SASTRA University News & Events ,Thanjavur

ADBI-SASTRA Law School Workshop on Conflict Engagement & Resolution

August 5, 2022: A two-day online programme on conflict involvement and resolution is being organised by the SASTRA Law School and the Asian Development Bank Institute, Tokyo. The Dean of ADBI, Tetsushi Sonobe, gave the opening address on August 5, 2022. He emphasised the importance of resolving disputes with various parties, such as governmental organisations, businesses, and civil society organisations. The workshop sessions will cover a wide range of themes and be led by professionals in the field of ADR and mediation, including Prof. S. Sangeetha, Justice K. Kannan, Uma Ramanathan, Chitra Narayan, and Chitra Narayan. The workshop includes a special keynote speech by Dr Florian Grisel from the University of Oxford, which is also attended by attendees from China, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India. The workshop's second day, on August 9, will feature similarly interesting and participatory sessions. Under the auspices of the Tata-Palkhivala Chair on AI & ADR, the SASTRA School of Law is in charge of organising the workshop.

SASTRA Releases BTech Rank List

August 13, 2022: At 7:00 pm today, the rank lists for admission to SASTRA Deemed University's several BTech engineering programmes were made public. Akshay Govind from SBOA School in Anna Nagar, Chennai, who received a combined score of 99.4263 for his JEE Main score of 99.8526 and his CBSE aggregate of 495, won the top rank in Stream 1 (70% of seats based on JEE Main & Class 12 grades). Botuku Shraeya from Expert PU College in Mangalore earned the top spot in Stream 2 (30% seats based on Class 12 aggregate marks) thanks to her 100% aggregate in the required Class 12 exams. The top 75 students in the rank list who join SASTRA will receive a 100% scholarship from the institution in observance of India's 75th Independence Day.

The rank list was made public by SASTRA at 7 pm today, which was the day after the application deadline of 5 pm The sole considered university, SASTRA, uses the combined JEE-Main Scores and Class 12 aggregate for admission without holding its own entrance tests.

You can see the comprehensive rank lists at www.sastra.edu. The transparent, merit-based online admissions counselling will begin on August 14th, 2022 with the submission of choices and end with allotment. The admissions procedure involved more than 30,000 students from states including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Bihar, Rajasthan, Assam, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, etc. A special category would be created for children from Jammu & Kashmir, the North-Eastern & Himalayan States, and the Andaman Islands. Twenty percent of the seats will go to pupils from the Trichy & Thanjavur school districts.

SASTRA Participants Wins Awards at GenNext AI Solutions

July 12, 2022: The Department of Defense Production, Ministry of Defense officially opened India's first-ever ‘Artificial Intelligence in Defense’ (AiDef) symposium and exhibition at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi.

The Artificial Intelligence in Defence (AiDef) symposium featured an exhibition and interactive sessions showcasing the state-of-the-art AI-enabled solutions created by the services, technologies created by research organisations, Industry, and start-ups and innovators, as well as the introduction of AI products for the market.

The competition's "GenNext AI Solutions" award ceremony was commemorated by the occasion. After carefully examining numerous creative concepts from academia, with an emphasis on the nation's readiness for AI-based defence, three winners were revealed during the event. Out of the three award recipients, SASTRA University produced two. The honourable defence minister presented awards to Venkattesh Kumar M, a final-year mechanical engineering student at SASTRA University, and Nizasujitha B, a final-year electronics and communications engineering student at SASTRA University.

The defence minister urged all interested parties to work together to establish India as a global leader in the application of AI in defence.

SASTRA University Partners With TN Govt TICEL To Build Research & Entrepreneurial Capacity

July 6, 2022: The SASTRA University is honoured to collaborate with the TN Government TICEL to strengthen the state's research and entrepreneurial capacities in the fields of healthcare diagnostics and medicines. The Bio-incubator at SASTRA campus will give this effort its all and help the TN government's incredibly forward-thinking policy become a reality.

The Chief Minister was present when the Association for Bio-inspired Leaders & Entrepreneurs at SASTRA TBI (ABLEST) signed an MoU with TICEL Biopark Limited for shared research, co-incubation, collaboration, and skill development. The MoU was signed by Dr. S. Anuradha, CEO of ABLEST. With an emphasis on fostering and assisting companies in specialised technical fields like treatments, diagnostics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and MedTech devices, ABLEST is a section 8 non-profit organisation backed by BIRAC and SASTRA.

NAAC Awards Highest Grade To SASTRA

March 8, 2022: "The National Assessment & Accreditation Council (NAAC) has given SASTRA Deemed University a 3.76 on a scale of 4.00 in its fourth cycle re-accreditation with an A++ Grade (Maximum), ensuring SASTRA's Category One University standing for the next seven years." The NAAC grades were revealed today, after the submission of a report by a peer panel during an on-campus visit to the university last week. Before arriving at the final grades, the peer team praised SASTRA's research and social outreach, infrastructure, and proactive management. According to NAAC scores, SASTRA is the number one institution in Tamilnadu and in the top five in the country.

SASTRA received a 3.54 in the third cycle and was classified as a Category One university under the UGC Graded Autonomy Regulations. It has since improved its score and maintained its position. "I thank the Union Government, the Tamil Nadu Government, all stakeholders, and the entire SASTRA family for their continued support and encouragement, and I tell you that we will do our best at all times," stated SASTRA Vice-Chancellor Dr.S.Vaidhyasubramaniam.

SASTRA To Establish VR Facility In 75 Tamilnadu Schools

February 28, 2022: To give students with an immersive and interactive learning environment, the SASTRA Deemed University will construct virtual reality facilities in 75 schools across Tamilnadu. This announcement was made as part of SASTRA's National Science Day Awards presentation ceremony. "The VR facility will be equipped with pre-developed subject matter information that will give students with creative pedagogical tools to grasp science concepts and improve their learning outcome," said Vice-Chancellor S.Vaidhyasubramaniam.

SASTRA's National Science Day Awards were delivered by Prof. S. Sadagopan, former Director of IIIT Bengaluru. The award, which comes with a monetary prize of INR 5 lakh and a citation, was given to notable scientists for their contributions in the domains of chemistry, physics, and life sciences. The SASTRA-CNR Rao Award was given to Dr Sandeep Verma, Secretary of the Science Engineering & Research Board, Government of India, and Dr T Govindaraju, Professor at JNCASR, Bengaluru.

Prof. MRN Murthy, Distinguished Professor at IBAB, Bengaluru, received the SASTRA-GN Ramachandran Award, while Prof. Harmit Singh Malik of the Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, Seattle, received the SASTRA-Obaid Siddiqi Award. The National Science Day address was presented by all of the honorees. Three women PhD scholars received the SASTRA-Saroj Chandrasekhar Award of INR 1 lakh apiece.

“Judiciary Requires Innovation”, IT Advisor To Chief Justice Of England

February 22, 2022: Prof. Richard Susskind, addressing the 17th Nani Palkhivala Memorial Lecture organised by the School of Law, SASTRA Deemed University, stated, "The court now demands more invention than automation, which happened for the first six decades of technology and worked effectively throughout the pandemic. Susskind, the IT advisor to the Chief Justice of England and Wales and the head of the Society of Computers and Law in the United Kingdom, gave his first lecture at any Indian law school, sharing his thoughts on the global trend of various courts throughout the epidemic. While automation keeps the judicial system running, creativity is required to shift the service pattern. Prof. Susskind elaborated on asynchronous online judgement, extended court services, front ends, AI tools, and dispute avoidance as the five major characteristics of the future of judiciary while speaking on the topic ‘Online Disruption of Courts & Justice.’ With nearly 60% of the world's population connected to the internet and just 46% having access to courts, technology can help bridge the gap between service and delivery", said Susskind.

Susskind's vision of justice covered the seven important elements - substantive, procedural, open, distributive, proportionate, enforceable, and sustainable to also change quickly, as the transaction costs of litigation, the enormous burden on courts, and the rising modes of interaction increased. He added that the idea of 'Lex Machina' was to dominate the discourse on how technology affected the march of law, and he used the example of dispute resolution mechanisms outside of the court system that are successfully prevalent in business organisations to illustrate his point. He praised SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur's endeavour as part of the TATA Palkhivala Chair on Artificial Intelligence and Alternative Dispute Resolution. Dr S Vaidhyasubramaniam, Vice Chancellor, spoke about SASTRA Deemed University's many activities on the subject and recalled Nani Palkhivala's legacy and commitment to the field of law.

SASTRA Presents Distinguished Alumni Awards

January 27, 2022: The SASTRA Distinguished Alumni Awards for 2020 were given out in honor of SASTRA alumni's contributions in three areas. Manoj Varghese, Chief Platform Head - Mahindra & Mahindra, received the award for Corporate Leadership. Professors S Kalyankumar and K. Sundarajan, both of whom are currently Professors of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alabama, have been recognised for their public service excellence. Both are Mechanical Engineering grads from 1998, and they continue to work together in their professional lives. C Vasudevan, the co-founder of prominent B2B firm Ninjacart and a 2007 SASTRA Biotech alumnus, were honored for Entrepreneurial Excellence. The prizes and citations were presented by SV Ramanan, CEO of Intellect Design, Secretary of the SASTRA Alumni Association, and a Distinguished Alumni Awardee himself. SASTRA Vice-Chancellor Dr S Vaidhyasubramaniam remarked, "The Awards conferred on Republic Day for being SASTRA's goodwill builders recalls us also as a country builder along with alumni."

SASTRA Law School To Establish Rural Mediation Cell

December 13, 2021: "Conflict management is a science that entails the realisation of multi-dimensional dimensions of human behaviour that leads to empirical reality," remarked Madras High Court Judge Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy. Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy, who delivered the valedictory address at SASTRA School of Law's six-Day Executive Training Programme on Conflict Assessment & Management, emphasised the growing importance of conflict avoidance & resolution through non-litigation transactions that lead to transformations, as well as the need for professionals to engage in the art of negotiation, mediation, and arbitration to address the current litigation burden.

The Judge, who is an expert mediator, praised the efforts of the training programme's leader, Uma Ramanathan, who is also an expert mediator, in designing and delivering the training programme. This hands-on and interactive workshop was held under the auspices of the SASTRA Law School's Tata-Palkhivala Chair on ADR & AI, which brought together people from many professions. In his welcome address, Vice-Chancellor Dr.S.Vaidhyasubramanim also announced the establishment of a Rural Mediation Cell at SASTRA Law School, which will work to create a conflict-free society in and surrounding SASTRA Law School and expand it to other geographies. The valedictory function drew around 60 professionals and law students.

SASTRA University Inks MoU With ICAR-National Research Centre For Banana (NRCB) For Collaborative Research

November 16, 2021: For a mutual exchange of knowledge and research infrastructure, the ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB) in Trichy is partnering with SASTRA Deemed University in Thanjavur. Dr S Uma, Director of ICAR-NRCB, and Dr R Chandramouli, Registrar of SASTRA Deemed University, signed the MoU at the NRCB campus.

As one of India's leading horticultural research institutes, ICAR-NRCB is addressing the needs of banana farmers, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders, and has developed a number of technologies that cover the entire banana supply chain in India, from farm production to post-harvest value addition and export. Its research laboratories for genetic resources management, crop improvement, molecular biology, genetic engineering, virology, biotechnology, and post-harvest technologies are well-equipped and state-of-the-art.

Both institutions have agreed to share their ideas and expertise in order to develop applications in agriculture, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and other fields such as insect, pest, disease, and maturity detection sensors, pesticide spraying drones, remote sensing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning applications for banana cultivation, synthesis of composite materials from banana by-products, and many more engineering devices and technologies for banana cultivation. Similarly, by conducting in vivo experiments, the nano-facility, animal house, and pharmaceutical applications will increase the ICAR-research NRCB's output. ICAR-NRCB scientists, SASTRA Deemed University Dean and academics from several disciplines engaged in a scientific debate to examine the future scope of cooperation research.

SASTRA University Hosts 35^th Convocation Ceremony

October 18, 2021: According to Prof. Sandeep Verma, Secretary, Science & Engineering Research Board, Govt. of India, "Social Sciences in S&T Research is a multi-dimensional opportunity that provides diverse challenges seeking solutions for the youthful research community." Prof. Verma, who delivered the SASTRA Deemed University's 35th Convocation Address, emphasised the importance of achieving sustainable development goals and the need for human research capital to work on issues such as the environment, mental health, energy, social development, and others by breaking down silos and achieving national development. "There is a convergent potential for India to deliver solutions to not just national but also global problems," said Prof.Verma, citing the expanding significance of quantitative social sciences and a robust national mission on cyber-physical systems. He urged the graduates to engage in ongoing, boundary-less training in order to equip themselves with the necessary skills for a successful career. Over 4,500 students, including 54 PhD graduates, received UG, PG, and PhD degrees in Engineering, Sciences, Management, Law, Humanities, and Education, among other subjects. ECE graduate Aishwarya Lakshmi received the Lord Selvamuthukumaran Award for the best outgoing BTech engineering student, as well as the Kamakoti Award for Overall Excellence and the Silver Jubilee Batch best outgoing ladies student. For being the finest departing BA, LLB (Hons) and BCom, LLB (Hons) graduates, CB Thejaswini and B Deepasree received the Justice Patanjali Sastry Award and Nani Palkhivala Award (monetary prize of Rs 1 lakh each). Ramya Dhandapani in Engineering and P Muthukumar in Sciences received the Founder-best Chancellor's doctoral thesis award. Aside from these, the convocation offered over eight special honors. The academic procession led by a Nadhaswaram team with the Vice-Chancellor, Deans, Academic Council members, and all graduands dressed in traditional garb began and ended the convocation, which was presided over by the chancellor Prof. R Sethuraman.

SASTRA Students Secure Over 2000 Job Offers

October 9, 2021: SASTRA Deemed University began campus placements for the current academic year on August 11, 2021. SASTRA University students have received over 2000 job offers from 50 top Indian and multinational recruiters in the previous two months. According to Dr S Vaidhyasubramaniam, Vice-Chancellor, SASTRA, 1100 students were individually placed, and over 900 students received more than one job offer this year. This year, about 630 students obtained employment offers with a pay percentage ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 24 lakh per annum.

"SASTRA's continued success, year after year, is a testament to SASTRA University's merit-based admission process, which has been in place for many years," he said. “Industry-relevant curriculum, a competitive learning environment, cutting-edge facilities, rigorous training, deserving students, and dedicated staff members are just a few of the variables that contribute to success. PayPal, Amazon, Wall-Mart, Oracle, Morgan Stanley, Verizon, TATA ELXI, Tiger Analytics, ZIFO R&D Solutions, ABCO, Accenture, Deloitte, and others were among the recruiters who visited this year.”, he continued

TCS, Wipro, and Cognizant Technologies, the three main IT recruiters, have made around 1300 offers thus far. During the training time, a few recruiters have made internship-to-job offers with stipends ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 85,000 per month.

"Placements are in full swing at SASTRA, and apart from 50 recruiters who have completed the selection process already, another 50 regular recruiters have expressed their willingness to conduct the recruitment process, and scheduling the dates for the virtual process has become an important challenge for us," said Dr.V.Badrinath Dean, Corporate Relation and Extension Activities, SASTRA. Last year, SASTRA received 3554 employment offers from 200 recruiters, according to him. “However, we were able to receive more than 2000 job offers in less than 60 days this year, and we hope to surpass last year's numbers before March 2022, as the recruitment climate is very positive this year, and recruiters are in high demand of talented manpower, indicating that the economy is back on track.”

DRDO Presents Dare to Dream 2.0 Award To SASTRA University

October 8, 2021: Dare to Dream is a pan-India invention contest organised by DRDO to encourage Indian academicians, individuals, and startups to innovate in military and aerospace technology in the country in response to the Hon'ble Prime Minister's demand for Atma Nirbhar Bharat.

This competition is a tribute to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, a visionary, former President, and an eminent scientist. The second edition of D2D, which was launched on the 5th death anniversary of Dr Abdul Kalam, a man who firmly felt that self-reliance is India's very own development model, drew tremendous participation from throughout the country to solve DRDO's many difficulties. A total of 40 winners were chosen from the Indian competitors, 22 of whom were individuals and 18 of them were in the startup category.

On October 4, 2021, Hon'ble Defence Minister Rajnath Singh honoured the winners of the D2D 2.0 edition at a function held at the DRDO Bhawan in New Delhi. With his motivating engagement, Dr Kalam, a frequent visitor and well-wisher of SASTRA, inspired a lot of young brains on campus.

One of the Challenges was "Detection and Classification of LPI Radar Signals for Electronic Support Systems," which was addressed by Dr James Baskaradas of SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur. His design for a reconfigurable receiver architecture was chosen for a technical presentation in front of an expert committee and placed second in the individual category.

The detection and classification algorithms are implemented on an indigenously built scalable architecture, which is the design's highlight. With proper adaptation, this technology will be advantageous to our tri-forces for surveillance support. The Technological Development Fund Scheme is now considering this concept for development into a prototype or product.

SASTRA Announces The Launch Of Indo-Taiwan MTech Programme In VLSI Design

August 18, 2021: During the inaugural lecture at SASTRA's Indo-Taiwan MTech programme in VLSI Design, Prof. Anil D.Sahasrabudhe, Chairman AICTE, said, "India is getting set to board the missing hardware bus through capacity building and investment." He praised SASTRA's joint efforts with an industry partner, Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd, and two Taiwanese partner universities, Asia and Yuan Ze. "These embody not just Atmanirbhar's spirit, but also NEP 2020's internationalisation component," stated the Chairman.

This curriculum requires students to spend one year at SASTRA, followed by a summer internship at Tata Electronics in Hosur, and then course study and industry internships at two Taiwan universities and fab facilities. President Tsai of Asia University, President Yang Wu of Yuan Ze, Ranjan B-CHRO of Tata Electronics, Director General of Taiwan Ministry of Education, Peter Chen, Taiwan Ministry of Education representative in India, and teachers from all the universities attended the inauguration ceremony today.

Fifteen Students Tied For The First Spot In Sastra Rank List

August 16, 2021: On an extraordinary turn of events, fifteen students tied for first place in SASTRA's engineering admissions rank list for the admissions year 2021-22 after achieving a perfect score on the Class 12 examination. SASTRA Deemed University's rank lists for admission to several Engineering and Law programmes were issued on August 14, 2021 at 9:00 pm Shreya R from Bangalore took first place in Stream 1 (50 per cent of seats based on JEE Main & Class 12 marks) with a total score of 99.0109, while 15 students in Stream 2 (50 per cent of seats based on Class 12 marks) scored 100 per cent in the qualifying Class 12 examinations. Kavya Krishnan of Sri Sankara Senior Secondary School, Adayar, Chennai, was ranked first in the School of Law rank list after receiving 98.6% in her Class 12 examinations and a 76.5 in CLAT 2021.

The application deadline was set at 5 pm on August 14, 2021, and the rank list was revealed at 9 pm on the same day. SASTRA is the only recognised institution that admits students based on their JEE-Main/ CLAT scores plus a Class 12 aggregate rather than holding its own entrance tests.

The complete rank lists can be seen at www.sastra.edu. Admissions will be offered on a merit-based, transparent online basis beginning August 15, 2021. The admission procedure attracted about 35,000 students from states such as Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Bihar, Rajasthan, Assam, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and others. Kids from Jammu and Kashmir, the North-Eastern and Himalayan States, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will be accepted under a special category, with 30 per cent of seats going to students from the Trichy and Thanjavur school districts.

SASTRA Deemed University Joins Hands With Tata Electronics To Build Expertise In Electronics Design And Manufacturing

June 29, 2021: In collaboration with two Taiwanese universities, Asia University and Yuan Ze University, Tata Electronics Private Limited (TEPL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SASTRA Deemed University to develop deep domain expertise that will further enhance the skill of the workforce in the field of electronics design and manufacturing.

Students enrolled in the two-year MTech programme in Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) design will spend the first year at SASTRA in Thanjavur and the second year at Asia University or Yuan Ze University in Taiwan. Practical experience in major lab facilities, a six-month industrial internship in Taiwan's advanced semiconductor manufacturing industry, and basic Chinese language skills will all be part of the second-year curriculum. TEPL will collaborate closely with SASTRA University to develop the course content, as well as provide financial support for these students' foreign education and training.

Dr S. Vaidhyasubramaniam, SASTRA's Vice-Chancellor, stated, "This two-year comprehensive degree in electronics will create talent and deep domain understanding, which is required for India's burgeoning semiconductor sector."

Prof. Wen-Thong Scott Chang, Distinguished Professor & Chairman of the Computer Science & Information Engineering Department, Asia University, said, "This collaboration with TEPL and SASTRA in electronics design and manufacturing is in an area that promises tremendous growth and will also strengthen the partnership between India and Taiwan in the future."

“This collaboration with TEPL and SASTRA has not only extended the international view for Yuang Ze but has also added an internationally renowned industrial partner to this bilateral effort,” stated Prof. Ching Pu Chen, Yuang Ze University's Chief of Global Affairs.

SASTRA Inventions On Metabolic Disorders For Diabetes

June 25, 2021: Diabetes is one of the most dangerous metabolic conditions, and the scientific community must work together to lower its prevalence in both industrialized and developing countries. Glucose has long been regarded as the gold standard biomarker for determining the stages of diabetes. However, scientists are striving to identify biomarkers that could help them figure out what's causing this severe metabolic disease in the first place. Methylglyoxal (MG) has been proposed as one of the developing biomarkers for detecting the start of diabetes mellitus and related problems in this setting.

Its significance in identifying the stages of prediabetes and their impact on protein glycation, insulin resistance, neuropathy, nephropathy, sepsis, and other phenotypes prompted one of SASTRA Deemed University's Thanjavur research teams to investigate MG. Dr. John Bosco BalaguruRayappan, Centre for Nanomaterials & Advanced Biomaterials(CeNTAB), School of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, and Dr SrinivasanVedantham, School of Chemical & Biotechnology, worked together to develop an electrochemical biosensor for the rapid detection of MG in blood plasma samples and the correlation of its concentration with diabetes.

SASTRA supported the research and applied for an Indian patent titled ‘Development of enzyme-based nano interface electrochemical biosensor for methylglyoxal detection,’ which was just approved. The Science Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi, then approved a project proposal to conduct clinical investigations to identify MG in diabetic and prediabetic people. The study team finished the tests utilising the created biosensor, validated the sensor performance using ELISA data, and presented the report after two years of investigation. Because the results are promising, this sensor will be further developed in conjunction with the industry as a point-of-care device for the rapid detection of MG levels in blood plasma samples, which may then be used to determine whether or not a patient is in the prediabetic stage of diabetes.

SASTRA Revises Its Engg Admissions 2021 Policy

June 9, 2021: SASTRA is revising its engineering admissions for 2021, with 50 per cent of seats based on Class 12 scores and the remaining 50 per cent based on Class 12 and JEE Main Scores given equal weightage. SASTRA will not administer a separate entrance exam. After receiving their Class 12 scores, students must submit their application forms online by July 31, 2021, and the rank list will be posted at 9 pm on July 31, 2021. Admissions counselling will begin on August 2. Thirty per cent of seats are reserved for students from Thanjavur and Trichy.

For more details, please visit the official website.

All Women Team From Sastra Wins Saarc Moot

March 22, 2021: The sixth Professor NR Madhava Menon SAARC Law Mooting Competition was won by an all-female team of SASTRA School of Law (SASTRA Deemed University) comprising of three final year members of the five-year Integrated LLB course - Thejaswini CB, Pavitra M, and Kavitha Ravi. This SAARC Moot drew 18 law schools from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates, the Maldives, and Afghanistan. In the final round, the SASTRA Law School team defeated the Sri Lankan team from the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo.

The moot issue involved an environmental law issue concerning the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The final round was judged by a Constitutional Bench comprising Hon’ble Mr. Justice Shiran Gooneratne (Judge, Supreme Court of Sri Lanka), Hon’ble Mr. Justice Piyush Agrawal (Judge, High Court of Judicature at Allahabad), Hon’ble Mr. Justice Siddharth Mridul (Judge, High Court of Delhi), Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal (Judge, High Court of Calcutta) and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dinesh Pathak (Judge, High Court of Judicature at Allahabad). This is the second time that the SASTRA Law School is winning this coveted moot court competition in the last six years.

Chair on Law & Development at SASTRA Law School

March 13, 2021: “The courts have always remained vigilant and monitored any excesses perpetrated by the parliament, even when it was in its constituent capacity, and I pray that the courts continue to remain vigilant,” said Supreme Court Judge Rohinton Nariman. He stressed the fertilisation of fundamental rights and traversed the constitutional journey of Articles 19, 21, 22, 31(A)& 31(B) and 46 with references to the Romesh Thappar, Brij Bhushan, Motor Transport Nationalisation, Champakam Dorairajan & SASTRA Deemed University School of Law's First MK Nambyar Memorial lecture on the First Amendment of the Indian Constitution. In the Kesavananda Bharati case, Justice Nariman recalled MK Nambyar's efforts in the famous AK Gopalan & Golaknath cases before the Supreme Court, and explained how his claims had the legal foresight that lay down the roadmap for upholding the constitution's fundamental structure. Justice Nariman also announced the establishment of the CS Vaidyanathan Chair on Law and Development at the SASTRA Law School, which was made possible by the generous help of Senior Advocate CS Vaidyanathan, who clarified the origins and intent of the endowed Chair. Justice MN Venkatachaliah, the former Chief Justice of India, presided over the event and urged SASTRA Law School to study the complex relationship between law and socio-economic growth. Attorney General of India KK Venugopal was the special guest of honor, and he talked about his father MK Nambyar's transformative effect on his legal career. Vijay Narayan, MK Nambyar's grandson and Tamilnadu's Advocate General, congratulated SASTRA and CS Vaidyanthan on this unusual effort and urged law students to be influenced by such academic jurists.

SASTRA Students Wins the 11^th KR Ramamani Tax Moot Court Competition

March 7, 2021: SASTRA Law School won the 11th KR Ramamani Tax Moot Court exhibition, which was hosted by SOEL in Chennai. Pratiksha Easwar, fifth-year BCom LLB (Hons); Aravindini U, fifth-year BA LLB (Hons); and, Kavitha Ravi, fifth-year BA LLB (Hons), the winners of the competition were presented awards and trophies on International Women’s Day, i.e. on March 8. The question at hand was a complicated one involving the curative and retrospective provisions of Section 40 of the Income Tax Act.

A total of 30 teams competed, the highest number ever. Symbiosis Pune, TNNLU Trichy, Faculty of Law Delhi, RGNUL Punjab, Christ University Bangalore, Nirma University Ahmedabad, and NLIU Bhopal were among the teams that competed in the Quarterfinals.

SASTRA managed to secure the first position over Christ University in the semi-finals and a top National Law School in the preliminary round.

SASTRA Recognises And Rewards Women on National Science Day

March 1, 2021: On the occasion of National Science Day celebrations at SASTRA Deemed University, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India Dr Renu Swarup said, “Universities play a vital role in developing solid science and discovery capacities by fostering and inspiring young minds to move ahead on the road of scientific excellence.” She pointed out that the nation's scientific development represents the environment which is apparent from the rise in the innovation index and the number of start-ups. She summarised the nation's momentum for science, creativity, translation and implementation that has put us in a position to change exponential development. While touching on international partnerships, she highlighted the transition of the role of the nation from customers to technology co-developers. Dr Renu Swarup acknowledged the contribution of the Indian Scientific Community to the development of the Covid-19 vaccine.

SASTRA, along with the Chandrasekhar Foundation, created the SASTRA-Professor Saroj Chandrasekhar Memorial Award to honour and reward female candidates in their third or fourth year of the doctoral programme.

For the year 2021, three candidates namely, Madhuchaturvedi from IIT Kanpur; Sayantani Sinha, CSIR, Jhadavpur university; and, Nishant Manzar from IIT Kanpur were presented with SASTRA-Professor Saroj Chandrasekhar Memorial award and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each. In addition to this, two candidates namely Ramya from SASTRA Deemed University and Akansha Onkar from IIT Kanpur were presented with Honourable Mention and a cash prize of Rs 50,000 each and Roohi Mohi – UD DIN, University of Kashmir was presented with a special mention and a cash prize of Rs 25,000 each.

Sastra Student Designs World’s Lightest Femto Satellite for Nasa Launch

December 28, 2020: S Riyasdeen, a second-year undergraduate student of Mechatronics Engineering branch at SASTRA Deemed University has been awarded the Cubes in Space global design competition for space launch in NASA rocket & scientific balloon. His 37mm sized  FEMTO satellites VISION SAT v1 & v2 with a payload of 30mm weighing 33gms make it the world’s lightest FEMTO-Satellite. Using polyetherimide thermoplastic resins and 3D printing technology, Riyasdeen won this global competition conducted by NASA in which around 1,000 students from 73 countries participated. Mentored by INRO Labs, Chennai, his satellites are designed to record around 17 parameters with 11 sensors and VISION Sat v1 shall be part of the SR-7 NASA Rocket Mission expected to be launched from the Wallops Flight Facility, Viriginia, USA in June 2021 and Sat v2 shall be part of the NASA Balloon Mission RB-6 scheduled for launch in August 2021.

“The SASTRA-TBI in 3D Printing & IoT will offer an incubation grant of Rs 5 lakh to Riyasdeen to further pursue his ambition of establishing a successful start-up” said SASTRA Vice-Chancellor Dr S Vaidhyasubramaniam.

SASTRA partners with TCS to Conduct Proctored Hybrid End-Semester Exams

December 14, 2020: For the academic year 2020-2021, SASTRA academic council has partnered with TCS to conduct the remote proctored hybrid end-term exam for the students' assessment. The Academic Council found that the hybrid model would not undermine the credibility of the tests after thorough discussions on the pros & cons of online exams, and students will also not have to travel to institute amid the difficult times of global pandemic.

To conduct 50,000 exams for 10,000 students, over 130 TCS-iON centres have been chosen throughout the country. Students are given the opportunity to select their nearest test centre and to register for the exams on the basis of their suitable timing. Question papers shall be distributed safely online and answers shall be written in the response scripts available at the examination centres and subsequently sent for assessment to SASTRA.

Vice-Chancellor Dr S Vaidhyasubramaniam has also assured that students who will not be able to take this exam in the centres, can take it whenever its offered on campus during the end of the semester and this will not affect their academic class or distinction.

Students Batch 2021: SASTRA Placements Update

December 11, 2020: With nearly the same YoY results, 2,300 job offers have been made to SASTRA 2021 student batch by over 70 campus recruiters who have been virtually visiting the campus and recruiting for the last two months. The highest salary package reported so far is Rs 27 lakh per annum and more than 1,500 students walked away with unique placements. The top recruiters include Amazon, PayPal, CISCO, Oracle, Morgan Stanley, Deloitte, IBM, TCS, Infosys, CTS, WIPRO, HP, Mindtree, CapGemini, Accenture, GE and Ford. The University also organised 14-day pre-placement preparation sessions for the students to walk away with dream job offers even during the current volatile times due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

First of its kind, the 65 per cent conversion rate leading to an offer is consistent with the feedback from recruiters on the improved quality of SASTRA candidates, reflecting its merit-based admission and high-quality education. "During this COVIDian campus recruitment, SASTRA's Merit seems to be the job vaccine that has provided students with the much-needed immunity against unemployment and a comforting relief during the heavy cyclonic job rains at SASTRA," said Dr. V. Badrinath, Dean of Corporate Relations at SASTRA.

SASTRA Launches PhD Programme on ‘The Evolution of Indian Media Before and After Indian Independence’

November 29, 2020: SASTRA (Deemed to be University) recently announced the launch of PhD programme on ‘The Evolution of Indian Media before and after Indian Independence’ in memory of multifaceted journalist Cho S Ramawamy whose caliber is similar to intellectual Chanakya, an excellent satire speaker and a veteran journalist.

Applications from graduate candidates of recognised institutions are invited. During the screening, candidates with previous degrees relevant to journalism, history, public policy will be granted priority. Selected scholars will earn lucrative grants and quality mentorship. Candidates aspiring admissions may snd their applications at admissions@sastra.ac.in latest by December 12.

SASTRA To Begin with Classroom Sessions for PhD and Final-Year Postgraduate Students from December 7

November 21, 2020: Under the directives of the UGC and the Tamil Nadu government SOP on the reopening of HEI campuses, PhD students and final year students of all SASTRA (Deemed to be University) postgraduate (main & SRC campus) programmes will resume classroom learnings from December 7, 2020. While some PhD students remained on campus and some began to return after partial lock-downs, the restart for everybody is from December 7, 2020. Following guidelines are to be followed:

1. Students returning from hometowns/ living outside hostels must come back and quarantine at least for a week before the classes begin
2. December 7 to 23, 2020 (Saturday working): Lab sessions I project Phase l review /optional doubt clarifications. A detailed schedule will be available on December 4. 2020. For programmes that do not have a Jab course, faculty shall be following the online class schedule for an optional refresher I doubt clarification sessions
3. December 21 to 31, 2020: Regular & arrear exams for even semester courses. Time table shall be available on December 10, 2020
4. Regular AU tests shall be performed for three hours and arrear tests shall last 90 minutes. Regular examinations weigh 75 per cent while the arrear examinations weigh 50 per cent for the calculations of the final grades
5. Students are recommended to undergo laboratory sessions & tests without fail. No compensatory lab sessions or exams shall be held and students who do not attend the exams can appear for the same only if they are given next time in the regular calendar. No online examinations shall be performed
6. Postgraduate students looking for accommodation on-campus must write an email to deansa@sastra.edu before November 27, 2020
7. Students are allowed to enter only after all the Covid protection precautions have been complied with – glove, hand sanitiser and no Covid symptoms. Students must send a letter of undertaking to the Registrar (jointly signed by the parent) that they meet all the Covid safety instructions and remain indoors (hostellers) and fail to do so will result in them leaving the campus before further orders have been given.

October 31, 2020: SASTRA (Deemed to be University) conducted the 34th Convocation ceremony this year virtually in view of the safety issues during the global pandemic situation. This year the University invited Co-Founder of Infosys and Chairman Axilor Ventures Kris Gopalakrishnan as the Chief Guest of the event. Virtually addressing the graduands, he urged them to navigate the right digital wave, work as a team member, invest in lifelong learning, set aspirational expectations, obey one's heart and be bold. The fourth industrial revolution, he said, is a game-changing potential driven by numerous innovations such as AI/ ML, IoT, AR/ VR, Cloud Computing, Smartphones, 3D printing, Genomics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, etc.

Over 4,800 graduands, including PhD, undergraduate and postgraduates students, were presented with their degrees virtually at this convocation ceremony.

• Former BTech student Shrute Kannappan was presented with the ‘Best Outgoing BTech Student Award’. She is currently pursuing PhD in Biomedical Sciences at Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea
• The Founder Chancellor’s best PhD thesis award for Engineering was presented to Dr Kishan Kumar and for Sciences to Dr M Veena

SASTRA Launches Online Degree Programmes

October 26, 2020: Under the latest UGC Online Regulations, SASTRA (Deemed to be University) launched 12 undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in online mode. The services provide a comprehensive variety of options for learners with a diverse desire for learning. To facilitate these programmes, SASTRA has entered into an agreement with various institutions such as:

1. KS Academy to offer dual-mode engagement to students pursuing BCom so they also undergo foundation-inter-final coaching by KS Academy
2. Logistics Skill Council of the Union Ministry of Skill & Entrepreneurship to offer BBA in Logistics Management for a focussed approach to build capacity in the logistics sector
3. Courses in MFA focus on a variety of Indic arts and culture with courses in Music, Yoga, Temple Architecture, Harikata, Vaishnavism, Saivism, etc

And other programmes offered are BCA, BA, MSc, MBA, MCom and MA Sanskrit & Divyaprabhandam. The online programmes will be delivered by SASTRA faculty and also by affiliated faculty and practitioners with a vast amount of experience in a variety of disciplines using a MOOC framework consistent with different UGC norms and standards.

The registration to online programmes is open and the last date to register is December 31. The classes are expected to begin from the third week of January 2021.

Princeton University's Dr Shai Evra To Receive 2020 Sastra Ramanujan Award

October 14, 2020: Dr Shai Evra of Princeton University, USA, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, will be felicitated by the 2020 SASTRA Ramanujan Award. This annual award is for an outstanding contribution made in areas of Mathematics influenced by Ramanujan in a wide sense by individuals not exceeding the age of 32. The prize is awarded annually at the International Number Theory Conference at SASTRA (Deemed to be University) in Kumbakonam (Ramanujan's hometown) in South India on December 21-22. This year due to the current pandemic situation the award will be given to Dr Evra in 2021.

Shai Evra is an incredibly talented mathematician whose work deals with locally symmetric arithmetic group spaces and their combinatorial, geometric, and topological form. To develop expander-like properties, he uses profound findings from representation theory and number theory pertaining to the conjectures of Ramanujan and Langlands.

SASTRA University Hosts 16^th Nani Palkhivala Tax Moot Court competition

October 5, 2020: SASTRA (Deemed to be University) recently hosted the XVI Nani Palkhivala Tax Moot Court competition inviting students applications across the country. All 16 participating teams presented their arguments before the jury on an intricate topic of foreign business under Indian tax law as relevant to corporate organisations exchanging capital between more than one country.

To evaluate the students’ knowledge and their skills and also to guide them on areas of improvement, SASTRA invited a virtual five-bench jury headed by Justice MM Sundresh comprised Retd. Justice RV Easwar, Senior Advocates & ASGI N Venkataraman, Vikramjit Banerjee and Senior Advocate & AAG of Tamilnadu Arvindh Pandian. Students’ commitment and research skills were highly appreciated by all jury embers

Out of all participating teams, students from Tamil Nadu National University were announced as the winners of the competition while the students of RGNUL, Punjab were declared as the runners. Winners and runners were presented with their trophies, certificates and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh & Rs 50,000 respectively while all the teams have presented a copy of the book Nani Palkhivala - Courtroom Genius by SASTRA

SASTRA University Distributes Free Tablets with Working Internet Connection to School Students

September 17, 2020: Being a higher education institution that aims to impart quality education to students, Thanjavur based SASTRA (Deemed to be University) today distributed over 250 ACER Tablets with a six-month working internet plan to its non-teaching staff members. Amid the global pandemic Schools, Colleges, Universities and all educational institutions have started delivering the classes online. To help children of non-teaching staff members of SASTRA, this initiative was taken so they can continue their education and enjoy seamless learning online. This project was worth Rs 35 lakh.

Vice-Chancellor Dr S Vaidhyasubramaniam urged students to make the best use of technology to attend regular classes conducted by their schools online and wished them good luck for their future ahead.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Inaugurates Nani Palkhivala Centenary Celebrations at SASTRA University

August 7, 2020: SASTRA (Deemed to be University) recently invited Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs to inaugurate the celebrations of Nani Palkhivala Centenary and the TATA Palkhivala Chair on Artificial Intelligence & Alternate Dispute Resolution at a virtual event organised by SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur.

Remembering the life and legacy of Late Nani Palkhivala, she named him the versatile genius. Having said that the central government is committed to easing the taxpayer burden and to simplifying the country's tax structure. She said that the assessment and scrutiny process should be thoroughly reformed as its the primary agenda of the Finance Minister to bring transparency in tax disputes.

Acknowledging the challenges raised by Covid as unparalleled and unimaginable, she said that the governance paradigms were evolving rapidly. She also mentioned that a direct cash transfer via Jan Dhan accounts was a turning point and that India had moved to the digital payment era from the cash card.

Vice-Chancellor of the University Dr S Vaidhyasubramaniam mentioned that SASTRA was planning the celebrations for this day since last year. He said that initiatives relating to moot courts, a Chair Professorship for taxation, research in the areas of common law, online courses in legal subjects and legal aid camps were being planned along with a valedictory function being planned in 2021.

SASTRA Releases 2020 Admissions Rank List

July 31, 2020: SASTRA (Deemed University) announces the beginning of the admissions for the academic year 2020-2021 for various Engineering and Law programmes. The admission to various engineering programmes is divided into two streams - Stream 1 admission will be based on the combined performance in JEE Main and Class 12 board exams and in Stream 2 the admissions will be based on Class 12 results. Stream 2 comprises 30 per cent seats that are reserved exclusively for the students of Trichy & Thanjavur districts. The admission to the Law programmes will be based on the rank list released on the basis of Class 12 marks of the students

Below is the list of toppers:

Stream 1: Narasimhan Srikanth, student of Maharishi Vidya Mandir, Chennai has secured Rank 1 in the All India Category with a combined score of 99.2462

Stream 2: Dyuthi Thampan, student of GMMGHS holds Rank 1with a total of 1191 out of 1200

Mainam Harshini from NTR Junior College, Telangana secured 1^st rank in the School of Law rank list with a score of 98.1 per cent

SASTRA Increases Trichy & Thanjavur Seats By 30% For 2020-21

July 20, 2020: As a new initiative to accommodate more local students and impart quality education to them amid spread of Coronavirus, SASTRA (Deemed University) has announced an increase in the number of reserved seats for Trichy and Thanjavur campuses. Until now, there were 20 per cent seat reservation for various engineering courses. However, for the academic year 2020-21, an additional 10 per cent of the seats have been reserved for applicants who have completed Class 10 and Class 12 from a school located in  Trichy and Thanjavur districts. The admissions will be offered on the basis of merit performance.

The rank list for the BTech and Law admissions shall be released online on July 31 at 9 pm within four hours from the last date and time of admission. Aspiring students can continue to apply for admissions till July 31. Keeping in mind the safety of the students, the complete admission process has been organised online.

The results for the end-semester students shall be declared by July 20 and the online classes of the ongoing batches shall commence from August 10. The first-year classes for freshers shall commence in the face-to-face mode once the lockdown is lifted.

SASTRA University Announces the Commencement of Classes of Odd Semesters from August 10

July 8, 2020: After a long unpredicted halt in the education system due to the global pandemic, SASTRA (Deemed University) is all set to commence its classes for the academic year 2020-2021 from August 10. Each course will be tagged to a Google Classroom and the classes will be a mix of online live sessions and pre-recorded lectures. The lectures will be recorded and will be available to students 24/7 so they can access it anytime and from anywhere. As there always will be a challenge in delivering lab sessions online, the University has decided to conduct lab sessions on the campus once the situation starts getting back to normal.

Considering the infrastructure-related challenges, SASTRA has decided to conduct a maximum of four lectures a day so students can optimally utilise their internet resources. For the students of ACRS/Hons courses, University has facilitated a 12-week SWAYAM/NPTEL courses that are open for registrations. For details, students may check the official website of the University.

SASTRA University to Evaluate Students Basis Online Exams and Oral Assessments

June 4, 2020: In the 38^th Academic Council meeting of SASTRA (Deemed University) held virtually on June 3, issues related to students attendance, end-term examinations and assessments were discussed at length. Besides Deans, Associate Deans and Professors of the University, senior faculty from IISc, IITM, IITD and IITB were also present. It has been decided that:

1. The end-semester exam shall be conducted online followed by an oral assessment for final year Engineering, Law and MBA students belonging to the 2020 graduation batch. For the students belonging to the junior batches, the grades shall be based on the internal exams conducted so far with an option for the students to appear for improvement exam whenever it is offered next
2. The council also offered that faculty shall be given the discretion to administer project-based end-semester exams for eligible students belonging to junior batches
3. The Academic Council suggested blending online component in at least 20 per cent of courseware moving forward and also advised to work with policy makers like UGC, AICTE to optimise and re-work the teaching day requirement of 90/75 days under the emerging paradigms of online education
4. Students with a minimum 50 per cent class attendance (regular and deemed 100 per cent online shall alone be permitted for assessment

SASTRA University to Donate Robots to Hospitals of Tamil Nadu to Serve Covid Isolation Wards

April 26, 2020: SASTRA (Deemed University) has designed medical supply robots in association with Propeller Technologies, one of its TBI Incubatees. The robots have been designed to help healthcare professionals to communicate and deliver food and essentials to Covid patients in their isolations wards remotely. The robot’s physical design has three stacks to carry and serve food, medicine and water to the patients. These robots can be operated from a distance of 100 meters and have a LED screen to let doctors communicate with patients from distance. The robots can easily turn 360 degree and are easy to be sanitised after every use. 

The Robots have been designed and developed to eliminate patients' physical interaction with medical staff in hospitals. The ‘Robot Mops’ for floor moping and ‘UV-disinfectant Robots’ are also prototyped and will be donated to hospitals after they test successfully.

3D printed ventilator splits printed by SASTRA University tested at Chennai’s Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital

March 30, 2020: The 3D printed ventilator splits printed by SASTRA (Deemed University) were tested at the Taminadu Government Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital at Chennai and worked satisfactory on the ventilators. The Dean of the Hospital Dr R Jayanthi connected six Y-splits printed by SASTRA which was based on a design adopted form an open-source community and found it to work well on four patients if connected to a single ventilator. The hospital has ordered for 100 splits and SASTRA is taking efforts to supply the 100. Such 3D printed splits have been worked out during the Las Vegas shoot out in 2017 and also during COVID-19 crisis in Italy. “We have created a community of over 200 3D printing service providers who shall be involved in crowd sourced printing to scale this at a national level should such a situation arise” said Dr S Vaidhyasubramaniam, Vice-Chancellor of SASTRA. He also added the 3D printed splits were given to AIIMS Delhi for testing also. The AICTE has also sent instructions to all engineering colleges having 3D printer facilities to be part of this initiative. In another research work,

SASTRA is also approaching competent authorities to validate its preliminary simulation findings in the University’s lab on the efficacy of three medicinal plant molecules as anti-COVID agents. These molecules were tested in SASTRA labs and simulation studies and docking experiments indicate that the plant molecules can block primary entry of nCoV-19 into the human body. SASTRA has also designed & fabricated agri-drone which is now being used by the Thanjavur District administration for spraying disinfectants. Besides technology & science, University is also providing food from its hostels to over 500 relief workers during this entire lockdown period and also supplied sanitisers & soaps to 1500 households in nearby villages.

SASTRA to Open STEM Labs in Rural and Urban Schools Across Tamil Nadu

March 13, 2020: To honour Bharat Ratna Professor CNR Rao, SASTRA (Deemed University) has decided to set up STEM Labs in rural and urban schools across Tamil Nadu. The University received proposals from over 100 schools among which 25 were short listed for further interaction. Out of 25, ten schools have been chosen based on their presentation of their DIY Kits that includes Robotics, IoT, 3D Printing, AI and Drones like technologies that strengthens science and technology-based learning at school level. The overall cost to set up one such lab will be Rs 5 lakh. Schools have been chosen for this new laboratory for students from Class 6-12, depending on the criteria and the level of participation of teachers and management.

Dr Mitra Awards Scientists at SASTRA Deemed University

February 28, 2020: SASTRA (Deemed University) organsied Science Day Award ceremony in the campus. The University invited Scientific Secretary Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor Government of India Dr Arabinda Mitra as the guest of honour. Dr Mitra highlighted India as third largest producer of startups in the world and also discussed new initiatives of the GoI in areas such as Technical Textiles, Quantum Computing, Genomics, Deep Ocean Technology and Biodiversity, which are socially relevant.

For 2019, Dr Mitra was awarded SASTRA G N Ramachandran Award to Prof T P Singh, AIIMS, New Delhi; the SASTRA ObaidSiddiqi Award to Prof Upinder Singh Bhalla, NCBS-TIFR, Bangalore for the year 2020; and to Prof Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, USA. He also presented SASTRA C N R Rao award for the year 2020 to Prof J N Moorthy, IISER, Trivandrum and Prof S Sampath, IISc.

IET Awards SASTRA for Maximum Accreditations

February 22, 2020: SASTRA (Deemed University) has become the first institution in India to have received the highest number of Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) accredited UG programmes in two campuses that demonstrates that these programmes are inline with international standards. The university has been awarded for maximum outcome in India in context to nine of its engineering programmes that have IET accreditation. IET(UK) accreditation is an internationally recognised benchmark, which is granted for programmes of high quality that are ideal for professional engineers. The university applied for accreditation in 2015. This accreditation was awarded for a full five-year term and is expected to have a positive effect over nine batches between 2020 and 2028. It also provides direct benefits for students of SASTRA Deemed University in addition to validating the standard of the school programmes. This allows better international competitiveness, job prospects and graduates to be admitted at foreign universities as well as interdisciplinary research opportunities and exchanges.

With this achievement, SASTRA now joins the list of over 85 global academic partners that IET has. IET is one of world’s leading engineering and technological professional society.

University Inks MoU with NAVIS

February 21, 2020: SASTRA (Deemed University) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with M/s Navis, Chennai. The company specialises in developing software for maritime industry. The purpose of this MoU was to fill the institutional divide within industry through various academic activities, such as implanting training, project work, industrial practical training, faculty development programmes and lectures by industry professionals. In his special address, Navis Vice President and GM Lakschmanan mentioned the need for budding engineers to succeed for their future careers; to develop passion, build a strong culture, ethics and values, and to give customer-centric is also required in future.

Sastra Law School Hosts a Book Launch in Association with Palkhivala Foundation

February 9, 2020: The launch of a book “Essays & Reminescences” written by Sr Advisory Arvind Datar was hosted by Sastra Law School in association with Palkhivala Foundation. Madras High Court Judge Justice TS Sivagnanam released the book. Chancellor Professor R Sethuraman of the SASTRA, Sr Advisory N Venkatraman & N L Rajah and NSAB member Professor R Vaidyanathan received the first copies. A budget analysis discussion was moderated after the book release.

SASTRA Organises Alumni Excellence Award 2019

January 27, 2020: SASTRA (Deemed to be University) presented its Distinguished Alumni Excellence Award 2019 to its Mechanical Engineering graduate student of 1992 batch S. Pazhanikumar. At present, he is working as a scientist at DRDO-CVRDE. The award has been presented to him for his outstanding public service and contribution to India defense.

The 2019 SASTRA Distinguished Alumni Excellence award for Corporate Service was presented Electrical Engineering graduate student of batch 1994, S V Ramanan. He is currently the CEO India and Asia at Intellect Design Arena.

This award was also presented to Electrical Engineering graduate student of 1996 batch, Girish Mathroobootham. He is the Founder & CEO of Freshworks. The award has been presented to him for his exceptional entrepreneurial excellence.
These awards were presented to alumni at SASTRA Global Alumni meet held on January 26, 2020 at campus in Chennai.

Royal Society Recognition For SASTRA-Ramanujan Award

December 21, 2019: The SASTRA-Ramanujan Award has received recognition from the Royal Society of England that in December released a paper entitled “Ramanujan's Legacy: The Work of the SASTRA (Deemed to be University) Award winners”. The release of the paper marked the Centenary of Ramanujan's election. The award has gained global reputation with four of its previous winners winning the Fields Medal. For excellent contributions to probabilistic number theory, the 2019 award was presented to Adam Harper of Warwick University. Vice President American Mathematical Society Ken Ono awarded Harper with $10,000 and a citation. He also recalled that Harper was the Ph.D student of Ben Green at the Cambridge University and Green was 2007 award winner. Likewise, in 2017, Kannan Soundarrajan, the recipient of the 2005 competition, won the award.