Joydeep Thakur is a Special Correspondent based in Kolkata. He focuses on science, environment, wildlife, agriculture and other related issues.
Articles by Joydeep Thakur
Pollution makes Kolkata wettest in South Bengal
Hard to believe, but Kolkata has received the maximum rainfall in the South Bengal region and scientists believe it could be the city’s pollution levels and concrete structures which transform the city into an “island of heat” that have led to excessive rains.
Updated on Oct 04, 2013 12:04 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Senior citizens in Kolkata chip in to fight against firecrackers
They are all donating from their own resources so that crackers, which produce sound more than 90 decibels, are not allowed.
Updated on Sep 23, 2013 11:01 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
India’s first floating solar power station to come up inside Victoria
Solar panels on a raft-like object will help save water by slowing down rate of evaporation.
Updated on Aug 19, 2013 01:18 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Blame the sun if Kolkata goes back to dark days
Solar maxima, which may occur in 3-4 months, may cut off power, damage satellites & expose fliers to X-rays
Updated on Aug 16, 2013 12:32 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Contaminated skeletons in Anthropological Survey closet
Thousands of human skeletal remains have become little more than useless relics, their anthropological value reduced to nil, because of contamination by human handlers at the Anthropological Survey of India.
Updated on Aug 14, 2013 11:59 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Buddhist sites to be mapped
Hotspots would be identified in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, China, Indonesia and Japan
Updated on Aug 08, 2013 01:03 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Land sharks eye two wetlands in Kolkata
The water bodies, near Silver Spring Complex and Milan Mela ground, spread over four acres - are under threat from the land sharks.
Updated on Jul 31, 2013 12:33 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Oh fish! killer threatens Bengal's favourite dish
West Bengal's eternal favourite, hilsa, and prawn may be at risk. An "invisible" and primitive fish-killer that has played havoc with the fishing industry across the globe, inflicting losses worth billions of dollars in several countries, is now knocking on the doors of the state. Joydeep Thakur reports.
Updated on Jul 18, 2013 01:56 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Security a red or green herring?
Security - or the lack of it - holds the key to the West Bengal panchayat polls. It was not surprising that it led a huge legal battle. While the state held out as long as it could on its demand for deploying the state police, the state election commission pressed for central forces. Joydeep Thakur reports.
Updated on Jul 05, 2013 11:50 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Vanishing turtles come back to life in Kolkata
Scientists of the Indian Botanic Garden in Howrah have stumbled upon a huge colony of the Indian Roofed Turtle (pangshura tecta) in one of the 24 lakes inside the garden. The discovery is important because this species is known to be endangered.
Updated on Jul 05, 2013 10:39 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
WB: Fears of Maoists winning uncontested
The Union home ministry has warned the Mamata Banerjee administration that a number of Maoist-backed candidates may have already won several uncontested seats in the panchayat elections scheduled from July 2.
Updated on Jun 26, 2013 12:20 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Scientists set to go on insect hunt to save the Sunderbans
Novel: Plan is to conserve these tiny creatures in the tiger hub as they aid in survival of the mangrove forest
Updated on Jun 26, 2013 12:03 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
A million solar lamps light up Sunderbans, keeping tigers at bay
A village in the famed tiger reserve is lit up by solar streetlights. The demarcation between human habitat and tiger territory is now marked out. Joydeep Thakur reports. India's green record
Updated on Jun 05, 2013 10:50 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Dark cloud over Kolkata
Scientists, and not weathermen, have spotted dark clouds over Kolkata. Known as Polar Stratospheric Clouds, these formations comprising mainly of gases and fumes from automobiles, reside at a much higher altitude than ordinary rain-bearing clouds.
Updated on Apr 28, 2013 06:11 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
No relief from rising celsius
Rampant construction and unchecked use of fossil fuels in the city have led to a rise in it’s average temperature over the last 100 years as compared to other metros
Updated on Apr 14, 2013 03:40 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Kolkata panchayat poll bells a far cry, SEC needs weeks to notify dates
Forget the panchayat polls in the near future even if the dispute over security forces is resolved right now.
Updated on Mar 30, 2013 11:11 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Our good old post offices work just fine for animal smugglers
The Indian postal department might have fallen out of favour for many in the age of SMS and email, but those dealing in trafficking animal parts are only too happy to buck the trend.
Updated on Mar 04, 2013 02:41 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
With many Metro projects in limbo post rail budget, realtors fear crash
The prices of residential projects had shot up by leaps and bounds after the Metro corridor connecting New Garia to Dum Dum airport announced in 2010.
Updated on Feb 28, 2013 02:10 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Here comes a bolt from the Russian blue!
A piece of the meteorite that hit the Ural mountains in remote Russia, injuring well over a thousand people and destroying property worth millions, may well land up in Kolkata.
Updated on Feb 20, 2013 12:35 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Kolkata new gateway for smuggling gene samples?
With officials of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) repeatedly seizing parcels containing dried animal and plant parts addressed to recipients in the US, the West Bengal capital seems to have become a gateway for smuggling floral and faunal gene samples from the Northeast to places abroad. Joydeep Thakur reports.
Updated on Feb 03, 2013 11:23 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
City-based scientist duo cracks celestial mystery
Two city-based scientists have for the first time unravelled the mystery behind the feeding habits of Black Holes - a region in space that is said to have the strongest appetite in the entire universe.
Updated on Feb 02, 2013 01:50 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Sonic waves may have killed 40 whales, say scientists
Sonic waves from warships — Indian and of neighbouring countries — might have killed 40 whales, whose carcasses were found on the Andaman coast, in October 2012, scientists have said. Joydeep Thakur reports.
Updated on Jan 15, 2013 01:02 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Secret revealed: Darjeeling tea can be grown anywhere
The aroma of Darjeeling tea has been shattered by Swati Sen Mandi, a Kolkata-based scientist of Bose Institute, who has found that the incomparable muscatel flavour can be induced in any tea with the right doses of ultra-violet rays.
Updated on Jan 13, 2013 01:10 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
‘Can wipe CPM out in 5 minutes’
A day after the alleged firing on CPI(M) supporters and torching of vehicles ferrying Left supporters, the top brass of Trinamool Congress leadership sans party chief Mamata Banerjee landed up in a small roadside stage in little known Bamunghata around 40 km from Kolkata and heaped rich praises on party strongman Arabul Islam, also the prime accused in the incident, Ravik Bhattacharya & Joydeep Thakur report.
Updated on Jan 10, 2013 11:24 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya & Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Indian scientist first to record ‘birth cry’ of black hole
For the first time, scientists have detected the entire ‘birth cry’ of a black hole — a region in space that gulps down everything including light — located nearly two billion light years away from Earth, Joydeep Thakur reports.
Updated on Jan 09, 2013 10:14 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
India’s forecast tool old, say US experts
Why have Indian meteorologists time and again failed to predict seasonal and climatic patterns accurately? US scientists blame it on the archaic model which the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) follows to tell you whether it will be sunny or a rainy day.
Updated on Jan 05, 2013 01:28 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
India’s weather forecast tool old, say US experts
Why have the country's meteorologists time and again failed to predict seasonal and climatic patterns accurately? US scientists blame it on the archaic model which the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) follows to tell you whether it will be sunny or a rainy day. Joydeep Thakur reports.
Updated on Jan 05, 2013 09:41 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
African pygmies may have roots in Narmada valley, says new study
A part of a fossilized arm bone has led a team of experts from the Anthropological Survey of India to the threshold of one of the most dramatic discoveries in the field of human evolution and migration across continents. Joydeep Thakur reports.
Updated on Dec 25, 2012 02:39 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Mother of all Indian gardens
Be it the mahogany, the cinchona or the rubber plant, every tree at the Indian Botanic Garden in Shibpur, Howrah, has a tale of its own to tell
Updated on Dec 20, 2012 12:02 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata
Country’s first inventory of urban biodiversity to kick off in Kolkata
The idea is to prepare a list of the species, which are found in and around the city and their present status
Updated on Nov 01, 2012 02:13 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Joydeep Thakur, Kolkata