“If you earn your bread well, there will always be people around you to apply butter…” …..A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (born on October 15, 1931) – an Indian scientist and administrator who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. Dr. Kalam has had the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from 30 universities and institutions. He has been awarded the coveted civilian awards in India – ‘Padma Bhushan’ (1981) and ‘Padma Vibhushan’ (1990) and the highest civilian award of the nation ‘Bharat Ratna’ (1997). ________________________ A. P. J. ABDUL KALAM Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (born 15 October 1931), usually referred to as Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, in a Tamil Muslim family to Jainulabdeen, a boat owner and Ashiamma, a housewife, at Rameswaram, located in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He came from a poor background and started working at an early age to supplement his familys income. After completing school, Kalam distributed newspapers in order to financially contribute to his fathers income. In his school years, he had average grades, but was described as a bright and hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn and spend hours on his studies, especially mathematics. Kalam studied physics at the St. Josephs College, Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu, India), and specialized in aerospace engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), Chennai (Tamil Nadu). Kalam worked as an Aerospace engineer with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and made significant contribution as Project Director to develop Indias first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully injected the Rohini satellite in the near earth orbit in July 1980 and made India an exclusive member of Space Club. He was responsible for the evolution of ISROs launch vehicle programme, particularly the PSLV configuration. After working for two decades in ISRO and mastering launch vehicle technologies, Dr. Kalam took up the responsibility of developing Indigenous Guided Missiles at Defence Research and Development Organisation as the Chief Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). He was responsible for the development and operationalisation of AGNI and PRITHVI Missiles and for building indigenous capability in critical technologies through networking of multiple institutions. He was the Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development from July 1992 to December 1999. During this period he led to the weaponisation of strategic missile systems and the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in collaboration with Department of Atomic Energy, which made India a nuclear weapon State. In fact, Kalam is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology. He also gave thrust to self-reliance in defence systems by progressing multiple development tasks and mission projects such as Light Combat Aircraft. As Chairman of Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) and as an eminent scientist, he led the country with the help of 500 experts to arrive at Technology Vision 2020 giving a road map for transforming India from the present developing status to a developed nation. Dr. Kalam has served as the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, in the rank of Cabinet Minister, from November 1999 to November 2001 and was responsible for evolving policies, strategies and missions for many development applications. Dr. Kalam was also the Chairman, Ex-officio, of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C) and piloted India Millennium Mission 2020. Dr. Kalam took up academic pursuit as Professor, Technology and Societal Transformation at Anna University, Chennai from November 2001 and was involved in teaching and research tasks. Above all he took up a mission to ignite the young minds for national development by meeting high school students across the country. In his literary pursuit four of Dr. Kalams books - Wings of Fire, India 2020 - A Vision for the New Millennium, My journey and Ignited Minds - Unleashing the power within India have become household names in India and among the Indian nationals abroad. These books have been translated in many Indian languages. Dr. Kalam has had the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from 30 universities and institutions. He has been awarded the coveted civilian awards in India – ‘Padma Bhushan’ (1981) and ‘Padma Vibhushan’ (1990) and the highest civilian award of the nation ‘Bharat Ratna’ (1997). He is a recipient of several other awards and Fellow of many professional institutions. Dr. Kalam served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. ___________________ By AVDHESH SHUKLA
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 18:13:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015