Professor Jayaram Ramakrishnan, Professor of Practice, Finance, IFMR GSB, recently presented a webinar on ‘Pricing for Profits – B2B Perspective’ to the members of The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI) on behalf of the MSME and Start up Promotion Board (MSPB) of The Institute of Cost Accountants of India on the 26 March 2026. The same was attended by over 500 plus professionals of ICAI and was presided by the Chairman MSME Board and Central Council member of ICAI.
Dr Salwa Yahya, Post-Doctoral Fellow, ‘Moturi Satyanarayana Centre for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences, delivered a talk titled “Lower-caste Muslim activism and the post-colonial Indian state: Issues and evolving trajectories’ at Presidency University, Kolkata on 30 March 2026.
Dr Joya John, Assistant Professor, Literature, SIAS, has written an article titled ‘How social media reels about the LPG shortage obscure a harsh truth’ in Scroll.in.
The article critically analyses the gap between viral representations of LPG shortages and the underlying socio-economic challenges.
Sayantan Datta, Assistant Professor of Practice, Centre for Writing and Pedagogy, delivered a plenary talk at the symposium Beyond Access: A Symposium on Reimagining Student Support in Indian Higher Education, organised by Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, on 27 March 2026. The talk was titled ‘It Helped Me Speak English Without Thinking Twice: Insights from a Peer-Driven, Immersion-Based Approach to English-Language Support’.
About the Talk
In this presentation, Sayantan Datta highlighted the Centre for Writing & Pedagogy’s Conversation Partner Programme (CPP). Started in 2021 as a part of the Centre’s peer-support initiatives, the CPP recruits senior undergraduate student volunteers (“Conversation Partners”) who are trained to create a safe and judgement-free space for students and staff to practise speaking, listening, and reading in English. Instead of teaching grammar and spoken English, Conversation Partners facilitate engagement with the language through participatory and embodied reading, listening, and speaking exercises. Sayantan demonstrated some exercises developed and implemented by Conversation Partners. Then, drawing upon student feedback from four iterations of the Programme, Sayanted showed how the CPP helps L2 learners not only tide over their anxiety around English proficiency and inculcate confidence, but also fosters a larger culture of peer support in the University. Sayantan argued that peer-driven immersion-based approaches to English-language support, like the CPP, recentre care and joy in language learning while helping L2 learners form durable support networks that extend beyond language learning.
Dr Anannya Dasgupta, Director, Centre for Writing & Pedagogy and Associate Professor, Literature, SIAS, delivered the keynote address at the symposium Beyond Access: A Symposium on Reimagining Student Support in Indian Higher Education, organised by Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, on 27–28 March 2026. Her lecture was titled ‘Effective Writing Support in an Unequal Playing Field’.
Professor Jayaram Ramakrishnan, Professor of Practice, IFMR GSB, has co-authored an article titled ‘Costing Approach Adopted for MSP Fixation: A Practitioner’s Perspective’ with Dr Lakshmi Padmakumari, Assistant Professor, Finance and Accounting, Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA). The article has been published in Agri Bulletin, the quarterly flagship journal of the Agriculture Cost Management Board of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI), in its March 2026 edition (Volume 4).
Dr Suchika Chopra, Assistant Professor, Economics, SIAS, and Dr Sabah Siddiqui, Assistant Professor, Psychology, SIAS, have authored an opinion piece in The Hindu titled ‘India must use the AYUSH opportunity’. The article argues that India should strategically scale AYUSH globally by leveraging policy momentum and trade opportunities, while strengthening scientific validation, regulation, and credibility for sustained global acceptance.
Dr Sayandeb Chowdhury, Senior Assistant Professor, Literature, SIAS, participated in South Asia Literature, Culture & Politics, an international conference organised by Janki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi, at the India International Centre on 17–18 March 2026. He presented a paper on propaganda cinema titled ‘Statecraft as Pulp Fiction’. He also served as a Chair for a session on Literary Culture, Translation, and Intellectual Practice.
Dr Anannya Dasgupta, Director, Centre of Writing and Pedagogy (Krea-CWP) and Associate Professor of Literature, SIAS, and Sayantan Datta, Assistant Professor of Practice, Krea-CWP, conducted a two-day workshop titled Key Practices of Interdisciplinary Academic Writing on 17–18 March 2026. The intensive workshop introduced participants to essential practices in academic reading, writing, and presentation, equipping researchers with tools to communicate their work effectively across disciplines.
The workshop was organised by the Department of English, Mepco Schlenk Engineering College (Autonomous), Sivakasi, in collaboration with Chennai Mathematical Institute, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, and Krea-CWP. Research scholars from different disciplines from the host institution, as well as several other regional institutions of higher education, attended the workshop.
Dr Dipanjali Deka, Visiting Assistant Professor, Centre for Writing and Pedagogy (Krea-CWP), participated as a guest performer in the Malwa Mahila Kabir Yatra in Madhya Pradesh from 12–15 March 2026. Malwa Mahila Kabir Yatra is a travelling folk music festival that celebrates women’s voices and the music of the mystic poets of the subcontinent.
