Joydeep Thakur

Gorge on 142 varieties of fish for a steal

State fisheries Development Corporation promises cheapest rates in town. Apart from known varieties, there will be some exotic ones too.

Bengal’s solar dome to light up a million homes

Simple device that guides solar energy to light up a room, photovoltaic cell stores energy for the night.

Uncertainty over ISL matches at Rabindra Sarovar reducing

Environmentalist says he wants the matches but

The aliens have landed in Kolkata

Plants and animal species not native to Kolkata are taking over the city’s ecosystems.

Salt Lake to be home for country’s largest geological museum

On show will be a few lakh specimens, including meteorites, rocks, minerals, gems and even

KMC’s guppy drive against mosquitoes can backfire, warn scientists

KMC’s age-old drive of releasing guppy fishes in the ponds and drains to control mosquitoes could spell doom for the city’s ecosystem.

Mamata returns land to Singur farmers, offers plot elsewhere for auto unit

The government has 1,000 acre of unencumbered land in Goaltore in West Midnapore district and is agreeable to give it to anyone -- Tata Motors or BMW -- to build an automobile factory, chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced in Singur.

Living fossil habitat in Bengal under threat

They have remained unchanged for 450 million years and are needed for the pharmaceutical industry.

Cloud cover moves North, expect some relief in Kolkata

Met officials said with the low-pressure moving away from the city, the intensity of the rain will come down.

Missionaries of Charity to keep Mother’s canonisation low key like her life

But sisters of Missionaries of Charity are determined to keep the celebrations low-key and turn the occasion into a moment to reenergize efforts to further Mother’s cause to serve the poorest of the poor and sick.

Restoration of Singur land will take a long time, say experts

Most of the 997 acre has gone under fly ash, cement and rubbish.

Mother’s trademark white-and-blue sarees are Titagarh’s gift to the Vatican

Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity have made this saree prominent all over the world.

Kolkata scientists develop quicker method to calculate mass of Black Holes

The method, which scientists from the National Centre for Basic Sciences in Salt Lake, have developed is much simpler and quicker but is equally accurate as its predecessors. It takes around just 15 minutes to come up with the mass of a Black Hole.

Small fish all set for big Bong return

The state biodiversity board has planned to bring back some popular desi varieties that have gone missing from the fish platter.

Sunderbans under attack, this time from moths

New pests threaten Sunderban mangrove vegetation

Four scientists find pests attacking mangrove vegetation.

Green hopes run dry as rampant mining goes unchecked in Bengal

Green hopes run dry as rampant mining goes unchecked in Bengal

Rampant sand mining and excavation of boulders from river beds are threatening the ecology of several rivers in West Bengal, so much so that even chief minister Mamata Banerjee recently asked the authorities to monitor their activities.

Kolkata: Discovery of predator fish that resembles an alligator concerns experts

Experts are concerned about the discovery of a predatory fish that can grow up to eight feet from Subhas Sarovar in Kolkata’s eastern fringe of Beliaghata as it can destroy local ecosystem and biodiversity.

India, Bangladesh may soon allow river cruise from Kolkata to Dhaka

The governments of India and Bangladesh are close to finalising a luxury cruise service from Kolkata to Dhaka for tourists.

Kolkata pet lover helps railway officers rescue injured stray at Mumbai station

An injured stray dog that was terrorising people at the Kurla railway station in Mumbai on Sunday was rescued by a man who just landed in the city from Kolkata.

Bengal identifies 18 jumbos for rehab

Jumbo rescue plan: Bengal to set up rehab centres for ‘rogue’ elephants

West Bengal is planning a jumbo rehab effort. It plans to send 18 elephants that have damaged crops and terrorised villagers to rehabilitation centres for ‘delinquent’ tuskers.

Collective farming, water budgeting: Purulia’s weapons against drought

It was 12 noon and the summer season was at its peak at the fag-end of May. The sun was rolling high mercilessly over the parched lands of Purulia – one of the most drought prone districts of West Bengal. Most of the water bodies had dried up revealing cracks in their beds. The mighty Damodar River had turned into a mere trickle in some portions. Children, carrying water buckets, were queuing up in-front of a water-hole to collect drinking water. The district had been hit by droughts over the past two consecutive years and this year too, conditions seemed to be heading that way.

NOTA fourth largest contender in most constituencies of Bengal

The ‘None Of The Above’ (NOTA) option on EVMs – which allows voters to exercise their right to disapprove of all the candidates – has become the fourth largest contender in most of the constituencies in Bengal, leaving political parties such as BSP, CPI, Forward Bloc, SUCI and independent candidates way behind.

Comrades have become ‘Congreds’: Mamata on Cong-Left alliance in Bengal

Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee addressed election rallies at Basirhat in North 24 Parganas on Wednesday.

West Bengal polls: Sundarbans’ unfulfilled electoral promises

In the Sunderbans, both life and politics revolve around these embankments. Though the Union government had allocated around Rs 5,000 crore for building them, less than 20% of them have been strengthened till now.

Seven years after Cyclone Aila, Sundarbans stares at a grim tomorrow

Though the TMC promised it would rebuild embankments damaged by cyclone Aila, less than 20% have been strengthened; villagers blame corruption

Rat menace in Sunderbans tops voters’ concerns

Plagued by an explosion of rat population, farmers in West Bengal’s Sundarbans region are looking for a Pied Piper. The region may be known for the ferocious Royal Bengal Tiger but farmers are more worried about the millions of rodents that are hurting their crops.

Indian scientists breathe new life into dead Kutch corals

Indian marine scientists have brought back to life a coral reef which has been dead for nearly 10,000 years, using a technique similar to grafting new rose shrubs with twigs taken from a mother plant.