Education Leaders | Top Interviews

Ex-bureaucrat Amit Khare, who was notorious for his short stint in the National Education Policy and the 'fodder scam,' is now voted as the Secretary to newly elected Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan for a term of three years.

Amit Khare, who is a former bureaucrat, has been appointed Secretary to the new Vice President, C.P. Radhakrishnan. The appointment committee of the Cabinet gave the clearance for three years. The contract appointment with the grade and pay scale of a Secretary has been made as per the official order as issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.

Khare has held a number of key roles in his entire career. He has held the posts of Secretary for Information & Broadcasting, Secretary for School Education and Literacy, and Secretary for Higher Education in the central administration. Besides holding a role in the education sector as well as information, Khare is also known to have exposed the 'fodder scam' of Bihar.

Khare's education

Khare is post-graduate in Business Administration from IIM Ahmedabad and a St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumnus. He has done schooling in 1977 from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Hinoo.

New Vice President – C. P. Radhakrishnan

Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was sworn into office as India's 15th Vice President on Friday at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. President Droupadi Murmu swore him in office during a ceremony in the presence of high-ranking government officials. Radhakrishnan was the NDA nominee, polled 452 votes in the Sept 9 election to defeat Opposition nominee B. Sudershan Reddy, who got 300 votes. He was the Governor of Maharashtra before he was nominated.

Indian student suicides have been increasing at a alarming rate, and that has been triggering essential dialogues on mental health, academic pressure, and societal pressures. Though every incident is heart-wrenching, practitioners maintain that these are not isolated incidents but signs of a greater failure in the system.

To know the root causes and probable solutions, Edinbox scribe interviewed Dr. Ankit Chaudhary, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation, Sehore. During this frank conversation, Dr. Chaudhary reveals why suicides are infrequently impulsive actions, how social media has infused new forms of stress, and what common measures families, schools, and policymakers need to undertake to protect youthful lives.

Q: Student suicides are usually portrayed as unexpected, shocking families and friends. Are they that unpredictable?

Dr. Chaudhary: Students are constantly trying to meet expectations of parents, teachers, peers, and society. Though we claim every child is unique, in fact, they are compared against a stiff set of academic standards. This conflict between individuality and external expectation is the point where pressure mounts.

Family dynamics also changed dramatically. With the emergence of social media, students are more likely to relate to cyber friends than actual siblings. The perfected, glamorous lives presented on the web instill unrealistic expectations.

And this is extremely serious. They reason, "No one will get it, and I will be worrying my family for no good reason."This is where awareness is extremely important. We must elucidate that mental health issues are not flaws, but illnesses that need treatment, just like illnesses of the body.

Q: Schools do offer counseling, but obviously, it's not sufficient. What else can be done?

Dr. Chaudhary: The professionals in schools are very few in comparison to the requirement. Aside from that, the education system has to change from creating poisonous competition towards healthy collaboration. Every student needs to feel they can do something well. Early warning signs can be detected through regular screenings at schools, and in time referrals for higher centers have to be made when the situations are serious.

Task forces may be set up to examine student suicides, determine patterns, and act where necessary. Notably, policy needs to prioritize mental health as much as academic success.

Q: Any message for society in general, what would it be?

Dr. Chaudhary: Even one suicide must rattle us as a society. They are not individual tragedies but warning signs that something in the system is seriously amiss. If we recognize and fix honestly the pressures students are subjected to—whether social, familial, or institutional—these numbers must come down considerably. Education must finally be a complete and enjoyable experience and not a chore that drives young minds to desperation.

Dr. Ankit Chaudhary's words serve as a grim reminder that suicides among students are avoidable if society takes responsibility together.

Sabar, belonging to a poor family in the village of Mudulidhiah under the Banpur block in the Khurda district, secured 18,212 rank in the scheduled tribe category and was admitted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital.

The aspiration of being a doctor finally materialized for 19-year-old student Subham Sabar from Odisha, who has been employed as a labourer in Bengaluru to support his family, as he cleared the NEET UG exams and got admission into the MBBS course of a college here.

Sabar, a poor man from Mudulidhiah village, which comes under the Banpur block of Khurda district, was thrilled when he received a call from his teacher Basudev Moharana informing him that he had passed the entrance exams for admission to the MBBS course. 

MCC NEET UG Counselling 2025: NMC to raise MBBS seats for Round 2; registration from Aug 29

He stood at 18,212 in the scheduled tribe list and received admission to MKCG Medical College and Hospital here.

"Few days ago, I was working at the Bengaluru construction site, and my teacher called me one day. He asked me to give sweets to someone. I was taken aback and wondered why. He smiled and told me that I had cleared the NEET exams. I felt like dreaming.". I couldn't control my tears and came back home the next day with proper permission from the contractor who hired me to work," Sabar said.

He earned Rs 45,000 in his three-month working time, out of which he could save Rs 25,000.

On being asked why he undertook the trip to Bengaluru as a migrant worker, Sabar replied there was "no alternative but to support my family.".

"I come from a very poor family of five. Since the NEET exam was complete, I thought of working to earn some money to live with my family. I approached one local contractor who sent me to Bengaluru. The money I saved helped me secure admission at the medical college," he said.

After securing an MBBS seat in govt medical college, Sabar mentioned that he used to aspire to be a cop first, but began to dream of becoming a doctor once he started preparing for higher studies.

"As a tribal farmers child, I dared to dream. I am now on track to achieve my childhood dream of becoming a doctor and serve the people of Odisha," the medical student added.

Sahadeb and Rangi, his parents expected the government to provide him with financial assistance so that he could finish his five-year MBBS course.

"From childhood, he was very hard-working and meritorious. He wanted to be a doctor. His hard work ensured the success," said Subham's mother, Rangi.

Subham saw his parents and his brothers and sisters working day and night from childhood. He learned how to work hard and he succeeded," the overjoyed mother explained.

Only 23 and already Manoj Tumu has solved the puzzle that many engineers spend years pursuing – a $400,000 (Rs 3.36 crore) salary and a job at Mark Zuckerberg's Meta.

The Indian-American tech professional traded Amazon for the social media powerhouse earlier this year, becoming a member of its advertising research team, and now he's revealing the playbook of his meteoric ascent.

Why he left Amazon for Meta

Tumu owns up that Amazon provided him with a good foundation, but Meta's projects proved too enticing. "Although I had gained so much at Amazon, I simply believed there was more exciting work being done at Meta," he said to Business Insider. When the offer arrived in June, he did not delay.

The AI pivot that opened doors

Tumu describes the timing as immaculate. Machine learning has evolved in recent times from human-centric "classical" approaches to deep learning, where raw information is automatically processed by neural networks. "That shift has opened up great possibilities," he stated.

His secret to acing big tech interviews

If you believed references or shiny projects were the key in, Tumu is a dissent. He shared he broke into both Amazon and Meta without a referral - only a "good resume" and considerable persistence. His tip? Get rid of the college project experience section after you've accumulated two or three years of work and speak to professional influence instead.

And during interviews, he says the behavioral round is where most fall short. "At Amazon, I had six rounds of interviews. I learned about the company's values, prepared a giant document of stories and follow-ups, and adapted my responses for each principle," he explained. His lesson: being familiar with the company's culture is just as essential as being familiar with your code.

Advice for future AI engineers

For students, his golden rule is simple - grab an internship, no matter the pay. “Even low-paying internships can be beneficial. Experience matters more than money early on,” he said.

Tumu, who started his master’s program in 2022, also swears by cold emails. Sending them helped him get his foot in the door — something he says aspiring AI professionals shouldn’t shy away from.

What started out as a fun classroom demonstration has now turned into a storybook illuminating young minds nationwide. Sridhar Guda, a faculty member at the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK), never thought he would go on to be referred to as a children's author. But with 'Stories of Chanda Mama: Legend of the Moon', he reimagines science few professors would even dream of — by making the moon a living, laughing, tell-tale character.

Rather than using formulas or technical jargon, professor Guda had a different approach. "Children always remember stories more than textbooks," he leaned back, smiling.

"If the moon itself becomes a character who speaks, sings, and plays, they will never forget what they learn.

The book is not a desiccated textbook of facts. It's a comic-book-like story in which cosmic secrets are brought to life in adventure and characters. The spark that transformed this offbeat experiment into a nationwide movement was when NCERT's Pranita Gopal saw its possibilities. She asked Guda to work on 'Bharat on the Moon', an educational movement inspired by India's moon missions.

"When professor Pranita came to me, I knew right away that this was something greater than just a exciting project," Guda said.

"It was about sharing ancient stories and anecdotes in a form that makes astronomy easy for kids under the age of 10. That was both the challenge and the opportunity."

"All of us heard stories of the moon, the sun, and the animals growing up. That inspiration was already within us. But the NCERT directive to write for children, and have fun doing it, nudged us towards giving those stories a fresh cartoonish form," Guda told us.

Their method of choice was straightforward but effective: one story, one phenomenon.

Rather than inundating children with technical information, they employed stories to generate interest in natural occurrences. "Science books already exist to provide explanations for phenomena. We wanted to do something different and present the same through a story," he clarified.

The reaction has been warm and wonderful. Friends' and colleagues' children have already read through the bright pages, laughing at the moon's mischievous behaviour while learning astronomy without realizing it. "It is the maximum reward for us to see children happy when they read the book," Guda said.

The project has also received commendation at IIM Kozhikode with the institute director, Debashis Chatterjee, terming it a pioneering combination of education and creativity.

"Back at IIM Kozhikode, we take the view that nation-building starts with inculcating children's curiosity. When science is imparted in the form of folklore and imagination, not only does it thrill young minds but also bridges them to their heritage. This fusion of knowledge and creativity will set off the pursuit of inquiry and make our children dream fearlessly about India's future."

At 19 years old, Gitanjali Rao has already been a Time magazine Kid of the Year, a winner of the inaugural Stephen Hawking Junior Medal for Science Communication, and the brain behind innovations that address everything from polluted water to cyberbullying. Now studying bioengineering and business management at MIT, she continues to be a champion of the notion that innovation starts with empathy. During this Wknd interview, she shares with us her story, her inspiration, and why she thinks young people can change the world. 

Q: Can you recall the first time you were inspired to fix a real-world problem?

Rao: I was nine years old. I had just learned about the Flint water crisis on the news. Kids were consuming lead-tainted water, and no one was doing anything about it. I thought to myself, shouldn't I at least try? That's when I began thinking about a home-test kit for families to test water safety in real time.

Q: And that concept became Tethys, your initial major innovation. How did it come about?

Rao: I came across an MIT article on using carbon nanotubes to sense gases. I wondered, why not divert that for water? I wasn't sure it would work, but I tried it. I named it Tethys, after the Greek goddess of fresh water. When I won the 3M Young Scientist Challenge, I used the award money to develop my first prototype.

Q: From detecting lead to cyberbullying—your projects are varied. What ties them together?

Rao: Empathy. Innovation begins not with a breakthrough but with observing issues and asking, what if? Throughout the pandemic, I noticed teenagers fighting online, being bullied on social media. And that is how Kindly was created—a language-checking platform that identifies abusive messages, designed with UNICEF as part of its Digital Public Goods program.

Q: You also work with children in refugee camps. What's that like?

Rao: At the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, I lead innovation workshops. One of my students created an app that gives children pencils or a small toy as rewards for doing their trash disposal correctly. That moment of idea generation is what keeps me going—it's about transferring power to communities that are frequently overlooked.

Q: What motivates your science communication work?

Rao: I am a young, female South Asian. I don't resemble Einstein. Those who look like me have been silenced before. That is why I feel science communication as a duty—to make every child realize that their voice and ideas are important.