IITB’S Pratham fully functional
MUMBAI: Four days after its launch, the Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay (IITB) received the first beacon signal from microsatellite Pratham at its ground station around 10.45am on Friday.
“We have received only one signal till now. Other ground stations around the world have also received the signal and sent us images of the spectrum. This means the satellite is fully functional now,” said Vishal Ray, team member, Pratham.
The team is yet to receive a second signal — down link signal — even though other ground stations have received it. “[But] we haven’t been able to confirm it. Once we receive it at our ground station, we can start processing data from the payload,” said Ray.
He added that it is a given that once the beacon works, so does the down link.
The team is now working on rectifying the ground station and will complete it within two to three days.
“We are increasing the power gain of the ground station, which is not good enough to receive the down link signal at present,” said Ray.
The beacon signal is the signature of the satellite, which on decoding says it is ‘Pratham, the student satellite of Iit-bombay’. MUMBAI: The Student Law Council, a city-based students' group, filed a writ petition in the Bombay high court on Thursday, challenging the requirement of a nationality certificate for admission to law colleges.
The court is likely to hear the petition next week.
The plea comes at a time when law aspirants are scrambling to get the certificate after the state's Common Entrance Test (CET) cell, on September 20, issued a notification stating that students who have secured provisional admission in colleges are required to furnish a certificate of nationality and other documents before the third round of admissions, which starts on Saturday.
The petitioner said it was unfair of the state to ask students to produce nationality certificates at the eleventh hour.
The petition also challenged the age limit imposed on law aspirants by the Bar Council of India.