Edugraph 18 Under 18 Awards felicitated 18 young achievers from Eastern India

Two hundred schools, around a thousand participants and a star-studded nine-member jury made the first edition of Edugraph 18 Under 18 a unique platform for young talents from eastern India to rise and shine.

The 18 young achievers — picked by the nine-member jury — were felicitated at a grand finale at GD Birla Sabhagar on March 22, along with six students below the age of 10.

Rohit Kapoor, CEO, India & South East Asia, OYO, was the guest of honour for the evening. The Calcutta boy’s advice for the winners was simple: "Don't take the award to your head if you win or to your heart if you lose. Take it as a motivation and work harder towards your goals,” Kapoor said. “The only thing I have is the willingness to learn from everyone.”

A first-of-its-kind initiative, Edugraph 18 Under 18 — from The Telegraph Online — aims at recognising young achievers under the age of 18 from Eastern India. The judges chose 18 achievers from the top 50 finalists after a round of one-to-one online interviews.

The jury included Anupam Roy, singer and musician; Kunal Basu, author and professor; Joydeep Karmakar, Olympic shooter; Dibyendu Barua, chess Grandmaster; Partha Pratim Chakrabarti, professor and ex-director of IIT Kharagpur; Paul Walsh, founder, Jungle Crows; Sreenanda Shankar, actor, dancer and makeover consultant; Paoli Dam, actress; and Jai Ranjan Ram, psychiatrist.

Meet the 18 winners:

Aleena Farid, a Class VIII student of Pratt Memorial School, Kolkata, is a tennis player and ranked No. 2 in the Under 14 Girls’ Singles in 2021.

Ananda Bhaduri, a Class X student of Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti, Guwahati, is a Math Olympiad winner at the regional, national and international levels.

Anandini Sengupta, a Class VIII student of Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata, is a poet and a short story writer.

Anushka Jana, a Class X student of Uttarpara Girls High School, Hooghly, is a gymnast who won a gold at the 56th Junior National Artistic Gymnastics Championship 2021.

Anushri Modi, a Class XII student of La Martiniere for Girls, Kolkata, is a swimmer who won bronze at the GCM Inter-club Swimming Championship in Malaysia and the Olimpiade Olahraga Renang Nasional Open Tournament in Indonesia.

Avigyan Kishor Das, a Class IX student of Hooghly Collegiate School, is an innovator. He bagged first spot at the 6th India International Science Festival 2020.

Divyani Mohanty, a Class XI student of South Point High School, Kolkata, is an Odissi dancer. She won the National Nritya Pratibha Award Plaque of Honour at the International Dance and Music Festival 8th and 10th Cuttack Mahotsav in 2017 and 2019.

Khwaish Sharma, a Class X student of The Newtown School, Kolkata, is an air weapon shooter. She has won around 27 gold, 8 silver and 10 bronze medals in various national and state-level tournaments.

Likuta Persis Tissicca, a Class IX student of Hollotoli School, Nagaland, has won gold in several championships like the Under-41 kg category at the 12th National Taekwondo Championship 2021.

Mahee Singh, a Class XI student of South City International School, Kolkata, won the first spot in Confined Riding in West Bengal Equestrian Association’s State Level Championship 2019 and also in the Teenage Confined category at the Royal Calcutta Turf Club Equestrian Meet 2019.

Nikum Gyamar, a Class XI student of Witty International School, Maharashtra, is a footballer. He is part of Rajasthan United FC, which played in the I-League Qualifiers 2021 and was crowned champions.

Pranav Ashar, a Class XII student of Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, Kolkata, has been the vice-president of marketing at the International Space Settlement Design Competition. He conducts workshops and simulations for Model United Nations (MUN).

Ram Daftari, a Class X student of Birla High School, Kolkata, won first prize in the German Quiz Competition at the Namaste Europe 2020 fest and also in the Jarr Your Brilliance Quiz League 2020.

Rwitabina Gupta Bhaya, a Class X student of The Newtown School, Kolkata, is an artist whose creative illustrations have been used in animation films for ECCE programmes by the West Bengal government.

Shraddha Oraon, a Class IX student of Techno India Group Public School, Falakata, is a folk singer who performs in genres like Bhawaiya and Rajbanshi Kirtan.

Sinjini Mukherjee, a Class X student of the National Institute of Open Schooling, is a top-ranked junior golfer. She won the Order of Merit of IGU Eastern India Amateur Golf Feeder Tour 2021 (Ladies Category).

Tapolabdha Sardar, a Class X student of Vivekananda Mission School, Joka, Kolkata, is a singer. She won the Grand Finale of Sangg Geet Juniors Season.

Vidishaa Mundhra, a Class IX student of Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, Kolkata, won three golds and a bronze in Roller Skating Association of West Bengal’s State Skating Competition in 2021.

SPECIAL MENTION

Dhritishman Chakraborty, a preparatory student of Delhi Public School, ONGC Nazira, Assam, can sing in five languages. He received the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2022.

Navoneer Bhattacharyya, a Class IV student of Birla High School, Kolkata, is an all-rounder in acting, debate, oration, recitation, extempore, quizzing, writing and poetry, and cooking.

Paridhi Das, a Class UKG student of DAV Model School, IIT Kharagpur, got an All Rounder National Rank 3 in the National All Rounder Championship in May-July 2021.

Shanaya Singh, a Class II student of Mahadevi Birla World Academy, Kolkata, is a storyteller. She was chosen Young Speaker of The Year at the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Education Excellence Awards 2021.

Vidushi Agarwal, a Class I student of La Martiniere for Girls, Kolkata, won silver at the 59th National Roller Skating Championship 2021 held in Delhi. She also won four gold medals at the State Skating Championships in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

Zaiyigum Zeliang, a Class III student of Hollotoli School, Dimapur, Nagaland, is a full stack developer. He developed the app Parent Teacher Interaction (PTI) to facilitate digital communication between parents and teachers.

Khwaish Sharma bagged the Popular Choice award through online voting.

The 18 Under 18 Awards is presented by the Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management (EIILM) Kolkata, powered by the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) and co-powered by Vivekananda Mission School, Joka. It is also supported by Life Insurance Council as associate sponsor, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT) as knowledge partner, Wow China as food partner, PEEDEE World as outdoor partner and Bodyline Sports as fitness partner.