For decades, tea farmers in Tizit, eastern Nagaland, cultivated tea without seeing the kind of income they had hoped for. Tea farming began taking root in the area in the early 1990s, with families learning cultivation practices from neighbouring Assam. But farmers remained dependent on middlemen, had little access to government schemes and lacked direct links to tea factories. During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, award-winning independent journalist Manno Wangnao began looking more closely at why growers in her hometown remained poor despite spending long hours on their plantations. The issue was personal too. Wangnao’s own family was among the early tea-growing households in the area. “We were among the first tea farmers here in 1993. My father was one of the early people to start tea farming in the area. Many others followed because they believed tea would provide a steady source of income,” she told Influencing. According to Wangnao, the decline of the loc

For members of the Dakshina Kannada Working Journalists Association (DKWJA), reporting an issue is not where the story ends, it's often where the work begins. For nearly four years, journalists associated with the organisation have taken their reporting beyond the newsroom through Gramavastavay, an annual village stay programme that brings journalists, villagers and government officials together to address local problems. Held over a day between September and October each year, the initiative involves identifying a village, understanding residents' concerns, and bringing in officials from the relevant departments to the spot. The objective is not merely to report the problems but to see whether they can be resolved. Speaking to Influencing, Pushparaj B N said journalists working across different sections of society, particularly in rural areas, are familiar with the challenges villagers face. "We journalists work across different sections of society. Those working w

Friday, 28 August 2026 #1  ·  Times Nation / Page 16  ·  Investigative / Ground report Isro to return to launch pad after hiatus, Gisat-1A lift-off on Sept 4 By Chethan Kumar   ·   The Times of India, New Delhi  ·  Page 16 Isro has received government clearance to launch Gisat-1A (EOS-05), a strategically significant Earth observation satellite, on September 4 — its first launch since the PSLV-C62 failure in January. The 2.2-tonne satellite improves on the lost Gisat-1 and will provide frequent near real-time imagery useful for agriculture, disaster management, and defence planning. The NVS-03 navigation satellite, which augments India's NavIC GPS alternative, is also cleared for launch. Chethan Kumar broke the confirmed launch date with multiple source corroboration, situating the mission within a detailed history of Gisat programme setbacks since 2020 — original reporting that goes well beyond

Web-channel journalist Deepak Bhandari allegedly died by suicide while in judicial custody at Amritsar Central Jail on Wednesday morning. He had been lodged in the jail for more than one-and-a-half years in connection with a case involving the alleged smuggling and peddling of banned medicines. According to reports, Bhandari was found hanging inside the jail. The authorities informed his family, police and the district administration following the incident. Sources said Bhandari had reportedly been under considerable stress for nearly a year, allegedly over the prolonged legal proceedings and the lack of relief in the case. His brother had been granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court a few months ago, but Bhandari himself had not received similar relief. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had named Bhandari and other members of his family as accused in the alleged peddling of banned medicines. Following his death, the police took custody of the body and initiated procee

Influencing recently held its annual TechLeaders event, where we heard from amazing vendors and keynote speakers to discuss the key technology topics in today’s landscape. Joining us today is TechDay's Sydney-based Interviews Editor David Shilovsky. Thanks for joining us here this weekend. What have you thought of TechLeaders so far? “It's been really good. I've enjoyed it a lot. Getting to know different people, networking, learning more about the industry, because I'm still quite new to Tech.” Is there a particular theme, panel or speaker that you’ve particularly been intrigued by? “PEXA, [I] really enjoyed that one. NearMap, I really enjoyed that as well. Those two probably stand out, but I would say that there weren’t any bad speakers or roundtables.  “It was all really informative. It was quite dense and quite tightly packed. A lot of information in one go”. What major Technology topics do you think w

Nepal flash floods: Australians missing as death toll climbs Catastrophic flash flooding and landslides along the Nepal–China/Tibet border have killed hundreds and left more than a thousand missing, with dozens of Australians unaccounted for as families wait desperately for news. The scale of the disaster, the difficulty of rescue operations in remote terrain and warnings of further flooding are driving urgent consular and government responses in Australia. Covered by: Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The West Australian, The Australian, The Australian, Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph, Courier Mail, The Advertiser, The Mercury. Albanese blocks refugee intake cut to avert Labor blow-up Anthony Albanese has reportedly overruled a proposal to reduce Australia’s annual humanitarian refugee intake, keeping the quota at 20,000 to avoid an internal party dispute. The decision underscores how migration settings remain politically volatile, even as the government pursues other measure

Women’s rights activist and former Maharashtra Secretary of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) Sonya Gill died in Mumbai on Tuesday, August 25, at the age of 70. She was also a co-founder and trustee of the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI). Gill is survived by her husband, renowned journalist P. Sainath. She reportedly collapsed during her evening walk in Mumbai, with Sainath by her side. Colleagues remembered Gill for her courage, commitment and dedication to women’s rights. During her early years, she worked extensively on women’s issues in Mumbai’s BDD chawls, Jijamata Nagar and Delisle Road. AIDWA vice-president Mariam Dhawale described Gill as a fighter who continued participating in organisational activities despite her illness. She said Gill’s death was an immense loss to the organization, The Hindu reported.