article

1. A brief bio
Bharat Ratna Avul PakirJainulabdeenAbdul Kalam, generallyknownasDr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, wasthe
11th Presidentof India(2002-07).He was electedagainstLakshmi Sehgal in2002 andhad supportfrom
boththe BharatiyaJanataParty and the IndianNational Congress,the twoleadingpartiesof Indian
politics.Byprofessionhe wasa scientistandanadministratorinIndia.He workedwithIndianSpace
ResearchOrganisation(ISRO) andDefense ResearchandDevelopmentOrganisation(DRDO) asan
aerospace engineerbeforebecomingthe Presidentof India.Hisworkonthe developmentof launch
vehicle andballisticmissiletechnologyhadearnedhimthe name of the 'Missile Manof India'.The
Pokhran-IInucleartestsconductedinIndiain1998 afterthe age-longoriginal nucleartestof 1974 saw
himin a pivotal political,organisational andtechnical role.
Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalamwasthe visitingprofessoratthe IndianInstitute of Management,Indore;the
IndianInstitute of Management,Ahmadabad;andthe IndianInstituteof Management,Shillong.He was
a professorof Aerospace Engineeringatthe JSS UniversityinMysore andat the Anna Universityin
Chennai,apartfrombeinganadjunct andvisitingfacultyatotherresearchandacademicinstitutionsin
India.He was the honoraryfellowof the IndianInstituteof Science,Bengaluruandthe Chancellorof
IndianInstitute of Space Science andTechnologyatThiruvananthapuram.
In hisbookIndia2020, he has recommendedplanstomake the nationafullydevelopedone bythe year
2020. Hisinteractionswiththe studentcommunityandhismotivational speecheshave made himquite
popularamongthe youth.In 2011 he launcheda missioncalled'WhatCanI Give Movement'aimedat
the youthof India,whichfocusedondefeatingcorruptioninthe country.

2. DetailedPersonal Background
Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalamwasbornto a poorTamil Muslimfamilyon15 October1931 at Rameswaramin
the state of Tamil Nadu,India.Hisfather,Jainulabdeen,wasaboat owner,andhismother,Ashiamma,
was a homemaker.He startedworkingata youngage to supporthisfather.He receivedaverage grades
inschool but wasseenas a hardworking andbrightstudentwithastrong desire tolearnthings.He used
to studyfor hours,especiallymathematics.He completedhisschoolingfromRameshwaramElementary
School.In1954 he graduatedinPhysicsfromSt.Joseph'sCollegeinTiruchirappalli,which wasthen
affiliatedtothe Universityof Madras.Thereafterin1955 he movedto Madras and joinedthe Madras
Institute of Technologyandstudiedaerospace engineering.Hisdreamwastobecome a fighterpilotbut
he was rankedninthwhile the IAFofferedonlyeightslots.He wasabachelor.
Death
Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalampassedawayon27 July2015 due to a massive cardiacarrest afterhe collapsed
duringa lecture at the IndianInstitute of Management,Shillong.
Journey and Achievements as aScientist
•Aftercompletinghisgraduationin1960, Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalamjoinedasa scientistinDefense
ResearchandDevelopmentOrganisation'sAeronauticalDevelopmentEstablishment.
•At the verystart of hiscareerhe designedasmall helicopterforthe Indianarmy.
•He alsoworkedunderthe renownedscientistVikramSarabhai asa part of the committee of
INCOSPAR.
•From 1963 to 1964 he visitedthe GoddardSpace FlightCenterinGreenbelt,Maryland;the Wallops
FlightFacilitylocatedatthe EasternShore of Virginia;andthe LangleyResearchCenterof Nasasituated
at Hampton Virginia.
•In 1965, he,forthe firsttime,workedindependentlyinDefense ResearchandDevelopment
Organisationonanexpandable rocketproject.The programme wasexpandedin1969 and more
engineerswereincludedafterreceivinggovernment'sapproval.
•He became the ProjectDirectorof India'sfirstindigenousSatelliteLaunchVehicle (SLV-III) whenhe was
transferredin1969 to IndianSpace ResearchOrganisation(ISRO).InJuly1980 histeamwas successful in
deployingthe Rohinisatellite nearthe orbitof the Earth.
•Dr. Kalam's effortsindevelopingthe projectsonSLV-IIIandPolarSLV from1970s to 1990s provedto
be successful.
•Dr. Kalam directedProjectValiantandProjectDevil thataimedatdevelopingballisticmissilesusingthe
technologyof the SLV programme thatwas a success.It isknownthat the thenPrime MinisterIndira
Gandhi,usingherdiscretionarypowers,allottedsecretfundswhentheseaerospace projectswere
disapprovedbythe UnionCabinet.

3. •Dr. Kalam andDr. V.S.Arunachalam,onthe proposal of the thenDefense MinisterR.Venkataraman,
workedondevelopingaquiverof missilesinsteadof one ata time.Dr. Kalamwasmade the Chief
Executive of the programme,whichwasnamedIntegratedGuidedMissile Developmentprogramme.
•From July1992 to December1999 he remainedthe Secretaryof the Defense Researchand
DevelopmentOrganisation,andalsothe Chief ScientificAdvisortothe Prime Minister.Thisperiod
witnessedthe PokhranIInucleartests,whenDr.Kalamplayedakeytechnological andpolitical role.At
the time of the testingphase,he,alongwithR.Chidambaram, wasmade the Chief ProjectCoordinator.
•He developedalow-costCoronaryStentalongwithDr.SomaRaju,a cardiologist,in1998. It was
named"Kalam-RajuStent"afterthem.Bothof themalsodesignedatabletPCcalled"Kalam-Raju
Tablet"forhealthcare inrural areas.
Dr. Kalam's Tenure as President of India
•The National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) governmenton10 June 2002 proposedDr.Kalam'sname for
the Presidential posttothe Leaderof Opposition,CongressPresidentSoniaGandhi.
•The NationalistCongressPartyandthe Samajwadi Partysupportedhiscandidature.
•Dr. Kalam servedasthe Presidentof Indiafrom25 July2002 to 25 July2007.
•He wonthe election,getting922,884 votes,thusdefeatingLakshmi Sehgal,whogot107,366 votes.
•Dr. Kalam succeededK.R.Narayananasthe 11th Presidentof India.
•He was the thirdPresidentof Indiatohave receivedthe prestigiousBharatRatna,the highestcivilian
honour.It wasearliergiventoDr. Sarvapali Radhakrishnanin1954 and Dr. ZakirHussainin 1963.
•He was the firstbachelorandscientisttoreside inthe Rashtrapati Bhavan.
•Dr. Kalam wasaffectionatelycalledthe People'sPresident.
•Accordingto himthe toughestdecisiontakenbyhimasPresidentwassigningthe Bill of Office of Profit.
•He was criticizedasa Presidentforhisinactiontodecide the fate of 20 mercypetitionsout of 21,
includingthatof the Kashmiri TerroristAfzal Guru,whowasconvictedforthe Parliamentattacksin
December2001.
Honours and Awards
•The UnitedNationshasrecognizedDr.Kalam's79th birthdayas "WorldStudent'sDay".
•In 1981 he received the PadmaBhushanandin1990 the PadmaVibhushanfromthe Indian
GovernmentforhisworkwithDRDO andISRO and as scientificadvisortothe government.
•He receivedthe BharatRatna in1997 for hiscontributioninthe fieldof scientificresearch,
developmentandmodernisationof technologyinthe defense sectorof India.
•In 1997, the IndianNational Congressconferredhimwiththe IndiraGandhi AwardforNational
Integration.
•In 1998 the Governmentof Indiagave himthe VeerSavarkarAward.
•The Alwars ResearchCentre of Chennai bestowedonhimthe RamanujanAwardin2000.
•The Universityof WolverhamptoninUKbestowedonhimthe HonoraryDoctorate of Science in2007.
•The Royal Societyof UK honouredhimwiththe KingCharlesIIMedal in2007.

4. •In 2008 he receivedthe Doctorof Engineering(HonorisCausa) fromSingapore'sNanyangTechnological
University.
•The CaliforniaInstitute of Technology,USA honouredhimwiththe International vonKarmanWings
Awardin 2009.
•He receivedthe HooverMedal fromASMEFoundation,U.S.A in2009.
•The Universityof Waterloohonouredhimwiththe Doctorof Engineeringin2010.
•In 2011 he became the Honorary memberof the IEEE.
•In 2012 the SimonFraserUniversityconferredhimthe Doctorof Laws (HonorisCausa).
Documentaries andBooks by Dr. Kalam
•IgnitedMinds:Unleashingthe PowerWithinIndia
•InspiringThoughts
•Indomitable Spirit
•The LuminousSparks
•TurningPoints:A journeythroughchallenges
•My Journey:TransformingDreamsintoActions
•Developmentsin FluidMechanicsandSpace Technology,byDr.A.P.J.Abdul KalamandRoddam
Narasimha
•India2020: A Visionforthe NewMillennium, byDr.A.P.J.Abdul KalamandY.S.Rajan.
•Wingsof Fire:AnAutobiography,byDr.A.P.J.Abdul KalamandArunTiwari.
•MissionIndia,byDr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam.
•EnvisioninganEmpoweredNation,byDr.A.P.J.Abdul KalamandA.SivathanuPillai.
•You Are Born To Blossom:Take My JourneyBeyond,byDr.A.P.J.Abdul KalamandArunTiwari.
•Target 3 Billion,byDr.A.P.J.Abdul KalamandSrijanPal Singh
Biographies
•A.P.J.Abdul Kalam:The Visionaryof India,byK.BhushanandG. Katyal.
•Eternal Quest:Life andTimesof Dr. Kalam, writtenbyS.Chandra.
•PresidentA.P.J.Abdul Kalam, writtenbyR.K.Pruthi.
•My Days WithMahatma Abdul Kalam,writtenbyFr.A.K.George.
•A Little Dream,a documentaryfilmbyP.Dhanapal,Minveli MediaWorksPrivate Limited.
•The KalamEffect:My Years withthe President,writtenbyP.M.Nair.