A.P.J.Abdul Kalam- Biography,Books,Awards,Death,Legacy

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam(1931-2015)-The Scientist, President, Professor,Author :

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is known as THE MISSILE MAN of India.As a Scientist,President,Author his contribution is unmeasurable.Let's know more about his early life, career,education ....etc

THE MISSILE MAN  OF INDIA

Quick Overview:

• Name                     - Avul Pakir Jainulabden Abdul Kalam                                                                   (A.P.J. Abdul Kalam)
• Birth                      - 15/Oct/1931
• Birth place            - Dhanushkodi, Rameswaram, Tamilnadu,                                                               India
• Occupation           - Scientist ,President ,Author ,Professor
• Political career     - President
• Awards                  - Padma Bhushan(1981),   Padma Vibhushan(1990) ,                                                 Bharat Ratna(1997),  Hoover Medal(2009)
• Books                    -  India 2020, Wings of Fire ,Ignited india
• Death                     - 27/July/2015  (Age-83)
• Death place           - Shillong ,Meghalaya, India

Early life and Education :

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 to a Tamil Muslim  family in the pilgrimage centre of Rameswaram on Pamban Island, then in the MADRAS presidency and now in the State of Tamil Nadu. His father Jainulabdeen was a boat owner and imam of a local mosque; his mother Ashiamma was a housewife. His father owned a ferry that took Hindu pilgrims back and forth between Rameswaram and the now uninhabited dhanushkodi. Kalam was the youngest of four brothers and one sister in his family.

In his school days, Kalam had average grades but was described as a bright and hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn. Mathematics was his main interest.

He had completed his matriculation from Schwartz Higher Secondary School, Ramanathapuram and later he went to Saint Joseph's college where he became a physics graduate. In 1955, he went to Madras to study aerospace engineering in Madras Institute of Technology.

During his third year of graduation, he was assigned a project to design a low-level attack aircraft together with a few other students. Their teacher had given them a tight deadline for completing the project, it was very difficult. Kalam worked hard under immense pressure and finally completed his project within the stipulated deadline. The teacher was impressed by the dedication of Kalam.

As a result Kalam want to become a fighter pilot but he got 9th position in the qualifiers list and only eight positions were available in the IAF.

Career as a scientist :

A.P.J Abdul Kalam had completed his graduation in 1957 from the Madras Institute of Technology and in 1958 as a scientist he had joined the Aeronautical Development Establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).In the early 1960s, he worked with the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) under the renowned space scientist Vikram Sarabhai.

He had started his career by designing a small hovercraft at DRDO.

After visiting NASA's Langely Research Centre in Hampton, Virginia; Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland and Wallops Flight Facility in 1963-64, he had started working on an expandable rocket project independently in 1965 at DRDO. In 1969, Kalam was transferred to the INDIAN SPACE RESEARCH ORGANISATION (ISRO) where he was the project director of India's first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully deployed the ROHINI satellite in near-earth orbit in July 1980; Kalam had first started work on an expandable rocket project independently at DRDO in 1965. In 1969, Kalam received the government's approval and expanded the programme to include more engineers.

 In 1970s, he had made an effort to develop the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) with an aim to allow India to launch its Indian remote Sensing (IRS) satellite into Sun-Synchronous orbit, PSLV project was successful and on 20 September 1993, it was first launched.Raja Ramanna invited Abdul Kalam to witness the country's first nuclear test Smiling Buddha as the representative of TBRL, even though he had not participated in its development.

In 1970s, Abdul Kalam directed two projects namely Project Devil and project Valiant. Do you know about the Project Devil? It was an early liquid-fuelled missile project aimed at producing a short-range surface-to-air missile. This project was not successful and discontinued in 1980s and later it led to the development of the Prithvi missile. On the other hand Project Valiant aimed at the development of intercontinental ballistic missile. This was also not successful.An Indian Ministry of Defence programme managed by DRDO in partnership with other government organisations launched the Integrated Guided Missile Development programme (IGMDP) in the early 1980s. Abdul Kalam was asked to lead the project and in 1983 he returned to DRDO as Chief Executive of IGMDP in 1983.The programme led to the development of four projects namely Short range surface-to-surface missile (Prithvi), Short range low-level surface-to-air missile (Trishul), Medium range surface-to-air missile (Akash) and Third-generation anti-tank missile (Nag).

Under the leadership of Abdul Kalam, the project of IGMDP proved to be successful by producing missiles like first Prithvi missile in 1988 and then the Agni missile in 1989. Due to his contribution he was known as "Missile Man of India."

In 1992, he was appointed as the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister. With the rank of cabinet minister, in 1999, he was appointed as the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.Kalam served as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and Secretaryy of the Defence Research and Development Organisation from July 1992 to December 1999. The POKHRAN-II nuclear tests were conducted during this period in which he played an intensive political and technological role. Kalam served as the Chief Project Coordinator, along with Rajagopala Chidambaram , during the testing phase. Media coverage of Kalam during this period made him the country's best known nuclear scientist. However, the director of the site test, K Santhanam, said that the thermonuclear bomb had been a "fizzle" and criticised Kalam for issuing an incorrect report. Both Kalam and Chidambaram dismissed the claims.

President of India (2002-2007) :

On 10 June 2002, the NDA government proposed Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam name for the presidential post to the Leader of opposition, Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Dr. Abdul Kalam served as the President of India from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007. He was the first scientist and the first bachelor to occupy the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

President of India

In the presidential election he got approx 922,884 votes and defeated Lakshmi Sehgal.He became the 11th President of India by succeeding K.R Narayanan.

He received the prestigious Bharat Ratna and became the third President to receive the highest civilian honour after Dr. Sarvapali Radhakrishnan in 1954 Dr. Zakir Hussain in 1963.

Dr. Abdul Kalam was also known as People's President.

According to Dr. Kalam, the toughest decision taken by him as the President was signing the bill of office of Profit.

Over the course of his five-year term, he remained committed to his vision of transforming India into a developed nation.He was however criticised for his inaction to decide the fate of 20 mercy petitions out of 21, including that of the Kashmiri Terrorist Afzal Guru, who was convicted for the parliament attacks in December 2001.

He decided not to contest the Presidential election again in 2007 and stepped down as the president on 25 July 2007.

Post Presidency :

After leaving the office, Dr. Abdul Kalam chosen the academic field and became a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, the Indian Institute of Management Indore, an honorary fellow of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.He also served as the chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram, professor of Aerospace Engineering at Anna University and an adjunct at many other academic and research institutions across India.The information technology was also taught by him at the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, and technology at Banaras Hindu University and Anna University. 

In 2011, Kalam was criticised by civil groups over his stand on the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant; he supported the establishment of the nuclear power plant and was accused of not speaking with the local people. The protesters were hostile to his visit as they saw him as a pro-nuclear scientist and were unimpressed by the assurances he provided regarding the safety features of the plant.

In May 2012, Kalam launched a programme for the youth of India called the What Can I Give Movement, with a central theme of defeating corruption.

Death :

On 27 July 2015, Dr. Abdul Kalam was delivering a lecture at IIM Shillong where he suffered a heart attack and his condition became critical, so, he was shifted to Bethany Hospital where thereafter, he died of cardiac arrest. His last words, to Srijan Pal Singh, were "Funny guy! Are you doing well?"

On 30 July, 2015, the former President was laid to rest at Rameshwaram's Pei Karumbu Ground with State honours. Around 350,000 people attended the last ritual of Kalam, including the Prime Minister of India, the Governor of Tamil Nadu and the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

Memorial :

The Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam National Memorial was built in memory of Kalam by the DRDO in Pei Karumbu, in the island town of Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2017. On display are the replicas of rockets and missiles which Kalam had worked with. Acrylic paintings about his life are also displayed along with hundreds of portraits depicting the life of the mass leader. There is a statue of Kalam in the entrance showing him playing the VEENA. There are two other smaller statues of the leader in sitting and standing posture

MEMORIAL

Awards and Achievements :

• In 1981, Dr. Kalam received Padma Bhushan from the Government of India.
• In 1990, Dr. Kalam received Padma Vibhushan from Government of India.
• In 1994 and 1995, Distinguished Fellow and Honorary Fellow by Institute of Directors India and National Academy of Medical Sciences.
• In 1997, he had received Bharat Ratna from Government of India and Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration from Indian National Congress.
  
  
• In 1998, Veer Savarkar Award from Government of India.
• In 2000, Ramanujan Award from Alwars Research Centre, Chennai.
• In 2007, he was honoured with the King Charles II Medal by the Royal Society, U.K. and Doctorate of Science from University of Wolverhampton, UK.
  
• In 2008, he won the Hoover Medal given by ASME Foundation, USA and received Doctor of Engineering by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
• In 2009, The California Institute of Technology, U.S.A, presented Kalam with the International von Karman Wings Award, Hoover medal by ASME Foundation, USA and Honorary Doctorate by Oakland University.
•  In 2010, Doctor of Engineering by University of Waterloo.
•  In 2011, The IEEE honoured Kalam with IEEE Honorary Membership.
•  In 2012, Doctor of Laws by Simon Fraser University.
•  In 2013, Von Braun Award by the National Space Society.
•  In 2014, Doctor of Science by the Edinburgh University, UK.
•  Dr. Kalam was the recipient of honorary doctorates from 40 universities.
•  Also, Dr. Kalam's 79th birthday was recognised as World Student's Day by United Nations. He was also nominated for the MTV Youth icon of the Year in 2003 and in 2006.
  
•  Following his death, he received several tributes like the Tamil Nadu State Government on 15 October that is on his birthday announced to observe across the state as “Youth Renaissance Day”. Further the State Government instituted the Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam Award constituting an 8 gm gold medal, a certificate and Rs 500,000.
• On an Independence Day, from 2015, the award will be awarded annually to the residents of the state with the achievements in promoting scientific growth, the humanities or the welfare of students.
  
• Also, the CBSE on the anniversary of Dr. Kalam’s birth set some topics on his name in the CBSE syllabus or expression series.
• Not only this, on 15 October, 2015 the 84th anniversary of Kalam’s birth, Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India released postage stamps commemorating Kalam at DRDO Bhawan in New Delhi.
• A new bacterium as the filters of the International Space Station (ISS) named it as Solibacilus Kalami to honour the late President Dr. Abdul Kalam was discovered by the Researchers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Books written by Abdul Kalam :

• India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium (co-authored with Yagnaswami Sundara Rajan, (1998)
• Wings of Fire: An Autobiography (1999)
• Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India (2002)
• The Luminous Sparks (2004)
• Mission India (2005)
• Inspiring Thoughts (2007)
• You Are Born To Blossom: Take My Journey Beyond (co-authored with Arun Tiwari, 2011)
• Envisioning and Empowered Nation
  
• Target 3 Billion by A.P.J. Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh (December 2011)
• Turning Points: A journey Through Challenges (2012)
• My Journey: Transforming Dreams into Actions (2013)
• A Manifesto for Change: A Sequel to India 2020 (co-authored with V. Ponraj, 2014)
• Reignited: Scientific Pathways to a Brighter Future by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh (2015)
• Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji (co-authored with Arun Tiwari, 2015)
• Advantage India: From Challenge to Opportunity by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh (2015)
• Governance for growth in India (2014)