News Excerpt:

Recently, over 15 products from Uttarakhand have been given the coveted GI tag by the Geographical Indications Registry.

Key Points:

• Berinag tea from Uttarakhand is highly sought after by London tea establishments and tea blenders. It is manufactured from the leaves of a plant that grows wild in the Himalayas and is then compacted into a solid mass. 
• Bichhu buti fabrics, manufactured from Himalayan nettle fibers, were also among the products awarded the GI tag.
• As the plant's fibres are hollow, they have a unique ability to accumulate air inside, resulting in natural insulation and a perfect clothing material for both winter and summer.
• The Uttarakhand mandua, a finger millet grown in Garhwal and Kumaon that is a staple in many parts of the state, was one of the products given GI status.
• Jhangora, a homegrown millet typically farmed in the rain-fed districts of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand, got a GI tag. 
• Gahat is one of the most important pulses grown in the state's dry regions, with medicinal properties known to Ayurveda and traditional physicians for ages. 
• Uttarakhand lal chawal, a red rice farmed organically in the Purola district, was also included.
• Other products to receive GI tags included the Uttarakhand kala bhat (black soybean); malta fruit; chaulai (ramdana), a grain used on fasting days; buransh juice obtained from the red flowers of the Rhododendron arboreum; pahari toor dal; Uttarakhand likhai or wood carvings, Nainital mombatti (candles), the rangwali pichhoda of Kumaon, Ramnagar Nainital litchis, Ramgarh Nainital peaches, Chamoli wooden Ramman masks, and Almora Lakhori mirchis, a chilli variant.