MISSILE PROGRAMME OF INDIA

The past decades have witnessed phenomenal surges in missile technology and intrusions into outer space. India, however did not have a credible missile programme by means of which it could boast of a sturdy arsenal of missile systems of that point. India's missile programme can be stated to be an offshoot of its space programme, beginning 1967. Subsequently, in 1972, Rohini- a 560 two-stage, solid propulsion sounding rocket was developed and test fired, capable of reaching an altitude of 334 km with a 100 kg payload. India first launched its small 17-tonne SLV-3 space booster (300km/40 kg) in 1979 and thereafter successfully injected the 35 kg Rohini I satellite into near-earth orbit in 1980. By 1987, an augmented booster, the 35-tonne ASLV (4,000 Km /150kg in low earth orbit), which primarily are three SLV-3's strapped together, had begun flight testing.

In what could be described as a 'decisive shift' in missile development plans, the missile capability of Indian armed forces received a major fillip from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) following the launching of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) in 1983. The principal aim was to develop a family of strategic and tactical guided missiles based on local design and development for three defence services. DRDO accorded particular priority to development of sophisticated guidance technology.

The Indian missile arsenal boasts a range of systems and the current thrust areas of the DRDO include Internal Ram Rocket Engines, Multi-target tracking capability, Homing guidance using seeker and networking of radars. Concurrently, the DRDO has consistently worked towards enhancing and upgrading the following missile system further:

AGNI I:

The Agni missile is a family of Short to Intermediate range ballistic missiles developed by India under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. Since then the SFC of the Indian Army has conducted several user trials of Agni-I missile to test its readiness to launch ballistic missiles that carry nuclear warheads. The recent user trials involved the test firing of upgraded version of Agni-I with better re-entry technology, maneuverability and range extension of up to 700–900 km. Agni-I was first tested at the Interim Test Range in Chandipur in 1989, and is capable of carrying a conventional payload of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) or a nuclear warhead. Agni missiles consist of one (short range) or two stages (intermediate range). These are rail and road mobile and powered by solid propellants.

Agni-I is a single stage, solid fuel, road and rail mobile, medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM). The need for the Agni-I was felt after the Kargil war with Pakistan. It took DRDO 15 months to develop the Agni-I after having completed Agni-II development. It is propelled by solid fuel. Maneuvering RV body-lift aerodynamics give it the ability to correct trajectory errors and reduce thermal stresses. The MRV has a velocity correction package to correct launch trajectory variances. Some Agni RV versions use a set of solid fueled thruster cartridges of predetermined impulse, allowing the onboard guidance controller to trim velocity, using discrete combination of impulse quanta along the desired spatial orientation. The 15 metre tall Agni-1 missile, weighing about 12 tonnes, is capable of carrying both conventional as well as nuclear warheads of 1,000 kg. With reduced payload Agni I can reach 1200 km of maximum distance.

Agni II:

Agni, is a strategic ballistic missile. The Agni missile family is envisaged to be the mainstay of the Indian missile-based strategic nuclear deterrence. The Agni-II is a medium range ballistic missile (MRBM) with two solid fuel stages and a Post Boost Vehicle (PBV) integrated into the missile's Re-entry Vehicle (RV). The Agni's manoeuvring RV is made of a carbon-carbon composite material that is light and able to sustain high thermal stresses of re-entry, in a variety of trajectories.

First Stage: The Agni-II's first stage uses solid fuel propellant.

Second Stage: The Agni-II's second stage weighs around 4,200 kg and uses solid fuel propellant. The case is presumably made of the same material, (high-strength 15CDV6 steel) as the booster stage for ease of manufacturing. This solid propellant stage has flex nozzles for thrust vectoring, enabling precise trajectory control. Unlike the Agni-TD, the solid fuel second stage does not require retro motors for proper stage separation. It uses a vented inter-stage.

The Agni-II was first tested on 11 April 1999 at 9:47 am IST (Indian Standard Time), from a converted rail carriage, with a carriage roof that slides open to allow the missile to be raised to the vertical for launch by two large hydraulic pistons. The launch process is controlled from a separate railcar. The missile was launched from the IC-4 pad at Wheeler Island, Balasore. Splash down was 2,000 – 2,100 km. down range in the Bay of Bengal, on a trajectory designed to simulate a range of 2,800 – 3,000 km. The Agni-II missile can also be launched from a road TEL vehicle, as demonstrated in the second test flight on 17 January 2001, at 10:01 am IST (Indian Standard Time) to a range of 2,100 km. This missile has a theoretical maximum range of some 3,000 km with a 1,000 kg payload (conventional or strategic).

Tested to range of over 2,000 km, the Agni-II has an all-solid propellant system. After the 17 January test, the missile was cleared for production and it is possible that a production capacity (under-utilised at present) exists for 12 Agni-II missiles per year. On 17 January test, the missile was alleged to have covered a range of over 2,100 km with a 700 kg warhead. The Agni-II is designed to be launched from a rail-mobile launcher, but it is also available in road-mobile configuration. This lends flexibility and reduces vulnerability to first strike.

AGNI III:

Agni-III is an intermediate-range ballistic missile developed by India as the successor to Agni-II. It has a range of 3,500 km- 5,000 km, and is capable of engaging targets deep inside neighboring countries. The missile’s Circular error probable (CEP) is within 40 meters range, which makes it the most sophisticated and accurate ballistic missile of its range class in the world. In June 2011, it was reported that Agni-III has been inducted into the armed forces and is under-production.

The Agni-III has two stages with an overall diameter of 2.0 m. The first stage mass is about 32 tonnes and 7.7 m long, the second stage mass is about 10 tonnes and 3.3 m long. The missile is likely to support a wide range of warhead configurations, with a 4,500 km range and a total payload weight of 2490 kg.

The stubby two-stage solid fuel missile is compact and small enough for easy mobility and flexible deployment on various surface/sub-surfaThe Agni-III features two solid fuelled stages and with overall diameter of 2.0 meters. This diameter is compatible with a recently tested Indian sub-surface launch system, which has a 2.3 meter diameter launch tube aperture.

First stage booster

The first stage booster is made of advanced carbon composite materials to provide high payload fraction (mass fraction). It weighs about 32 tonnes, is 7.7 meters long and diameter of 2 meter.

Second stage

The second stage made of maraging steel weighing about 11 tonnes and a length of 3.3 meters. The second stage has flex nozzles, to provide necessary flight trajectory controlled platforms.

The missile is equipped with sophisticated navigation, guidance and control systems along with advanced on-board computer systems. The electronic systems are hardened for higher vibration, thermal and acoustic effects. A high performance indigenous ring laser gyro-based navigation system was flight-tested for the first time during the Agni-III trial on 7th Feb 2010.

AGNI IV:

Agni-IV is the fourth in the Agni series of missiles which was earlier known as Agni II prime. This missile is one of its kind, proving many new technologies for the first time, and represents a quantum leap in terms of missile technology. The missile is lighter in weight and has two stages of solid propulsion and a payload with re-entry heat shield.

On 15 November 2011, for the first time, Agni-IV was successfully test fired. The missile was launched from a road mobile launcher at 9AM from Wheeler Island off the coast of Orissa. The missile followed its trajectory, attained a height of about 900 km and reached the pre-designated target in international waters of the Bay of Bengal. All mission objectives were fully met. All systems functioned perfectly till the end encountering re-entry temperatures of more than 3000⁰C. The missile was successfully test-fired again on September 19, 2012 for its full range of 4,000 km from the Wheeler Island, off the Orissa coast. The missile lifted off from a road mobile launcher at 11.48 a.m. and after zooming to an altitude of over 800 km, it re-entered the atmosphere and impacted near the pre-designated target in the Indian Ocean with remarkable degree of accuracy following a 20-minute flight. Carrying a payload of explosives weighing a tonne, the missile re-entered the atmosphere and withstood searing temperatures of more than 3,000°C.

AGNI V:

Agni-V is an intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India. It is part of the Agni series of missiles, one of the missile systems under the original Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. According to DRDO chief, the exact range of Agni V is "classified" but afterwards he described Agni V as a missile with a range of 5,500-5,800 km. The Agni-V is a three stage solid fuelled missile with composite motor casing in the second and third stage. In many aspects, the Agni-5 carries forward the Agni-3 pedigree. With composites used extensively to reduce weight, and a third stage added on (the Agni-3 was a two-stage missile), the Agni-5 can fly significantly more to inter-continental range.

Total flight duration for the first flight test of Agni-V on 29 April 2012 was for 1130 seconds. The first stage ignited for 90 seconds.

AGNI VI:

Agni-VI is an intercontinental ballistic missile being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the use of the Indian Armed Forces. Agni-VI is an intercontinental ballistic missile reported to be in very rudimentary stages of development by DRDO.It is reported to be the latest and most advanced version among the Agni missiles. Capable of being launched from submarines or from land, it will be able to strike a target at a distance of 8,000–10,000 km with up to 10 MIRVed warheads.

Experimental/Small satellite

Jugnu:

Launch Date-12.10.2011

The Nano satellite Jugnu weighing 3 kg is designed and developed by Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur under the guidance of ISRO. The satellite is intended:

·         To prove the indigenously developed camera system for imaging the Earth in the near infrared region and test image processing algorithms.

·         Evaluate GPS receiver for its use in satellite navigation.

·         Test indigenously developed MEMS based Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) in space.

               

SRMSat

Launch Date-12.10.2011

The Nano satellite SRMSat weighing 10.9 kg is developed by the students and faculty of SRM University attempts to address the problem of Global warming and pollution levels in the atmosphere by monitoring Carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapour (H2O). The satellite uses a grating Spectrometer, which will observe absorption spectrum over a range of 900nm -1700nm infrared range.

YOUTHSAT YOUTHSAT is a joint Indo-Russian stellar and atmospheric satellite mission with the participation of students from Universities at graduate, post graduate and research scholar level. With a lift-off mass of 92 kg, Youthsat is a mini satellite and the second in the Indian Mini Satellite (IMS) series. Youthsat mission intends to investigate the relationship between solar variability and thermosphere-Ionosphere changes. The satellite carries three payloads, of which two are Indian and one Russian. Together, they form a unique and comprehensive package of experiments for the investigation of the composition, energetics and dynamics of earth's upper atmosphere. The Indian payloads are: RaBIT (Radio Beacon for Ionospheric Tomography)- For mapping Total Electron Content (TEC) of the Ionosphere. LiVHySI (Limb Viewing Hyper Spectral Imager) - To perform airglow measurements of the Earth's upper atmosphere (80- 600 km) in 450-950 nm. The Russian payload SOLRAD - To study temporal and spectral parameters of solar flare X and gamma ray fluxes as well as charge particles in the earth polar cap regions.

Lift-off Mass 92 kg Orbit Period 101.35 min Dimension 1020 (Pitch) x 604 (Roll) x 1340 (Yaw) mm3 Attitude and Orbit Control 3-axis body stabilised using Sun and Star Sensors, Miniature Magnetometer, Miniature Gyros, Micro Reaction Wheels and Magnetic Torquers Power Solar Array generating 230 W, one 10.5 AH Li-ion battery Mechanisms Paraffin Actuator based Solar Panel Hold Down and Release Mechanism Launch date April 20, 2011 Launch site SHAR Centre Sriharikota India Launch vehicle PSLV- C16 Orbit Circular Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit altitude at injection 822 km + 20 km (3 Sigma) Orbit Inclination 98.731 º + 0.2 º Mission life 2 years

STUDSAT Launch Date-12-07-2010 Student Satellite (STUDSAT) is the first pico-satellite developed in the country by a consortium of seven engineering colleges from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. STUDSAT weighing less than 1 kg, has the primary objective of promoting space technology in educational institutions and encourage research and development in miniaturized satellites, establishing a communication link between the satellite and ground station, capturing the image of earth with a resolution of 90 meters and transmitting the payload and telemetry data to the earth station. Mission Experimental / Small Satellite Weight Less than 1 kg Altitude 630 km Orbit Polar Sun Synchronous

ANUSAT Launch Date-20-04-2009 ANUSAT (Anna University Satellite) is the first satellite built by an Indian University under the over all guidance of ISRO and will demonstrate the technologies related to message store and forward operations.

Altitude 550 km Inclination 41 deg Orbit Period 90 minutes Mass 40 kg

SRE-1

Launch Date-10-01-2007

Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE – 1) is a 550 kg capsule intended to demonstrate the technology of an orbiting platform for performing experiments in micro gravity conditions. After completion of the experiments, the capsule was de-orbited and recovered. SRE – 1 mission provided a valuable experience in fields like navigation, guidance and control during the re-entry phase, hypersonic aero thermodynamic, development of reusable thermal protection system (TPS), recovery through deceleration and flotation, besides acquisition of basic technology for reusable launch vehicles.

SRE – 1 carries two experiments, an Isothermal Heating Furnace (IHF) and a Bio-mimeic experiment. SRE was launched into a 635 km polar SSO in January 2007 as a co-passenger with CARTOSAT -2 and stayed in orbit for 10 days during which its payloads performed the operations they are intended to. The SRE capsule was de-boosted and recovered successfully back on earth on 22nd January 2007. 

RS-1

First satellite successfully launched by the indigenous launch vehicle SLV

Mission Experimental Weight 35 kg Onboard power 16 Watts Communication VHF band Stabilization Spin stabilized Payload Launch vehicle monitoring instruments Launch date July 18,1980 Launch site SHAR Centre, Sriharikota, India Launch vehicle SLV-3 Orbit 305 x 919 km Inclination 44.7 deg. Mission life 1.2 years Orbital life 20 months

RTP

Mission Experimental Weight 35 kg onboard power 3 Watts Communication VHF band Stabilization Spin stabilized (spin axis controlled) Payload Launch vehicle monitoring instruments Launch date August 10,1979 Launch site SHAR Centre, Sriharikota, India Launch vehicle SLV-3 Orbit Not achieved

APPLE

APPLE was used for nearly two years to carry out extensive experiments on time, frequency and code division multiple access systems, radio networking computer inter connect, random access and pockets witching experiments. Mission Experimental geostationary communication Weight 670 kg Onboard Power 210 Watts Communication VHF and C-band Stabilization Three axis stabilized (biased momentum) with Momentum Wheels, Torquers &  Hydrazine based Reaction control system Payload C - band transponders (Two) Launch Date June19,1981 Launch Site Kourou (CSG), French Guyana Launch Vehicle Ariane -1(V-3) Orbit Geosynchronous (102 deg. E  longitude, over Indonesia) Inclination Near zero Mission life Two years

ARYABHATTA

The First Indigenously built Indian Satellites Mission Scientific/ Experimental Weight 360 kg On board power 46 Watts Communication VHF band Stabilization Spinstabilize Payload X-ray Astronomy Aeronomy & Solar Physics Launch date April 19,1975 Launch site Volgograd Launch Station (presently in Russia) Launch vehicle C-1 Intercosmos Orbit 563 x 619 km Inclination 50.7 deg Mission life 6 months(nominal), Spacecraft mainframe active till March,1981 Orbital Life Nearly seventeen years (Re-entered on February 10,1992)

NOBEL PRIZE

The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in a number of categories by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and/or scientific advances. The will of the Swedish philanthropist inventor Alfred Nobel established the prizes in 1895. The prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace were first awarded in 1901. The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, (Norway) while the other prizes are awarded in Stockholm( Sweden). The Nobel Prize is widely regarded as the most prestigious award available in the fields of literature, medicine, physics, chemistry, peace, and economics.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the Nobel Prize in Physics, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences; the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutes awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; the Swedish Academy grants the Nobel Prize in Literature; and the Nobel Peace Prize is not awarded by a Swedish organisation but by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Each recipient, or laureate, receives a gold medal, a diploma and a sum of money, which is decided by the Nobel Foundation, yearly. As of 2012, each prize was worth 8 million SEK (c. US$1.2 million, €0.93 million). The prize is not awarded posthumously; however, if a person is awarded a prize and dies before receiving it, the prize may still be presented. Though the average number of laureates per prize increased substantially during the 20th century, a prize may not be shared among more than three people.


Nobel Foundation

The Nobel Foundation was founded as a private organisation on 29 June 1900, to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes. In accordance with Nobel's will, the primary task of the Foundation is to manage the fortune Nobel left. Robert and Ludwig Nobel were involved in the oil business in Azerbaijan and, according to Swedish historian E. Bargengren, who accessed the Nobel family archives, it was this "decision to allow withdrawal of Alfred's money from Baku that became the decisive factor that enabled the Nobel Prizes to be established". Another important task of the Nobel Foundation is to market the prizes internationally and to oversee informal administration related to the prizes. The Foundation is not involved in the process of selecting the Nobel laureates. In many ways, the Nobel Foundation is similar to an investment company, in that it invests Nobel's money to create a solid funding base for the prizes and the administrative activities. The Nobel Foundation is exempt from all taxes in Sweden (since 1946) and from investment taxes in the United States (since 1953).Since the 1980s, the Foundation's investments have become more profitable and as of 31 December 2007, the assets controlled by the Nobel Foundation amounted to 3.628 billion Swedish kronor (c. US$560 million).
According to the statutes, the Foundation consists of a board of five Swedish or Norwegian citizens, with its seat in Stockholm. The Chairman of the Board is appointed by the Swedish King in Council, with the other four members appointed by the trustees of the prize-awarding institutions. An Executive Director is chosen from among the board members, a Deputy Director is appointed by the King in Council, and two deputies are appointed by the trustees. However, since 1995, all the members of the board have been chosen by the trustees, and the Executive Director and the Deputy Director appointed by the board itself. As well as the board, the Nobel Foundation is made up of the prize-awarding institutions (the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute, the Swedish Academy, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee), the trustees of these institutions, and auditors.

Nominations

Nomination forms are sent by the Nobel Committee to about 3000 individuals, usually in September the year before the prizes are awarded. These individuals are often academics working in a relevant area. For the Peace Prize, inquiries are sent to governments, members of international courts, professors and rectors, former Peace Prize laureates and current or former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The deadline for the return of the nomination forms is 31 January of the year of the award. The Nobel Committee nominates about 300 potential laureates from these forms and additional names. The nominees are not publicly named, nor are they told that they are being considered for the prize. All nomination records for a prize are sealed for 50 years from the awarding of the prize.

Selection           

The Nobel Committee then prepares a report reflecting the advice of experts in the relevant fields. This, along with the list of preliminary candidates, is submitted to the prize-awarding institutions. The institutions meet to choose the laureate or laureates in each field by a majority vote. Their decision, which cannot be appealed, is announced immediately after the vote. A maximum of three laureates and two different works may be selected per award. Except for the Peace Prize, which can be awarded to institutions, the awards can only be given to individuals. If the Peace Prize is not awarded, the money is split among the scientific prizes. This has happened 19 times so far.
 Posthumous nominations

Although posthumous nominations are not permitted, individuals who die in the months between their nomination and the decision of the prize committee were originally eligible to receive the prize. This has occurred twice: the 1931 Literature Prize awarded to Erik Axel Karlfeldt, and the 1961 Peace Prize awarded to UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld. Since 1974, laureates must be thought alive at the time of the October announcement. There has been one laureate, William Vickrey, who in 1996 died after the prize (in Economics) was announced but before it could be presented. On 3 October 2011, the laureates for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine were announced; however, the committee was not aware that one of the laureates, Ralph M. Steinman, had died three days earlier. The committee was debating about Steinman's prize, since the rule is that the prize is not awarded posthumously. The committee later decided that as the decision to award Steinman the prize "was made in good faith," it would remain unchanged.

Medals

It was announced on 30 May 2012 that the Nobel Foundation had awarded the contract for the production of the five (Swedish) Nobel Prize medals to Svenska Medalj AB. Formerly, the Nobel Prize medals were minted by Myntverket (the Swedish Mint) in between 1902-2010. Myntverket, Sweden's oldest company, ceased operations in 2011 after 1017 years. In 2011 the Mint of Norway, located in Kongsberg, made the medals. The Nobel Prize medals are registered trademarks of the Nobel Foundation. Each medal features an image of Alfred Nobel in left profile on the obverse. The medals for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and literature have identical obverses, showing the image of Alfred Nobel and the years of his birth and death. Nobel's portrait also appears on the obverse of the Peace Prize medal and the medal for the Economics Prize, but with a slightly different design. For instance, the laureate's name is engraved on the rim of the Economics medal. The image on the reverse of a medal varies according to the institution awarding the prize. The reverse sides of the medals for chemistry and physics share the same design.
All medals made before 1980 were struck in 23 carat gold. Since then they have been struck in 18 carat green gold plated with 24 carat gold. The weight of each medal varies with the value of gold, but averages about 175 grams for each medal. The diameter is 66 millimeters (2.6 in) and the thickness varies between 5.2 millimeters (0.20 in) and 2.4 millimeters (0.094 in). Because of the high value of their gold content and tendency to be on public display, Nobel medals are subject to medal theft. During World War II, the medals of German scientists Max von Laue and James Franck were sent to Copenhagen for safekeeping. When Germany invaded Denmark, chemist George de Hevesy dissolved them in aqua regia, to prevent confiscation by Nazi Germany and to prevent legal problems for the holders. After the war, the gold was recovered from solution, and the medals re-cast.

Award money

The laureates are given a sum of money when they receive their prizes, in the form of a document confirming the amount awarded. The amount of prize money depends upon how much money the Nobel Foundation can award each year. The purse has increased since the 1980s, when the prize money was 880 000 SEK (c. 2.6 million SEK, US$350 000 or €295,000 today) per prize. In 2009, the monetary award was 10 million SEK (US$1.4 million, €950,000). In June 2012, it was lowered to 8 million SEK. If there are two laureates in a particular category, the award grant is divided equally between the recipients. If there are three, the awarding committee has the option of dividing the grant equally, or awarding one-half to one recipient and one-quarter to each of the others. It is not uncommon for recipients to donate prize money to benefit scientific, cultural, or humanitarian causes.

Controversial recipients

Among the most criticized Nobel Peace Prizes was the one awarded to Henry Kissinger and Lê Ðức Thọ. Lê Ðức Thọ later declined the prize. This led to two Norwegian Nobel Committee members resigning. Kissinger and though were awarded the prize for negotiating a ceasefire between North Vietnam and the United States in January 1973. However, when the award was announced, both sides were still engaging in hostilities. Many critics were of the opinion that Kissinger was not a peace-maker but the opposite; responsible for widening the war.
Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin received the Peace Prize in 1994 for their efforts in making peace between Israel and Palestine. However, many issues, such as the plight of Palestinian refugees, had not been addressed on the negotiations, and no final status agreement was reached. Immediately after the award was announced, one of the five Norwegian Nobel Committee members denounced Arafat as a terrorist and resigned. Additional misgivings about Arafat were widely expressed in various newspapers.
Another controversial Peace Prize was that awarded to Barack Obama in 2009. Nominations had closed only eleven days after Obama took office as President, but the actual evaluation occurred over the next eight months. Obama himself stated that he did not feel deserving of the award, or worthy of the company it would place him in. Past Peace Prize laureates were divided, some saying that Obama deserved the award, and others saying he had not yet earned it. Obama's award, along with the previous Peace Prizes for Jimmy Carter and Al Gore, also prompted accusations of a left-wing bias.
The award of the 2004 Literature Prize to Elfriede Jelinek drew a protest from a member of the Swedish Academy, Knut Ahnlund. Ahnlund resigned, alleging that the selection of Jelinek had caused "irreparable damage to all progressive forces, it has also confused the general view of literature as an art." He alleged that Jelinek's works were "a mass of text shovelled together without artistic structure. The 2009 Literature Prize to Herta Müller also generated criticism. According to The Washington Post many US literary critics and professors had never previously heard of her. This made many feel that the prizes were too Eurocentric.
In 1949, the Portuguese neurologist António Egas Moniz received the Physiology or Medicine Prize for his development of the prefrontal leucotomy. The previous year Dr. Walter Freeman had developed a version of the procedure which was faster and easier to carry out. Due in part to the publicity surrounding the original procedure, Freeman's procedure was prescribed without due consideration or regard for modern medical ethics. Endorsed by such influential publications as The New England Journal of Medicine, leucotomy or "lobotomy" became so popular that about 5,000 lobotomies were performed in the United States in the three years immediately following Moniz's receipt of the Prize.

Multiple laureates

Four people have received two Nobel Prizes. Marie Skłodowska-Curie received the Physics Prize in 1903 for the discovery of radioactivity and the Chemistry Prize in 1911 for the isolation of pure radium,making her the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences. Linus Pauling won the 1954 Chemistry Prize for his research into the chemical bond and its application to the structure of complex substances. Pauling also won the Peace Prize in 1962 for his anti-nuclear activism, making him the only laureate of two unshared prizes. John Bardeen received the Physics Prize twice: in 1956 for the invention of the transistor and in 1972 for the theory of superconductivity. Frederick Sanger received the prize twice in Chemistry: in 1958 for determining the structure of the insulin molecule and in 1980 for inventing a method of determining base sequences in DNA.
Two organisations have received the Peace Prize multiple times. The International Committee of the Red Cross received it three times: in 1917 and 1944 for its work during the world wars; and in 1963 during the year of its centenary. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has won the Peace Prize twice for assisting refugees: in 1954 and 1981.
  Family laureates

The Curie family has received the most prizes, with five. Marie Skłodowska-Curie received the prizes in Physics (in 1903) and Chemistry (in 1911). Her husband, Pierre Curie, shared the 1903 Physics prize with her.[152] Their daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, received the Chemistry Prize in 1935 together with her husband Frédéric Joliot-Curie. In addition, the husband of Marie Curie's second daughter, Henry Labouisse, was the director of UNICEF when it won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965.
Although no family matches the Curie family's record, there have been several with two laureates. The husband-and-wife team of Gerty Radnitz Cori and Carl Ferdinand Cori shared the 1947 Prize in Physiology or Medicine. J. J. Thomson was awarded the Physics Prize in 1906 for showing that electrons are particles. His son, George Paget Thomson, received the same prize in 1937 for showing that they also have the properties of waves. William Henry Bragg together with his son, William Lawrence Bragg, shared the Physics Prize in 1915. Niels Bohr won the Physics prize in 1922, and his son, Aage Bohr, won the same prize in 1975. Manne Siegbahn, who received the Physics Prize in 1924, was the father of Kai Siegbahn, who received the Physics Prize in 1981. Hans von Euler-Chelpin, who received the Chemistry Prize in 1929, was the father of Ulf von Euler, who was awarded the Physiology or Medicine Prize in 1970. C.V. Raman won the Physics Prize in 1930 and was the uncle of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, who won the same prize in 1983. Arthur Kornberg received the Physiology or Medicine Prize in 1959. Kornberg's son, Roger later received the Chemistry Prize in 2006. Jan Tinbergen, who won the first Economics Prize in 1969, was the brother of Nikolaas Tinbergen, who received the 1973 Physiology or Medicine Prize.
 Refusals and constraints

Two laureates have voluntarily declined the Nobel Prize. In 1964 Jean-Paul Sartre was awarded the Literature Prize but refused, stating, "A writer must refuse to allow himself to be transformed into an institution, even if it takes place in the most honorable form. “The other is Lê Ðức Thọ, chosen for the 1973 Peace Prize for his role in the Paris Peace Accords. He declined, stating that there was no actual peace in Vietnam.
During the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler hindered Richard Kuhn, Adolf Butenandt, and Gerhard Domagk from accepting their prizes. All of them were awarded their diplomas and gold medals after World War II. In 1958, Boris Pasternak declined his prize for literature due to fear of what the Soviet Union government might do if he travelled to Stockholm to accept his prize. In return, the Swedish Academy refused his refusal, saying "this refusal, of course, in no way alters the validity of the award. “The Academy announced with regret that the presentation of the Literature Prize could not take place that year, holding it until 1989 when Pasternak's son accepted the prize on his behalf. Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, but her children accepted the prize because she had been placed under house arrest in Burma; Suu Kyi delivered her speech two decades later, in 2012.

Surrogacy

Surrogacy is an arrangement in which a woman carries and delivers a child for another couple or a person. This woman, the surrogate mother, may be the child's genetic mother (called traditional surrogacy), or she may be genetically unrelated to the child (called gestational surrogacy). If the surrogate receives compensation beyond the reimbursement of medical and other reasonable expenses, the arrangement is called commercial surrogacy; otherwise, it is often referred to as altruistic surrogacy.[1] In a traditional surrogacy, the child may be conceived via home artificial insemination using fresh or frozen sperm or impregnated via IUI (intrauterine insemination), or ICI (intracervical insemination) performed at a health clinic. A gestational surrogacy requires the transfer of a previously created embryo, and for this reason the process always takes place in a clinical setting.

Is surrogacy for whom?

Surrogacy may be appropriate if you have a medical condition that makes it impossible or dangerous to get pregnant and to give birth.

The type of medical conditions that might make surrogacy necessary for you include:

•             Absence or malformation of the womb

•             Recurrent pregnancy loss

•             Repeated in vitro fertilisation (IVF) implantation failures.

•             Cancerous Infection in Uterus

•             Higher use contraceptives measures such as pills, copper T etc.

How does surrogacy work?

Full surrogacy (also known as Host or Gestational) - Full surrogacy involves the implantation of an embryo created using either:

•             The eggs and sperm of the intended parents

•             A donated egg fertilized with sperm from the intended father

•             An embryo created using donor eggs and sperm.

Partial surrogacy (also known Straight or Traditional) - Partial surrogacy involves sperm from the intended father and an egg from the surrogate. Here fertilisation is (usually) done by artificial insemination or intrauterine insemination (IUI).

Success rate:

It is quite difficult to determine a success rate for surrogacy, as many factors are relevant, including:

•             The surrogate’s ability to get pregnant

•             The age of the egg donor (if involved)

•             The success of procedures such as IUI and IVF

•             The quality of gamete provided by the commissioning couple.

The age of the woman who provides the egg is the most important factor that affects chances of pregnancy. The potentiality of the donated egg is to be checked under strong medical observations and should be potent to get fertilized.

 Risks of surrogacy:

The risks associated with surrogacy depend on the type of surrogacy (full or partial) undertaken. Generally, the risks associated with full surrogacy are similar to those for IVF.

Risks of fertility treatment:

There is also a risk of transferring HIV and hepatitis, and so screening of everyone involved in surrogacy involving IUI is recommended, and required in surrogacy arrangements involving IVF.  If a registered donor at a licensed clinic is used, the donor will automatically be screened.

Surrogacy in India:

Surrogacy in India continues to be a very sensitive topic. The laws meant to regulate surrogacy are still in nascent stages, as they are stuck at various legislative levels. The only guidelines currently related to this field are those of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), which date back to 2006. Meanwhile, surrogacy is growing rapidly by the day, thanks to India emerging as a centre for medical tourism and being one of the few countries in the world where commercial surrogacy is widely available. Estimates for the value of this industry is of about Rs.20 billion.

The legal situation in India is in sharp contrast to that existing in many other countries. In Germany and Canada, surrogacy is outlawed or prohibited. In U.K it is highly regulated and very expensive. In Germany, over the last three years, there have been two controversial cases. The first, in 2008, involved twins born to a surrogate mother; the second arose barely a year ago. In both cases, German authorities refused to automatically give passports to children born of surrogate procedures carried out in India. The main reason for the refusal of visas was because surrogacy is not allowed in Germany. This is a homogenous and consistent line of reasoning and is very much in contradiction to the state of affairs in India where at the moment this sector is almost completely unregulated.

There are references in Indian mythology to surrogacy, most notably in the legend surrounding Lord Krishna. But it is not commercial surrogacy. Today, the small Gujarat town of Anand, well known for its milk products, has rapidly put itself on the global map as the most fertile ground for ‘surrogacy tourism’. All evidence suggests that the phenomenon has now spread from cities to smaller towns in India, with many of the centres calling themselves in vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinics to avoid public scrutiny.

Of course, there is not much emphasis given to the setting up of norms to govern this growing industry. The IMA guidelines are more like normative principles that are required to be followed and not statutory instruments that invite penalties.

At present, in India the understanding between the surrogate mother and the commissioning parents is considered a contract, with a mention made of compensation to be paid to the mother. So although the guidelines recognize the existence of commercial surrogacy, it is relegated to the realm of an ordinary business contract. In other words, jurisprudence developed for commerce along with medical guidelines are the only form of regulation of a business that is referred to as and one can only assume without irony  as ‘wombs for rent’.

The Law Commission of India has brought out a report on surrogacy and the urgent need for regulation entitled, ‘Need for Legislation to Regulate Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinics as well as Rights and Obligations of Parties to a Surrogacy’. Unfortunately, this report, too, is now over three years old and the draft legislation on the issue — The Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill, 2010 (ART) is still nowhere in sight as a legally enforceable statute. 

The draft Bill itself is not without contentious issues since it is drafted from the perspective of the commissioning parents. The methods of payment to the surrogate and the other arrangements it lays down seem to suggest that the surrogate figures low in the list of priorities in terms of care and protection. This is disturbing considering that surrogacy raises several ethical considerations including the fact that it leaves poor women at the mercy of a capricious system.

These women often have no other recourse other than commercial surrogacy arrangements to buy themselves and their families out of debilitating circumstances. SAMA (Resource Group for Women and Health) headquartered at Delhi, is a resource group working in the area of women and health, has raised concerns regarding the current situation as well as serious problems with the Bill. The number of pregnancies, the types of procedures and the care of the surrogate are all matters that have been inadequately addressed, both by the medical system as it exists today and the Bill.

There is also the issue of race and ethics to be considered. In addition, it is pertinent to note that there is hardly the required encouragement to look at adoption as a viable alternative to surrogacy to parents willing to consider this as an option to add to their family.

The Supreme Court, in the 2008 case of Baby Manji Yamada v/s Union of India discussed surrogacy and noted that commercial surrogacy is reaching industrial proportions because of the ready availability of poor surrogates. It mentioned the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005 but stopped short of demanding that the government take immediate action to regulate the whole surrogacy industry, and not just address the issue of the rights of the child once it is born.

But while civil society groups, the media, the courts and the Law Commission have periodically focused on the various negative aspects of the surrogacy industry, the apathy of the country’s own legislators makes one wonder what is required to spur them to address the serious ethical and moral dimensions of this unregulated enterprise.