
Northeast tea body names two nonagenarians associated with beverage industry for first lifetime achievement awards
The Hindu
NETA to honor tea industry legends Sagar Mehta and Apurba Kumar Barooah with lifetime achievement awards.
GUWAHATI
An association of tea producers has named two nonagenarians for its first lifetime achievement awards.
The awards are scheduled to be conferred upon 96-year-old Sagar Mehta and 93-year-old Apurba Kumar Barooah at the ‘Chairman’s Dinner’ in eastern Assam’s Golaghat on February 8, 2025. The dinner is a biennial event of the North Eastern Tea Association (NETA).
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Tea Exemplar award would be conferred upon Mr. Mehta for his exemplary contribution to the tea industry and the social fabric of Assam, while the Social Statesman award would be presented to Mr. Barooah for providing visionary leadership for the betterment of society.
NETA chairman, Ajay Dhandharia said the two are considered legends for their extraordinary achievements, commitment and dedication to the tea industry in Assam.
“The chairman’s dinner is expected to be a good gathering of tea producers, buyers, auctioneers, small tea growers, and tea scientists,” he said.

The Opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) whether it would fulfil the poll promise of providing free LPG cylinders to women on Holi. Hitting back, the ruling party asked AAP why had it not kept its word on disbursing ₹1,000 to women for which it had allocated ₹2,000 crore in the 2024-25 budget. Meanwhile, Delhi government sources said officials are preparing a blueprint of the proposal and that the criteria for the beneficiaries is yet to be decided. The BJP had promised to provide LPG cylinders for ₹500 to women from poor families and one free cylinder each on Holi and Deepavali ahead of the February 5 Assembly election.