APJ Abdul Kalam tried to merge ISRO and DRDO: Sivathanu Pillai

Madurai: Though former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam tried to merge the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), he was not successful in the effort, said scientist and honorary professor at ISRO A Sivathanu Pillai during an interaction after delivering the Rukmani Shanmugam endowment lecture at the Thiagarajar College of Engineering (TEC) in Tiruparankundram on the occasion of the 60th founder's day on Friday.Sivathanu Pillai was a student of the 1964-69 batch at TCE.
"Such a merger is not possible since many foreign countries are involved in various projects of ISRO," he told ISRO's former chief general manager N Sivasubramanian who raised the question.
"The space market is worth $250 billion. Many countries are approaching us to build satellites. Even students of educational institutions like the Anna University and SRM are designing satellites, which the ISRO is launching for free," the scientist said.
Fondly remembering his college days, Sivathanu Pillai said that he once met Nobel laureate CV Raman and even participated in the anti-Hindi agitation. He advised students to work with great personalities.
The chief guest at the function, district collector K Veera Raghava Rao, stressed on the need to protect the environment. "While many people talk about the environment, they are not doing anything to protect it. We should strive to protect the environment from degradation. As students, you have a duty to conserve the environment even while striving for professional growth," he said.
Philanthropist and industrialist Karumuttu Thiagarajan Chettiar had established the college in 1957.