Joydeep Thakur

Major reptile smuggling racket unearthed after 2 arrests in Kolkata

The arrest of two small-time turtle traders in North Kolkata in August has triggered a domino effect in what is turning out to be one of the largest wildlife smuggling rackets in the country in recent times.

The 10-gram Naga spear which could buy you slaves and cows

Govt ties up with NDMA to save museums from disasters

If a fire breaks out at the Victoria memorial, how does the fire brigade douse it? How do rescuers retrieve artworks and exhibits if an earthquake brings down a part of the museum? Rescue forces cannot douse flames with water as it will ruin priceless artefacts, while earthmoving equipment would destroy any exhibit that might have escaped an earthquake.

Alarmed by Delhi air quality, Bengal trebles monitoring units

The state pollution control board is set to triple the number of air quality monitoring stations across the state from January 1, 2016, to keep track of the rising pollution levels.

Finally home: Residents of Indian enclaves make historic crossover

Those who came this afternoon lived in the enclaves of Lotamari and Gotamari located in the Lalmonihat district of Bangladesh.

First batch of Bangladesh residents arriving today

Around 19 families are expected to cross the Indo-Bangla border in Cooch Behar around 90 km from Siliguri on November 19 to settle permanently in India.

Kolkata: Transgenders roped in to judge top Durga Pujas

Carrying forward the state government’s efforts to bring the city’s transgender population into the mainstream, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has planned to rope in representatives from this community as judges to select the best pujas in town.

Conspiracy theories abound, say Netaji still on the run as yogi

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is more than 118 years old and still on the run as a yogi, according to various conspiracy theories.

Bengal govt declassifies 64 Netaji files at Kolkata police academy

The West Bengal government declassified 64 closely-guarded files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at an event at a police museum in Kolkata on Friday.

Bengal govt declassifies 64 Netaji files at Kolkata police academy

The West Bengal government declassified 64 closely-guarded files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. People will not immediately have access to them

Sanitary napkins from jute to help fight cervical cancer

After experimenting for more than four years, scientists at IIT-Kharagpur have invented sterilized sanitary napkins made from jute-based cellulose.

Sanitary napkins from jute to help fight cervical cancer

After experimenting for more than four years, scientists at IIT-Kharagpur have invented sterilized sanitary napkins made from jute-based cellulose.

India lost 250 sq km to rising seas in 15 years

A total of 250.21 sq km along India’s coast was lost over 15 years because of the rising sea level.

Large areas in Kolkata could sink if earthquake strikes: IIT study

The study, which kicked off in July 2011, with funds from union ministry of earth sciences ended in June 2015. The results reveal that major parts of the city are floating on a bed of slurry and could just sink in case a major earthquake strikes Kolkata.

Kolkata’s arsenic levels to rise after recent Nepal earthquake

Scientists and experts in Kolkata dealing with arsenic contamination in the city’s groundwater are now exploring this possibility after a Chinese study revealed how the arsenic level in the groundwater shot up hundreds of times after an earthquake in China, before it settled again over time.

Kolkata lies right on top of faultline, may face major quake in future

Every time the ground shakes beneath Kolkata, we move an inch closer to Dooms Day, experts warned after Tuesday’s earthquake in Nepal. For there lies a ‘faultline’, a fractured zone, just 4.5km below the city, which has been lying almost in active for years but could become hyperactive and trigger a massive quake measuring at least 6 on the Richter scale, seismologists claim.

12-year-old Kolkata boy donates piggybank money to Nepal quake victims

A 12-year-old boy who once donated close to Rs 1 lakh to a welfare home run by Mother Teresa’s organisation has handed over the contents of his piggy bank for the relief of victims of the devastating earthquake in Nepal.

Sunderbans tigress dies of radio collar infection

A Sunderbans tigress was found dead on Tuesday and the cause of the death was an infection caused by her radio collar. The tigress was treated for illness for more than a year and radio-collared before being released in the wild just seven months ago.

'Birdmen', go online to conserve your feathered friends

The hobby and love for wild birds and animals with a passion to conserve them, has dragged several citizens into this area, some of whom later turned out to be eminent birders such as Kaishal Mukherjee, Sumit Sen, Sujan Chatterjee, Subhankar Patra and Radhanath Pole.

Indo-Bangla boat ride to save Sunderbans

If the issue of saving the Sunderbans needs to be raised at the international level, then the two neighbours have to come together. This effort can set the ball rolling, says Tapas Paul, Senior environment specialist at World Bank

There’s a foreign invasion at Santragachhi Jheel

Kolkata may have lost one of its winter signatures, migratory birds at Alipore Zoo, almost a decade ago. But forest officials and bird-lovers have something to rejoice. The population of winged guests in winter seems to be rising steadily at Santragachhi Jheel in Howrah over the past few years.

While in Darj, breathe in a lung full of poison

A team of environmental scientists from the Bose Institute in Kolkata and the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) has revealed that the air over Darjeeling has high levels of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) - much higher than the air over the residential areas in Kolkata, Delhi or Mumbai.

ZSI plans pan-India network of taxonomists to identify new species

Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) is planning to set up a pan-India network of scientists, there are about 1.7 million living species, which scientists know of across the world. But scientists are yet to uncover another 15 million species that are estimated to live in the world

After terror, Bangladesh sends Bt seeds into India

Unlike in India, which has only recently allowed field trials of some GM crops, Bt Brinjal has been introduced in Bangladesh in 2013 and seeds are freely available.

Where else but Kolkata! A hospital for fish to come up in Bengal capital

A hospital with water tanks and aquariums instead of beds — Kolkata is set to have its own fish hospital by mid-2015. The Rs 1.75-crore project is being funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, under the Union ministry of agriculture.

‘Infiltration’ from Bangladesh up 5 times in TMC rule

No wonder Prime Minister Narendra Modi was harping before the Lok Sabha polls on the problem on infiltration from Bangladesh into India through West Bengal.

Before polls, Mamata chaining up all watchdogs in the state

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her party, the Trinamool Congress, are in search of a permanent state of victory – on every front, on any count and at any cost -- it seems.

Football team of 18 tribal girls from Jharkhand heading for US tournament

At a time when the entire world is glued to television sets to watch the World Cup, 18 tribal girls from Jharkhand's hinterland are busy sweating it out in the fields to hone their own dribbling and passing skills for the biggest tournament of their lives.

This Bengal village will vote for those who can tame elephants

Over 250 villagers have been killed and several more injured in elephant attacks in Barjora since 2002. The state has had to pay nearly Rs 11 crore as compensation to the villagers in the same period.

Bengal's crime incidents call for Prez's attention

West Bengal has the dubious distinction of having the highest incidence of crimes against women for two consecutive years. Recently, a 16-year-old girl was gang-raped and burned, who ultimately succumbed to her injuries.