About:

• Meaning: Delimitation is the act of redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha and state Assembly seats to represent changes in population so that the population of all seats, so far as practicable, is the same.
  
  
• The main objective of delimitation is: To provide equal representation to equal segments of a population; fair division of geographical areas so that one political party doesn’t have an advantage over others in an election.
  
  
• Constitutional provisions: Under Article 82, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census.
  
  

Delimitation Commission:

• Delimitation is carried out by an independent Delimitation Commission.
  
  
• Once the Delimitation Act is in force, the Union government sets up a Delimitation Commission made up of a retired Supreme Court judge, the Chief Election Commissioner and the respective State Election Commissioners.
  
  
• The Constitution mandates that its orders are final and cannot be questioned before any court as it would hold up an election indefinitely.
  
  
• Delimitation Commissions have been set up four times — 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002 under the Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002. There was no delimitation after the 1981 and 1991 Censuses. 
  
  

About:

• Constitution of India (Article 168 & 169) provides for bi-cameral legislatures in certain States.
  
  
• Status: Legislative Council is the Upper House of State Legislature. Like the Rajya Sabha it is a permanent House i.e. not subject to dissolution.
  
  
• Process of establishing it: Under Article 169, Union Parliament has the power to create or abolish the Legislative Council on the basis of resolutions adopted by special majority in the Assembly of the concerned State.
  
  
• Strength: The maximum strength of the Legislative Council of State is fixed at one-third of strength of the Legislative Assembly of that State and not less than 40.
  
  
• Present status: Currently, six states have Legislative Councils. Jammu and Kashmir too had one, until the state was bifurcated into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
  
  

Election of Council Members:

• Elections to the State Legislative Councils are held under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (Article 171).
  
  
• One-third of the MLCs are elected by the state’s MLAs, another one-third by a special electorate comprising sitting members of local governments such as municipalities and district boards, 1/12th by an electorate of teachers and another 1/12th by registered graduates. The remaining members are appointed by the Governor for distinguished services in various fields.
  
  
• Criteria for becoming a member:
  • Minimum age limit to be a member of Legislative Council is 30 years.
    
    
  • Council members are elected from those possessing special knowledge and experience in the field of Art, Science, Literature, Social Science and cooperative movement.
    
    
  
  
  
• Tenure: Members are elected for a period of 6 years and one third members retire every second year.
  
  

About: 

• The Okjokull glacier was officially declared dead in 2014 at the age of 700 by the Icelandic Meteorological Office when it was no longer thick enough to move.
  
  
• What once was glacier has been reduced to a small patch of ice atop a volcano.
  
  
• Okjokull is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as glacier.
  
  
• The plaque is also labelled "415 ppm CO2", referring to the record level of carbon dioxide measured in the atmosphere last May.
  
  

About: 

• Parker Solar Probe is part of NASA’s “Living With a Star” programme that explores different aspects of the Sun-Earth system.
  
  
• The probe seeks to gather information about the Sun’s atmosphere.
  
  
• One of Parker's main objectives is to investigate what mechanism might be driving extreme heating in the sun's outermost layer, known as the corona.
  
  
• Scientists are curious as why the corona is over a million degrees Fahrenheit (over 555,000 degrees Celsius), while the solar layers below are only a few thousand degrees Fahrenheit each.
  
  
• It is the closest a human-made object has ever gone to the Sun.
  
  
• The mission is likely to last for seven years during which it will complete 24 orbits.
  
  

About:

• Jupiter, a gas giant planet covered in thick red, brown, yellow and white clouds, boasts a diameter of about 89,000 miles (1,43,000 km).
  
  
• Interior models based on Juno data indicated Jupiter has a large "diluted" core representing about 5 to 15 % of the planet's mass comprised rocky and icy material unexpectedly mixed with light elements like hydrogen and helium.
  
  
• Computer models indicated that a head-on collision with a protoplanet - a planet in its formative stages - of roughly 10 Earth masses would have broken apart Jupiter's dense core and mixed light and heavy elements, explaining Juno's findings.
  
  

About: 

• Interplanetary shocks are a type of collisionless shock — ones where particles transfer energy through electromagnetic fields instead of directly bouncing into one another.
  
  
• These shocks, made of particles and electromagnetic waves, are launched by the Sun, which continually releases streams of charged particles called the solar wind.
  
  
• These collisionless shocks are a phenomenon found throughout the universe, including in supernovae, black holes and distant stars.
  
  

About: 

• Light-based or photo-dynamic therapy is already a clinically-approved treatment, which uses drugs that only work when exposed to light to destroy cancer cells. 
  
  
• However, many of these drugs are frequently toxic even without light, causing many side effects in patients and leading to treatment failure. 
  
  
• Now, researchers in the UK have sought to improve these drugs by using small carbon dots as a way to get the drug to the tumour. 
  
  
• Carbon dots are fluorescent nanoparticles with very little toxicity, making them extremely useful for this application. 
  
  

About:

• The drug mAb114 was developed using antibodies harvested from survivors of Ebola while REGN-EB3 comes from antibodies generated within mice infected with the disease.
  
  
• The two anti-Ebola drugs tested in the DRC employ monoclonal antibodies -- protein molecules made by the immune system in response to infection. The drugs work by attacking the Ebola virus with antibodies, neutralising its impact on human cells.
  
  
• They are the "first drugs that, in a scientifically sound study, have clearly shown a significant diminution in mortality" Preliminary results from 499 patients suggest that prompt use of –
  • REGN-EB3 cuts mortality rates to 29% and
    
    
  • mAb114 cuts mortality rate to 34%.
    
    
  
  
  
• The experimental drugs will now be used to treat patients infected with the viral disease in an ongoing outbreak in the DRC. 
  
  

About: 

• Maharashtra Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao had discovered the bunker last year, along with two identical cannons, atop the foothills of Raj Bhavan, which is situated at the tip of south Mumbai.
  
  
• The bunker resembles a fort and is made up of 13 rooms, which can be accessed by passing through a 20-foot-tall gate.
  
  
• The bunker was created in the 19th century to fire cannons at approaching enemy ships.
  
  
• The 15,000 square feet underground restored bunker museum has virtual reality booths in which visitors can "time travel" to the 19th century. Another section depicts the history of Raj Bhavan.
  
  
• The museum will be opened for the general public with an online booking facility later this year.
  
  

About: 

• PM Modi inaugurated the Mangdechhu hydroelectric power plant. Most of the electricity generated by it will meet the energy requirements of Bhutan and the surplus electricity will be exported to India. 
  
  
• He also launched the RuPay Card in Bhutan by making a purchase at Simtokha Dzong, built in 1629 by Shabdrung Namgyal, which functions as a monastic and administrative centre and is one of the oldest dzongs in Bhutan. 
  
  
• India announced that an additional $100 million will be available to Bhutan under the SAARC currency swap framework to meet the foreign exchange requirement. 
  
  
• The two countries also signed 10 MoUs in the fields of space research, aviation, IT, power and education. 
  
  

About: 

• Navroz also pronounced as Nowruz is the beginning of the Parsi New Year.
  
  
• It is celebrated for health, wealth, prosperity and productivity.
  
  
• The day is filled with exciting celebrations, wearing new clothes, greetings relatives and friends, exchanging sweets and presents and so on. This is also a day to rejoice the chosen range of delicacies.
  
  
• The central feature of the day is visiting the Fire Temple and offering prayers to the deities Khorshed and Meher, who are considered the presiding deities of sun and moon respectively.
  
  

Glyptothorax gopii: 

• Glyptothorax gopii is a new species of catfish found in Mizoram’s Kaladan river.
  
  
• It measures 63 mm standard length without caudal fin, is dark brown on its dorsal surface, and its ventral surface is of a yellowish-light brown.
  
  
• It has been named to celebrate the contribution of taxonomist K.C. Gopi.
  
  
• It has an axe-shaped anterior nuchal plate (bone below dorsal fin), which makes it distinct from other species of the genus Glyptothorax.
  
  
• The elliptical thoracic adhesive apparatus and plicae (folds of tissue) present on the ventral surfaces of the pectoral-fin spine help the fish cling to rocks.
  
  

Garra simbalbaraensis:

• Garra simbalbaraensis was found in Himachal Pradesh’s Simbalbara river.
  
  
• It measures 69 mm standard length without caudal fin and has a yellowish-grey colour fading ventrally.
  
  
• It takes its name from the Simbalbara river.
  
  
• It has a prominent unilobed and rounded proboscis with tubercles that help the fish in manoeuvrability.
  
  

Key highlights of the meeting:

• With issue of finance being considered a major sticking point in negotiations ahead of future climate summit, the BASIC nations jointly urged developed countries to fulfill their climate finance commitments of mobilizing $100 billion annually by 2020 for developing countries.
  
  
• This support should be new and additional, and over and above their 0.7% of Gross National Product (GNP) commitment with respect to Official Development Assistance (ODA).
  
  
• Under the Green Climate Fund (GCF) mechanism, the developed countries are expected to jointly mobilize $100 billion per year by 2020, from a variety of sources, to address the mitigation and adaptation needs of developing countries.  
  
  

About:

• Composition: The Committee has been setup under the Chairmanship of Director General (Acquisition). Apart from DG (Acq), 11 other members, not below the rank of Joint Secretary/Major General equivalent, are part of this high-level committee.
  
  
• Terms of reference of the Committee include to:
  • Revise the procedures as given in Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016 and Defence Procurement Manual (DPM) 2009, so as to remove procedural bottlenecks and hasten defence acquisition.
    
    
  • Align and standardise the provisions in the DPP 2016 and DPM 2009, wherever applicable, to optimise life cycle support for equipment.
    
    
  • Include provisions to promote Indian start-ups and research & development.
    
    
  
  
  
• Timeline: The Committee has been given six months to submit its recommendations.
  
  

About:

• Implementing agency: The KIP is a 25-day orientation programme organized by the Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with the states of India.
  
  
• Objective: To make Indian origin youth (between 18-30 years) aware about India, its cultural heritage, art and to familiarize them with various aspects of contemporary India.
  
  
• Background: The programme has been in existence since 2003.
  
  
• Salient features:
  • In 2016, the scheme was revamped to increase duration from 21 to 25 days, with a 10-day visit to one or two States and preference given to PIOs from Girmitiya countries.
    
    
  • Since 2016, six KIPs are being organised in a year.
    
    
  • A maximum of 40 Indian Diaspora youth are selected for each programme and provided full hospitality in India. 
    
    
  
  
  

Key findings of the survey: 

• A record 50% of fund managers surveyed — as many as 171 fund managers with collective assets under management (AUM) of $455 billion were polled — felt that corporates were overleveraged and should improve their balance sheets.
  
  
• 34% of the managers said that they think that a recession is likely in the next 12 months. This is the highest recession probability since October 2011.
  
  
• In terms of the health of companies, 46% of the investors surveyed wanted corporates to spend cash on improving their balance sheets.
  
  
• On the contrary, only 13% of the fund managers said that corporates should return cash to shareholders with 36% saying that companies should use cash for capital expenditure plans.
  
  

About:

• This NEDL aims to bridge the current regulatory system’s gap that do not cover all the medical devices and in-vitro diagnostic device (IVD). The current system is equipped to manage only the few notified devices.
  
  
• With this, India has become the first country to compile such a list that would provide guidance to the government for deciding the kind of diagnostic tests that different healthcare facilities in villages and remote areas require.
  
  
• The list is meant for facilities from village till the district level.
  
  
• Implementation of NEDL would enable improved health care services delivery through evidence-based care; effective utilisation of public health facilities; effective assessment of disease burden, disease trends, surveillance, and outbreak identification etc.
  
  

Meaning:

• Promoters or founders who are instrumental in starting up a company often lose control of the firm when they dilute their stakes to raise multiple rounds of funding.
  
  
• Differential Voting Rights (DVRs) do not follow the common rule of one share-one vote.
  
  
• DVRs enable promoters to retain control over the company even after many new investors come in, by allowing shares with superior voting rights or lower or fractional voting rights to public investors.
  
  

Recent change:

• The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has amended the provisions relating to issue of shares with Differential Voting Rights (DVRs) provisions under the Companies Act.
  
  
• This has been done with the objective of enabling promoters of Indian companies to retain control of their companies, even as they raise equity capital from global investors.
  
  
• The key changes made are:
  • Raising the existing cap of 26 % of the total post issue paid up equity share capital to 74 % of total voting power in respect of shares with DVRs of a company.
    
    
  • Removal of the earlier requirement of distributable profits for 3 years for a company to be eligible to issue shares with Differential Voting Rights.
    
    
  
  
  

The 4 latest additions to the list of registered GIs are: 

1. Palani Panchamirtham: from Palani Town in Dindigul District of Tamil Nadu.
   
   
2. Tawlhlohpuan: from Mizoram.
   
   
3. Mizo Puanchei: from Mizoram.
   
   
4. Tirur Betel leaf: from Kerala.
   
   

1) Palani Panchamirtham:

• Palani Panchamirtham, an abishega Prasadam, is one of the main offerings in the Abisegam of Lord Dhandayuthapani Swamy, the presiding deity of Arulmigu Dhandayuthapaniswamy Temple, situated in palani Hills in Dindigul District of Tamil Nadu.
  
  
• It is a combination of five natural substances, namely, banana, jaggery sugar, cow ghee, honey and cardamom in a definite proportion.
  
  
• This is the first time a temple ‘prasadam’ from Tamil Nadu has been bestowed with the GI tag.
  
  

2) Tawlhlohpuan:

• Tawlhlohpuan is a medium to heavy, compactly woven, good quality fabric from Mizoram.
  
  
• it is known for warp yarns, warping, weaving & intricate designs that are made by hand.
  
  
• Tawlhloh, in Mizo language, means 'to stand firm or not to move backward’.
  
  

3) Mizo Puanchei:

• Mizo Puanchei is a colourful Mizo shawl/textile, from Mizoram.
  
  
• It is an essential possession for every Mizo lady and an important marriage outfit in the state. It is also the most commonly used costume in Mizo festive dances
  
  
• The weavers insert the designs and motifs by using supplementary yarns while weaving to create this textile.
  
  

4) Tirur Betel leaf:

• Tirur betel vine from Kerala, which is mainly cultivated in Tirur, Tanur, Tirurangadi, Kuttippuram, Malappuram and Vengara block panchayaths of Malappuram District, is valued both for its mild stimulant action and medicinal properties.
  
  
• Even though it is commonly used for making pan masala for chewing, it has many medicinal, industrial and cultural usages.
  
  

About: 

• Aadi Mahotsav (National Tribal Festival) is a joint initiative of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India & Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED). 
  
  
• The 9 day event will be held from 17th August till 25th August, 2019. 
  
  
• The theme of the festival is : “A celebration of the spirit of Tribal Craft, Culture and Commerce”. 
  
  
• The event will see around 160 Tribal artisans from more than 20 states across the country, actively participating and showcasing their masterpieces. 
  
  
• The event will have two reputed local cultural troupes presenting Ladakhi folk dances. The troupes will perform – 
  • Jabro Dance: a nomadic dance and song of people inhabiting eastern Ladakh and 
    
    
  • Spawo dance: a heroic song and dance associated with a legendary hero of Himalayan region called K’sar. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• NASA is now closely studying the phenomenon in hopes of figuring out precisely how global warming is eating away at Greenland's ice, specifically, whether the melting is being caused more by –
  • warm air or
    
    
  • warm, salty seawater, some of it from North America's Gulf Stream.
    
    
  
  
  
• If much of the damage is from the water, there's a lot higher potential for Greenland to melt more quickly than thought.
  • Water brings more heat to something frozen faster than air does. That's because 90% of the heat energy from climate change goes into the oceans.
    
    
  • And that means seas rising faster and coastal communities being inundated more.
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• The new study was conducted by scientists at Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute and Switzerland’s Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research.
  
  
• Key findings:
  • Microplastic particles have been detected in the Arctic and the Alps, carried by the wind and later washed out in the snow.
    
    
  • Microplastic particles can be transported tremendous distances through the atmosphere. These particles are later washed out of the air by precipitation, particularly snow.
    
    
  • Tiny plants and animals, called plankton, also get trapped in the ice. Some plankton ingest the plastic bits, which then work their way up the ocean food chain.
    
    
  
  
  

Measures announced by Nepal’s Tourism Ministry: 

• Climbers would have to prove that they have scaled another major peak. 
  
  
• Tourism companies would be required to have at least three years’ experience organizing high-altitude expeditions before they can lead climbers on Everest. 
  
  
• To discourage cost-cutting that can put climbers’ lives at risk, clients of expedition companies would have to prove, before setting out, that they had paid at least $35,000 for the expedition. (A typical total price tag easily surpasses $50,000.) 
  
  
• The Nepal government is also planning to put the changes, which have been under consideration for several months, before Parliament soon. 
  
  

About: 

• Kolam is a form of drawing that is drawn by using rice flour, chalk, chalk powder or rock powder, often using naturally or synthetically colored powders, in southern Indian states.
  
  
• A Kolam is a geometrical line drawing composed of curved loops, drawn around a grid pattern of dots. More complex Kolams are drawn and colors are often added during holiday occasions and special events.
  
  
• It is widely practised by female Hindu family members in front of their houses as these are thought to bring prosperity to homes.
  
  
• Though not as flamboyant as its other Indian contemporary, Rangoli, which is extremely colourful, a South Indian Kolam is all about symmetry, precision, and complexity.
  
  

About:

• Location: Kondapalli Toys are the toys made of wood in Kondapalli village of Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh. Bommala Colony translates to Toys Colony in Kondapalli is the place where the art of crafting takes place.
  
  
• Recognition: It was registered as one of the geographical indication handicraft from Andhra Pradesh as per Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.
  
  
• Depiction: The artisans mainly work on producing figures of mythology, animals, birds, bullock carts, rural life etc., and the most notable one is Dasavataram, dancing dolls etc.
  
  
• Aryakhastriyas: The artisans who make the toys are referred as Aryakhastriyas (also known as Nakarshalu), who have their mention in the Brahmanda Purana.
  
  
• Toy crafting:
  • The Kondapalli toys are made from soft wood known as Tella Poniki which are found in nearby Kondapalli Hills.
    
    
  • The wood is first carved out and then the edges are smooth finished.
    
    
  • The later step involves coloring with either oil and water-colours or vegetable dyes.
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is a high military office that oversees and coordinates the working of the three Services. The role of the CDS becomes critical in times of conflict.
  
  
• He offers seamless tri-service views and single-point advice to the Executive (in India’s case, to the Prime Minister) on long-term defence planning and management, including manpower, equipment and strategy, and above all, “jointsmanship” in operations.
  
  

Existing scenario in India:

• India has had a feeble equivalent known as the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC); but this is a toothless office, given the manner in which it is structured.
  
  
• The senior-most among the three Service Chiefs is appointed to head the CoSC, an office that lapses with the incumbent’s retirement.
  
  
• g. the current Chairman CoSC is Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa. When ACM Dhanoa retires at the end of September 2019, he would have served as Chairman CoSC for a mere four months.
  
  

About: 

• The new drug - Pretomanid - cured 89% of 107 patients with extensively drug-resistant TB after 6 months, when used in combination with antibiotics bedaquiline and linezolid. 
  
  
• The three-drug regimen consists of bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid — collectively known as the BPaL regimen. 
  
  
• Significance: 
  • Before the FDA approved this combination therapy, the most common treatment for this type of tuberculosis required patients to take around 30 pills a day plus sometimes daily injections for at least 18 months. 
    
    
  • This new treatment lowers that dose to 5 pills/day over 6 months for most patients. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• The idea behind creating new districts in any state is, generally, that it is expected to make governance easier; sometimes, the decision is driven by local demands.
  
  
• The larger states predicatbly have a higher number of districts, with Uttar Pradesh (75) leading the count, followed by Madhya Pradesh (52), while the smallest state, Goa (2), has the lowest number.
  
  
• However, the number of districts in a state is not always a function of the area of the state, or of its population.
  
  
• For example, Andhra Pradesh is the seventh largest state by area but has among the smallest counts of districts at 13. As such, it has only one district for every 12,000 sq km, which is the largest average size for a district in any Indian state.
  
  

About:

• The latest SRS estimates (2017) show the TFR dropping to 2.2. This figure is only marginally higher than the fertility rate (2.1) required for replacement of the existing population.
  
  
• Even the states that have a higher TFR — Uttar Pradesh (3.0), Bihar (3.2), MP (2.7), Rajasthan (2.6), Assam (2.3), Chhattisgarh (2.4) and Jharkhand (2.5) — have been witnessing a declining trend in fertility rates. These seven states account for about 45 % of the total population in the 2011 Census.
  
  
• Two more states, Gujarat and Haryana, recorded a TFR of 2.2, which is above the replacement rate but is equal to the national average. Taken together, these nine major states account for 52 % of the 2011 population.
  
  
• This means that in the states barring these nine, and accounting for almost half the population, the replacement level is either 2.1 or has gone below it.
  
  
• These states with a lower TFR include Kerala (1.7), Tamil Nadu (1.6), Karnataka (1.7), Maharashtra (1.7), Andhra Pradesh (1.6), Telangana (1.7), West Bengal (1.6), Jammu and Kashmir (1.6) and Odisha (1.9). 
  
  

About:

• Chhattisgarh government will increase the quota for Scheduled Castes by 1 % while nearly doubling reservation for OBCs from 14 % to 27 %. The quota for Scheduled Tribes remains at 32 %.
  
  
• Once in effect, it will mean Chhattisgarh will have a total of 72 % reservation (32 % for STs, 13 % for SCs and 27 % to OBCs), the highest in the country and far above the 50 % cap on quotas mandated by the Supreme Court.
  
  
• The state government is still considering the 10 % centre mandated EWS quota for the general category. if implemented, it would take the reservation to 82 %.
  
  

About:

• The awards were instituted in 1958 by Union Ministry of Human Resource Development.
  
  
• These are annually conferred on the Independence Day.
  
  
• It is conferred to recognise contribution of scholars the field of 9 languages (Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Pali, Prakrit, Classical Oriya, Classical Kannada, Classical Telugu and Classical Malayalam).
  
  
• These awards are not given posthumously. Also, these awards are not given to scholars
  • who have received this award earlier, or
    
    
  • who are convicted in a criminal case/against whom a criminal case is pending in a court.
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• The foundation-stone for the Regional Institute of Education- NCERT was laid in 2016.
  
  
• The new institution at Nellore shall offer teacher education programmes like B.Sc/BA B.Ed, M.Ed and Ph.D.
  
  
• Apart from conducting research on education, it would help in capacity building of Teachers and Teacher Educators and strengthen implementation of Government of India Schemes like SSA, RMSA and ICT in schools.
  
  

About:

• The landslide at Kavalappara occurred a couple of hours after another in Puthumala in neighbouring Wayanad district. The two landslide sites are on either side of a section of the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats, close to Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiri district.
  
  
• Water coming down the hills at Puthumala becomes the Chulika stream, which meanders through gorges and valleys to emerge as the bigger Chaliyar river, which flows by Kavalappara.
  
  
• On August 8-9, the Chaliyar inundated several towns along its banks.
  
  

About: 

• 3% of personnel currently practising allopathic medicine do not have a medical qualification.
  
  
• There is a huge skew in the distribution of doctors working in the urban and rural areas, leaving rural and poor population in the clutches of quacks. Urban to rural doctor density ratio in India is 3.8:1.
  
  
• India’s doctor-population ratio is 1:1456 as compared with the World Health Organisation standards of 1:1000.
  
  

Provisions to deal with quacks:

• Section 15 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 prohibits a person other than a medical practitioner enrolled on a State Medical Register to practice medicine in the State.
  
  
• Any person acting in contravention is punishable with imprisonment and fine.
  
  
• Since health is a State subject, the primary responsibility to deal with such cases lies with the respective State governments.
  
  

About:

• Golden Butterfly is produced by Dikom Tea Estate near eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh town.
  
  
• This hand-crafted tea is made from tender leaves and buds available only around June-July.
  
  
• The tea is named such because only “the soft golden tips go into making this exceptionally rare and special tea”.
  
  
• The tea has an “extremely mellow and sweet caramel flavour.
  
  

Recent records:

• Assam tea has, in fact, been repeatedly setting price records at auctions.
  
  
• On July 31, an Assam tea variety known as “Maijan Golden Tips” sold for Rs 70,501 per kilogram at the GTAC.
  
  
• A day earlier, Manohari Gold Special tea was auctioned for Rs 50,000 per kg at the Centre.