The Latest Breaking News from Darjeeling

India's Lost Railways: Where You Can Still Trace the Closed Lines

The Shakuntala Railway still exists on paper, in satellite imagery, and in the memory of the farmers whose cotton fields it once crossed. Operated for over a century by a British private company, the Killick Nixon group, it ran 190 kilometres through Vidarbha, connecting Yavatmal to Murtijapur, and it was…

Times Life · Oct 23

Railway Museums and Working Sheds: Where India Still Runs on Steam

India retired steam from mainline service in 1995, but retirement here was never quite final. Across four cities and one set of mountain gradients, locomotives that should be museum pieces are oiled, fired, and sent out on schedule. The traveller who knows where to look finds not a nostalgia exhibit…

Times Life · Oct 23

Matheran Light Railway vs Kalka-Shimla Line: Two Hill Trains Compared

The ticket costs less than a meal in either town. The train moves slower than a determined cyclist. And yet both the Matheran Light Railway and the Kalka-Shimla Railway have outlasted the empires that built them, survived proposals to shut them down, and accumulated a waiting list of people who…

Times Life · Oct 23

Civic elections to be held in Kolkata, Howrah, 5 municipalities in first phase of Bengal ULB polls

The SEC said the amendment of Schedule II of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980 and the Howrah Municipal Corporation Act, 1980, and delimitation of Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Dhupguri, Haldia and Jhargram municipalities have been completed.

The Economic Times · Sep 25

West Bengal rain alert: Darjeeling landslide, heavy rain forecast till Saturday

Heavy rains have caused significant landslides in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. A landslide affected Takdah Rural Hospital, resulting in minor injuries to one individual. The India Meteorological Department has issued warnings for continued heavy rainfall through Saturday. Rainfall data indicates that Darjeeling recorded the highest amounts in the…

The Economic Times · Sep 25

The Kangra Tea Belt in Himachal: The Forgotten Gardens That Once Competed With Darjeeling

The morning the London market chose somewhere elseIn 1905, a single earthquake did what decades of competition could not. The Kangra valley had been producing tea since the 1850s, its gardens running along the lower Dhauladhar slopes from Palampur westward, and by the 1880s its orthodox leaf was fetching prices…

Times Life · Sep 23

GI Tags in India: What a Geographical Indication Legally Protects and What It Cannot Cover

What a GI Tag Actually GrantsA geographical indication is a registered signal that a product originates from a specific place and carries qualities tied to that origin. India's Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 governs this. When a GI tag is granted, it gives producers within that…

Times Life · Sep 5

The Red Panda Is Not a Panda: The Real Taxonomy of This Endangered Himalayan Mammal

The Giant Panda Stole the NameWestern science described the red panda nearly fifty years before anyone in Europe had documented the giant panda. Frédéric Cuvier formally named it Ailurus fulgens in 1825. The name translates from Latin and Greek as "fire-coloured cat", which is at least honest about what it…

Times Life · Jul 31

Weather updates today (July 23): Check IMD's forecast for Dehradun, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Pune, Indore, Darjeeling and other regions

The India Meteorological Department issued a fresh weather alert for the nation. Heavy rainfall and thunderstorms are expected in eleven states including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Coastal districts of West Bengal will receive heavy showers until June twenty-fourth. Northern districts of West Bengal could experience heavy downpour from July twenty-sixth…

The Economic Times · Jul 23

From Assam to Nilgiri: How regional teas are becoming premium brands

India's tea market is shifting towards premium products and regional diversity. Gen Z and millennials are driving this growth, seeking authenticity and unique flavors. Regional teas from Assam, Darjeeling, and Nilgiri are gaining new recognition. Changing lifestyles and modern retail are expanding tea consumption and accessibility. Innovation and heritage are…

The Economic Times · Jul 21