Month: December 2020

Faculty Achievement

Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Dean, Sponsored Research & Industrial Consultancy Cell and Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering has been named for the prestigious Newton-Bhabha Fund Researcher Link Workshop Grants 2020-21.
The program is funded by the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) under the Newton Bhabha Fund facilitated by the British Council. He will be collaborating with the faculty experts from the University of Glasgow, the United Kingdom to hold a series of workshops focusing on high-impact research in the area of healthcare technology for public health preparedness and response to emerging disease outbreaks/pandemics. 
British Council through Newton Bhabha Fund announces Researcher Links Workshop Grants 2020 in collaboration with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is promoting international development- relevant research and professional development of early-career researchers. The program gives financial support to bring together a UK-India cohort of early career researchers in a workshop with a potential for long term sustainability. 
Prof. Suman Chakraborty is a stalwart in the areas of Microfluidics, Nanofluidics and Computational Fluid Dynamics. One aspect which distinguishes Prof. Chakraborty’s research work from many others is the strong link between outstanding fundamental scholarly work and innovative technology development relevant to industries and society. His contributions on fluid flow in miniaturized devices, leading to the development of low cost medical diagnostic devices, has set the course to revolutionize the healthcare technology industry through the innovation of rapid, portable, accurate, and inexpensive medical diagnostics with very low sample consumption, thereby addressing perhaps the most challenging proposition of the underprivileged and remote population groups across the world. His most recent innovation is COVIRAP – a viral diagnostic device that is portable and low-cost while capable of delivering rapid results matching the accuracy of the gold standard of viral diagnostic devices. The device has been certified by ICMR and is ready for commercialization.
In recognition of his pioneering research contributions in Engineering Sciences, Prof. Chakraborty has been conferred the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Prize, the highest scientific honour from the Government of India. He has also become a Fellow of various National Academies of Science and Engineering, and a fellow of ASME, APS and the FRSC. More info: http://www.iitkgp.ac.in/department/ME/faculty/me-suman

Ammonia Hotspot Trends in India – First-time observations from India

Indo-Gangetic Plain an atmospheric ammonia hotspot but India’s overall trends look promising

Agro fertilizers containing high levels of ammonia have long been designated as a hazardous material for human health. For the first time in India, the seasonal and inter-annual variability of atmospheric ammonia emitted by the agricultural sector has been analyzed by researchers from IIT Kharagpur in collaboration with IITM Pune and European researchers. And the results are in agreement with the long-held apprehension of global environmentalists – the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) is indeed the global hot-spot of atmospheric ammonia (NH3) due to intense agricultural activities and fertilizer production there. 

Using IASI satellite measurements to analyze the seasonal and inter-annual variability of atmospheric NH3 over India for the period 2008–2016, the researchers observed atmospheric ammonia growing rapidly at a rate of 0.08% annually during the summer-monsoon (Kharif crop period) season from June to August. The study further confirmed a direct correlation between NH3 emissions and fire counts and reports a high volume of atmospheric ammonia in the same season. They delineated the data for global industrial, agricultural, and natural NH3 hotspots.

“The satellite data we collected for agricultural emissions show a positive correlation of atmospheric ammonia with total fertilizer consumption and temperature since high temperature favours volatilization and is negatively correlated with total precipitation as wet deposition helps removal of atmospheric ammonia,” explained Prof. Jayanarayanan Kuttippurath from IIT Kharagpur’s Centre for Oceans, Rivers, Atmosphere. 

Atmospheric ammonia is typically generated due to agricultural activities including the use of nitrogenous fertilizers, manure management, soil and water management practices and animal husbandry. It is very dynamic as it is constantly exchanged between the atmosphere and biosphere. In India, there has been a lack of detailed information about atmospheric ammonia, which is a significant contributor to atmospheric pollution and deterioration of air quality. This is particularly important for IGP as there are many cities including New Delhi.

This study titled “Record high levels of atmospheric ammonia over India: Spatial and temporal analyses” and published recently in Elsevier journal “Science of the Total Environment”, is pioneering research from India in measuring the dynamics of atmospheric ammonia over the region and validated the data supporting India’s commitment to reduce atmospheric pollution and development of global pollution control initiatives. Apart from IGP, data from across the country show some regional hotspots in northwest and southeast India. The study also mentions that there are positive trends in atmospheric NH3 over the agricultural areas of the United States, China and Europe, about 1.8–2.61% annually, depending on regions. However, the general trend in atmospheric ammonia over India is negative in most seasons.

“Observing the overall trend, we can therefore assert to being sincere to our pledge at the Paris Climate Summit towards reducing atmospheric emissions through initiatives under the National Clean Air Programme though we have to be relentless in our efforts to reduce the emissions at the Indo Gangetic Plain, which would otherwise have detrimental effects on the human health, ecosystems and climate,” added Prof. Kuttippurath.

Deliberating on possible remedies co-authors Mr. Ajay Singh and Prof. Nirupama Mallick from the IIT Kharagpur’s Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering emphasized the wider adoption of precision farming along with seasonal restrictions on the use of fertilizers.

“Agriculture, in its conventional form, contributes significantly to the atmospheric emission of gaseous ammonia that plays a key role in the deterioration of air quality over the whole of India by actively contributing to the formation of secondary aerosols. This demands regulations on the amount of fertilizer application in cropping seasons in arable lands, in place of conventional blanket recommendation practices, along with viable strategies to curb farm emissions” remarked Prof. Nirupama Mallick from the Dept. of AGFE.

Citation: J. Kuttippurath, A. Singh, S.P. Dash, N. Mallick, C. Clerbaux, M. Van Damme, L. Clarisse, P.-F. Coheur, S. Raj, K. Abbhishek, H. Varikoden, Record high levels of atmospheric ammonia over India: Spatial and temporal analyses, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 740, 2020, 139986, ISSN 0048-9697, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139986.

Media Coverage:

Economic Times Financial Express Business Standard
Hindustan Times The New Indian Express Yahoo News
Lokmat The Tribune Outlook
Times Now Navbharat Times Hindu BusinessLine

Contact:

Research: Dr. Jayanarayanan Kuttippurath, Assistant Professor, Centre for Oceans, Rivers, Atmosphere and Land Sciences (CORAL), IIT Kharagpur, Email: jayan@coral.iitkgp.ac.in

Media: Shreyoshi Ghosh, Executive Officer (Media & Communication), IIT Kharagpur, Email: shreyoshi@adm.iitkgp.ac.in

For news and information please visit: https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in

Follow IIT Kharagpur on social media: Facebook: @IITKgp     Twitter: @IITKgp    Instagram: @iit.kgp  

Higher Risk in Concentrated Business Control – VGSOM Researchers

Award-Winning Research from IIT Kharagpur’s Vinod Gupta School of Management Indicate Higher Risks with Family-controlled Firms

In an award-winning research study conducted by faculty and alumni at IIT Kharagpur’s Vinod Gupta School of Management, the researchers have found that family and family control ownership is negatively related to firms’ profitability due to lags in management. 

The study is based on decadal data from 2007 to 2017 of 421 listed firms in emerging markets which have at least 5%-20% of the equity capital is owned by a family group including concert promoters. The results show that family-owned firms dominant with concentrated ownership pay lower dividends leading to lower valuation and higher idiosyncratic risk.

“While the firms undertake significant trading in the stock market, high-risk tendencies and lower dividend payouts are the outcomes of ineffectiveness in managerial decision-making and policies. Our study points to the concentration of ownership as the primary reason rather than to the information asymmetry,” explained Prof. Arun Kumar Misra. 

The researchers used three measures of firm profitability, namely, return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and earnings per share (EPS).

“The results on the relationship of firm profitability with ownership structure (family and non-family firms) are consistent across all three measures in the context of the list of Indian firms in our sample,” said Prof. Abhijeet Chandra.

“Our findings are in line with the uncertainty and signaling theory, suggesting that (a) dividend is preferred over uncertain capital gains by investors, and (b) higher dividends signal superior health (lower risk) of a firm. The payment of low dividends negatively influences the firm-specific risk,” he further added.

The study has been named for the ‘Emerald Literati Award 2020 for Highly Commended Paper’. The paper titled  ‘Impact of ownership structure and dividend on firm performance and firm risk’, has been published in the international journal of Managerial Finance by Emerald Publishing Ltd. UK. The authors included Dr. Abhinav Kumar Rajverma, Former PhD Scholar, VGSoM (2015-2018), currently Faculty (IRMA, Anand, Guj.), Dr. Arun Kumar Misra, Associate Professor, VGSoM, Dr. Sabyasachi Mohapatra, Former PhD Scholar, VGSoM (2011-2015), currently Faculty (IIM Bodh Gaya) and Dr. Abhijeet Chandra, Assistant Professor, VGSoM. The editorial team said that it is one of the most exceptional pieces of work they saw throughout 2019. 

Citation: Rajverma, A.K., Misra, A.K., Mohapatra, S. and Chandra, A. (2019), “Impact of ownership structure and dividend on firm performance and firm risk”, Managerial Finance, Vol. 45 No. 8, pp. 1041-1061. https://doi.org/10.1108/MF-09-2018-0443

2020 Day 1 Placement Report

Despite Pandemic, IIT Kharagpur secured a significant number of placement offers for the 2020 season

At this ongoing pandemic situation, IIT Kharagpur bagged 276 Pre-Placement Offers (PPOs) out of 425 eight-week internship opportunities through online mode. Companies like Barclay, Goldman Sachs, Honeywell, Microsoft, MasterCard, Dr. Reddy, Tata Steel have offered more than 10 PPOs each. Around thirty companies participated in Day 1 and more than 130 placement offers were received for the final year students. TSMC, Sony-Japan and Cohesity US made international hiring offers.

“Key components of this success are excellent technical skills of the students, the flexible online internship plan and long-lasting relation with the company partners. This is the highest number among all other top academic institutes in India at the top MNCs in spite of the current economic condition” said Prof. A Rajakumar, Chairperson – Career Development Centre, IIT Kharagpur.

Other factors that contribute to the high demand of the students are wide choices in course curriculum available through flexible and strong academic programs, dedicated and experienced faculty strength of IIT Kharagpur.

“The above facts and figures indicate and convey that we can expect a decent placement session for KGP students in the face of this pandemic situation, remarked Prof. Rajakumar.

For the 2020-21 placement drive, 2100 plus students have registered out of which 1300 are UG/dual degree students. In spite of the economic constraints, companies are showing tremendous faith in us. More than 200 companies are registered to participate in the first phase of the recruitment drive starting from today. For initial days, 25%-27% core companies, 65% software and 10% consulting firms opened up prospects for the IIT Kharagpur students. This is a unique admixture of opportunities for the students to explore their dream careers.

Excellent performance in an internship by the students and subsequent high turnover of PPOs might have generated overwhelming interest of the companies to participate in full-time hiring.

“It is an encouraging sign for us that companies recognize our student’s hard work, academics stuff, talent and motivation during the internship and we are delighted that once again the top companies of the country have reposed their belief in our students,” added Prof. Rajakumar.