RAS question
The headquarters of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is located at:
Correct answer: (B) Bengaluru.
ISRO headquarters is located at Antariksh Bhavan in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Explanation
ISRO's headquarters is in Bengaluru, Karnataka, specifically at Antariksh Bhavan. The official ISRO page for the Department of Space and ISRO HQ gives the address as Antariksh Bhavan, New BEL Road, Bangalore 560 231, and states that the Secretariat of the Department of Space and ISRO Headquarters are located there. This supports Bengaluru as the answer, not merely as a nearby city but as the institutional headquarters location. The question also links this to ISRO's origin: the organisation was established on 15 August 1969 by Dr Vikram Sarabhai, remembered as the father of the Indian space programme. For RAS, the key distinction is headquarters versus specialised centres such as launch or research facilities.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) New Delhi is wrong because the verified ISRO source places ISRO Headquarters at Antariksh Bhavan in Bangalore, not in New Delhi.
- (C) Sriharikota is wrong because it is associated with the Satish Dhawan Space Centre-SHAR launch centre, while the headquarters location asked here is Bengaluru.
- (D) Thiruvananthapuram is wrong because it is associated with the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, not with ISRO's headquarters.
Concept
This tests basic institutional geography under Science and Technology: matching national science organisations with their headquarters and major centres. RAS repeats this because ISRO locations often appear in factual questions where headquarters, launch centres and specialised research centres must be kept separate.