Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul 15 October 1931 – 27 July 2015 was an aerospace scientist who
served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied
physics and aerospace engineering. He spent the next four decades as a
scientist and science administrator, mainly at the Defense
Research and Development Organization (DRDO)
and Indian
Space Research Organization (ISRO) and was
intimately involved in India's civilian space programe and military missile
development efforts. He
thus came to be known as the Missile Man of India for his work
on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology. He
also played a pivotal organizational, technical, and political role in
India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first since
the original nuclear test by
India in 1974.
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. His ancestors had been wealthy traders and
landowners, with numerous properties and large tracts of land. Their business
had involved trading groceries between the mainland and the island and to and
from Sri
Lanka,
as well as ferrying pilgrims between the mainland and Pamban. As a result, the
family acquired the title of "Mara Kalam Iyakkivar" (wooden boat
steerers), which over the years became shortened to "Marakier." With
the opening of the Pamban Bridge to the mainland in 1914, however,
the businesses failed and the family fortune and properties were lost over
time, apart from the ancestral home. By his early childhood, Kalam's
family had become poor; at an early age, he sold newspapers to supplement his
family's income.
Career
as a scientist
This was my first stage, in
which I learnt leadership from three great teachers—Dr Vikram
Sarabhai, Prof Satish Dhawan and Dr Brahm
Prakash. This was the time of learning and acquisition of knowledge for me.
After
graduating from the Madras Institute of Technology in 1960, Kalam
joined the Aeronautical Development Establishment of the Defence Research and
Development Organization (by Press Information Bureau, Government of
India) as a scientist after becoming a member of the Defence Research &
Development Service (DRDS). He started his career by designing a
small hovercraft, but remained
unconvinced by his choice of a job at DRDO. Kalam was also part of
the INCOSPAR committee working
under Vikram Sarabhai, the renowned space scientist۔ In 1969, Kalam was
transferred to the Indian Space Research Organization (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.
Presidency
Kalam
served as the 11th President of India, succeeding K. R. Narayanan. He won the 2002 presidential election with an
electoral vote of 922,884, surpassing the 107,366 votes won by Lakshmi
Sahgal. His term lasted from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007.
On
10 June 2002, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which was
in power at the time, expressed that they would nominate Kalam for the post of
President, and both the Samajwadi
Party and the Nationalist Congress Party backed his
candidacy. After the Samajwadi Party announced its support for Kalam,
Narayanan chose not to seek a second term in office, leaving the field
clear. Kalam said of the announcement of his candidature:
I
am really overwhelmed. Everywhere both in Internet and in other media, I have
been asked for a message. I was thinking what message I can give to the people
of the country at this juncture.
Death
On
27 July 2015, Kalam travelled to Shillong to
deliver a lecture on "Creating a Livable Planet Earth" at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong. While climbing a
flight of stairs, he experienced some discomfort, but was able to enter the
auditorium after a brief rest. At around 6:35 p.m. IST, only five minutes
into his lecture, he collapsed. He was rushed to the nearby Bethany
Hospital in a critical condition; upon arrival, he lacked a pulse or any other
signs of life. Despite being placed in the intensive
care unit,
Kalam was confirmed dead of a sudden cardiac arrest at 7:45
p.m IST. His last words,
to his aide Srijan Pal Singh, were reportedly: "Funny
guy! Are you doing well?"
Awards
and honours
Several
educational and scientific institutions and other locations were renamed or
named in honors of Kalam following his death.
·
An
agricultural college at Kishanganj, Bihar, was renamed the "Dr. Kalam
Agricultural College, Kishanganj" by the Bihar state government on the day
of Kalam's funeral. The state government also announced it would name a
proposed science city after Kalam.
·
India's
First Medical Tech Institute named as Kalam
Institute of Health Technology located at Visakhapatnam.
·
Uttar
Pradesh Technical University (UPTU)
was renamed "A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University" by the Uttar
Pradesh state government.
·
A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam Memorial Travancore Institute of Digestive Diseases, a new research
institute in Kollam city, Kerala attached
to the Travancore
Medical College Hospital.
·
A
new academic complex at Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala.
·
A
new science centre and planetarium in Lawspet, Puducherry.
·
India
and the US have launched the Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship in September
2014. The first call for applicants was announced on Friday 12 March 2016, for
the fellowship which will enable up to 6 Indian PhD students and post-doctoral
researchers to work with US host institutions for a period of 6–12 months. The
fellowship will be operated by the binational US-India Educational Foundation
(USIEF) under the Fulbright programme.
·
Kerala
Technological University, headquartered
at Thiruvananthapuram where
Kalam lived for years, was renamed to A
P J Abdul Kalam Technological University after
his death.
Books,
documentaries and popular culture
·
Developments in Fluid Mechanics and
Space Technology by
A P J Abdul Kalam and Roddam
Narasimha; Indian Academy of Sciences, 1988
·
The Luminous Sparks by A P J Abdul
Kalam, by; Punya Publishing Pvt Ltd., 2004.
·
Inspiring Thoughts by A P J Abdul
Kalam; Rajpal & Sons, 2007
·
Indomitable Spirit by A P J Abdul
Kalam; Rajpal and Sons Publishing
·
Envisioning an Empowered Nation by A P J Abdul
Kalam with A Sivathanu Pillai; Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi
·
You Are Born To Blossom: Take My
Journey Beyond by
A P J Abdul Kalam and Arun Tiwari; Ocean Books, 2011.
·
Turning Points: A journey through
challenges by
A P J Abdul Kalam; Harper Collins India, 2012.
·
Target 3 Billion by A P J Abdul
Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh; December 2011 | Publisher Penguin Books.
·
My Journey: Transforming Dreams into
Actions by
A P J Abdul Kalam; August 2013 by the Rupa Publication.
·
A Manifesto for Change: A Sequel to
India 2020 by
A P J Abdul Kalam and V Ponraj; July 2014 by Harper Collins.
·
Forge your Future: Candid, Forthright,
Inspiring by
A P J Abdul Kalam; by Rajpal and Sons, 29 October 2014.
·
Reignited: Scientific Pathways to a
Brighter Future by
A P J Abdul Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh; by Penguin India, 14 May 2015.
·
Transcendence: My
Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji by A P J Abdul
Kalam with Arun Tiwari; HarperCollins Publishers, June 2015
·
Advantage India: From Challenge to
Opportunity by
A P J Abdul Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh; HarperCollins Publishers,15 Oct 2015.ز
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