RAS question
Who is regarded as the 'Father of the Indian Space Programme'?
Correct answer: (C) Vikram Sarabhai.
Dr. Vikram Sarabhai is regarded as the Father of the Indian Space Programme.
Explanation
Dr. Vikram Sarabhai is the figure associated with the origin and direction of India's space programme. He is linked to the establishment of INCOSPAR in 1962 and to the idea that space technology should serve national development. The Indian Space Research Organisation describes Sarabhai as the Father of the Indian space programme and identifies the establishment of ISRO as one of his major achievements. The Indian Space Research Organisation also records his argument that a developing country needed a space programme and his emphasis on applying advanced technologies to real problems of people and society. That is why the title refers not merely to a scientist, but to the institution-builder who gave India's space effort its developmental purpose.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Homi Bhabha is linked to India's nuclear programme, and the ISRO profile presents him as a supporter of Sarabhai's space work rather than as the Father of the Indian Space Programme.
- (B) Satish Dhawan made major later contributions as ISRO's second chairman, but the title Father of the Indian Space Programme is attached to Vikram Sarabhai.
- (D) APJ Abdul Kalam is known as the Missile Man of India, so that title belongs to a different area of Indian science and technology than the founder figure of India's space programme.
Concept
The Science and Technology syllabus area covers India's space programme and its founding personalities. Institution-builders such as Sarabhai recur in RAS because they connect factual recall with the developmental purpose of Indian science policy.