S Somanath

CHENNAI: To keep pace with the rising demands of the country, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will increase its satellite launches to at least 12 a year, said Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) director S Somanath.

"We are also planning to build high data communication satellites (at least 100 Gigabyte per second) and landing on the moon by Chandrayan II by next year," he told reporters after speaking at Sathyabama University's 27th convocation programme on Sunday.

M P Poonia, vice-chairman of AICTE, chief guest of the occasion, said preparations were underway to introduce a common test for engineering, on the lines of NEET for medical admission. This may be in place in a year or two.

"We are soon going to make training mandatory for all engineering teachers in order to improve quality," Poonia said.

This year, 2470 undergraduates, 346 postgraduates and 85 PhD scholars received their degrees.

Among them, 29 students were awarded gold medals for their exemplary performance, said a press release from the varsity.

