PSB Guest Talk on India’s Digital Payments Revolution
2026-02-19 12:00 - 15:00 (Asia/Kolkata) | C-503, C V Raman Block
Paari School of Business is organising a pre-event guest talk titled “Driving India’s Digital Payments Revolution: Ecosystem, Technology, Risks, and Policy” on 19 February 2026, aimed at preparing students and faculty for deeper engagement with India’s rapidly evolving digital finance landscape.
The session will introduce participants to key themes shaping India’s digital payments ecosystem, including technological innovations, regulatory frameworks, cybersecurity concerns, and policy developments.
The talk will be delivered by Dr Srinivas Yanamandra, Professor of Practice at Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT). Drawing on his expertise in banking technology and financial systems, he will provide insights into how digital payment infrastructure is transforming financial inclusion, consumer behavior, and institutional practices in India.The talk is designed to help attendees build contextual understanding ahead of upcoming academic and industry engagements, while also offering an opportunity to interact with a domain expert and explore career and research perspectives in fintech, digital banking, and financial policy.

Talk on Internet Adoption, Gender and Productivity in Informal Firms
2026-02-26 12:00 - 13:00 | C-503, C V Raman Block
Paari School of Business (PSB) is organising an External Research Talk on “Internet Adoption, Gender and Productivity in Informal Firms in India” on February 26, 2026. The talk will be delivered by Ms Jayati Chatterjee, Research scholar at IIT Madras.
Using nationally representative data from 2010 to 2023, the study analyses the impact of internet adoption on firm productivity in India’s unorganised sector, with a particular focus on gender differences. The findings reveal that internet adoption leads to an average increase of 28 percent in firm productivity. However, a substantial gender productivity gap remains, as female-owned enterprises exhibit nearly 48 percent lower productivity compared to male-owned firms. Notably, female-led enterprises that adopt internet technology experience a 23 percent increase in productivity, which helps narrow the productivity gap relative to firms that do not adopt the internet. These results underscore the significant role of digital technology in enhancing productivity and fostering gender-inclusive growth within the informal sector.
About the Speaker
Ms Jayati Chatterjee is a research scholar in Economics at IIT Madras, specializing in development economics and industrial organisation. Her research focuses on digital technology adoption among small firms, with an emphasis on gender. Her work has been published in top peer-reviewed journals, and she has presented her research at international conferences, including those organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), and the University of Tokyo. She received the Best Paper Award at ICMM 2024, held at IIM Amritsar.

Advanced Entrepreneurship Skill Development Programme
2026-03-09 09:00 - 2026-03-13 17:00 | Tiered Classroom, 5th Floor, Admin Block
Paari School of Business in collaboration with National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ni-msme) is organising an Advanced Entrepreneurship Skill Development Programme (A-ESDP) on Digital Marketing Tools and Analytics from March 09 to 13, 2026. The programme is sponsored under the ESDP Scheme.
This programme will help participants learn new concepts from industry experts, gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool, and develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects.

Lecture on Optimal Monetary Policy under Informality
2026-03-12 12:00 - 13:00 | Tiered Classroom, 5th Floor, Admin Block
Paari School of Business is organising a distinguished lecture titled “Optimal Monetary Policy under Informality: A Segmented Markets Perspective” on March 12, 2026. The lecture will be delivered by Prof. Parag Jayant Waknis, Professor of Economics at the Easwari School of Liberal Arts (ESLA), SRM AP.
Abstract
This paper examines optimal monetary policy in economies characterized by formal-informal sector duality, using a model that incorporates segmentation across labor, goods, and financial markets. The formal sector consists of connected households and firms that trade predominantly with one another and access the formal financial system for consumption smoothing and production financing. The informal sector, by contrast, comprises unconnected households and firms that likewise trade primarily within their own network but rely on informal financial arrangements for the same purposes. Under this structure, interest rate changes transmit asymmetrically: connected households absorb policy shocks directly, while unconnected households are affected only indirectly through their trade linkages with the formal sector. Optimal monetary policy is derived as the solution to a benevolent social planner’s problem that accounts explicitly for this market segmentation.
About the Speaker
Prof. Parag Jayant Waknis is a Professor of Economics at the Easwari School of Liberal Arts, SRM University-AP, Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh. He is an experienced macroeconomist and monetary theorist. His research focuses on Monetary Theory and Policy, Macroeconomics, and the Economics of Informality. Prof. Waknis employs New Monetarist models and dynamic macroeconomic frameworks to study developing economies, with particular emphasis on tax evasion, demonetisation, and the macroeconomic implications of affirmative action. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Connecticut, USA.

The Role of Avatars in Shaping Consumer Experiences
2026-03-26 12:00 - 13:00 | Tiered Classroom, 5th Floor, Admin Block
Paari School of Business (PSB) is organising a distinguished lecture titled “When Technology Becomes Social: The Role of Avatars in Shaping Consumer Experiences” on March 26, 2026. The lecture will be delivered by Dr Shashank Singh Pawar, Assistant Professor in the Marketing area at Amrita School of Business, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kollam, Kerala.
Abstract
The rapid integration of artificial intelligence into digital environments is transforming how consumers interact with brands and services. One prominent development is the increasing use of AI- driven avatars that serve as interactive representatives of organisations in online platforms such as customer service, digital retail, and brand communication. Unlike traditional interfaces, avatars function as social actors by incorporating humanlike cues that shape consumer perceptions and experiences. Their visual appearance, humanlikeness, and expressive behavior influence how consumers evaluate credibility, authenticity, and the overall relevance of interactions. Consumer responses to avatars operate through multiple psychological mechanisms. Cognitively, avatars affect perceptions such as psychological distance and informational value, while affectively they can evoke emotions such as warmth, humor, and perceived similarity. Socially, avatars foster a sense of presence, rapport, and personalization that resembles interpersonal communication. Understanding these mechanisms is essential for designing avatar experiences that enhance consumer engagement and create meaningful interactions in increasingly technology-mediated marketplaces.
About the Speaker
Dr Shashank Singh Pawar is an Assistant Professor in the Marketing area at Amrita School of Business, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kollam, Kerala. He is a Fellow of Management (FPM) in Marketing from the Goa Institute of Management, Goa, and has over eight years of teaching experience. His research lies at the intersection of consumer behaviour, digital marketing, and technology-mediated service interactions, with a particular focus on how consumers respond to AI-enabled service avatars and digital interfaces. His work has been published in Computers in Human Behaviour (ABDC A), and his ongoing research is under review at leading journals, including the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Service Management and Acta Psychological. His research employs rigorous methodological approaches, including experimental research designs, structural equation modelling, and qualitative analysis using NVivo and MAXQDA.

Guest Talk on of Robust Static Hedging of Path-Dependent Options
2026-04-16 15:00 - 16:00 | Tiered Classroom, 5th Floor, Admin Block
Paari School of Business is organising a Guest Talk on “Robust Static Hedging of Path-Dependent Options using Martingale Optimal Transport” on April 16, 2026. The talk will be delivered by Ms Purba Banerjee, Ph.D. Scholar at the Department of Mathematics, IISc Bangalore.
Abstract
The talk will present an overview of robust static hedging approaches for path-dependent options using the framework of Martingale Optimal Transport (MOT). It will discuss how model-independent pricing and hedging can be formulated as optimization problems under martingale constraints. The session will highlight key ideas behind constructing hedging strategies that remain effective under uncertainty in the underlying asset dynamics, along with insights into theoretical foundations and practical implications in mathematical finance.
About the Speaker
Ms Purba Banerjee is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Mathematics at IISc, Bangalore under the supervision of Prof. Srikanth Iyer and Prof. Shashi Jain. Her area of research is mathematical finance with a focus on option pricing, hedging and risk optimization.
Prior to this she has done her MS in Mathematics at the Department of Mathematics, IISc as a part of the integrated Ph.D. program and her undergraduate in Mathematics honours at St. Xaviers College, Kolkata.
Today, she will present the final work of her PhD titled “Robust static hedging of path dependent options using Martingale Optimal Transport”. This is a joint work with her supervisors and is also a runner up for the BlackRock Applied Research Award 2026.
