MAM
Game changers take the stage at Stairs National Games and Ebel Awards
MUMBAI: It’s not just medals that will be won, minds, movements and milestones are in the making. On Monday, 19 May, New Delhi’s Talkatora Indoor Stadium will host a sports spectacle with a purpose as the Stairs National Games 2025 and Ebel Awards 2025 roll out the red carpet for grassroots glory and transformative youth leadership.
Organised by the Stairs Foundation (Society for Transformation, Inclusion, and Recognition through Sports), the event is no ordinary gathering. It’s a dynamic convergence of young athletes, changemakers, policymakers, and performers from across the country and beyond, coming together to prove that sport is more than just play, it’s a powerful language for unity and impact.
With participation from over 20 states, the Stairs National Games champions inclusivity by levelling the playing field where talent, not privilege, determines victory. At the same time, the Stairs National Sports Excellence Awards will spotlight those who’ve quietly coached, mentored, and built India’s sports ecosystem from the ground up.
The evening will crescendo with the Ebel (Ek Bharat Ek Lakshya) Awards 2025, recognising individuals and institutions creating ripples in education, wellness, inclusion, and innovation. The awards have become one of India’s most aspirational honours in youth transformation saluting local heroes and global allies redefining empowerment from the grassroots.
Chief guest Pankaj Kumar Singh, Minister for Health, Family Welfare, Transport, and IT, will headline the proceedings, joined by H.E. Patrick John Rata, High Commissioner of New Zealand to India, and several dignitaries from governance, diplomacy, and public service. Special guests also include Sheeshpal Rajput, Vikram K. Porwal (IPS), and Ajit Sharan, bringing a blend of policy and purpose to the celebration.
Taking centre stage alongside these stalwarts are Stairs Brand Ambassadors international boxer Gaurav Bidhuri, actor and youth advocate Amit Sadh, and para-athlete Rohtash Chaudhary, who embody the campaign’s core belief: that India’s future leaders will rise from its playgrounds.
Stairs Foundation founder & President Siddhartha Upadhyay states, “We are building a scalable and sustainable model of youth empowerment. By combining sports, education, equity, and ethical leadership, we’re nurturing not just athletes but visionary citizens. The Stairs platform is about democratising opportunity, amplifying grassroots voices, and preparing India’s youth to lead, inspire, and transform. India’s future will rise from its playgrounds.”
Expect more than applause, the event will feature taekwondo, yoga, jump rope acts, and a stirring audiovisual tribute to Stairs’ journey. With the Stairs platform aligned to the United Nations sustainable development goals, and partnerships spanning embassies, federations, and NGOs, the evening promises to be a launchpad for larger conversations and collaborations.
And just like that, the whistle will blow for a movement that’s raising much more than games. It’s raising a nation.
Brands
Tessolve lands a semiconductor veteran to drive its next big push
Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, who started his career at ISRO and has spent 35 years building chips and companies, joins the Bengaluru-based firm as president and chief operating officer
BENGALURU: Tessolve has never been shy about its ambitions. The Bengaluru-based engineering services firm already counts 18 of the world’s top 20 semiconductor companies among its clients, employs more than 3,500 engineers across 12 countries, and last year pocketed a $150m investment from TPG. Now it has hired the executive it believes can turn those assets into something bigger. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, a 35-year semiconductor veteran who once built satellite payloads for ISRO and has since scaled engineering organisations across three continents, joins as president and chief operating officer, effective immediately.
THE MAN AND THE MANDATE
The appointment is, by any measure, a serious hire. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu comes to Tessolve after senior leadership stints at HCL Technologies, Altran and Wipro, where he managed large profit-and-loss portfolios and oversaw cross-regional teams. Over the course of his career, he has been instrumental in bringing more than 1,000 new products to market across the high-tech, energy and manufacturing verticals. Before the private sector claimed him, he began his working life as a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation, contributing to research and development in charge-coupled device technology and satellite payloads, a foundation that shaped everything that followed.
In his new role, he will lead Tessolve’s global growth strategy: expanding its engineering capabilities, deepening customer relationships and accelerating innovation across semiconductor and high-performance computing domains. The brief is broad, but the context is specific. Tessolve operates in the $550 billion global semiconductor market, and its recent moves, the acquisition of Germany’s Dream Chip Technologies and the TPG funding round, have sharpened both its reach and its expectations.
Srini Chinamilli, co-founder and chief executive of Tessolve, is characteristically direct about why Ravi Kumar Chirugudu was the choice:
“As we scale our global semiconductor and system engineering capabilities, Ravi’s appointment marks an important step forward. As global semiconductor demand continues to accelerate across industries, it is creating significant opportunities across the semiconductor lifecycle, from design, packaging, validation and systems integration. Ravi’s deep knowledge and leadership in this ecosystem brings the right mix of industry expertise, customer connect and execution capability, which will play a key role in strengthening our position as a trusted global engineering partner and reinforcing our market leadership.”
THE NEW ARRIVAL SPEAKS
Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, for his part, frames the move in terms of timing and culture, two factors that veteran executives tend to weigh as heavily as title or compensation:
“I am happy to join Tessolve at a time when the industry is rapidly evolving towards more complex, AI-driven systems. What stands out to me is its strong people-first culture and its commitment to bringing value to its customers. The strength of its global team, combined with its deep expertise in semiconductor innovation and next-generation product engineering, creates a solid foundation to build differentiated, scalable solutions. I look forward to working closely with the team to drive strategic growth and strengthen its role in shaping the global semiconductor ecosystem.”
The reference to AI-driven systems is not incidental. The semiconductor industry is in the midst of a structural reshaping, driven by the insatiable compute demands of artificial intelligence. For engineering services firms like Tessolve, which offers end-to-end capabilities from silicon design to packaged parts and invests in high-performance computing, high-speed interfaces, photonics and 5G, the moment is both an opportunity and a test. The company says it is well positioned to capture the next wave of industry growth. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu is now the person who has to prove it.
He came in from outer space, literally, and spent three decades learning how the semiconductor industry works from the inside out. Now Tessolve is betting that accumulated knowledge can help it cross the next frontier. In the $550 billion global chip market, the gap between ambition and execution is measured in engineering hours and leadership quality. Tessolve has just gone shopping for both.
