Education

Education plays a vital role in building the future of our nation by transforming lives and communities. We have several educator heroes who help students aim high and achieve their potential, often meeting and overcoming considerable challenges along the way. Recently Delhi based MT Research & Educational Services (MTRES) came up with Teaching Excellence Awards (TEA) 2018, to recognize the monumental role teachers play in our society as they instil a desire to learn and achieve and create tomorrow’s leaders. Meet one of the awardees, Mr. Hardeep Singh, Assistant Professor and Head (Training and Placement Department) at Ferozepur College of Engineering and Technology, Ferozepur, Punjab, who has been honoured with Excellent Teacher award in MTRES TEA 2018.

Indian employment landscape is changing swiftly and new jobs are emerging with rapid disruption in business models. This has resulted in an increased demand for skilled manpower over the past few years. Within the four walls of their classrooms, the impact of educators becomes more significant as they help groom our next generation of talent and leaders. Some educators are going out of their way in leading the redesign of the undergraduate and graduate programs to prepare students to meet the industry requirements. Meet one such talented educator Alka Purohit, working as Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering and Humanities, Saraswati College of Engineering, Navi Mumbai, who was recently awarded as the Best Faculty - Contemporary subjects & Courses by Computer Society of India, Mumbai Chapter.

With a billion-plus mouths to feed, and counting, the increase in food demand has augmented pressure on farmers to produce more with fewer resources. Biotechnology, in agriculture, has emerged as one of the most powerful and immensely useful tool to meet our food and nutritional security. With increasing knowledge of genetics, researchers have accelerated the improvement of crops for enhanced yield and quality. Meet one such leading researcher Dr. Ravi Ranjan Kumar who works as Assistant Professor-cum-Junior Scientist, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour. He is a recipient of Young Scientist in Plant Molecular Biology - 2017 Award of Venus International Foundation for his contribution, research excellence and accomplishments in the area of Plant Molecular Biology.

Pharmaceutical sciences combine a broad range of scientific disciplines that are critical to the discovery and development of new drugs and therapies. Increase in the size of middle class households coupled with the improvement in medical infrastructure and increase in the penetration of health insurance in India, make it a strong candidate to become a future powerhouse of R&D and manufacturing in pharmaceuticals. Many educators in India are contributing significantly towards advancement of this science, transforming the future of healthcare for the benefit of all. Meet Dr. Neetesh Jain, Associate Professor and Head, R&D and Department of Pharmacology in Department of Pharmacy, Oriental University, Indore, who has received multiple awards for his outstanding research in Pharmacy and innovative pedagogical methodologies.

Information Technology sector has been a key job creator in the country. However, the shortage of appropriately skilled IT workforce on latest technologies is emerging as a significant gap and complex challenge to India's growth and future. The good news is there are educators who have taken up this challenge and are relentless in their pursuit to bridge this gap. Meet one such educator, Aditya Tandon who works as Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Technology at Ch. Brahm Prakash Government Engineering College, Jaffarpur, New Delhi. He has been recently honoured with Best Professor in Information Technology Award by Business School Affaire & Dewang Mehta National Education Awards for Delhi region.

Revolutions are happening in education sector in Tier II cities of India. New generation of women edupreneurs is responding to genuine needs of students and teachers in ways not thought of earlier. Young highly-qualified edupreneurs are taking the opportunities by the horns and introducing institutional management reforms, new technologies and pedagogies. Meet Ms. Palak Tiwari Gaikwad, Director, Little Kingdom chain of schools, Jabalpur, under whose leadership The Little Kingdom Senior Secondary School has flourished into one that has been recently ranked as 6th most high potential emerging school of the country by Education World. Also, her Little Kingdom Preschool has been recognized as the Best Preschool of the country city wise by Education Today.

Scientific mysteries are everywhere around us but the most complex of them lies much closer - inside the human mind. Understanding how the brain works, how it gives rise to the mind, and why it makes us do the things we do is the prime goal of Psychology. Meet Dr Priyanka Kacker, Assistant Professor, Institute of Behavioural Science (IBS), Gujarat Forensic Sciences University (GFSU), Gandhinagar, who has done extensive research in areas like human development, clinical, social behaviour and cognitive processes. She has been awarded with EET-CRS Honourable Mention Academic Achievement Award 2017 for her contribution in the field of psychological research.

Floriculture has been identified as a sunrise industry in India and accorded a 100% export oriented status. It has been found that commercial floriculture has higher potential per unit area than most of the field crops and is therefore a lucrative business. India is second only to China in terms of area under flower cultivation. But India’s share in world floriculture trade is only 0.61% in year 2014 and 0.89% in 2015 according to ASSOCHAM report. Researchers are relentlessly working on developing innovative solutions to overcome production and post-production challenges of floriculture in India. Meet an educator and researcher who stands out - Dr Alka Singh, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture at ACHF, Navsari Agricultural University (NAU), Navsari. She has recently received Honourable Mention at EET-CRS Academic Awards 2017 for her extensive research in the field of floriculture.

Our future challenges in environmental, economical, and societal sustainability demand more efficient and benign scientific technologies for working with chemical processes and products. It demands the highest level of scientific creativity, insight and understanding from chemistry researchers towards achieving this goal. Meet Dr. Ravi Varala, Head of Chemistry Department and R&D Cell, Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT), Basar Campus, Telangana, who has recently been honoured with Outstanding Scientist in Chemistry - 2017 Award by Venus International Research Foundation for his contribution, research excellence and accomplishments in the area of Chemistry.