We are thrilled to share Professor Bishnu Mohapatra’s most recent volume of poetry, Barshavatara, has been published in English translation as Rain Incarnations by Speaking Tiger Books. The Odia volume was published in 2022 by Paschima Publications, Bhubaneswar. Professor Mohapatra is Professor, Politics, SIAS and Director, Moturi Satyanarayana Centre for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Krea University.
Dr Lakshmi Narayanan, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies, SIAS has received funding for his proposal under the PM Early Career Research Grant scheme, awarded by Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) — a newly established initiative by the Government of India. The project, titled Early Morning Ionosphere-Thermosphere System (EMITS): Knowledge Gaps and Importance in the Low and Mid-Latitudes, aims to enhance our understanding of the outer reaches of the Earth’s atmosphere during the early morning hours.
As part of the project, a multi-frequency GNSS receiver will be installed on the Krea University campus. This instrument will track signals from navigation satellites such as GPS and NaVIC to study the state of the ionosphere. These radio signals, transmitted in the L and S bands from satellites in medium Earth and geosynchronous orbits, must propagate through the intervening ionosphere before reaching us. By analysing the minor refraction and scattering these signals undergo, researchers can gain valuable insights into the ionosphere. Additionally, archived satellite datasets will be utilised to investigate the early morning upper atmosphere and ionosphere.
The duration of the project is three years, with funding of approximately Rs 60 lakh.
Dr Lakshmi Narayanan, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies, SIAS has co-authored an article titled ‘Resolving the generation mechanisms and electrodynamical effects of Medium Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (MSTIDs)’ which has been published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences. The work is a perspective article resulting from detailed deliberations of an international team of researchers for 2-3 years led by a NASA scientist. The team has gathered twice at Bern to discuss outstanding problems regarding an ionospheric phenomenon called Medium Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (MSTIDs). MSTIDs are perturbations propagating in the ionosphere of earth, and they are caused by different mechanisms that are not well understood/characterized. MSTIDs affect satellite based communication, navigation and radio astronomical observations. In this article, they discuss the most important issues in their characterisation and point to some of the inconsistencies that exist in the literature. They also provide some recommendations to the community to address these issues.
Dr Chirag Dhara, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies, SIAS, recently co-authored a paper titled, ‘A scalability-centric perspective on global human development within environmental limits.’
Nordic countries epitomise “sustainable development:” that is the general global perception. Dr Dhara has co-authored a paper demonstrating that this perception is based on a fundamentally flawed understanding of planetary climate and ecological limits – one that most international organisations, including the UNDP, suffer from. Their research shows that certain middle-income, developing countries offer a better vision for sustainable development.
A research article by Dr Tanmoy Chakrabarty, Assistant professor, Physics, SIAS titled, “Spin glass and complex magnetism in a high-entropy spinel oxide with five cations at both tetrahedral and octahedral sites” has been published in the “Applied Physics Letters”. In this publication, Dr Chakrabarty is one of the two corresponding authors.
In this work, the team has reported spin glass behavior and complex magnetic properties of a high-entropy spinel oxide with five cataions at tetrahedral and octahedral sites. They have carried out structural studies by XRD and SEM and studied magnetic properties using AC and DC magnetic measurements. The data from the AC magnetization confirms this material’s cluster spin glass state. Although spin glass behavior is a well reported phenomena among magnetic frustration, the novelty of this work is here it is first time observed in a high entropy oxide with 5 cations in both the tetrahedral and octahedral sites. The work highlights the potential of entropy-driven design in tailoring multifunctional materials for advanced applications.
Professor Shanti Pappu, Visiting Professor of Archaeology and History, SIAS has co-authored a paper titled Breaking it Down: Ethnographic Studies on the Manufacture of Basalt Grinding Stones in India, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. Her co-authors include Sutonuka Bhattacharya, PhD student and Professor Naama Goren-Inbar from Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Dr Prachi Joshi, Senior Research Scholar and Dr Kumar Akhilesh, Director from Sharma Centre for Heritage Education and Professor Gideon Shelach-Lavi from Department of Asian Studies, The Louis Frieberg Chair of East Asian Studies, Hebrew University.
The latest essay ‘Spiral Epistemologies: New Forms for the Public’ (2024) by Dr Srajana Kaikini, Assistant Professor, Philosophy, SIAS is part of the annual anthology Projects / Processes published by the Serendipity Arts Foundation. The essay explores new curatorial forms for the commons reflecting on the Public Art Grant Commissions for 2023 gathered under the project The Island that Never Gets Flooded.
A recent publication by Professor Shanti Pappu, Visiting Professor of Archaeology and History, SIAS in collaboration with various other researchers is one of the pilot projects to explore skill acquisition and pedagogy in the context of the forgotten craft of making stone tools. The paper titled Flakes, Feelings, and Finesse: Experiential Studies of Skill Acquisition in Novice Knappers deals with the stone tool technologies used from around 2.6 Ma to around 300 ka (Lower Palaeolithic).
Dr Shikha Rajpurohit, Assistant Professor, Philosophy, SIAS has been awarded the Tagore National Scholarship, given for a period of two years by the Ministry of Culture, GOI. Dr Rajpurohit will be working under the aegis of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune to critically edit the Nidarśana commentary of Rājānaka Ānanda on Kāvyaprakāśa. The commentary was written in the 17th century of which eight manuscripts are known to exist till date. The edition will be useful for researchers working in the fields of Sanskrit poetics and Indian philosophy.
Dr Suresh Govindapuram, Assistant Professor of Economics, IFMR GSB is one of the Co-PIs (Co-Project Directors) for the project “Drivers and Barriers of Rooftop Solar Power: An Analysis of Micro and Small Size Hotels in India” sanctioned under Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) Collaborative Empirical Research Project on Solar Energy and Sustainability 2024-25.
Other collaborators include Dr Salman Haider (VIT Vellore), Dr Shadab Danish (IIM Raipur), Professor Arup Mitra (SAU Dehli) and Professor Prabakar S (VIT Vellore).
