Category: Student Spotlight

SIAS students Sparsh Makharia, Vatsalya Betala, and Aarav Akali (Cohort 2022-26) secured 2nd place at the prestigious EMPOWER Hackathon, an inter-college competition hosted by IIM Ahmedabad’s Social Innovation Club (IDEOS), Ashoka University’s Social Impact Club (Anitya), and the CS Society of Ashoka University.

The EMPOWER Hackathon: Tech for Social Good brought together students from across India to develop innovative, technology-driven solutions addressing pressing social challenges. Competing against 162 participants, the team showcased exceptional problem-solving, technical expertise, and entrepreneurial thinking, delivering a solution that stood out among the top contenders.

Ananya Manikandan, an MBA student at IFMR GSB secured the Runner-up position in Vitarka, held as part of Fiesta’25 by FMS Delhi. The competition featured two rounds: Article Writing, where Ananya demonstrated analytical and articulation skills through thought-provoking articles, and Extempore, where she engaged in spontaneous speaking on contemporary societal issues.

As a part of the prize, Ananya has been awarded an internship opportunity with Mobile Creches, a non-profit organization dedicated to early childhood care, education, nutrition, and healthcare for children of migrant and construction workers

IFMR GSB’s PhD Scholar Soumyabrata Basu presented a paper that looks into the impact of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code on Indian firms at the Doctoral Colloquium on Financial Markets and Corporate Finance organised by IIT (ISM) Dhanbad. The paper is co-authored with Prof.Praveen Bhagawan and Prof. Jyoti Prasad Mukhopadhyay

Ananya Manikandan, MBA Cohort of 2025, IFMR GSB secured first placein CRE-AI-TIVE Writing at Chrysalis 2024–25, a national-level inter-collegiate competition organised by the Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA), Chennai, on 12 February 2025.

The contest featured two rounds: Round 1 involved creating a 10–25-line poem using AI text-generation tools, a 100-word AI usage note, and five prompts; round 2 challenged participants to write a 1000 – 1200-word story from two given lines, testing creativity and critical thinking. 

Additionally, Ananya’s article, India’s Fintech Revolution: How Startups Are Reshaping the Financial Landscape, was recognised as the “Article of the Quarter” in the inaugural edition of Management Manuscripts, a quarterly magazine by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management & Entrepreneurship (ABVSME), JNU, Delhi. The magazine, launched in collaboration with Gyanmancha – The Literary Society and Hariyali – The Sustainability Club, features 12 articles per issue on diverse management and interdisciplinary topics.

Kashish Ramesh, Cohort of 2023 – 2027, SIAS has been nominated for the Entrepreneurial Excellence Award at the Founders Conference in Marina Bay, Singapore (2026), becoming the youngest nominee in the event’s history.  

The nomination highlights her entrepreneurial initiatives, Quope and Cadet & Blu. Kashish founded Quope in 2021, a non-profit inspired by organisations like the Social Media Safety Organization in California, dedicated to combating social media addiction and promoting safer digital spaces. She also launched Cadet & Blu, an inbound consulting agency focused on writing-led strategies and supporting small and women-led businesses.  

Pursuing a double major in Economics and Data Science, Kashish leads the Business Club, where she encourages students to pursue their ideas and fosters entrepreneurial spirit within the campus community.  

For more details about the conference: https://www.founders2conf.com/
Kashish has also authored a book that can be purchased here:

A blog titled Transgender People in Indian Science Institutions: Identity, Community & Belonging by Purnaa Muthu, a third-year SIAS student majoring in Psychology and a former peer tutor at the Centre for Writing and Pedagogy (Krea-CWP), has been published on CDJ Plus, the blog of the Community Development Journal (Oxford University Press).

In this piece, Purnaa explores the work of Sayantan Datta, Assistant Professor of Practice, Krea-CWP, focusing on the lived experiences of transgender, gender non-conforming and nonbinary individuals in Indian science institutions. Along with a comprehensive summary of Sayantan’s previous research, published in the Community Development Journal, she offers new insights from her interview with them.

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Mohammed Hasim, PhD student, IFMR GSB, won the best paper award and a cash prize of ₹10,000 at the Spatial Econometrics Workshop and PhD Colloquium held at IIT Indore. His winning paper, Illuminating Inequality: Intra-State Economic Convergence and Regional Disparities in Karnataka, India, explores regional economic patterns and disparities within the state.

Jyothis Franklin, PhD scholar, IFMR GSB has presented a research paper titled ‘A Bibliometric Study of the Literature on Advertising Ethics’ co-authored with Dr Jayasankar Ramanathan, Associate Professor, Marketing, IFMR GSB at the  American Marketing Association (AMA) Winter Academic Conference 2025  (Virtual) on 10 February, 2025.

Abstract:
This study aims to analyse the research impact, key trends and current state of knowledge in advertising ethics through bibliometric analysis. By examining 233 relevant articles, the study evaluates publication patterns, authorship trends and knowledge structures. It identifies influential works, contributions and evolving trends in the domain. This study guides managers in developing ethical guidelines for advertising campaigns by mapping the evolution of advertising ethics since its inception. The study is the first to employ a quantitative method to map out the relevant literature on advertising ethics.

Three first-year MBA students from IFMR GSB — Rahul Kumar, Jayesh Sharma, and Harsh Verma — secured second place in Entrée-preneurship 7.0, an online case study competition held as part of Tangerine Trails, organised by the Entrepreneurship Cell of IIM Nagpur on 16 December, 2024.