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Dr Sambaiah Gundimeda delivers lectures at Faculty Development Programme at GITAM University

Dr Sambaiah Gundimeda, Associate Professor, Politics, SIAS was invited as a resource person for the Faculty Development Programme at GITAM University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The programme, held from 12 to 14 February 2025, featured Dr Gundimeda delivering two insightful lectures. His sessions focused on effective publication strategies and research proposal writing for securing funding.

The titles of his lectures were, ‘Unlocking the Secrets of Successful Publishing’ and ‘Crafting Comprehensive Budget Strategies’. 

SIAS student Purnaa Muthu pens a blog for CDJ Plus, the blog of the Community Development Journal (Oxford University Press)

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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Dr Sharin Shajahan Naomi speaks at Guru Nanak College

Dr Sharin Shajahan Naomi, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Krea University was invited by the Humanities department ( Political Science Programme) of Guru Nanak College to present  on India’s foreign policy towards war-torn countries on 11 February 2025. Her presentation focused on India’s foreign  policy to countries like Ukraine, Palestine, Myanmar and historical humanitarian intervention in Bangladesh and Sri Lankan civil war. Dr Sharin Shajahan has given interviews on foreign policy to indian media before. 

Dr Lakshmi Narayanan co-authors an article in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences

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.

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Dr Chirag Dhara co-authors the paper, ‘A scalability-centric perspective on global human development within environmental limits’

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.

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Dr Sambaiah Gundimeda delivers a talk at the Centre for Development Studies’ ICSSR-sponsored Capacity Building Programme

Dr Sambaiah Gundimeda, Associate Professor, Politics, SIAS was invited as a resource person by the Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum, for its ICSSR-sponsored Capacity Building Programme, “Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes – Sub-Plan and Sub-Classification” (6-7 February 2025). He delivered a talk titled “Justice at Last: Examining the Supreme Court’s Verdict on Sub-Classification.”

Dr Gundimeda highlighted how affirmative action has improved Dalit representation but has disproportionately benefited dominant SC sub-groups like Chamars, Mahars, and Malas, while marginalised groups like Madigas and Rellis remain excluded. This disparity led to demands for sub-categorisation, notably by the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) in Andhra Pradesh.

The Supreme Court’s E.V. Chinnaiah (2004) ruling deemed SCs a homogeneous group, barring states from internal classification. However, Davinder Singh (2014) reopened the debate, culminating in the landmark 2024 ruling that allowed sub-classification based on empirical data. The judgment, reinforcing substantive equality, acknowledges intra-group disparities but raises concerns about implementation and political misuse.

Debates persist over introducing a “creamy layer” filter in SC/ST reservations to prevent monopolisation by privileged sections. Moving forward, a data-driven, equitable distribution framework is essential to uphold the principles of affirmative action while addressing internal inequities.

Research Article by Dr Tanmoy Chakrabarty, published in the “Applied Physics Letters”

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.

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Dr Srajana Kaikini pens an article, The goodness of Jane Goodall in the Deccan Herald

Dr Srajana Kaikini, Assistant Professor, Philosophy, SIAS recently penned her experience, awe and inspiration, listening to Jane Goodall at the Mumbai LitLive Festival in the article The goodness of Jane Goodall in the Deccan Herald. Dr Kaikinideep dives into an interesting question by Goodall—if apes are in fact as angry, as violent, as caring, as loving, and as communicative as human beings, then why not see us in them and why not see them in us?

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Professor Shanti Pappu co-authors an article published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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.

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Dr Srajana Kaikini’s latest is part of Serendipity Arts Foundation’s annual anthology

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.