Context: The 100th birthday of Vikram Sarabhai falls on August 12, 2019
- To commemorate this important event, ISRO and DAE propose to conduct various programmes at national level during the centenary year.
- ISRO award- The Vikram Sarbhai Journalism award in Space Science Technology and Research will be given to those journalists who have contributed to the fields of space science, applications and research
- Even the lander of Chandrayaan-2 has been named after him. ISRO has announced an award in the name of Vikram Sarabhai on his 100th birthday
Contributions
- He is the founder of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and is known as the Father of the Indian Space Program
- He established Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad on 11 November, 1947 which was the first laboratory of independent India.
- He is the founding director of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, 1961
- He played a crucial role in establishing the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology University (CEPT University) in Ahmedabad in 1962
- He established the Nehru Foundation for Development in 1965 which focus on the current problems of society and individual development.
- He also established Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VASCSC) in 1960s with an aim to promote science and mathematics education among students and general public.
- Dr, Homi Bhabha helped Vikram Sarabhai in setting up the first rocket launching station at Thumba on the coast of the Arabian Sea
- He was also the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.
- As a result of Dr. Sarabhai’s dialogue with NASA in 1966, the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) was launched during July 1975 – July 1976
- Dr. Sarabhai started a project for the fabrication and launch of an Indian Satellite. As a result, the first Indian satellite, Aryabhata, was put in orbit in 1975 from a Russian Cosmodrome.
Other Institutions associated
- Darpan Academy for Performing Arts, Ahmedabad
- Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram
- Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad (This institution came into existence after merging six institutions/centres established by Sarabhai)
- Faster Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR), Kalpakkam
- Variable Energy Cyclotron Project, Calcutta
- Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad
- Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), Jaduguda, Bihar
