Dipanjan Sinha is principal correspondent, weekend features in Mumbai. He has been a journalist for seven years now and worked on the desk, news and features teams
Articles by Dipanjan Sinha
Updating the doggie dictionary: A ruff guide to language
New research suggests that dogs can respond consistently to an average of 89 words, with service dogs responding to more words than house pets, and some breeds being more “proficient” than others.
Updated on Jan 29, 2022 12:52 PM IST
War, peace and faith in the US: An atheism study
To what extent is the sustained practice of a faith linked to following cues from those that came before? Fresh research is finding surprising answers.
Updated on Dec 18, 2021 05:29 PM IST
Meet the man on a mission to save the wild berries of Maharashtra
Pravin Thete has tracked down 54 species of wild berry tree so far and is leading plantation drives to restore their numbers. It’s ironic that people will pay so much for avocado and kale, but pay no attention to what is so close by, he says.
Updated on Nov 20, 2021 12:56 PM IST
Word for word: A dictionary to take Sanskrit to the world
What does it take to concise an ancient language into a modern dictionary? Wknd sits down with Shashi Bala, who is heading a unique effort.
Updated on Oct 23, 2021 03:28 PM IST
Sound symbolism: Can Pokemon help linguists see why a chair is called a chair?
What is it about words that indicates their meaning? Are there common threads that run across cultures and languages? Linguists are looking for answers, in the 800 made-up words that constitute the names of the set of animation characters called Pokemon.
Updated on Oct 09, 2021 04:24 PM IST
Following centuries of neglect, will Magadhi finally get its due?
The Bihar government has said it will introduce Magadhi, Maithili and Bhojpuri as mediums of instruction at school level, a major boost for Magadhi, which has no film industry or formal recognition, and is therefore largely spoken only in homes.
Published on Sep 10, 2021 06:58 PM IST
Meet the researcher trying to give Gangetic dolphins their due
The International Union for Conservation of Nature declared the Gangetic dolphin endangered in 1996. Ravindra Kumar Sinha has been instrumental in stabilising the population of the species
Updated on Aug 30, 2021 12:30 PM IST
Meet Mumbai’s first photojournalist from the transgender hijra community
Freelancer Zoya Lobo’s images have appeared in publications across India and beyond. ‘I have a message. I want to take this chance to say there is nothing a trans person can’t do,’ she says.
Updated on Jul 23, 2021 03:36 PM IST
A life of turtles, trails and deep-sea tales: Ecologist Kartik Shanker
A magical hour spent watching an olive ridley decided what he would do with his life. Now 52, Shanker has spent decades working on sea turtle biology and conservation. He’s still as amazed by them as he first was, he says.
Updated on May 22, 2021 12:22 PM IST
Dipanjan Sinha & Riddhi Doshi
Meet Arora Akanksha, the 34-year-old who wants to be head of the UN
An audit coordinator at the United Nations since 2016, Arora now wants to run for secretary-general. Because it is time for the old ways, the old systems, to change, she says.
Updated on May 22, 2021 12:11 PM IST
Dipanjan Sinha & Stuti Johri
How elder-care services are filling in for family in the pandemic
The organisations are helping with groceries and errands, doctors’ visits, even last rites, stepping in for children trapped abroad and unable to visit. Sometimes, they say, all the seniors want to do is talk and know that someone is nearby.
Published on Apr 30, 2021 04:28 PM IST
A geologist’s journey from rocks to oceans, via lost penguins in Antarctica
Sugata Hazra switched specialties early in his career, after a 22-day voyage by sea. He now studies the impact of climate change on oceans, coasts and human populations.
Published on Apr 23, 2021 03:39 PM IST
DocuSafe: An app that acts are your own secret evidence room
Launched in the US and available in India, it is designed to help victims of abuse collect data and evidence from a range of platforms and store it in one secure location.
Updated on Apr 11, 2021 06:21 AM IST
Meet the Indian researcher uncovering clues to the formation of the galaxies
Astrophysicist Kanak Saha recently won an award for discovering AUDFs01, which sits 9.3 billion light years away and is the first known distant galaxy to be emitting extreme-ultraviolet light.
Published on Mar 26, 2021 03:54 PM IST
Bringing home the bacon: Pork is seeing a surge across India
In East UP, Dalit butchers are turning cooks, selling prepared pork items by the roadside. Hyderabad has taken to bacon. In Delhi and Mumbai, bacon fries, bacon jam and pork chops sell well.
Published on Mar 19, 2021 07:39 PM IST
Make your spaces fit you better: Tips from environmental psychologist Lily Bernheimer
Bernheimer helps people and cities plan their spaces better. Wherever you are, it’s possible to alter your world to suit you, she says.
Published on Mar 12, 2021 07:10 PM IST
Why we fidget... and should you stop?
There can be benefits to all the foot-tapping and twiddling of thumbs. It can even help focus the mind. So how much is too much?
Updated on Mar 06, 2021 07:36 PM IST
Code Pink: Why do lakes change colour?
In July, the Lonar Lake in Maharashtra turned bright pink. Turns out, water bodies tend to change colour when an already saline lake sees an increase in salinity even when nothing but some algae and bacteria grows
Updated on Feb 26, 2021 11:22 PM IST
You’re iguana love the new reptile garden at the Chennai snake park
It’s a glass enclosure full of greenery, with no barriers between the visitors and the iguanas. The idea is to show people they don’t need to fear these reptiles, says park director R Rajarathinam.
Updated on Feb 13, 2021 04:12 PM IST
Meet the researcher seeking survival hacks from a time before the dinosaurs
GVR Prasad, one of India’s leading palaeontologists, believes his field could hold the key to how life survived after each of Earth’s previous mass extinction events.
Updated on Jan 31, 2021 06:28 AM IST
In a new book, insightful thoughts on readying for life’s final exam
Arun Shourie’s Preparing: For Death offers advice on last days, and explores the end as an opportunity to move on rather than an occasion to fear.
Updated on Jan 08, 2021 07:36 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Dipanjan Sinha
Check out a virtual pandemic-era travelogue focused on South Asia
The Daak Vaak repository on Instagram is crowdsourced, with people sending in photographs of cities they love and miss.
Updated on Dec 27, 2020 05:41 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Dipanjan Sinha
The Playbook: How to tackle trolls and stay sane, via comedian Agrima Joshua
Joshua, 30, was been doing stand-up for four years. Her hacks for dealing with the hate hinge on self-care, humour and, sometimes, confrontation.
Updated on Nov 24, 2020 12:33 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Dipanjan Sinha
What’s your lockdown challenge?
It takes a certain degree of energy and will—and a healthy sprinkling of providence—but some are actually managing to use the lockdown to work on long-pending personal projects and ambitions.
Updated on May 12, 2020 12:07 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Dipanjan Sinha
Coronavirus outbreak: Sew, dance, take flight with the kids
The ongoing lockdown has given parents that rare opportunity to spend all day with their kids.
Published on Apr 06, 2020 12:14 PM IST
Any age is the right age to pick a hobby
An activity that you already enjoyed is a good pick for a hobby, or will lead you to one.
Updated on Apr 02, 2020 08:44 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Dipanjan Sinha
How AI and blockchain are transforming cityscapes and real-estate practices
New-age tech labs are sprouting in cities, a blockchain district is on the cards. A look at how technology is set to positively impact the realty industry.
Published on Mar 07, 2020 10:11 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Dipanjan Sinha
Non-metro cities are becoming the new realty hotspots
In the struggling market, investors are looking at cities like Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bhopal, Kochi, Bhubaneshwar for housing and infrastructure projects, as metros get saturated and outrageously expensive.
Published on Feb 22, 2020 05:44 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Dipanjan Sinha
Universities are launching courses to study, address the climate crisis
The aim, they say, is to create batches of professionals who can work on mitigation as that becomes a priority across sectors.
Published on Feb 19, 2020 08:26 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Dipanjan Sinha
Life behind the firewall: What it’s like to be an ethical hacker today
Death threats, confused relatives and an increasingly difficult fight to stay anonymous - it’s not easy being in the shoes of the white hats that work with companies and govts to help keep digital data safe.
Updated on Feb 15, 2020 03:29 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Dipanjan Sinha
