pesticides and fertilizers application and sustain livestock. In India, agriculture is an important sector for sustenance and growth of Indian economy. Today, in the whole world, India is one of the largest producers of agricultural products. Several agricultural commodities like tea, coffee, oil seeds, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, rice, wheat, spices etc. are considered as the major supplier from India. For crop and yards water, irrigation management involves the monitoring of water applications. It is especially important to monitor soil moisture in order to promote optimise crop yields without runoff percolated loss.

Among Third World countries, India stands out as having one of the most developed ‘big business sectors’, with a recent tendency by some firms to go multinational. This notwithstanding the fact that the public sector plays a major role in the Indian economy. Although the origins of some of India's business groups go back to pre-colonial times, most of them trace their beginnings to the 1850–1950 period, the ‘second colonial century’, during which India underwent a limited process of industrial growth as well as became a major exporter of some agricultural commodities to the world market (tea, jute, cotton, oilseeds, and, prior to 1910, opium and indigo). There are obvious parallels there with the developments in some Latin American countries, particularly Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Colombia, which also emerged as major suppliers of raw materials (coffee, sugar, wheat, nonferrous metals) while they built up manufacturing sectors of various magnitudes (with Brazil in the lead). However, the private business sector in these countries presents a picture which differs in many ways from the Indian case. It seems worth attempting a comparison between those two very different underdeveloped regions of the world, the Indian subcontinent and Latin America, in the hope of being able to put the Indian case in a broader perspective. Given the broad similarity in the constraints under which capitalist enterprise laboured in those two areas, a study of the differences in entrepreneurial responses might bring to light certain specificities in Indian entrepreneurial history which often go unnoticed.

The discovery of large quantities of gold and silver in the New World following the voyage of Christopher Columbus had a major impact on the subsequent history of the world economy. These two precious metals together with copper were regarded as the standard and measure of value in all societies throughout history. The sudden increase in the supply of gold and silver greatly increased the capacity of individual countries such as Spain and Portugal to finance wars and imports of consumer goods. The new Spanish coin, the real of eight, became an international currency for settling trade balances, and large quantities of these coins were exported to the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, and China to purchase oriental commodities such as silk piece goods, cotton textiles, industrial raw material such as indigo, and various kinds of spices, later followed by tea, coffee, and porcelain. The trade in New World gold and silver depended on the development of new and adequate mining techniques in Mexico and Peru to extract the ore and refine the metal. South German mining engineers greatly contributed to the transplantation of European technology to the Americas, and the Spanish-American silver mines utilised the new mercury amalgamation method to extract refined silver from the raw ores. Although the techniques used in Mexico and Peru were not particularly advanced by contemporary European standards, the American mine owners remained in business for more than three hundred years, and the supply of American silver came to be the foundation of the newly rising Indian Ocean world economy in the 17th and 18th centuries.

This article examines rumour and gossip among the tea workers in the south Indian state of Kerala in the context of recent economic crisis in the Indian tea industry. It argues that gossip and rumour may have distinct effects with regard to resistance and accommodation in the crisis-ridden plantations. The analysis of the gossip shows that the workers are critical of the plantation management, trade unions and the Kerala state for failing to ensure their means of livelihood during the crisis period. In this context, gossip functions as a form and agent of resistance which further shows that the workers were conscious of their exploitation. On the other hand, the ethnographic data presented in this article suggest that rumour is an effective instrument for the control and disciplining of workers in the crisis context.

The study was conducted to find out the pattern of labour engagement (both family andhired labour), price realization of different type of small tea growers and economic analysisof the small tea growing system. Small tea growers of Jalpaiguri and Uttar Dinajpur districtof West Bengal were selected purposively. The present study mainly considered primarydata for analysis and a small amount of secondary data was also collected from records ofConfederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Association (CISTA) and Self-Help Group(SHG) registers. It has been found that there is a variation in price of green leaves in bothdistricts and higher rates are observed in the month of March. SHGs with own processingunits were found to fetch higher prices compared to other units because of their collectivebargaining power, absence of middlemen and owing co-operative processing units. Numberof such SHGs, with processing units were found in Jalpaiguri district whereas, UttarDinajpur district recorded no SHG with own processing units. The economic analysis alsopresented a clear picture about fixed and operational cost, gross return with or withoutdividend and benefit cost ratio.

Iron deficiency is the most common nutrient deficiency in the world, affecting roughly 40% of women in nonindustrialized countries. Iron is the essential element in hemoglobin, the major carrier of blood oxygen and oxidative metabolism that supports physical and cognitive performance. The relationship between iron and physical work capacity suggests that iron deficient individuals could experience reduced work output. Participants were 138 experienced tea pluckers aged 18–55 years from the Panighatta Tea Estate in Darjeeling District of northern West Bengal, India. Hemoglobin, serum ferritin, and soluble transferrin receptor were measured from venous blood. Energy expenditure was estimated from accelerometry and heart rate, and plucking productivity was measured as amount of tea plucked during the morning work session when temperature and rainfall conditions are optimal. At a given level of energy expenditure, iron deficient, anemic, and iron deficient anemic women plucked less tea during a 3-h period. The results warrant further research as to whether interventions providing supplemental iron might improve worker productivity and work efficiency. Further study should examine evidence of economic incentives for policies and programs targeting nutritional deficiencies. Novelty Anemia predicts up to 2.02 kg (9.1%) less tea plucked per 3 h, or 4.0% lower wage per 3 h, compared with nonanemic women, controlling for physical effort. An increase of 1.0 g/L in hemoglobin concentration predicts 0.71 kg (3.3%) more tea plucked over 3 h. An increase of 1.0 g/L in hemoglobin concentration predicts a 1.6% wage increase.

Abstract: Portuguese creoles were instrumental in bringing sub-Saharan Africa into the intercontinental systems of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean. In the Atlantic Islands a distinctive creole culture emerged, made up of Christian emigrants from Portugal, Jewish exiles and African slaves. These creole polities offered a base for coastal traders and became politically influential in Africa - in Angola creating their own mainland state. Connecting the African interior with the world economy was largely on African terms and the lack of technology transfer meant that the economic gap between Africa and the rest of the world inexorably widened. African slaves in Latin America adapted to a society already creolised, often through adroit forms of cultural appropriation and synthesis. In eastern Africa Portuguese worked within existing creolised Islamic networks but the passage of their Indiamen through the Atlantic created close links between the Indian Ocean and Atlantic commercial systems.

Abstract Indian Sundarban is the part of world’s largest contiguous mangrove forest, delta and home to around 4.6 million people. Climate change induced natural disasters are rampant along its coasts destabilizing lives and livelihood in the region. Green alternative livelihood schemes addresses the Sustainability Development Goals (SDG), namely SDG-1 (No poverty), SDG-2 (Zero hunger), SDG- 8 (Descent work and economic growth), SDG-10 (Reduced inequalities) and it indirectly impart conservation of mangrove ecosystems (world’s largest blue carbon sink) by reducing nature exploitive livelihood options (SDG- 13, Climate action). A project implemented at Indian Sundarbans, since 2017 introduced alternative livelihood options (Cycle Van transport, Van Repairing Shop, Grocery Shop, Tea Stall) to total 471 marginalized families who has been making 1,629.00 INR per month by 2021. External evaluation report indicated an average of 40472.50 INR annual income. As per this study, Tea stall is most profitable small business followed by Cycle Van transport, Grocery Shop and Grocery Shop.

AbstractIn this article I underscore how women organic tea farmers build economic resilience through dual enactments as "organic farmers" and as "entrepreneurs." In substantiating both, women question the limited optics through which Fair Trade type sustainability ventures measure their work for a tea cooperative, as well poorly recognizing their entrepreneurial work in their households and community. Women are deeply aware of the politics of Fair Trade where their productive and reproductive labor is appropriated through the labor of organics, where women not only produce the organic green leaf tea but also produce narratives of Fair Trade's success in its certification and gender audits. Thus, to understand what sustains the new wave of "sustainable agriculture" in the global South, we must explore the intersections of organic farming practices with emerging discourses and practices of gendered entrepreneurialism in organic farming communities. In Darjeeling, India, women provide the labor necessary to sustain organics that should ideally come from the Indian state or international trading partners. They fill the gap through their labor, time, creativity and risk-taking. I contend that the success of organic farming depends on critical maneuvers that entail economic and cultural entrepreneurialism, and demonstrate forms of resilience expressed through which women farmers identify and navigate the inadequacies of alternative agriculture and related Fair Trade practices.Keywords: Women organic tea farmers, women entrepreneurs, Fair Trade, rural Darjeeling, risk-taking, resilience

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) defined as “the ethical behavior of a company towards the society,” manifests itself in the form of such noble programs initiated by for-profit organizations. CSR has become increasingly prominent in the Indian corporate scenario because organizations have realized that besides growing their businesses, it is also vital to build trustworthy and sustainable relationships with the community at large. This is one of the key drivers of CSR programs. Though India is one of the fastest growing economies, socio-economic problems like poverty, illiteracy, lack of healthcare etc. are still ubiquitous and the government has limited resources to tackle these challenges. This scenario has opened up several areas for businesses to contribute towards social development. Companies have CSR teams that devise specific policies, strategies and goals for their CSR programs and set aside budgets to support them. Corporate Social Responsibility means the way in which business firms integrate environmental, economic and social concerns into their culture, values, strategy, decision making and operations in an accountable and transparent manner and therefore, leading to better creation of wealth, an improved society and better practices in the business organization. The research study has been undertaken by selecting three tea estates of Jorhat District of Assam, out of the total tea estates 135(Annual Report2013, Published tea Board of India). These tea estates are considered only Company based, tea estates for the study. This paper is about how Tea Industry performs their Social Responsibility towards their workers. Research is based on the three Tea Gardens industry i.e. how they fulfill their task towards the benefit of Society. In this paper, an attempt has been made to highlights how the companies based tea industries have introduced many workers welfare activities, social development programmes, better working conditions,provide better medical and sanitation facilities, sports and cultural activities in order to improve their standard of living of employees.

Indian tea, which has maintained its supremacy both in production and export for more than a century, has started to lose its pre-eminence. Other tea producing countries like China, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Kenya are strongly competing for Market share. The increase in production in China has pushed India to second position in production and the country lost its domination of the export market to Kenya, China and Sri Lanka. Given this backdrop, the present study attempts to analyse the export growth, instability in export earnings, export quantity and unit value and concentration of export destinations evaluate India’s tea export performance. The growth of export quantity, value and unit value from India (1988-2022) was worked out using compound growth rate and the results indicated an increased growth in the post–WTO period which could be attributed to the expansion in trade to the Near East, with their growth and strength of the economies in the region (Hicks, 2009). Instability in export can affect the economic growth of the country as it has adverse effect on the countries export earnings, trade balance, and confidence of international trading partners. The export instability calculated using Coppock’s instability index showed an increasing trend in the post-WTO period. In 1990’s about 6 countries viz., U.S.S.R, U.K, Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Poland accounted for about 90 per cent of total tea exports from India. But over a period of time the demand in these countries weakened. The Indian exports continue to lose volume in countries like Russia Europe, USA and some middle east countries (Dutt, 2007). The share in Iraq, Netherland and Poland was maintained and it improved in UAE, Germany, Pakistan and china. Overall in the past 3 decades, India’s world ranking as an exporter has dropped to fourthowing to competition from China, Kenya and Sri Lanka. (Majumder et al., 2010). The reduction in values of the Hirschmann index indicated increased geographic diversification of tea exports thereby reducing the possibility of market risk due to dependence on few markets. The commodity diversification in the form of various tea products exported is very limited, the major share of exports being in the form of black tea especially in bulk form. Received: 1 February 2024 / Accepted: 29 April 2024 / Published: 5 May 2024

Abstract Under the banner of green growth, a number of theories currently promote new models that seek to decouple economic growth from excessive resource use and its adverse ecological impacts. But how exactly can one generate profit without disturbing ecologies? Drawing on ethnographic data from Indian tea plantations that are in the process of being converted to organic agriculture, this article examines specific attempts to alter the intersection of vegetal and financial growth. As a cultivation system, plantations intensify the manipulation of plant growth for monetary ends; they seek to mass produce and standardize valuable vegetal materials and radically simplify the ecologies that surround these monocrops. Taking a multispecies perspective, this article traces how green growth experiments seek to change the forms, rhythms, and ecological alliances that characterize the tea plant’s growth. The article argues that, on organic tea plantations, green growth aspires to harness the unruly aspects of nonhuman life to make monocultures more productive. In the process, the nonscalable impulses of vegetal growth, unpredictable interactions with wildlife, and even the potentially harmful metabolisms of insects and fungi become integral parts of plantation cultivation—though not always successfully. The article widens our understanding of how green production methods are envisioned not as alternatives to but rather as support for industrial cultivation systems.

Sikkim, a mountainous state in the Himalayas joined the democratic mainstream of the Indian Union in 1975. It has made enormous progress in planned economic development since then. Mountainous terrain and lack of reliable transportation and infrastructure does not allow establishments of large scale industries. Agriculture, dairy farming and cottage industries have limited scope of expansion. Hydro-electricity generation, pharmaceutical, tourism and tea appear to be promising and fastest growing economic sectors. Thus, these four growth sectors have been considered for evaluation. Six major criteria (such as Installation Cost, Return on Investment, Sustainability, Social Acceptance, Environment Friendliness, and Future Demand) were appropriately selected have been considered for evaluation of these alternatives for prioritising these economic sectors. The alternatives were subjected to pairwise comparison using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) so as to arrive at objective conclusions. The analysis of selected economic sectors and findings has been discussed in this article.

This article examines the circumstances in which the tasks performed by professional labour contractors may be passed on to worker-agents. It does so by critically engaging with the experience of migrant workers from the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand as they travel to work in the Peermade tea belt in the South Indian state of Kerala. Specifically, we identify shifts in economic and political contexts that have permitted these functions to pass from labour contractors to workers-agents and from a Sardari (top-down) to a Ristedari (kinship based) system. Outlining the functions of the labour contractor—as bridge, broker and buffer—the article details the complex processes and the series of negotiations that occur during the transition from labour contractor to worker-agent-led recruitment and the implications of this shift for labour relations in the production setting. We conclude by calling for further consideration of the ‘worker-agent’ as a key emerging figure in understanding the contemporary transformations in the reproduction of footloose migrant labour, which may have larger ramifications for other contexts in South Asia and beyond.

Purpose This paper aims to study the effect of the addition of water treatment plant sludge (WTPS) and processed tea waste (PTW) on the properties of burnt clay bricks. The reuse of WTP sludge as a raw material for brick production is a long-term approach, to sludge disposal, for economic and environmental sustainability. Sludge have been added at 10, 20, 30 and 40% and processed tea waste at 5% (by weight) in replacement of clay for brick manufacturing. Each batch of hand-moulded bricks was fired in a heat controlled furnace at a temperature of 990°C. The compressive strength has been found to increase with the sludge content, however, a slight decrease in compressive strength was observed with tea waste addition. Further, PTW addition has improved the thermal insulation of bricks as compared to controlled bricks. The study shows that 40% WTPS, 5% PTW and 55% natural clayey soil can be considered as an optimum mix for bricks with good compressive strength as well as improved thermal insulation property. Design/methodology/approach Four different mixing ratios of sludge at 10, 20, 30 and 40% of the total weight of sludge-clay mixtures were used to make bricks. Similarly, PTW was investigated as a substitute of natural clayey soil in brick manufacturing. Each batch of hand-moulded bricks was fired in a heat controlled furnace at a temperature of 990°C. The physical, mechanical and engineering properties of the produced WTPS bricks and PTW bricks were determined and evaluated according to various Indian Standard Codes of Specification for burnt clay bricks and certain reference books. Findings The results exhibited that WTP sludge and PTW can be used to produce good quality brick for various engineering applications in construction and building. Increasing the sludge content increases the compressive strength. Moreover, thermal insulation of PTW bricks depicted an upward trend when compared to controlled bricks. Hence, an optimum mixture of 40% WTPS, 5% PTW and 55% natural clayey soil was found, at which bricks showed good compressive strength as well as improved thermal insulation property of the building material. Research limitations/implications The present work provides a sustainable solution for disposal of WTP sludge and tea waste. Utilization of these waste materials in brick manufacturing is viable and economic solution. Practical implications Bricks with 40% WTP sludge and 5% processed tea waste proved to be economic, technically sound for construction purposes with added thermal insulation properties. Social implications Bulk amount of waste such as WTP sludge is a threat to society owing to its environmental implications of disposal. Authors propose to use WTP sludge and tea waste for brick manufacturing and provide a solution to its disposal. Originality/value Water treatment plant sludge along with tea waste have not been tried for brick manufacturing so far. Hence, the composition is new in itself and also have resulted into good performance.

Recent developments in the international trade scenario and corresponding alterations in India’s foreign trade policies have depicted far reaching implications for India’s agricultural sector in general and agricultural exports in particular. The present study has ascertained the changes in comparative advantage status of India’s major agricultural exports during the postreforms period (1994-95 to 2008-09). India had enjoyed a comparative advantage in tea exports but had depicted a declining trend over the years. A similar pattern had been observed in coffee exports also, where India had been found losing its comparative advantage to other world coffee exporters. An unstable pattern of comparative advantage had been observed in the case of rice exports with intermittent ups and downs in the status. A gradual decline in India’s comparative advantage had been depicted for exports of sugar and cashew also.As opposed to other commodities, India had strengthened its position in the global markets in exports of Ground nut. But as far as the exports of fresh fruits and fresh vegetables are concerned, India cannot boast to have a comparative advantage. India has been found losing out its comparative advantage in export of some of the agricultural commodities to world during the period after economic reforms.

The existing Land Use Capability Classification for India is almost the true copy of United States Department of Agriculture Land Use Capability Classification system with very few minor changes; and thus it is mainly based on the Agro-economic structure of USA. As a result. many fertile and productive lands of India, which are highly economic to cultivate, comes under the class "Not Suitable for Agriculture", e.g. Tea Gardens of India and fertile cultivable lands on hill slopes. Further the factors considered in determination of Land Capability Class, have not been assigned specific weightage and contribution, and this might lead to subjectivity in determination of land class. Moreover the Indian Land Use Capability Classification divides the cultivable lands into two groups, suitable for cultivation and not suitable for cultivation, which is not justified under the existing cultivation conditions in India. The proposed Land Use Capability Classification system eliminates the dividing line between the land suitable and not suitable for cultivation; and recommends all lands which are economical to cultivate as Suitable for cultivation. In the proposed pattern of land classification, many factors have been considered and all these factors have been given a weighatge on marks basis and this helps in clear and distinct contribution of these factors in land class determination. In the proposed Land Use Capability Classification system, the class of land only denotes the relative productivity of land and not its suitability and unsuitability for cultivation.

Over the course of the interwar period, the Congress-led movement for prohibition wrought a lengthy debate about ‘Indian’ and ‘foreign’ drinks. This debate gave rise to a little-known movement to promote the fresh, unfermented sap of the palm tree as India’s swadeshi beverage. If the British tried to claim the initiative for temperance through their tea campaign, Congress leaders sought to replace intoxicating drinks and their sobering ‘foreign’ alternatives with an indigenous drink. They had high hopes for this drink, which they believed would facilitate social reform while supporting national economic development. Neera, in other words, was the nationalists’ answer to toddy as well as tea. Indeed, the project of popularising neera was entirely in keeping with the upper-caste sensibilities of the Congress leadership: if toddy was the profane, neera was fresh, unfermented, and hence, pure. To this end, Congress leaders emphasised its nutritional value and potential in supporting the manufacture of gur (jaggery). They also promised a ready source of re-employment for tappers displaced by prohibition. As this article demonstrates, however, the neera scheme proved to be a slippery course to navigate owing to a combination of factors, foremost amongst them the impossibility of taming toddy.

AS I WAS FINISHING this essay — taking yet another procrastination break for tea and idling through the mail — there it was, in the middle of the September Lands’ End catalog, between the luggage and the imported cotton shirts, William Least Heat-Moon’s journey to the western isles of Scotland. In a few hundred words, beginning with Dr. Johnson’s complaint of the barrenness and “sterility” of these rocky shores, and sketching the latest economic, geographical, and demographic changes in the Shetlands, the author described a complex reconfiguration. Big petroleum had arrived some time back, along with Indian and Chinese restaurants and new houses redolent of Levittown. All this has provoked a “local fervor for things Nordic” and a “vigor of nostalgia.” The eye-catching photos accompanying the story of course contain nary an oil rig, not a single plate of stir-fry. Indeed, no inhabitants are pictured at all. Only archaeological sites and derelict crofters’ cottages.

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the most general type of diabetes. In India, the risk factors (modifiable and nonmodifiable) for diabetes are seen more frequently and there is lack of perception about this problem.Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the incidence and risk factors for T2DM in a south Indian tertiary care hospital.Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 1161 subjects (with or without T2DM) from November 2014 to April 2015 in general medicine department of Dr. Pinnamaneni Siddhartha Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Foundation, Andhra Pradesh, south India. Chi-square test was used to evaluate the incidence of T2DM and odds ratios were calculated in univariate logistic regression analysis for risk factors.Results: T2DM was significantly higher in the subjects of age above 41 years (86.3%, P<0.0001), married (95.4%, P=0.002), educators (degree and above, 13.2%, P<0.0001), known family history (50.8%, P<0.0001), BMI (>25 kg/m2,58.7%; P<0.0001), Govt. job holders (5.5%, P<0.0001), business people (12%, P<0.0001), house wives (38.3%, P<0.0001), high economic status (34.9%, P<0.0004), preexisting hypertension (40.2%, P<0.0001), urban residence (50.4%, P<0.0001), physical inactivity (45.3%, P<0.001), stress (61.0%, P=0.01), consumption of tea and coffee (daily thrice or more, 6.3%, P=0.0003), soft drinks (weekly thrice or more, 4%, P=0.0008) and junk foods (weekly thrice or more 2.6%, P=0.025) than non-diabetic subjects. Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that the age (above 41 years), marital status, education, family history, BMI (>25 kg/m2), high economic status, co-morbidities (hypertension and thyroid disorders) urban residence, physical inactivity, stress, consumption of tea and coffee (daily thrice or more), soft drinks (weekly thrice or more) and junk foods are the significantly risk factors for T2DM.Conclusion: The present study results suggested that beware of hypertension, thyroids disorders, physical inactivity, stress, soft drinks and junk foods, which are major risk factors of T2DM.

COVID-19 has caused not only unprecedented health crises but also economic crises among individuals across the world. White-collar (salaried-class) employees with a fixed salary face financial insecurity due to job loss, pay cuts and uncertainty in retaining a job. This study examines the financial behavior of Indian white-collar salaried-class investors to their cognitive biases. In addition, the mediating effect of financial self-efficacy on cognitive biases and financial behavior is examined. Respondents were given structured questionnaires (google forms) through emails and WhatsApp for data collection. SPSS and R-PLS are used to analyze the data. Conservatism (r = –.603, p &amp;lt; 0.05) and herding bias (r = –.703, p &amp;lt; 0.05) have a significant negative correlation with financial behavior. Financial self-efficacy has a significant positive correlation (r =.621. p &amp;lt; 0.050). Conservatism and herding predicted 60.5% and 62.2% of the variance, respectively. The direct and indirect paths between conservatism bias, financial self-efficacy, and financial behavior are significant. The paths between herding, financial self-efficacy and financial behavior are also significant. Acknowledgement The authors express their sincere gratitude to Dr Suresha B (Associate Professor, School of business and management, CHRIST (Deemed to be university), Bangalore, India ) for encouraging and motivating them to accomplish this research task. The authors also extend their sincere thanks to Prof. Krishna T.A. (Assistant Professor, School of business and management, CHRIST (Deemed to be university), Bangalore, India) and Dr Sridevi Nair (Assistant Professor, School of business and management, CHRIST (Deemed to be university), Bangalore, India) for their support throughout this empirical investigation.

Forests of Indian subcontinent are one of the biodiversity hot spots of the world. They are the second-largest inland use next to agriculture, yet possess a high degree of endemism. Plantation forestry in India was initiated mainly for the production of industrial raw materials as well as fuelwood and fodder from exotic species. The increase in demand for industrial raw material has spurred the rise in plantations of fast-growing native tree species. Neolamarckia cadamba (Roxb.) Bosser is a native tree species whose wood has been largely used in the pulpwood and pencil industry for making boards, plywood, packing cases, tea-boxes, carving and turnery articles. Supplementation of these native trees with effective bio inoculants will improve and maintain the soil fertility and sustainability in the natural soil ecosystem besides providing economic benefits. In the present study, the diversity of PGPR was assessed in the rhizosphere of N. cadamba plantations in Narasipuram, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. 33 PGPR isolates from N. cadamba rhizosphere were isolated viz. four species of Azotobacter, three species of Azospirillum and six different PSB species. The isolates were studied for their plant growth promotional abilities such as Indole Acetic Acid (IAA) production and phosphate solubilization.

Introduction. The history of British Raj’s foreign economic activity development at the turn of the 20th century remains somewhat understudied both in Russian and foreign historiography. Since the 1880s, India significantly increased foreign trade to become Asia’s leader in this regard. Goals. The paper aims at examining dynamics of India’s export-import operations and foreign trade by countries. Materials and methods. The article analyzes reports and accounts of Russian diplomats to have worked in British Raj, the Near East, and Great Britain. The employed research methods include the historical/genetic, comparative historical, and historical/typological ones. Results. Britain had been India’s dominating trading partner. However, gradually other states also increased trade operations with the latter, especially import ones. The paper emphasizes Russia failed to become a key foreign trade partner of British Raj (except for export of kerosene and import of tea). The identified reasons are contentious British-Russian relations in Central Asia in the 1860s–1890s, poor knowledge of the Indian market, and geographical remoteness. British Raj turned an outpost of Great Britain’s economic strength in the Persian Gulf. At the same time, Indian goods displaced products from other countries — including Britain manufactured ones — in many ports of the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula. The article stresses that the bulk of India’s foreign economic relations were maintained via maritime transport. This was due to complicated natural and climatic factors along land borders, instability in frontiers (Afghanistan and Persia). Nonetheless, British Raj was increasing its economic presence in Afghanistan, Persia, Nepal, Ceylon, Siam, and western provinces of China. An important place in India’s foreign trade was occupied by transit trade and re-export of goods from other states, which makes it difficult to accurately determine the actual volume of its foreign trade. Conclusions. The specifics of India’s national economic development can thus be traced in the structure of its foreign trade. The exports were dominated by raw materials and foodstuffs; manufactured products were only making their way to foreign markets. The difficulties were largely associated with the Great Britain’s colonial policy in India since the former sought to keep using the latter as a market for industrial products produced in the British Isles. On the eve of WW I, British Raj was building up its economic potential through strengthening its positions in world trade.

For most Indians, the North East (NE) has remained largely on the fringes of nationhood as well as on the periphery of the country’s geography. This is partly because India has ignored the region politically and economically for a long time, and partly because the complex social and cultural dynamics have made it difficult to integrate the region with the rest of the country. However, India can never achieve sustained high economic growth or become a powerful integrated nation if it continues to think of developing NE as a rural infrastructure project. It is a region of seven states – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura – that has four international borders – China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan – and accounts for a major source of hydrocarbons (oil and gas), coal, limestone, tea, bamboo and other resources. A big, bold, tangible, all-encompassing strategy is suggested in this article to kick-start an economic revolution in the NE, using domestic businesses and partnerships neighbouring South East Asian countries. The paper uses the model of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), a $90 billion effort funded jointly by Government of India and Government of Japan to make western India into an economic powerhouse. Part 1 of this paper examines the political and economic landscape of the region and explains how diplomacy, policing and development brought peace to Assam and to NE at large. Part 2 proposes a major new economic plan for the future, with Thailand as partner.

Historically, economic studies on tuberculosis estimated out-of-pocket expenses related to tuberculosis treatment and catastrophic cost, however, no study has yet been conducted to understand the post-treatment economic conditions of the tuberculosis patients in India. In this paper, we add to this body of knowledge by examining the experiences of the tuberculosis patients from the onset of symptoms till one-year post-treatment. 829 adult drug-susceptible tuberculosis patients from general population and from two high risk groups: urban slum dwellers and tea garden families were interviewed during February 2019 to February 2021 at their intensive and continuation phases of treatment and about one-year post-treatment using adapted World Health Organization tuberculosis patient cost survey instrument. Interviews covered socio-economic conditions, employment status, income, out-of-pocket expenses and time spent for outpatient visits, hospitalization, drug-pick up, medical follow-ups, additional food, coping strategies, treatment outcome, identification of post-treatment symptoms and treatment for post-treatment sequalae/recurrent cases. All costs were calculated in 2020 Indian rupee (INR) and converted into US dollar (US$) (1 US$ = INR 74.132). Total cost of tuberculosis treatment since the onset of symptom till one-year post-treatment ranged from US$359 (Standard Deviation (SD) 744) to US$413 (SD 500) of which 32%-44% of costs incurred in pre-treatment phase and 7% in post-treatment phase. 29%-43% study participants reported having outstanding loan with average amount ranged from US$103 to US$261 during the post-treatment period. 20%-28% participants borrowed during post-treatment period and 7%-16% sold/mortgaged personal belongings. Therefore, economic impact of tuberculosis persists way beyond treatment completion. Major reasons of continued hardship were costs associated with initial tuberculosis treatment, unemployment, and reduced income. Therefore, policy priorities to reduce treatment cost and to protect patients from the economic consequences of the disease by ensuring job security, additional food support, better management of direct benefit transfer and improving coverage through medical insurances need consideration.

Occupational mobility actually modifies the real labour income and in turn changes the socio-economic profile of an individual or a family. The occupational mobility may act as a catalyst in case of Scheduled Caste upliftment because they are subjugated since time immemorial. They are still engaged in low-ranked fixed occupations. If they are able to show upward occupational mobility, then their social and economic status will surely improve. But such studies on the occupational mobility of Scheduled Caste population are meagre. Thus in the present work an attempt is made to study occupational mobility and immobility of the Scheduled Caste population. Regional analysis of occupational mobility is necessary for rational planning and legitimate minimization of regional disparities to foster a healthy and balanced development. The historical social exclusion has had a long-run effect, and its inertia is visible from the collected information as a Scheduled Caste cook in the primary school of the Pachambha village is still working as a sweeper in the school. The Chamar family is in the position to open a tea stall in the village but cannot do so because of the historical inertia of untouchability. The study also shows that the Chamar family of Pachambha village has upgraded their occupation significantly. They are more involved in the skin shearing of animals but not working as cultivators or holding their own shop or involved in a clerical job. But Balmikis and Doms1 of the selected village show considerable rigidity in occupational choice as Balmikis are mostly working as sweepers and Doms are mostly working as labourers or as soop makers2 though they can shift to the agricultural and allied activities by purchasing land from the money earned by the out-migrated sweepers and soldiers of the Indian Army.

AbstractStarting in the late 19 th century, workers from north India came to constitute the backbone of the urban and industrial labour force in Calcutta and neighboring mill municipalities. As they settled in and around the colonial metropolis, these Hindustani workers maintained strong connections with their rural homes. One generation after the other, they reproduced this dual settlement over the following decades. This bi-local structure of labour circulation, which linked village and city through the constant coming and going of men and women, progressively broke down from the late 20 th century onwards, following the closure of the large textile, engineering and paper industries which underpinned the economic vitality of the Calcutta region. The article sketches out the history of this socio-spatial configuration over the second half of the 20 th century, through the life histories of two migrant Hindustani workers. Born around 1940, Siraj Prajapati and Mohan Lal both spent the greater part of their working lives in Calcutta's industrial suburbs. Siraj, a potter by caste, was engaged in the artisanal production tea-cups in Howrah. Born into one of the most marginalized sections of north Indian society, Mohan managed to train as a mason, and was employed in the Titagarh Paper Mill through the 1960s and 70s. Both have now settled back in their respective villages of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Teasing out the contradictory ways in which both men frame their life trajectories, the article contributes a micro-perspective to the social history of rural-urban migration in post-colonial north India.

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Work-Life Balance as a major problem for employees in the tea garden workers community, whether in public or private life. Men and women both aspire for a balanced personal life and professional life. Assam's tea plantation sector encompasses many places and ranks first in the Indian economy. The study's goal is to look into the influence of work-life balance on employee happiness in the tea gardens of the Bodoland territorial region. The tea workers' quality of life has a considerable influence on the tea industry's smooth operations. Wage labor is the primary occupation of Tea Garden workers. The Tea Garden community's financial situation is not particularly good. The researcher defines the notion of work-life balance and discusses the tea garden workers' society's socio-cultural, vocational, and religious lives. The community of tea garden workers has formed a new socio-cultural identity & contributed to developing a new composite society. These cultural characteristics establish them as a separate community in new surroundings. The study looks at the lives of women who work in tea gardens in Assam & their social standing, and the key issues they face. In Assam's tea gardens, women workers make up most of the workforce.

Abstract Fruits and vegetables are critical nutritional content of a growing nation like India. Viticulture encompasses produce, greens, spices, condiments, aromatic plants, and plantation crops. India's wide variety of produce includes Mangos, Bananas, Papaya, Coconut, etc. Also, greens typically include cabbage, peas, spinach, etc. Plantation crops consist of rubber, tea, coffee, cashew, etc. Spices are the key ingredients of an Indian diet, including pepper, bay leaf, chilli, cardamom, cinnamon, etc. Viticulture promises many financial gains by offering farm-bred crops that aspire for economic profit. Also, viticulture provides a promise of employment both to the rural population and the urban people, typically through job creation in various phases of the development of horticultural produce. For the Indian economy to prosper, there is a careful need for technological progress, automotive intelligence, enterprise resource management, and knowledge transfer. In this research article, a Process called PROVENCE (Processed Verdant Cadence) applies an algorithm name CANDY (Convoluted Random Forest) which in turn starts a method called PROST (Probabilistic Random Forest) to better the overall horticultural well-being of the Indian subcontinent.

Agricultural exports in developing countries significantly impact achieving sustainable development goals targeted at improving agricultural productivity, sustainability, poverty eradication, and employment creation. The pattern of agricultural export competitiveness of India vis-à-vis other Asian agricultural-based countries was assessed during the post-WTO period (2001 to 2019). The Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) technique was employed using time series data focusing on High-Value Commercial (HVC) crops. As is evident from the RSCA indices for India, a high degree of export competitiveness was witnessed in tobacco, cotton, and spices, whereas it declined in sugarcane, coffee, and tea over the years. The commodities that exhibited strong competitiveness reflected huge potential, whereas commodities such as sugarcane, coffee, and tea experienced erosion in their competitiveness. With the changing priorities of the nation, there is a need for India to redraw future agricultural export scenarios focusing on the production of HVC crops, processing and value chains, and diversification of export baskets while maintaining the sustainability of agro-ecological assets. Nevertheless, agricultural exports had vast potential to drive the economy in developing countries like India. The holistic conclusion advocates an important policy implication for the design of export strategy to augment the export competitiveness of HVC crops and enhance the share of agricultural exports in the context of emerging trends and change commercial facets of Indian agriculture

The plantation sector employs both organized and unorganized laborers. The Plantation Labour Act makes it mandatory for every plantation with 50 or more women workers to afford crèche amenities. Business activity model were slightly changed under open market economy. Planters aim to produce larger quantities as compared to competitive countries like China, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia etc. This resulted in high cost of production mainly because of climatically and soil condition of our local (indigenous) plantation products, like tea, coffee, cardamom. In the current day of labour promotion, the elimination of contractual work in the plantation is prescribed by the Act. But, it is practiced in the way of indirect method. The labourer who wants to do more work on the basis of additional quantity is producing. They are engaged only the work based additional remuneration is paid. There is no time limit for regularize to the labourers. The outline of wage purpose is reasonably uniform in the plantation sector throughout the South Asian region.

In India dairying is identified as a tool for social and financial development. The country’s milk deliver comes from millions of small manufacturers, dispersed during our rural areas. Dairy business to provide more number of employment and income generation in India and plays an important role in Indian economy. The dairy business has more number of employments, especially commercial aspects of business. Commercial customers play important role supplying milk and milk products to customers. This paper brings to purchase preference, satisfaction and expectation of commercial customers. 250 samples collected from tea shops, cycle vendors, bakery and restaurant in Salem district. It concludes most of the commercial customers treat as supportive income generate activity, subsequently commercial customers come forward to engage the business as main stream.

Abstract Background The nationwide lockdown (March 25 to June 8, 2020) to curb the spread of coronavirus infection had significant health and economic impacts on the Indian economy. There is limited empirical evidence on how COVID-19 restrictive measures may impact the economic welfare of specific groups of patients, e.g., tuberculosis patients. We provide the first such evidence for India. Methods A total of 291 tuberculosis patients from the general population and from a high-risk group, patients from tea garden areas, were interviewed at different time points to understand household income loss during the complete lockdown, three and eight months after the complete lockdown was lifted. Income loss was estimated by comparing net monthly household income during and after lockdown with prelockdown income. Tuberculosis service utilization patterns before and during the lockdown period also were examined. Household income loss, travel and other expenses related to tuberculosis drug pickup were presented in 2020 US dollars (1 US$ = INR 74.132). Results 26% of households with tuberculosis patients in tea garden areas and 51% of households in the general population had zero monthly income during the complete lockdown months (April–May 2020). Overall income loss slowly recovered during July–August compared to April–May 2020. Approximately 7% of patients in the general population and 4% in tea garden areas discontinued their tuberculosis medicines because of the complete lockdown. Conclusion Discontinuation of medicine will have an additional burden on the tuberculosis elimination program in terms of additional cases, including multidrug resistant tuberculosis cases. Income loss for households and poor restoration of income after the lockdown will likely have an impact on the nutrition of tuberculosis patients and families. Tuberculosis patients working in the informal sector were the worst affected group during the nationwide lockdown. This emphasizes that a policy priority must continue to protect those working in informal sectors from the economic consequences of such restrictive measures, including paid sick leave, additional food support, and direct benefit transfers. Alongside ensuring widespread access to COVID-19 vaccines, these policy actions remain pivotal in ensuring the well-being of those who are unfortunate enough to be living with tuberculosis.

Introduction and Background: Introduction of the triple mantra, Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization (LPG) in Indian Economy towards the beginning of 1990’s attracted many Multi-National Companies to Indian Consumer market. This new entry of MNC’s coupled with the struggle of traditional Indian corporate to survive in the market resulted in increased volume of advertisements and now the media are flooded with the advertisements of competing brands. Objectives: 1. To compare the level of Communication-Effect in terms of Advertising Effectiveness, among highly Creative advertising and Conventional Advertising. 2. To see the differences in Communication-Effect in terms of fulfilling Communication Objectives, in two groups of advertising. 3. To measure and compare the Attitude towards Advertisements generated by the two types of advertisements. Methods: The study reported here embodies a quantitative perspective and the type of research was designated as diagnostic research. The research method used to collect data was Sample Survey method. The sample size was determined as 200 and Multi-Stage Stratified Random Sampling method was resorted to as the sampling procedure. The research participants consisted of women, aged 18 to 49. Results: Among The Five Most Liked Ads by consumers, without any form of aid, Liril Toilet Soap’s commercial showing the fantasy of a dancing girl under waterfall gets the highest liking position. Other most liked ads are the commercials of Santhoor soap, Kanan Devan Tea, Close-up paste and Rasna soft drink. Highly Creative advertising has more Communication Effect in terms of Advertising Effectiveness when compared to Conventional advertising. Firstly, Highly Creative group gets higher level of Recall measured by both Brand and Ad Recall. Highly Creative advertising has significantly more Communication Effect in terms of other measures of Advertising Effectiveness. It has more Interest or Cognitive Affect (ICA), more Information value, lower Irritation level and higher positive Attitude towards Ads.

The significance of agricultural crops to an economy and their structural stability are shown by the production, area, and yield of agricultural output from commercial crops as well as by growth trends and structural stability. This study's objective is to evaluate the development, trend, and structural stability of commercial crop output in India before and after the implementation of the new agricultural policy from 1980 to 2000 and 2001 to 2020. To achieve the goals, secondary data will be used from the Reserve Bank of India's handbook of statistics on the Indian economy (2020–2021). Estimation methods included the least squares method, the t test, and the structural stability regression model. From 1980 to 2000, the average growth rate of commercial crops like Oilseeds, coffee, cotton, raw jute and mesta, sugarcane, tea, and tobacco were 59.1%, 66%, 159%, 21%, 4.4%, 52.2%, and 20.4 percent, respectively. The area under cultivation increased by13.4%, 69.6%, 33.3%, -17%, 31.9%, 33.3%, and -2.4 percent. In the pooled era, these commercial crops' production and area had correlation coefficients of 0.89, 0.93, -0.04, 0.02, 0.93, and 0.63, respectively. The study also shows that there is no significant difference in the variances of production and the yield of oilseeds and significant the area under cultivation. The yield and production of commercial crops are rising, while India's commercial production area and structure have altered over time. The emphasis should be on improving policy implementation and increasing yield through technological innovation, improved cultivation and area, agricultural research and development, and training in India.

IntroductionThis article is about the transformation of coffee, from having no place in the everyday lives of the people of Bangladesh, to a new position as a harbinger of liberal values and Western culture. The context is a group of Australian photojournalism students who embarked on a month-long residency in Bangladesh; the content is a Nescafé advertisement encouraging the young, middle-class Bangladesh audience to consume coffee, in a marketing campaign that promotes “my first cup.” For the Australian students, the marketing positioning of this advertising campaign transformed instant coffee into a strange and unfamiliar commodity. At the same time, the historic association between Bangladesh and tea prompted one of the photographers to undertake her own journey to explore the hidden side of that other Western staple. This paper explores the tradition of tea culture in Bangladesh and the marketing campaign for instant coffee within this culture, combining the authors’ experiences and perspectives. The outline of the Photomedia unit in the Bachelor of Creative Industries degree that the students were working towards at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Australia states that:students will engage with practices, issues and practicalities of working as a photojournalist in an international, cross cultural context. Students will work in collaboration with students of Pathshala: South Asian Institute of Photography, Dhaka Bangladesh in the research, production and presentation of stories related to Bangladeshi society and culture for distribution to international audiences (ECU). The sixteen students from Perth, living and working in Bangladesh between 5 January and 7 February 2012, exhibited a diverse range of cultures, contexts, and motivations. Young Australians, along with a number of ECU’s international students, including some from Norway, China and Sweden, were required to learn first-hand about life in Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest and most densely populated countries. Danielle Fusco and ECU lecturer Duncan Barnes collaborated with staff and students of Pathshala, South Asian Media Institute (Pathshala). Their recollections and observations on tea production and the location are central to this article but it is the questions asked by the group about the marketing of instant coffee into this culture that provides its tensions. Fusco completed a week-long induction and then travelled in Bangladesh for a fortnight to research and photograph individual stories on rural and urban life. Barnes here sets the scene for the project, describing the expectations and what actually happened: When we travel to countries that are vastly different to our own it is often to seek out that difference; to go in search of the romanticised ideals that have been portrayed as paradise in films, books and photographs. “The West” has long been fascinated with “The East” (Said) and for the past half century, since the hippie treks to Marrakesh and Afghanistan, people have journeyed overland to the Indian sub-continent, both from Europe and from Australia, yearning for a cultural experience they cannot find at home. Living in Perth, Western Australia, sometimes called the most isolated capital city in the world, that pull to something “different” is like a magnet. Upon arrival in Dhaka, you find yourself deliciously overwhelmed by the heavy traffic, the crowded markets, the spicy foods and the milky lassie drinks. It only takes a few stomach upsets to make your Western appetite start kicking in and you begin craving things you have at home but that are hard to find in Bangladesh. Take coffee for example. I recently completed a month-long visit to Bangladesh, which, like India, is a nation of tea drinkers. Getting any kind of good coffee requires that you be in what expatriates call “the Golden Triangle” of Dhaka city—within the area contained by Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara. Here you find the embassies and a sizeable expatriate community that constitutes a Western bubble unrepresentative of Bangladesh beyond these districts. Coffee World is an example of a Western-style café chain that, as the name suggests, serves coffee beverages. It has trouble making a quality flat white. The baristas are poorly trained, the service is painfully slow, yet the prices are comparable to those in the West. Even with these disadvantages, it is frequented by Westerners who also make use of the free WiFi. In contrast, tea is available at every road junction for around 5 cents Australian. It’s ready in seconds: the kettle is always hot due to a constant turnover of local customers. It was the history of tea growing in Bangladesh, and a desire to know more about a commodity that people in the West take for granted, that most attracted Fusco’s interest. She chose to focus on Bangladesh’s oldest commercial tea garden (plantation) Sylhet, which has been in production since 1857 (Tea Board). As is the case with many tea farms in the Indian sub-continent, the workers at Sylhet are part of Bangladesh’s Hindu minority. Fusco left Dhaka and travelled into the rural areas to investigate tea production: Venturing into these estates from the city is like entering an entirely different world. They are isolated places, and although they are close in distance, they are completely separate from the main city. Spending time in the Khadim tea estate amongst the plantations and the workers’ compounds made me very aware of the strong relationship that exists between them. The Hindu teaching of Samsara refers to the continuous cycle of repeated birth, life, death and rebirth [Hinduism], which became a metaphor for me, for this relationship I was experiencing. It is clear that neither farm [where the tea is grown] nor village [which houses the people] could live without each other. The success and maintenance of the tea farm relies on the workers just as much as the workers rely on the tea gardens for their livelihood and sustenance. Their life cycles are intertwined and in synch. There are many problems in the compounds. The people are extremely poor. Their education opportunities are limited, and they work incredibly hard for very little money for their entire lives. They are bound to stay and work here and as those generations before them, were born, worked and died here, living their whole lives in the community of the tea farm. By documenting the lives of the people, I realised I was documenting the process of the lives of the tea trees at the same time. This is how I met Lolita.Figure 1. Bangladeshi tea worker, Lolita, stands in a small section of the Khadim tea plantation in the early morning. Sylhet, Bangladesh (Danielle Fusco, Jan. 2012). This woman emulated everything I was seeing and feeling about the village and the garden. She spoke about the reliance on the trees, especially because of the money and, therefore, the food, they provide for her and her husband. I became aware of the injustice of this system because the workers are paid so little while this industry is booming. It was obvious that life here is far from perfect, but as Lolita explains, they make do. She has worked on the tea estate for decades. As her husband is no longer working, she is the primary income earner. They are able, however, to live in relative comfort now their children have all married and left and it is just the two of them. Lolita describes that money lies within these trees. Money for her means that she can eat that day. Money for the managers means industrial success. Either way, whether it is in the eyes of the individual or the industry, tea always comes down to Taka [the currency of Bangladesh]. Marketing Coffee in a Culture of Tea and Betel Nut With such a strong culture of tea production and consumption and a coffee culture just existing on the fringe, a campaign by Nescafé to encourage Bangladeshi consumers to have “my first cup” of Nescafé instant coffee at the time of this study captured the imagination of the students. How effective can the marketing of Nescafé instant coffee be in a society that is historically a producer and consumer of tea, and which also still embraces the generations-old use of the betel nut as an everyday stimulant? Although it only employs some 150,000 (Islam et al.) in a nation of 150 million people, tea makes an important contribution to the Bangladesh economy. Shortly after the 1971 civil war, in which East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) became independent from West Pakistan (now Pakistan), the then-Chairman of the Bangladesh Tea Board, writing in World Development, commented:In the highly competitive marketing environment of today it is extremely necessary for the tea industry of Bangladesh to increase production by raising the per acre yield, improve quality by adoption of finer plucking standards and modernization of factories and reduce per unit cost of production so as to be able to sell more of our teas to foreign markets and thereby earn higher amounts of much needed foreign exchange for the country as well as generate additional resources within the industry for ploughing back for further development (Ali 55). In Bangladesh, tea is a cash crop that, even in the 1970s following vicious conflicts, is more than capable of meeting local demand and producing an export dividend. Coffee is imported commodity that, historically, has had little place in Bangladeshi life or culture. However important tea is, it is not the traditional Bangladesh stimulant. Instead, over the years, when people in the West would have had a cup of tea or coffee and/or a cigarette, most Bangladeshis have turned to the betel nut. A 2005 study of 100 citizens from Araihazar, Bangladesh, conducted by researchers from Columbia University, found that coffee consumption is “very low in this population” (Hafeman et al. 567). The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of betel quids (the wad of masticated nut) and the chewing of betel nuts, upon tremor. For this reason, it was important to record the consumption of stimulants in the 98 participants who progressed to the next stage of the study and took a freehand spiral-drawing test. While “26 (27%) participants had chewed betel quids, 23 (23%) had smoked one or more cigarettes, [and] 14 (14%) drank tea; on that day, only 1 (1%) drank caffeinated soda, and none (0%) drank coffee” (Hafeman et al. 568). Given its addictive and carcinogenic properties (Sharma), the people who chewed betel quids were more likely to exhibit tremor in their spiral drawings than the people who did not. As this (albeit small) study suggests, the preferred Bangladeshi stimulant is more likely to be betel or tobacco rather than a beverage. Insofar as hot drinks are consumed, Bangladesh citizens drink tea. This poses a significant challenge for multinational advertisers who seek to promote the consumption of instant coffee as a means of growing the global market for Nescafé. Marketing Nescafé to Bangladesh In Dhaka, in January 2012, the television campaign slogan for Nescafé is “My first cup”, with the tagline, “Time you started.” This Nescafé television commercial (NTC) impressed itself upon the Australian visitors, both in terms of its frequency of broadcast and in its referencing of Western culture and values. (The advertisement can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E8mFX43oAM). The NTC’s three stars, Vir Das, Purab Kohli, and leading Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, are highly-recognisable to young Bangladeshi audiences and the storyline is part of a developing series of advertisements which together form a mini-soap opera, like that used so successfully to advertise the Nescafé Gold Blend brand of instant coffee in the West in the 1980s to 1990s (O’Donohoe 242; Beale). The action takes place in Kohli’s affluent, Western-style apartment. The drama starts with Das challenging Kohli regarding whether he has successfully developed a relationship with his attractive neighbour, Padukone. Using a combination of local language with English words and sub-titles, the first sequence is captioned: “Any progress with Deepika, or are you still mixing coffee?” Suggesting incredulity, and that he could do better, Das asks Kohli, according to the next subtitle, “What are you doing dude?” The use of the word “dude” clearly refers to American youth culture, familiar in such movies as Dude, where’s my car? This is underlined by the immediate transition to the English words of “bikes … biceps … chest … explosion.” Of these four words only “chest” is pronounced in the local tongue, although all four words are included as captions in English. Kohli appears less and less impressed as Das becomes increasingly insistent, with Das going on to express frustration with Kohli through the exclamation “u don’t even have a plan.” The use of the text-speak English “u” here can be constructed as another way of persuading young Bangladeshi viewers that this advertisement is directed at them: the “u” in place of “you” is likely to annoy their English-speaking elders. Das continues speaking in his mother tongue, with the subtitle “Deepika padukone [sic] is your neighbour and you are only drinking coffee,” with the subsequent subtitle emphasising: “Deepika and only coffee.” At this point, Padukone enters the apartment through the open door without knocking and confidently says “Hi.” Kohli explains the situation by responding (in English, and subtitled) “my school friend, Das”. Padukone, in turn, responds in a friendly way to both men (in English, and subtitled) “You guys want to have coffee?” Instead of responding directly to this invitation, Das models to Kohli what it is to take the initiative in this situation: what it is to have a plan. “Hello” (he says, in English and subtitled) “I don’t have coffee but I have a plan. You and me, my bike, right now, hit the town, party!” Kohli looks down at the floor, embarrassed, while Padukone looks quizzically at him over Das’s shoulder. Kohli smiles, and points to himself and Padukone, clearly excluding Das: “I will have coffee” (in English, and subtitle). “Better plan”, exclaims Padukone, “You and me, my place, right now, coffee.” She looks challengingly at Das: “Right?,” a statement rather than a request, and exits, with Kohli following and Das left behind in the apartment. Cue voice-over (not a subtitle, but in-screen speech bubble) “[It’s] time you started” (spoken) “the new Nescafé” (shot change) “My first cup” (with an in-screen price promotion). This commercial associates coffee drinking with Western values of social and personal autonomy. For young women in the traditional Muslim culture of Bangladesh, it suggests a world in which they are at liberty to spend time with the suitors they choose, ignoring those whom they find pushy or inappropriate, and free to invite a man back to “my place, right now” for coffee. The scene setting in this advertisement and the use of English in both the spoken and written text suggests its target is the educated middle class, and indicates that sophisticated, affluent, trend-setters drink coffee as a part of getting to know their neighbours. In line with this, the still which ends the commercial promotes the Facebook page “Know your neighbours.” The flirtatious nature of the actors in the advertisement, the emphasis on each of the male characters spending time alone with the female character, and the female character having both power and choice in this situation is likely to be highly unacceptable to traditional Bangladeshi parental values and, therefore, proportionately more exciting to the target audience. The underlying suggestion of “my first cup” and “time you started” is that the social consumption of that first cup of coffee is the “first step” to becoming more Western. The statement also has overtones of sexual initiation. The advertisement aligns itself with the world portrayed in the Western media consumed in Bangladesh, and the implication is that—even if Western liberal values are not currently a possible choice for all—it is at least feasible to start on the journey towards these values through drinking that first cup of coffee. Unbeknownst to the Bangladesh audience, this Nescafé marketing strategy echoes, in almost all material particulars, the same approach that was so successful in persuading Australians to embrace instant coffee. Khamis, in her essay on Australia and the convenience of instant coffee, argues that, while in 1928 Australia had the highest per capita consumption of tea in the world, this had begun to change by the 1950s. The transformation in the market positioning of coffee was partly achieved through an association between tea and old-fashioned ‘Britishness’ and coffee and the United States: this discovery [of coffee] spoke to changes in Australia’s lifestyle options: the tea habit was tied to Australia’s development as a far-flung colonial outpost, a daily reminder that many still looked to London as the nation’s cultural capital: the growing appeal of instant coffee reflected a widening and more nuanced cultural palate. This was not just ‘another’ example of the United States postwar juggernaut; it marks the transitional phase in Australia’s history, as its cultural identity was informed less by the staid conservativism of Britain than the heady flux of New World glamour (219). Coffee was associated with the USA not simply through advertising but also through cultural exposure. By 1943, notes Khamis, there were 120,000 American service personnel stationed in Australia and she quotes Symons (168) as saying that “when an American got on a friendly footing with an Australian family he was usually found in the kitchen, teaching the Mrs how to make coffee, or washing the dishes” (168, cited in Khamis 220). The chances were that “the Mrs”—the Australian housewife—felt she needed the tuition: an Australian survey conducted by Gallup in March 1950 indicated that 55 per cent of respondents at that time had never tried coffee, while a further 24 per cent said they “seldom” consumed it (Walker and Roberts 133, cited in Khamis 222). In a newspaper article titled, “Overpaid, Oversexed and Over Here”, Munro describes the impact of exposure to the first American troops based in Australia during this time, with a then seven year old recalling: “They were foreign, quite a different culture from us. They spoke more loudly than us. They had strange accents, cute expressions, they were really very exotic.” The American troops caused consternation for Australian fathers and boyfriends. Dulcie Wood was 18 when she was dating an American serviceman: They had more money to spend (than Australian troops). They seemed to have plenty of supplies, they were always bringing you presents—stockings and cartons of cigarettes […] Their uniforms were better. They took you to more places. They were quite good dancers, some of them. They always brought you flowers. They were more polite to women. They charmed the mums because they were very polite. Some dads were a bit more sceptical of them. They weren’t sure if all that charm was genuine (quoted in Munro). Darian-Smith argues that, at that time, Australian understanding of Americans was based on Hollywood films, which led to an impression of American technological superiority and cultural sophistication (215-16, 232). “Against the American-style combination of smart advertising, consumerism, self-expression and popular democracy, the British class system and its buttoned-up royals appeared dull and dour” writes Khamis (226, citing Grant 15)—almost as dull and dour as 1950s tea compared with the postwar sophistication of Nescafé instant coffee. Conclusion The approach Nestlé is using in Bangladesh to market instant coffee is tried and tested: coffee is associated with the new, radical cultural influence while tea and other traditional stimulants are relegated to the choice of an older, more staid generation. Younger consumers are targeted with a romantic story about the love of coffee, reflected in a mini-soap opera about two people becoming a couple over a cup of Nescafé. Hopefully, the Pathshala-Edith Cowan University collaboration is at least as strong. Some of the overseas visitors return to Bangladesh on a regular basis—the student presentations in 2012 were, for instance, attended by two visiting graduates from the 2008 program who were working in Bangladesh. For the Australian participants, the association with Pathshala, South Asian Media Institute, and Drik Photo Agency brings recognition, credibility and opportunity. It also offers a totally new perspective on what to order in the coffee queue once they are home again in Australia. Postscript The final week of the residency in Bangladesh was taken up with presentations and a public exhibition of the students’ work at Drik Picture Agency, Dhaka, 3–7 February 2012. Danielle Fusco’s photographs can be accessed at: http://public-files.apps.ecu.edu.au/SCA_Marketing/coffee/coffee.html References Ali, M. “Commodity Round-up: Problems and Prospects of Bangladesh Tea”, World Development 1.1–2 (1973): 55. Beale, Claire. “Should the Gold Blend Couple Get Back Together?” The Independent 29 Apr 2010. 8 Apr. 2012 ‹http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/advertising/should-the-gold-blend-couple-get-back-together-1957196.html›. Darian-Smith, Kate. On the Home Front: Melbourne in Wartime 1939-1945. 2nd ed. Melbourne: Melbourne UP, 2009. Dude, Where’s My Car? Dir. Danny Leiner. Twentieth Century Fox, 2000. Edith Cowan University (ECU). “Photomedia Summer School Bangladesh 2012.” 1 May 2012 .Grant, Bruce. The Australian Dilemma: A New Kind of Western Society. Sydney: Macdonald Futura, 1983. Hafeman, D., H. Ashan, T. Islam, and E. Louis. “Betel-quid: Its Tremor-producing Effects in Residents of Araihazar, Bangladesh.” Movement Disorders 21.4 (2006): 567-71. Hinduism. “Reincarnation and Samsara.” Heart of Hinduism. 8 Apr. 2012 ‹http://hinduism.iskcon.org/concepts/102.htm›. Islam, G., M. Iqbal, K. Quddus, and M. Ali. “Present Status and Future Needs of Tea Industry in Bangladesh (Review).” Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Science. 42.4 (2005): 305-14. 8 Apr. 2012 ‹http://www.paspk.org/downloads/proc42-4/42-4-p305-314.pdf›. Khamis, Susie. “It Only Takes a Jiffy to Make: Nestlé, Australia and the Convenience of Instant Coffee.” Food, Culture & Society 12.2 (2009): 217-33. Munro, Ian. “Overpaid, Oversexed and Over Here.” The Age 27 Feb. 2002. 8 Apr. 2012 ‹http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/02/26/1014704950716.html›. O’Donohoe, Stephanie. “Raiding the Postmodern Pantry: Advertising Intertextuality and the Young Adult Audience.” European Journal of Marketing 31.3/4 (1997): 234-53 Pathshala. Pathshala, South Asian Media Academy. 8 Apr. 2012 ‹http://www.pathshala.net/controller.php›. Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978. Sharma, Dinesh. “Betel Quid and Areca Nut are Carcinogenic without Tobacco.” The Lancet Oncology 4.10 (2003): 587. 8 Apr. 2012 ‹http://www.lancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(03)01229-4/fulltext›. Symons, Michael. One Continuous Picnic: A History of Eating in Australia. Ringwood, Vic: Penguin, 1984. Tea Board. “History of Bangladesh Tea Industry.” Bangladesh Tea Board. 8 Apr. 2012 ‹http://www.teaboard.gov.bd/index.php?option=HistoryTeaIndustry›. Walker, Robin and Dave Roberts. From Scarcity to Surfeit: A History of Food and Nutrition in New South Wales. Sydney: NSW UP, 1988.

Tea is the second most highly consumed beverage in the world. The British colonial rulers introduced tea plantation in the early 1830s in the Indian subcontinent. Since then, it has been cultivated and consumed in enormous quantities. In Bangladesh, the first tea plantation was launched in the Sylhet district. Tea is an important cash crop in Bangladesh. , It is widely consumed locally and exported to a few countries. The present study was carried out in Lubachhara tea garden, Sylhet as a case to examine the socio- economic situation of the tea plantation workers. Using a mixed method approach with a sample of 252 workers, the study explored the state of the workers with respect to some basic needs, such as health, sanitation, housing, nutrition, education, wages, and service benefits which were found to be very deplorable and inhumane. Based on the findings of the study, some courses of actions are suggested to improve the socio-economic situation of the workers.

The purpose of the article is to focus on the role of visual narratives in advertising and how women are depicted in the context of the promotion of tea culture during the colonial period of India. India is one of the oldest kingdoms in the world, and India has passed through various ages that brought new innovations, social and economic reforms. Each phase has its own impact on society, as we can see through different forms of art, literature, music, and advertising. India is a massive market for selling products, there are different categories of products available in the market, but some of the brands are centuries old. Advertising plays an important role in the promotion of products. TEA for example: before independence in the promotion of tea culture in India there were different media of advertising; promotional activities and propaganda played an important role, and the changing role of women is represented effectively in tea advertisements. There are various examples that are witness to the significant transformation in the manner where women are portrayed in the promotion of tea culture. India was experiencing the provocative impact of western culture, which reached to new horizons of creativity and aids in the presentation of Indian women in a new framework. My paper through various example focuses on the role of women in the context of promoting tea in India.