In India’s Arabica coffee capital, an election protest is brewing
Al Jazeera
Araku Valley coffee is sold in cafes around the world, but its farmers do not have toilets.
Araku Valley, India – Gemmala Sita is proud of the coffee beans she grows on what is among the world’s largest organic, fair-trade plantations. Her Arabica beans end up as steaming cups of coffee in the chic cafes of Paris and Dubai, Stockholm and Rome.
But the 29-year-old’s own life is a struggle for the basics. She must bathe in a makeshift washroom made of bamboo and covered with used household cloths.
Sita and her 45-year-old husband G Raja Rao are among 450 members of a tribal community that lives in Gondivalasa village in Araku Valley, on India’s eastern highlands facing the Bay of Bengal. The region in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is dotted with coffee fields renowned for its Arabica beans that are grown as an intercrop along with black pepper. When leaders from G20 nations visited New Delhi for the grouping’s annual summit last September, the Indian government gifted them this coffee.
Yet in Araku Valley, it is a protest that is brewing.
In India’s 2019 national election, the coffee hub grabbed headlines after more voters picked ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA) from a long list of candidate options than the combined votes secured by the nation’s two biggest parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress party, in the constituency.
Five healthcare workers killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, Ministry of Public Health says.
Vulnerable nations are seeking $1.3 trillion annually to deal with the damage caused by climate change and to adapt.
The city’s southern suburbs have been hit repeatedly in recent months
New York judge cancels a sentencing hearing previously scheduled for November 26 without setting a new date.
Many Haitian children face the stark choice of joining a gang or suffering from violence, poverty and hunger engulfing them.
Tapped to lead the Justice Department, Bondi is a former Florida attorney general and longtime Trump supporter.
The arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant could lead to countries rethinking arms deals with Israel, experts say
Moscow says the Oreshnik, a nuclear-capable weapon, was used in an attack on Ukraine amid escalating tensions.
Police say a ‘suspected prohibited item’ was discovered in luggage in the facility’s south terminal.
The NGOs want the Netherlands to ban the export and transit of weapons, weapon parts, and dual-use items to Israel.
All the details about the biggest two weeks in chess as a young Indian grandmaster takes on the Chinese world champion.