Joydeep Thakur is a Special Correspondent based in Kolkata. He focuses on science, environment, wildlife, agriculture and other related issues.
Articles by Joydeep Thakur
Calcutta high court: “Jobs are being sold like a commodity”
One year on, the probe into the West Bengal school recruitment scam remains mired in a political tussle. Will the victims find justice? An explainer
Published on May 22, 2023 03:36 PM IST
'Dream it, make it happen’
Smarajit Jana, a pioneering AIDS activist, mined the power of the collective to set up cooperatives. He died on May 8, 2021 due to Covid-19
Published on May 17, 2023 08:07 PM IST
ED charge sheet: How TMC’s Anubrata Mondal acquired assets worth ₹48 crore
Anubrata Mondal, 64, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in August 2022 for his alleged involvement in the cattle smuggling case. ED arrested him in November 2022
Updated on May 09, 2023 09:11 PM IST
BSF detects new modus operandi of Phensedyl smugglers along Indo-Bangla border
The BSF apprehended a postman, who cloned the barcodes and consignment numbers and delivered the drug to smugglers living in villages along the Indo-Bangla border
Updated on Apr 23, 2023 09:35 AM IST
Aizawl zoo grapples to keep exotic animals alive
Aizawl Zoo in India has a second list of rescued exotic animals and birds smuggled into India from Myanmar, but the zoo is running out of space and some of these animals are dying. Between July 2019 and September 2022, the zoo received 910 exotic animals, of which only 274 survived till the first week of December 2022. The zoo has all one visiting doctor, one veterinary field assistant, one range officer in charge of general administration, and two forest guards. The zoo has sent a proposal to the Union government for separate enclosures and a new rescue and rehab centre.
Updated on Apr 21, 2023 11:44 PM IST
Villages in WB’s Alipurduar gasp for air as pollution from Bhutan takes toll
Pasakha Industrial Estate (PIE) has been the epicentre of the growing pollution levels in the adjacent areas of the West Bengal district
Updated on Apr 17, 2023 01:46 PM IST
Plastic-rock found in Andamans’ Aves Island
Interestingly, according to the 2011 Census, there are just two people on Aves Island. Both are male.
Published on Mar 27, 2023 12:36 AM IST
Plastic-rock hybrid discovered in Andaman’s Aves island
Known as Plastiglomerate, the rock is composed of sand, rock fragments, shells and other materials held together by plastic, resulting in a plastic-rock hybrid. It is a new form of plastic pollution described by scientists in 2014
Published on Mar 25, 2023 07:33 PM IST
Drug-resistant bacteria found in fowls in remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Some strains of these bacteria are responsible for life-threatening diseases including Hemolytic uremic syndrome, pneumonia, diarrhoea and typhoid among others in humans
Updated on Feb 27, 2023 04:09 AM IST
Plot twist in Bengal: Guv heaps praise on govt as BJP walks out
On Wednesday, it was the BJP led by leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari, a former TMC leader once considered close to Banerjee, who said that they were disappointed that the governor made no departure from a speech that painted a “rosy picture” of the state’s affairs, even shouting slogans of “go back”.
Updated on Feb 09, 2023 04:41 AM IST
Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Govt to update elephant corridors to mitigate human-animal conflict in 6 states
Ramesh Kumar Pandey, director of Project Elephant, which is a centrally sponsored scheme for elephant conservation, said the government has decided to redraw elephant corridors
Published on Jan 28, 2023 12:40 AM IST
Bereaved Modi opens train link, chairs meet
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the last rites of his mother Heeraben, who died early morning at the age of 99, and returned to work hours later, flagging off a key train link in West Bengal and chairing a meeting of the National Ganga Council via video conference.
Updated on Dec 31, 2022 02:11 AM IST
Amit Cowper and Joydeep Thakur, Gandhinagar/kolkata
Mushrooming illegal call centres keep police in West Bengal’s IT hub on toes
The West Bengal police said at least 25 illegal call centres have been busted since September and 292 people have been arrested
Published on Dec 25, 2022 02:45 PM IST
West Bengal recovers ₹52.3 lakh misappropriated NREGS fund
Kolkata: West Bengal has recovered around ₹52
Published on Dec 24, 2022 11:49 PM IST
Traffickers use govt portal to evade authorities while smuggling animals
Enforcement agencies have detected at least three to four cases in the last couple of months in which fake applications were submitted on the Parivesh portal to make illegal consignments appear legal
Published on Dec 11, 2022 03:24 PM IST
Five years on, Mamata’s Krishak Bazar project finds few takers
The Krishak Bazars (farmer markets) were a dream project of the Mamata Banerjee government which came to power in 2011 while championing the cause of farmers in Singur and Nandigram.
Updated on Nov 14, 2022 04:42 AM IST
Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Bengal recruitment scam: CBI court extends Partha Chatterjee’s judicial custody
The CBI court extended former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee’s judicial custody by 14 days in the school recruitment scam case
Published on Oct 31, 2022 08:08 PM IST
1 out of 10 Bangladeshis caught by BSF handed over to BGB as ‘goodwill gesture’
Every year, BSF hand over a few hundred men and women, who are intercepted along the India-Bangladesh international border, to the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) without arresting them
Published on Oct 18, 2022 01:47 PM IST
From St Peter’s Basilica to Altamira: Durga Puja amid politics, Unesco tag
Welcome to Kolkata during the Durga Puja, where the pandals compete to outdo each other, the only thing that matters almost as much as the festivities is politics, and often, both coalesce.
Updated on Oct 03, 2022 11:52 AM IST
Tanmay Chatterjee and Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
No ex-gratia for kin of tipplers killed in elephant attack: Bengal advisory
The next of kin of any inebriated person killed by an elephant will not receive any compensation from the state forest department, according to a fresh advisory issued by forest officials in West Bengal’s Jhargram district
Updated on Sep 27, 2022 01:31 AM IST
WB gears for thermocol-free Durga Puja; draws mixed reactions from organisers
The Centre banned the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of identified single use plastic items including thermocol, all across the country from July 1
Published on Sep 01, 2022 04:30 PM IST
After cattle, smuggling of phensedyl and yaba tablets spikes in eastern states
Smuggling of yaba tablets, a party drug that originated in Myanmar, has also gone up. This year more than 7,000 tablets have been seized in the first seven months
Published on Aug 12, 2022 09:48 PM IST
Joydeep Thakur and Utpal Parashar
Minister, MLA, Governor, Vice President: Tracing Jagdeep Dhankhar’s path
During his three years of gubernatorial tenure in West Bengal, when Jagdeep Dhankhar would berate the Mamata Banerjee administration and attack it through public addresses, long official letters and the social media, he personally drafted the letters.
Updated on Aug 07, 2022 05:23 AM IST
3 J’khand Cong MLAs held in Bengal cash haul
The vehicle (JH 09AQ 0016) was carrying the name plate of Irfan Ansari, Congress MLA from Jamtara in Jharkhand, who was in the vehicle when it was intercepted at Panchla in Howrah district, around 30 km west of Kolkata.
Published on Jul 30, 2022 10:36 PM IST
Joydeep Thakur and Vishal Kant, Kolkata/ranchi
The cash-for-jobs scandal and the unravelling of Partha-Arpita saga
Now, four years later, the relationship between the two, and their role in the cash-for-jobs scandal over the recruitment of teachers for government schools is at the heart of an Enforcement Directorate investigation.
Updated on Jul 30, 2022 04:50 AM IST
Tanmay Chatterjee and Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Partha relieved of posts as raids by ED continue
The TMC suspended Chatterjee, also an office bearer in its state unit, adding that he could be reinstated if proven innocent.
Updated on Jul 29, 2022 12:44 AM IST
Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
From cash & gold to admit cards – what ED found in Partha and Arpita’s closets
Bengal school jobs case: Partha Chatterjee and his aide - Arpita Mukherjee - were arrested after raids during which ₹21 crore were seized, according to ED.
Updated on Jul 26, 2022 09:54 PM IST
Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
In coastal villages, the heavy toll of shrimp farming
The growth of highly saline fish farms along the coast has not only had enormous environmental costs — due to their negative effects on water and land — but has led to great losses and huge debts for villagers in the area.
Published on Jul 13, 2022 09:56 PM IST
Mamata Banerjee calls Oppn meeting over presidential poll
Banerjee on Saturday sent letters to 22 non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and chief ministers of eight non-BJP ruled states.
Published on Jun 12, 2022 06:27 AM IST
‘Perfect opportunity’: Mamata calls opposition meet ahead of Presidential poll
‘The Presidential elections are around the corner, presenting the perfect opportunity for all progressive opposition parties to reconvene and deliberate on the future course of Indian politics, said Mamata Banerjee in her letter to the non-BJP leaders.
Published on Jun 11, 2022 08:45 PM IST
Joydeep Thakur and Saubhadra Chatterjee
