Dr. Abdul Kalam
The Missile Man & The People's President of India
11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. A career scientist turned statesman, Kalam 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 Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and was intimately involved in India's civilian space programme 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 organisational, technical, and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974.
Time line of Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kaalam's life:
- 1931 - Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 in Rameswaram on Pamban Island, then in the Madras Presidency and now in the State of Tamil Nadu.
- 1955 - Kalam moved to Madras to study aerospace engineering in Madras Institute of Technology.
- 1960 - After graduating from the Madras Institute of Technology in 1960, Kalam joined the Aeronautical Development Establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation as a scientist.
- 1965 - Kalam had first started work on an expandable rocket project independently at DRDO in 1965.
- 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.
- 1970 - Between the 1970s and 1990s, Kalam made an effort to develop the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and SLV-III projects, both of which proved to be successful.
- 1981 - The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1981 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1990 for his work with ISRO and DRDO and his role as a scientific advisor to the Government.
- 1992 - Kalam served as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and Secretary 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.
- 1997 - Kalam received India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, for his contribution to the scientific research and modernisation of defence technology in India.
- 1998 - along with cardiologist Soma Raju, Kalam developed a low cost coronary stent, named the "Kalam-Raju Stent".
- 2002 - He won the 2002 presidential election with an electoral vote of 922,884. Kalam was the third President of India to have been honored with a Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor.
- 2007 - At the end of his term, on 20 June 2007, Kalam expressed his willingness to consider a second term in office provided there was certainty about his victory in the 2007 presidential election. However, two days later, he decided not to contest the Presidential election again stating that he wanted to avoid involving Rashtrapati Bhavan from any political processes.
- 2015 - Dies at the age of 85. On 30 July 2015, the former President was laid to rest at Rameswaram's Pei Karumbu Ground with full state honours. Over 350,000 people attended the last rites, including the Prime Minister, the governor of Tamil Nadu and the chief ministers of Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
5 Most Famous Motivational Qoutes by Dr. Abdul Kalam
- “Man needs his difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success.”
- “If you FAIL, never give up because F.A.I.L. means “First Attempt in Learning.”
- “Dream is not that which you see while sleeping it is something that does not let you sleep.”
- “Difficulties in your life do not come to destroy you, but to help you realise your hidden potential and power, let difficulties know that you too are difficult.”
- “What is the secret of success? Right decisions. How do you make right decisions? Experience. How do you gain experience? Wrong decisions.”