Education Leaders | Top Interviews

When the Government of India announced the Padma Awards in 2024, one name that stood out from the remote hills of Arunachal Pradesh was Yanung Jamoh Lego, a renowned herbal healer and agricultural expert. Awarded the Padma Shri, one of the country's highest civilian honours, Lego was recognised for her lifelong dedication to preserving indigenous knowledge, promoting traditional herbal medicine, and serving rural communities.

Popularly known as the "Adi Queen of Herbs," Yanung Jamoh Lego has spent decades documenting, practising and promoting the traditional healing wisdom of the Adi tribe, one of Arunachal Pradesh's largest indigenous communities. At a time when rapid modernisation threatens to erase centuries-old traditions, her work has helped safeguard valuable cultural and medicinal knowledge for future generations.

Born and raised in Arunachal Pradesh, Lego inherited her interest in herbal medicine from her father, who was a respected traditional healer. From a young age, she learned to identify medicinal plants found in the forests and hills of the region and understand their traditional uses. What began as a family legacy eventually became a mission to preserve and share indigenous healing practices with a wider audience.

Over the years, she has treated thousands of people using herbal remedies derived from locally available plants. Patients have travelled from different parts of Arunachal Pradesh and other states seeking her guidance. While many communities have relied on traditional medicine for generations, practitioners like Lego have played a crucial role in ensuring that this knowledge remains alive in an era increasingly dominated by modern healthcare systems.

Her contribution, however, extends beyond healthcare. As an officer in the Agriculture Department of Arunachal Pradesh until her retirement in 2023, Lego worked extensively on agricultural development and the conservation of medicinal plants. She encouraged local farmers and communities to cultivate herbal species, helping preserve biodiversity while creating awareness about sustainable resource management.

One of her most significant achievements has been the promotion of herbal gardens and community awareness programmes. Through workshops, demonstrations and public outreach initiatives, she educated younger generations about the importance of traditional medicinal plants and their role in local culture and livelihoods.

The Padma Shri recognition reflects a broader effort by India to honour individuals who work at the grassroots level and contribute to preserving the nation's rich cultural and scientific heritage. In recent years, the Padma Awards have increasingly celebrated unsung heroes whose work has had a lasting impact on communities despite receiving little national attention.

For Yanung Jamoh Lego, the award is not merely a personal achievement but a recognition of the value of indigenous knowledge systems that have been nurtured by tribal communities for centuries. Her journey demonstrates how traditional wisdom, when preserved and respected, can continue to play an important role in society while strengthening cultural identity and community well-being.

Through her work in herbal medicine, agriculture and knowledge preservation, Yanung Jamoh Lego has become a symbol of Arunachal Pradesh's rich heritage and a reminder that some of the most valuable contributions to nation-building often emerge from its remotest corners.

Two young aspirants from Jaipur have brought laurels to the city by securing top national ranks in the Chartered Accountancy (CA) Final Examination, the results of which were announced by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) on Thursday. Pranav Dhoot secured All India Rank (AIR) 7, while Harshika Khandelwal achieved AIR 28, placing them among the country's highest-performing candidates in one of India's most challenging professional examinations.

For 22-year-old Pranav Dhoot, the achievement is more than an academic milestone. Scoring an impressive 457 out of 600 marks, he has become the first chartered accountant in his immediate family, fulfilling a dream cherished by his grandfather.

"This achievement is special because I have fulfilled my grandfather's dream," Dhoot said after the results were declared.

Dhoot attributed his success to a disciplined study routine built around careful planning, regular revisions and consistent practice through mock tests. According to him, setting realistic goals and meeting them consistently played a crucial role in his preparation strategy.

"The key was hitting my targets with consistency and discipline," he said.

He also highlighted the importance of mental resilience during the demanding preparation period. The six-month study leave before the examination, he said, often felt isolating and required self-motivation and accountability.

"The preparation phase can get lonely. There are times when you need to motivate yourself, remain accountable and maintain a positive mindset," he added.

Despite being confident about his preparation, Dhoot admitted that securing a national rank exceeded his expectations.

"This is the best day for my family and me. I never expected to get a rank, let alone AIR 7," he said.

Looking ahead, Dhoot plans to explore entrepreneurship, drawing inspiration from his father, who is a businessman.

Meanwhile, 22-year-old Harshika Khandelwal continued her record of academic excellence by securing AIR 28 in the CA Final Examination. Her success follows an earlier achievement of AIR 16 in the CA Intermediate examination, which strengthened her confidence and motivated her to aim for a national rank in the final stage of the course.

Khandelwal followed a highly structured preparation strategy during her articleship period, focusing on multiple revisions of the syllabus. She aimed to revise the entire course four to five times and intensified her efforts during the final six months before the examination.

During this period, she studied for nearly 12 hours a day, significantly reduced social media usage and consciously avoided social gatherings to maintain focus on her goal.

The daughter of a grocery shop owner and a homemaker, Khandelwal credited her family, particularly her father, for guiding her career choices and supporting her throughout the challenging journey.

"I once wanted to become an engineer, but my father's advice to choose commerce in Class 11 put me on this path. My family's support kept me grounded and motivated throughout the journey," she said.

Interestingly, Khandelwal said she was uncertain about her performance after the examination, especially in the Advanced Financial Management paper.

"I wasn't expecting this result. It has only strengthened my belief in consistent hard work," she said.

The achievements of Dhoot and Khandelwal stand as inspiring examples of perseverance, discipline and determination, reflecting the dedication required to excel in one of India's most competitive professional qualifications.

For many Indian students, studying abroad is about earning a prestigious degree. For Ashaaz, however, the journey to the United Kingdom became much more than an academic pursuit—it was a crash course in independence, responsibility and self-discovery.

Now pursuing an integrated Master's degree (MComp) in Computer Science at the University of Sheffield, the former Welham Boys' School student says his biggest lessons have come not from textbooks, but from navigating everyday life thousands of kilometres away from home.

Why the UK Stood Out

Ashaaz's fascination with the UK began years before university applications.

While most aspiring Computer Science students are drawn by rankings and job prospects, he recalls being captivated by the country's historic architecture during an early visit.

"The elegant arches and detailed designs left a lasting impression on me," he says.

As he researched universities during Class 11, he found another reason to choose the UK: its strong emphasis on STEM education and practical learning.

Unlike systems that rely heavily on memorisation, British universities encourage students to apply concepts, solve problems and think independently—an approach that aligned with his interests.

A Different Way of Learning

After enrolling at the University of Sheffield, Ashaaz quickly realised that academic life in the UK was very different from what he had experienced in school.

Assignments were no longer routine exercises completed under close supervision. Instead, they became open-ended challenges that required initiative, critical thinking and perseverance.

Whether debugging Java code for hours or tackling complex coursework, he found that learning gradually shifted from being an obligation to something he genuinely enjoyed.

"Assignments often feel like solving puzzles," he explains. "The satisfaction of finally finding the solution makes the effort worthwhile."

The Real Challenge Wasn't the Classroom

While academics were demanding, adapting to daily life proved equally transformative.

Arriving in Sheffield with his parents' support helped ease the transition, but once they left, reality set in.

Making new friends, understanding a new culture, handling groceries, cooking meals and managing household chores were all unfamiliar responsibilities.

The university's Welcome Week helped break the ice, introducing him to students from different countries and backgrounds. Over time, simple routines—from grocery shopping to commuting—became part of everyday life.

What initially felt overwhelming gradually became a source of confidence.

Finding a Home Away from Home

Despite being on another continent, Ashaaz says it didn't take long for Sheffield to feel familiar.

Weekend trips to shopping centres, spontaneous movie nights, restaurant visits with friends and even casual conversations between classes helped create a sense of belonging.

These seemingly ordinary moments, he says, became some of the most memorable parts of his experience abroad.

Growth Beyond Academics

Perhaps the most valuable outcome of studying abroad has been personal growth.

Living independently has reinforced the importance of discipline and accountability. Without parents or teachers monitoring his schedule, every decision—from meeting deadlines to managing finances—rests on his shoulders.

His involvement in student societies, including technology-focused groups and leadership initiatives, has also expanded his understanding of teamwork and responsibility.

Taking on committee roles and collaborative projects pushed him beyond his comfort zone and helped develop skills that extend far beyond the classroom.

More Than Just a Degree

Looking back, Ashaaz believes the decision to study abroad was one of the most rewarding choices he has made.

While the academic opportunities attracted him to the UK, it is the independence, friendships and life lessons that have made the experience truly meaningful.

"Studying abroad can be intimidating," he reflects, "but the growth that comes from stepping outside your comfort zone makes it worth it."

For thousands of Indian students considering overseas education, his story is a reminder that the biggest lessons often happen outside the lecture hall.

A Class 12 student from Ranchi has emerged at the centre of a nationwide debate over the transparency of the Central Board of Secondary Education's digital evaluation system. Sarthak Sidhant gained national attention after publishing a detailed blog examining CBSE's On-Screen Marking (OSM) system and the tendering process associated with the digital evaluation of Class 12 answer sheets.

While most students his age are focused on board examinations and college admissions, Sarthak's investigation into official procurement records has drawn the attention of policymakers, education experts and political leaders. His findings have triggered questions about the manner in which contracts related to the digital assessment system were awarded.

According to reports, Sarthak's interest in the issue began after he appeared for his Class 12 examinations and sought scanned copies of his answer sheets. Upon reviewing them, he noticed discrepancies in the marking process. As concerns regarding transparency in digital evaluation surfaced among students, he started examining publicly available CBSE procurement and tender documents.

Through a comparative analysis of different versions of the tender documents, Sarthak claimed to have identified several modifications in eligibility criteria, performance conditions and certification requirements across successive bidding rounds. He argued that these changes raised important questions about the procurement process and the implementation of the OSM system.

His research, based on official records available on public procurement portals, was reportedly supported by technical analysis and consultations with researchers and journalists. The blog quickly gained traction on social media and was widely circulated by opposition leaders.

Among those who amplified his findings was Rahul Gandhi, who questioned the government's handling of the matter and called for greater accountability. The issue gained further prominence as the CBSE's digital evaluation system was already facing scrutiny from various quarters.

Sarthak has also presented his findings before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, where he raised concerns about the evaluation mechanism and tendering procedures linked to the OSM system.

His work has highlighted how a student-led inquiry into public documents can spark a broader discussion on transparency, accountability and governance in India's education system.

In 1967, Jocelyn Bell Burnell was a graduate student at the University of Cambridge, spending long hours analysing radio telescope data recorded on endless strips of chart paper. The work was repetitive and painstaking, involving the manual inspection of nearly 29 metres of paper records every day for unusual radio signals.

While examining data collected from a radio telescope array at Lord's Bridge, Bell Burnell noticed what she later described as “a bit of scruff” in the output — a faint but oddly regular signal that repeated every 1.3 seconds.

At first glance, the anomaly looked insignificant. But its precise repetition immediately distinguished it from ordinary radio interference or random cosmic noise. The signal appeared too regular to be accidental, yet no known astronomical object behaved in that way.

That small irregularity would soon lead to one of the most important discoveries in modern astronomy: pulsars.

The birth of pulsar astronomy

The discovery, later reported in Nature, revealed the first known example of a pulsar — a rapidly rotating neutron star emitting beams of radiation from its magnetic poles.

When those beams sweep across Earth, they appear as highly regular pulses, much like the flashing beam of a lighthouse.

Soon after the first signal was identified, researchers detected a second similar object, confirming that the phenomenon was not an isolated anomaly. Over time, astronomers discovered thousands more pulsars across the Milky Way.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, pulsars provided the first direct evidence for the existence of neutron stars, ultra-dense remnants formed after massive stars explode as supernovae.

Why the 1.3-second pulse mattered

The importance of the signal lay in its extraordinary precision. No ordinary star was known to emit radio pulses with such consistency. Scientists quickly realised that the source had to involve extreme physical conditions.

Theoretical physicists had predicted neutron stars in the 1930s, but no observational evidence existed at the time. The pulsar discovery transformed neutron stars from theoretical concepts into real astronomical objects.

Researchers soon understood that pulsars could serve as cosmic laboratories for studying gravity, magnetism, and matter under conditions impossible to recreate on Earth.

Their predictable timing also made them valuable tools for testing aspects of General Relativity, measuring gravitational effects, and exploring the behaviour of matter at ultra-high densities.

A discovery born from patience, not accident

What makes the story remarkable is that the breakthrough did not emerge from a targeted search for neutron stars. It came from the persistence of a graduate student carefully examining huge volumes of handwritten data.

Bell Burnell’s attention to an unusual pattern that others could easily have ignored became a defining example of how scientific discoveries often depend on careful observation rather than dramatic moments of inspiration.

In later reflections published in Nature Astronomy, Bell Burnell noted that pulsars unexpectedly opened an entirely new branch of astronomy.

More than half a century later, pulsars remain among the most important objects in astrophysics. They continue to help scientists study black holes, gravitational waves, and the extreme physics of collapsed stars.

The original chart paper showing that mysterious 1.3-second signal has since become one of astronomy’s most iconic scientific records — proof that even a tiny irregularity in a sea of data can change humanity’s understanding of the universe forever.

In a result season often dominated by stories of sleepless nights and marathon study sessions, a student from Lucknow is rewriting the script. Siddhart, a Class 12 student from the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), has scored an impressive 99.25%—but with a routine that many would consider surprisingly relaxed.

Instead of burning the midnight oil, Siddhart studied for just three to four hours a day. What set him apart was not the number of hours, but the consistency and focus he brought to those sessions. He emphasised that learning effectively mattered more than studying endlessly, proving that disciplined, shorter study periods can yield exceptional results.

Unlike the typical topper narrative, Siddhart ensured his day had space for rest and recreation. He spent one to two hours watching shows on Netflix to unwind, without guilt. These breaks were not distractions but a way to refresh his mind, helping him stay focused during study time.

Beyond academics, he remained actively involved in sports and served as the vice-captain of his school’s cricket team. Physical activity, he believes, played a crucial role in maintaining balance and reducing stress during exam preparation. His routine reflected a healthy mix of mental and physical engagement.

Another key aspect of his strategy was managing digital distractions. Instead of completely avoiding platforms like Instagram, he chose to consciously limit his usage. This self-regulation helped him maintain focus without feeling restricted.

Siddhart also highlighted the importance of a supportive home environment. Whenever he felt stressed, he turned to his parents and teachers, who encouraged without judgment. This emotional safety net allowed him to stay confident and motivated throughout his preparation.

Equally important was the role of peer influence. One of his close friends scored 99.75%, and both are now preparing for the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT). Their shared goals and healthy competition created an environment of mutual growth.

While Siddhart’s achievement stands out, the larger takeaway lies in his approach. His journey challenges the long-held belief that academic success requires relentless pressure and long study hours. Instead, it highlights how consistency, balance, and a stress-free mindset can lead to deeper understanding and lasting success.