Category: Research Spotlight

Dr Shimna Kannoth, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Environmental Studies, SIAS has co-authored a paper published in Space Weather titled Impact of the Gannon Superstorm on the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly Dynamics During Its Recovery Phase on 11 May 2024. The present study, for the first time, reveals the combined influence of geomagnetic storm-induced modifications in equatorial electrodynamics, meridional wind circulation, and substantial compositional changes during the recovery phase of a superstorm on the ionospheric plasma distribution. The integration of observational evidence with model simulations provides strong corroborative support, thereby offering new insights into the complex coupling processes governing ionospheric responses during extreme geomagnetic disturbances.

Read more

Dr Arindam Chatterjee, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Biological Sciences, SIAS is now also a Review Editor/ Community Reviewer in the section of Molecular Diagnostics and Therapeutics section, in the journal of Frontiers of Molecular Bioscience, Q1 impact factor of 4, indexed in major international digital archives and repositories, such as PubMed Central, DOAJ, Google Scholar, Chemical Abstracts Service, Scopus.

Know more

​A new scientific paper co-authored by Dr Chirag Dhara, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies has been published in Environmental Research Letters (ERL). This was in collaboration with ​researchers from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune and the University of Reading, UK​.

​Titled Future intensification of Northern Hemisphere monsoons due to declining remote aerosol pollution, the study reveals that reducing air pollution in the Northern Hemisphere’s industrialised continents could have a significant and far-reaching impact on future monsoon rainfall. The research finds that aerosols from North American and Eurasian continents play a substantial role in shaping monsoon precipitation, and that a drastic decrease in these pollutants will likely intensify summer monsoons in West Africa, North America, and South Asia. The study​ addresses a critical challenge in climate science. While it is known that air pollution from human activities, particularly aerosols, has greatly influenced past monsoon patterns, predicting future changes has been difficult. This research provides crucial insights, suggesting that efforts to improve air quality could have unintended climatic consequences thousands of miles away.

Sooraj, K P, Chirag Dhara, D C Ayantika, Kalik Vishisth, K.M Sumit, Andy Turner, R. Krishnan (2025). “Future Intensification of Northern Hemisphere Monsoons Due to Declining Remote Aerosol Pollution.”Environmental Research Letters 20, no. 11.

Read more

Dr Salwa Yahya, Post-Doctoral Fellow, The Moturi Satyanarayana Centre for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences has published an article titled Interpretivism and Ethnography: Positionality and Data Analysis in the journal Studies in Indian Politics.

Know more

Dr Sambaiah Gundimeda, Associate Professor, Politics, SIAS recently penned an article titled Debating Uniform Civil Code: the making of Article 44 in the Constituent Assembly of India published by Indian Law Review.

Abstract

Should a secular state accommodate personal laws in a religiously diverse society? Must legislation reforming personal and cultural practices rest on the consent of affected groups? These questions animated the Constituent Assembly’s deliberations on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). Initially conceived as a mechanism to harmonize personal laws, the UCC soon became a site of constitutional contestation over secularism, gender justice, and cultural autonomy. Proponents advanced it as essential to civic equality and national integration, while critics warned of majoritarian homogenization and emphasized the need for preserving plural legal traditions and community assent. The Constituent Assembly ultimately located the UCC within the non-justiciable Directive Principles, signalling a compromise between legal uniformity and pluralist accommodation. Revisiting these debates, this article argues that the democratic legitimacy of personal law reform rests not on equality or uniformity alone, but on inclusive deliberation, negotiated consent, and institutional patience within a plural constitutional order.

Know more

Read the pdf

​Dr Vasupradha Srikrishna, Assistant Professor, Communications​, IFMR GSB has contributed a Book Chapter titled “Pixels and Pedagogy: A Case Study of Experiential Learning by Media Students in Tamil Nadu During the Covid-19 Pandemic” in the book Digital Inequalities in Media Education in South Asia: Context and Consequences of the Covid-19 Pandemic – A Routledge Publication.

Know more

Sayantan Datta, Assistant Professor of Practice, Krea-CWP has co-authored a paper titled ‘We Will Keep Clapping till the End’: Hijra Narratives on Their Taali published in the latest issue of the prestigious Indian Journal of Gender Studies.​ The paper is co-authored with ​Professor Pushpesh Kumar​, Professor of Sociology, University of Hyderabad​.

In a first of its kind attempt, the authors counter the commonsensical notions of the taali (clap), a quintessential marker of the hijras, a south asian gender-transgressive community. To do so, they draw upon years of fieldwork and in-depth interviews with members of the hijra subculture. Focusing on how the taali is deployed to both cement hijra belongingness and as a mode of protest, the authors trace the acoustic underpinnings of what it means to be a hijra in contemporary India.

Know more

​Dr Panchali Ray, Associate Professor, Anthropology and Gender Studies, SIAS has published an article titled Alienated in one’s own land: ecology, border security, and nationalism in chars of Bengal in Inter-Asia Cultural Studies.

Know more