Indira Gandhi Prize 2014: Why ISRO Won It

The full name is the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development. It is a prize in memory of Indira Gandhi. The Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust runs it.

How is the prize run?

• The Trust says it administers the prize.
• It is meant to be awarded every year to a person or an organisation. A few years had no award.
• A jury of eminent persons scrutinises proposals and makes the final choice.
• The Chairperson of the Trust names the jury. It has five to nine members.

What is the prize for?

The Trust lists several aims. Four of them matter most for exams.

• Promoting international peace and disarmament.
• Accelerating the all-round advancement of developing nations.
• Ensuring that the discoveries of science are used for the larger good of humanity.
• Enlarging the scope of freedom.

Look at the third aim. It is the bridge between a prize about peace and a winner that builds rockets.

What is the prize worth?

The Trust says the prize is worth Rs 10 million, which is Rs 1 crore. It comes with a trophy and a citation. ISRO’s own note describes the trophy. It is made of banded Haematite Jasper. It carries a portrait of Indira Gandhi in the Jaipur miniature tradition.

When did it start?

The Trust says India instituted the prize in 1985. Its list of awardees starts with 1986. So the first award was for 1986. Say “first awarded in 1986”, not “established in 1986”.

Most winners are world leaders, peacemakers, campaigners or global bodies. The Trust’s list shows the pattern.

Which winners should you know?

• 1986: Parliamentarians for Global Action, for the cause of nuclear disarmament.
• 1987: Mikhail Gorbachev.
• 1989: UNICEF.
• 1997: Jimmy Carter.
• 1998: Muhammad Yunus.
• 1999: M. S. Swaminathan.
• 2013: Angela Merkel.
• 2014: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• 2015: the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
• 2017: Manmohan Singh.
• 2019: David Attenborough.

Why does ISRO stand out?

ISRO is India’s space agency. The Trust’s list shows the prize can go to an organisation, and to a space agency, when the work serves humanity.

Are there years with no award?

Yes. The Trust lists no award for 2016. It lists no award for 2020, because of the pandemic.

This is where students slip. The announcement and the ceremony were years apart.

What is the timeline?

• 19 November 2014: the jury announced ISRO as the winner.
• 18 May 2017: the prize was presented in New Delhi.

Who announced it?

The jury was chaired by Vice President Hamid Ansari. News agency PTI reported that the jury made the announcement on a Wednesday. The report is dated 20 November 2014. The Wednesday before that date is 19 November 2014.

Who gave the prize?

ISRO says former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presented it. Sonia Gandhi was present as Chairperson of the Trust. ISRO Chairman A. S. Kiran Kumar received it for ISRO.

What did the 2014 citation say?

The Trust’s list gives the citation in one line. It says the prize was for “path-breaking achievements in space technology culminating in the Mars Orbiter Mission”.

PTI quotes the jury statement too. It also mentions ISRO’s contribution to international cooperation in the peaceful use of outer space. The jury also noted ISRO’s role in applying advanced technology to development, especially in remote and rural areas.

What is the exam takeaway?

The prize is “for 2014”. The exam answer is ISRO. Do not read the year as the year of the ceremony.

The Mars Orbiter Mission is also called Mangalyaan. “Mangalyaan” is Hindi for “Mars craft”, as NASA’s mission page explains. It was India’s first interplanetary mission.

What is the timeline?

• 5 November 2013: the mission was launched on PSLV-C25 at 14:38 IST from Sriharikota.
• 1 December 2013: the Trans Mars Injection burn sent the spacecraft towards Mars.
• 24 September 2014: the spacecraft entered orbit around Mars.

How did it enter Mars orbit?

The spacecraft fired its 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor and eight smaller engines. The firing began at 07:17:32 IST. It lasted 1,388.67 seconds. It changed the spacecraft’s speed by 1,099 metres per second.

What orbit did it reach?

The orbit is an ellipse. The nearest point to Mars is 421.7 km. The farthest point is 76,993.6 km. One loop around Mars takes 72 hours 51 minutes.

What was the mission for?

ISRO says the main objectives were technological. India wanted to build a spacecraft that had enough autonomy to make the journey to Mars and work in orbit there.

The spacecraft also carried five science instruments. They studied the surface, minerals and thin atmosphere of Mars. One instrument was a methane sensor.

How long did it last?

The designed life was six months. ISRO says it completed seven years in orbit on 24 September 2021.

Two claims made the mission famous. Both are well sourced, but they need careful wording.

What does “first attempt” mean?

The Prime Minister said India was the first to succeed in Mars orbit in its very first attempt. PIB’s year-end review says the same. It also says ISRO became the fourth space agency to send a spacecraft to Mars orbit.

NASA’s astrobiology page says India became the fourth nation to deliver a spacecraft to Mars.

How much did it cost?

ISRO’s illustrated book gives the estimate. It says about Rs 450 crore, or about 80 million US dollars. Some news reports give 74 million dollars. Lead with the rupee figure, which is ISRO’s own.

Was it cheaper than a Hollywood film?

NBC News quotes Mr Modi mentioning this story. The film was Gravity. NBC gives its budget as 100 million dollars. NBC gives the mission cost as 74 million dollars.

NBC also compares it with NASA’s MAVEN. MAVEN cost 671 million dollars. So the Indian mission cost about one-ninth as much.

Why was it cheaper?

NBC says a simpler spacecraft, a simpler payload and a cheaper launch explain some of the gap. NBC adds that other factors matter just as much. It says Maven’s launch alone cost 187 million dollars.

What should you remember?

Say “low-cost” and “first attempt”. Do not claim it was the cheapest Mars mission ever without a source.

The prize is not only about peace. It has “development” in its name. The Trust’s aims include the advancement of developing nations. They also include using science for the good of humanity.

What did the jury say about development?

PTI reports that the jury praised ISRO’s role in applying advanced technology. It spoke of broad-based and sustainable social and economic development. It spoke of basic needs in remote and rural areas.

What did the jury say about self-reliance?

The jury statement says ISRO showed what true self-reliance means. It says ISRO often worked when it was denied adequate access to the latest research elsewhere. It adds that India stands shoulder to shoulder with the best in space technology.

What did the President say about it?

When ISRO received a different award in 2015, President Pranab Mukherjee spoke of its core mission. He said ISRO is rooted in national regeneration and improving the life of the common man.

He listed people-centred space programmes. They include food and water security, health care and disaster management.

What is the short answer?

The Mars mission was the headline. The deeper reason was a space agency that serves ordinary people. It also built its capability at home.

ISRO won two prizes with “Gandhi” in the name for 2014. They are different prizes.

What is the difference?

How were they described?

The President’s office says the Gandhi Peace Prize was set up by the Government of India in 1995. It marked the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. President Pranab Mukherjee presented the 2014 prize at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 9 September 2015.

How do you avoid the trap?

Read the full name of the prize in the question. “Indira Gandhi” and “Peace, Disarmament and Development” point to the Trust’s prize. A question that says only “Gandhi Peace Prize” points to the government prize.

In the 2015 UPSC question, ISRO is the answer either way.

UPSC Prelims 2015, GS Paper I, Q50 (Series A), asked a one-line question.

What was the question?

“Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2014 was given to which one of the following?”

• (a) Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
• (b) Indian Institute of Science
• (c) Indian Space Research Organization
• (d) Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

The official key for Series A gives (c).

Why are the other options wrong?

• Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC): the Trust’s list does not name it for 2014.
• The Indian Institute of Science: the 2014 entry does not name it either.
• The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research: it is not in the 2014 entry.
• All three are well-known science bodies, so they look plausible. That is the trap.

How do you answer it fast?

Link the prize to the Mars mission of 2014. ISRO built and flew that mission. Then match the year, 2014, to ISRO on the Trust’s list.