Dr Suchika Chopra, Assistant Professor, Economics, SIAS presented her research paper, titled ‘Home and Community-Based Services: A Strategy to Decrease Nursing Home Use?’ at the 17th Annual Conference of the German Association of Health Economics at the University of Paderborn on 25 March 2025. The paper explores the impact of Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) on nursing home utilisation by looking at county-level changes in HCBS establishments and their employees.
Abhayraj Naik, Visiting Associate Professor of Practice, Environmental Studies, SIAS, recently co-authored an analysis essay with Parul Kumar, PhD candidate, KU Leuven and Deputy Executive Director, EPICO KlimaInnovation titled Endangered Birds, Renewable Energy, and India’s New Constitutional Climate Right, published in the Journal of Environmental Law (Oxford University Press). This essay examines India’s first major climate litigation ruling — the Supreme Court’s 2024 judgment in M.K. Ranjitsinh and Others v. Union of India and Others.
Dr Sairam Moturi, Assistant Professor, Finance, Accounting, and Quantitative Finance, IFMR GSB, conducted a workshop on Financing Startups using LEGO blocks as part of a Faculty Development Program. Sponsored by the Ministry of Education Innovation Cell and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the program was held at IISER-Tirupati on 27 March 2025. Faculty members from universities and colleges across Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu attended the workshop.
Under the guidance of Nagarani M, Associate Professor, OB & HR and Head of Placements, IFMR GSB, Professor Srinivasan Kalyanasundaram, Professor of Practice, Finance, IFMR GSB and Suresh Kurukkath, Senior Manager, Placements, IFMR GSB represented Krea University at the UK-India Skills Mission Meeting. The event, coordinated by the IT-ITeS Sector Skills Council of NASSCOM, was hosted at the British High Commission on 21 March 2025 in Chennai.
The gathering brought together leading Chartered Institutes and Certificate Awarding Institutions from the UK, fostering discussions on collaboration opportunities to enhance industry-relevant skills among students. These engagements pave the way for international partnerships, internships, and certifications, further enriching students’ career trajectories.
Sathyanarayanan R, Sundram Fasteners Associate Professor, Marketing, IFMR GSB has authored an article titled The digital-physical nexus: How brands are blending real and virtual worlds in the second edition of the State of the Brands 2025 global report. His invited article explores how brands create hybrid experiences that merge the physical and digital, from virtual shopping to immersive brand storytelling.
Download the report here
Dr Lakshmi Narayanan, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies, SIAS, has co-authored a paper titled Cross-equatorial travelling ionospheric disturbances and changes in background ionospheric densities over Indian longitudes during the geomagnetic storm of 20–21 December 2015, which has been published in Advances in Space Research. This study examines the ionospheric response over the Indian region during a space weather event in December 2015. Additionally, it tracks a propagating disturbance in the ionosphere that originated in the Australian sector and dissipated over North India. Such wave disturbances play a crucial role in the energy distribution of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. This research is the result of a collaborative effort among scientists from the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad; UCAR, USA; the Indian Center for Space Physics, Kolkata; the Airports Authority of India; and Krea University.
Read the paper here
An article co-authored by Nickhil Sharma, Visiting Faculty, SIAS, titled, Intersectional analysis of visual generative AI: the case of stable diffusion has been published in AI & Society.
The article critically examines Stable Diffusion, a widely used open-source visual Generative AI tool, through an intersectional lens. It explores how AI-generated imagery can perpetuate existing social hierarchies—including sexism, racism, heteronormativity, and ableism—by defaulting to representations that are often white, able-bodied, and masculine-presenting. It also highlights the dominance of Euro- and North America-centric aesthetic norms within these outputs.
Importantly, the article moves beyond questions of bias in outputs to interrogate the institutional and ideological frameworks that inform the design and deployment of these tools. As digital technologies increasingly shape our political and social lives, the work underscores the importance of analysing the structures and ideas that produce them.
The authors advocate for a reparative and social justice-oriented approach to visual generative AI—one that actively addresses the injustices these systems can reinforce and imagines more inclusive and equitable technological futures.
The team invites readers to explore the full article and engage in the broader conversation on equity and accountability in AI development.
Read the full article here
A case titled Mayflower Restaurants: Effective Service Delivery and Customer Engagement, co-authored by Professor Chandrasekaran N, Professor, Operations and Strategy, Area Chair – Strategic Management, and Chairperson – Executive MBA Programme, IFMR GSB, and Nagarani M, Associate Professor, OB & HR, IFMR GSB, has been published on the Ivey Case website.
Bolt 2025 commenced with a spectacular opening ceremony on 28 February 2025, ushering in two weeks of exhilarating competition, camaraderie, and sporting excellence. This year’s edition was larger than ever, featuring participation from students from SIAS and IFMR GSB, along with the introduction of new sports, strategic club collaborations, and an innovative approach to scaling the event. The house system—Athena, Ares, Poseidon, and Persephone—fuelled the competitive spirit, with students proudly representing their teams.
In a significant milestone, Bolt 2025 secured monetary sponsorships for the first time, paving the way for its transformation into an intercollegiate event in the future. The opening ceremony featured inspiring speeches from the core team, acknowledgments for club contributions, and a commitment to elevating Bolt to new heights.
The competition was intense, with each house showcasing its strengths—Athena’s formidable football team, Poseidon’s dominance in tennis, Ares’ all-around resilience, and Persephone’s powerhouse basketball squad. Beyond the matches, Bolt 2025 fostered a strong sense of community, bringing together students from diverse disciplines to cheer, support, and revel in the spirit of sportsmanship. Various clubs played a crucial role in enhancing the experience—Layam’s energetic opening ceremony, Rachana’s innovative merchandise, the Gaming Club’s revival of Esports, and Her Campus’ creative additions, among many others.
The event culminated in a grand closing ceremony on 15 March 2025, where the winning teams were honoured in a celebratory prize distribution. The ceremony not only recognised the champions and unforgettable moments but also celebrated the collective spirit that made Bolt 2025 truly remarkable. With an ambitious vision to expand beyond Krea, this year’s edition was more than just a tournament—it was a movement, laying the groundwork for an even bigger and brighter future.
Report by Shivani Pramod, MBA Cohort of 2024-26
Dr Rangachary Kommanduri, Visiting Assistant Professor, Data Science, SIAS, has been awarded a grant under the MeitY Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EiR) Program for his proposal, ‘Transforming Campus Safety with AI-Powered Anomaly Detection Solutions.’ The program, which supports early-stage entrepreneurs in developing innovative technology solutions, is supported by Gyan Circle Ventures (CIEDI) at IIIT Sri City and funded under the TIDE 2.0 initiative by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The project focuses on developing an AI-powered surveillance system to detect abnormal activities on campus, such as intrusions, unattended objects, and potential security threats like physical altercations. The system will provide real-time alerts, enhancing campus safety through swift intervention.
