The Centre for Writing and Pedagogy (CWP) at Krea University recently organised an academic writing workshop for high school students as part of 'Kreativity in Action' - upskilling workshops focusing on Design Thinking, Writing, and Research Skills. In this two-hour workshop, participants learnt about what the simple-seeming act of description lets us do when we read and write. With a focus on perspectives, the workshop looked at examples from a science writer, an anthropologist and a visual performance artist to see how they describe what they see. The next 'Kreativity in Action' session with CWP will be curated for educators.

While less than 20 percent of India’s adult population has received their first Covid-19 vaccine dose, clear gender disparities have arisen in the rollout. Gender-related barriers must be addressed in the planning and rollout of vaccine distribution to reach everyone, especially those most marginalised. Hear it from Soumya Kapoor Mehta, Head - IWWAGE, in the BBC World story on gender gaps behind the country's vaccination drive and the need to address the gender barriers in COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Story can be viewed here.

As part of Legacy School Bangalore's "Bridge Course" - a skills and capacity building programme for incoming secondary students, Cambridge Assessment International Education and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme - the SIAS Career Services Office (CSO) conducted a workshop for students about future careers. Through a series of contemporary business case studies across Sports, Music and Politics, the workshop titled 'Curious Case of Careers' focused on helping students navigate through various careers, their transformation and skills that new industries demand. Presented by Kala Anand, Director- Career Services (SIAS), the workshop received positive feedback and is now being delivered in multiple schools across India.

In an interactive session with the MBA students at IFMR GSB, Forensic Accountant Dr Apurva Pradeep Joshi explored the current and future scenario of forensic accounting and auditing. From sharing its origins to highlighting the various types of corporate frauds in today's world, the session was filled with examples from the past and present narrated through case studies. Stressing on practical knowledge, Dr Joshi further shared tips for aspirants and motivated the participants to look beyond degrees and competitive exams.

With the second wave of the pandemic affecting the Indian economy further, there is an urgent need to revisit stimulus packages and draw lessons from emerging green recovery practices. The adoption of post-pandemic recovery strategies in India has been low owing to several challenges, the most critical being the lack of (green) finance. In this guest piece for Shakti Foundation - Akshay M, Divyanshi Vohra, Rahul Muralidharan (LEAD at Krea University), and Vivek Venkataramani (Climate Resilience and Finance Expert) - analyse emerging global green recovery approaches and juxtapose these with policy priorities in India. Read it here.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women-led enterprises in India, and there is an urgent need to improve awareness about relief measures and improve their offtake. Findings from a survey of over women entrepreneurs by LEAD suggest that while almost 90 percent of respondents were aware of government schemes, nearly 60 percent had not applied for any scheme. Read these incisive pieces by Economists Sumita Kale, Prashant Girbane, and Vidya Shah (Executive Chairperson, EdelGive Foundation) on policy implications of the findings from LEAD’s study here and here.

An ongoing longitudinal survey by LEAD at Krea University and the Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (G.A.M.E) examines the impact of COVID on microbusinesses in India, across various dimensions – business operations, income, employment, and resilience. Data from four survey rounds conducted between May 2020 - January 2021 is now available on this interactive dashboard.

Prof Anil Srinivasan, Associate Professor of Practice at Krea University, has authored an article on the apparent digital divide that seems to leave out traditional craftspersons and folk artistes in the age of audio chat rooms and online concerts. Published in The Hindu, the article, titled 'Divided by technology as well?', explores the various musical offerings enriched by technology and innovation, while touching upon the growing disparity between the denizens of the performing arts world and the commerce and business platforms that market them. Read the article here.

IFMR GSB faculty member, Dr Jyoti Mukhopadhyay’s article titled ‘Determinants of Digital Technology Adoption and Financial Inclusion in India: Some Empirical Evidence”, has been published as a special article in Economic and Political Weekly — a highly cited journal in social science research. Prof Mukhopadhyay is Associate Professor of Economics at IFMR Graduate School of Business at Krea University. Read the article here.

Prof Kalpita Bhar Paul, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Krea University, has authored a powerful piece on how Covid-19, cyclones and conservation programmes in the past 18 months, have altered the economy, ecology and occupations of people in Indian Sundarbans. Highlighting the biodiversity conservation and the developmental activities that have changed the livelihood patterns there, this article was published as an opinion piece on Mongabay - a US-based conservation and environmental science news platform. Read more

We are delighted to announce the winners of the Merit Scholarships from the MBA batch of 2023. This year, IFMR GSB offered three full scholarships to the top three candidates. The scholarships are given based purely on merit, assessed through school and college academic records, work experience, standardised test scores, writing ability, and the candidate’s performance in the personal interview (PI) round with the faculty. The Winners are Akhil Arengath, Parasaran Sarangan, and Sivacharan Peruri. They hail from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh respectively. Congratulations to the winners!

Prof Chirag Dhara, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Krea University, co-authored an opinion piece on sustainable technology. In this analysis, the authors delve deeper into the EV paradigm and question its 'sustainability'. Originally published in the popular science magazine Scientific American, the article was republished in the digital news site Scroll.in. Read more

Prof Soumyajit Bhar, Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies (full-time), and Prof Kalpita Bhar Paul, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, have together authored an important article on rediscovering the human touch amidst a global pandemic. The article elaborates on the importance of collaboration during such an emergent crisis, and how we, as a society, need to find a way to tackle our fears. Read more