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DR. A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM

Born on 15th October 1931 at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Ab Kalam, specialized in Aeronautical Engineering from Madras Institute of Technology. Dr. K made significant contribution as Project Director to develop India's first indigenous Satellit Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully injected the Rohini satellite in the near earth orbit in J and made India an exclusive member of Space Club. He was responsible for the evolution o launch vehicle programme, particularly the PSLV configuration. After working for two deca ISRO and mastering launch vehicle technologies, Dr. Kalam took up the responsibility of de Indigenous Guided Missiles at Defence Research and Development Organisation as the Chi Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). He was respon the development and operationalisation of AGNI and PRITHVI Missiles and for building in capability in critical technologies through networking of multiple institutions. He was the S Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Developmen July 1992 to December 1999. During this period he led to the weaponisation of strategic mi systems and the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in collaboration with Department of Atomic Ener made India a nuclear weapon State. He also gave thrust to self-reliance in defence systems progressing multiple development tasks and mission projects such as Light Combat Aircraf

As Chairman of Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) and eminent scientist, he led the country with the help of 500 experts to arrive at Technology Vi 2020 giving a road map for transforming India from the present developing status to a deve nation. Dr. Kalam has served as the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India rank of Cabinet Minister, from November 1999 to November 2001 and was responsible for policies, strategies and missions for many development applications. Dr. Kalam was also th Chairman, Ex-officio, of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C) and pilo Millennium Mission 2020.

Dr. Kalam took up academic pursuit as Professor, Technology & Societal Transformation at University, Chennai from November 2001 and was involved in teaching and research tasks.

all he took up a mission to ignite the young minds for national development by meeting hig students across the country.

In his literary pursuit four of Dr. Kalam's books - "Wings of Fire", "India 2020 - A Vision fo Millennium", "My journey" and "Ignited Minds - Unleashing the power within India" have household names in India and among the Indian nationals abroad. These books have been translated in many Indian languages.

Dr. Kalam is one of the most distinguished scientists of India with the unique honour of rec honorary doctorates from 30 universities and institutions. He has been awarded the covete awards - Padma Bhushan (1981) and Padma Vibhushan (1990) and the highest civilian awa Ratna (1997). He is a recipient of several other awards and Fellow of many professional inst

Dr. Kalam became the 11th President of India on 25th July 2002. His focus is on transform into a developed nation by 2020.

Website designed and hosted by National Informatics Centre. Content of this website has been sourced from the then website of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam during his tenureship as the President of India.

Home Books

Books
wings of fire
An Autobiography: APJ Abdul Kalam With Arun Tiwari Published By: Universities Press(India) Private Limited, Hyderabad.

2020- A Vision for the New Millennium

APJ Abdul Kalam With YS Rajan

Published By: Penguin Books India(Private) Limited, New Delhi. www.penguinbooksindia

Envisioning an Empowered Nation

Technology for Societal Transformation: APJ Abdul Kalam With A Sivathan Published By: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi.

Ignited Minds
Unleashing The Power Within India: APJ Abdul Kalam

Published By: Penguin Books India(Private) Limited, New Delhi. www.penguinbooksindia

My Journey
APJ Abdul Kalam Published By: V Suryanarayana Murthy

Developments in Fluid Mechanics and Space Techno

R Narasimha & APJ Abdul Kalam Published By: Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore.

The Luminous Sparks

A biography in verse and colours: APJ Abdul Kalam Published By: Punya Publishing Private Limited, Bangalore

The Life Tree

Poems : A.P.J.Abdul Kalam Painting illustrations by Manav Gupta

Published By: Penguin Books India (Private) Limited, New Delhi. www.penguinbooksindi

Mission India
A Vision for Indian Youth:A.P.J. Abdul Kalam with Y.S. Rajan

Published By: Penguin Books India (Private) Limited, New Delhi. www.penguinbooksindi

Children Ask Kalam

Children and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Published By: Pearson Education, Registered Office: 14, Local Shopping Centre , Panchsh New Delhi-17

Guiding Souls
Dialogues on the Purpose of life : A.P.J. Abdul Kalam with Arun Published By: Ocean Books Pvt. Ltd., 4/19 Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi-2 Web Site: www.oceanbooks.in

Indomitable Spirit
Published By: Rajpal & Sons, Madarsa Road, Kashmere Gate, New Delhi - 110006. Website: rajpalsons.com

Inspiring Thoughts
by APJ ABDUL KALAM Published By: Rajpal & Sons, Madarsa Road, Kashmere Gate, New Delhi - 110006. Website: rajpalsons.com

Website designed and hosted by National Informatics Centre. Content of this website has been sourced from the then website of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam during his tenureship as the President of India.

Home Profile

Quotes

"Thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and dow come across in your life."

"Thinking is progress. Non-thinking is stagnation of the individual, organisati

irrelevant. Knowledge with action, converts adversity into prosperity."

the country. Thinking leads to action. Knowledge without action is useless and

"When you speak, speak the truth; perform when you promise; discharge you
bad..."

Withhold your hands from striking, and from taking that which is unlawful an

"What actions are most excellent? To gladden the heart of a human being, to f
wrongs of injured..."

hungry, to help the afflicted to lighten the sorrow of the sorrowful and to remo

"Away! Fond thoughts, and vex my soul no more! Work claimed my wakeful n
gaze!"

my busy days Albeit brought memories of Rameswaram shore Yet haunt my dr

"I will not be presumptuous enough to say that my life can be a role model for
anybody; but some poor child living in an obscure place in an underprivileged setting may find a little solace in the way my destiny has been shaped. It could help such children liberate themselves from the bondage of their illusory backwardness and hopelessness?.."

"My worthiness is all my doubt His Merit- all my fear- Contrasting which my q Does however appear "

Website designed and hosted by National Informatics Centre. Content of this website has been sourced from the then website of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam during his tenureship as the President of India.

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the former President of India. For the freedom fighter, see Abul Kalam Azad.

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam

Abdul Kalam at the 12th Wharton India Economic Forum, 2008.

President of India

In office 25 July 2002 24 July 2007

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Manmohan Singh

Vice President

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

Preceded by

Kocheril Raman Narayanan

Succeeded by

Pratibha DeviSingh Patil

Personal details

Born

15 October 1931 (age 79) Rameswaram, British India(now Tamil Nadu, India)

Political party

Independent

Alma mater

St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli Madras Institute of Technology

Profession

Aerospace engineer

Religion

Islam

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam

pronunciation (helpinfo) (Tamil:

; born 15 October 1931) usually referred to as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is an Aerospace engineer, professor, and chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007.[1] During his term as President, he was popularly known as the People's President.[2][3]He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor in 1997. Before his term as India's president, he worked as an aeronautical engineer with DRDO andISRO. He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on development of ballistic missile and space rocket technology.[4] Kalam played a pivotal organizational, technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear test in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974.[5] He is currently the chancellor of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, a professor at Anna University (Chennai), a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad,Indian Institute of Management Indore, and an adjunct/visiting faculty at many other academic and research institutions across India. In May 2011, Dr. Kalam launched his mission for the youth of the nation called the What Can I Give Movement.[6] Dr. Kalam better known as a scientist, also has special interest in the field of arts like writing Tamil poems, and also playing the music instrument Veena.[7]
Contents
[hide]

1 Early life and education 2 Career 3 Issues held 3.1 Future India: 2020 4 Awards and honours

5 Books and documentaries 6 Quotations 7 References 8 External links

[edit]Early

life and education

Abdul Kalam was born in Rameshwaram, presently Tamil Nadu, in India in 1931. He spent most of his childhood in financial problems and started working at an early age to supplement his family's income. After completing his school education, Kalam graduated in physics from St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirapalli. He then graduated with a diploma in Aeronautical Engineering in the mid-1950s from the Madras Institute of Technology.[8] As the Project Director, he was heavily involved in the development of India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-II).

[edit]Career
Kalam joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in 1958 and served as a senior scientific assistant, heading a small team that developed a prototype hovercraft. Defence Minister V. K. Krishna Menon rode in India's first indigenous hovercraft with Kalam at the controls. Kalam left the DRDO in 1962 and joined the Indian space programme. At the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Kalam initiated Fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) activities; after a stint with the aerodynamics and design group, he joined the satellite launch vehicle team at Thumba, near Thiruvananthapuram, and soon became Project Director for Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-3). The SLV-3 project culminated in putting the scientific satellite Rohini into orbit in July 1980. He was honoured with a Padma Bhushan in 1981. Kalam then moved back into the Defence Research Complex at Kanchanbagh, as Director of Defense Research & Development Laboratory(DRDL). He refused to move into the bungalow allotted to the Director, preferring to stay in one of the eight suites in the Defence Labs Mess. The suite, with a small study and a tiny bedroom, was his home for the next decade. Kalam was instrumental in the re-emergence of the DRDL. This was made possible, as Kalam and the then Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, Dr.V. S. Arunachalam (who brought him back to defence research), have always acknowledged, by the crucial role played by R. Venkataraman, who was Defence Minister. Kalam was asked to prepare a blueprint to make India a missile nation. After working with DRDL veterans for over six months, followed by consultations with Arunachalam, Kalam gave a proposal to Venkataraman. He provided a 5 missile development plan that was to be taken up

one after the other. The defense minister suggested that Kalam and Arunachalam recast the plan in such a way as to develop all five missile types under one programmme. The time frame for these programmes was 10 years. Out of these initiatives was born the guided missile programme, India's most successful military research task to date. Kalam's codenames for the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (I.G.M.D.P) five components were: Prithvi, a surface-to-surface battlefield missile;Nag Missile, an anti-tank missile (ATM); Akash missile, a swift, medium-range surface-to-air missile (SAM); Trishul missile, a quick-reaction SAM with a shorter range,Astra an air to air missile and Agni, an intermediate range ballistic missile, the mightiest of them all. Trishul missilehas the unique distinction of being capable of serving all three services. In the new management structure of the Missile Programme, Kalam, as the Chairman of the Programme Management Board, delegated almost all executive and financial powers to five carefully selected Project Directors and kept himself free to address the core technology issues. The missiles went up more or less on schedule: Trishul missile in 1985, Prithvi in 1988, Agni in 1989 and the others in 1990. Kalam was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1990. After 10 years in DRDL, he went to Delhi to take over from Arunachalam as Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister from July 1992 to December 1999. In Delhi, Kalam as head of the DRDO had to oversee other prestigious projects, such as the Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun and the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) projects. Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted during this period and have been associated with Kalam although he was not directly involved with the nuclear program at the time.

[edit]Issues [edit]Future

held

India: 2020

In his book India 2020, Kalam strongly advocates an action plan to develop India into a knowledge superpower and a developed nation by the year 2020. He regards his work on India's nuclear weapons program as a way to assert India's place as a future superpower. It has been reported that there is a considerable demand in South Korea for translated versions of books authored by him.[9] Kalam continues to take an active interest in other developments in the field of science and technology. He has proposed a research program for developing bio-implants. He is a supporter of Open Source over proprietary solutions and believes that the use of free software on a large scale will bring the benefits of information technology to more people.[10]

[edit]Awards

and honours
Name of Award or Honor Awarding Organization

Year of Award or Honor

2011

Doctor of Science (microbiology)

S.Gujarati University

2011

IEEE Honorary Membership

IEEE[11]

2009

Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa)

Anna University of Technology

2009

Hoover Medal

ASME Foundation, USA[12]

2009

International von Krmn Wings Award California Institute of Technology, U.S.A[13]

2008

Doctor of Engineering (Honoris Causa) Nanyang Technological University, Singapore[14]

1997

Bharat Ratna

Government of India

1990

Padma Vibhushan

Government of India

1981

Padma Bhushan

Government of India

[edit]Books

and documentaries

Kalam's writings

Wings of Fire: An Autobiography of APJ Abdul Kalam by A. P. J Abdul Kalam, Arun Tiwari; by

K. Bhushan, G. Katyal; A. P. J. Pub. Corp, 2002.

Scientist to President by Abdul A. P. J. Kalam; Gyan Publishing House, 2003. Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; Penguin Books,

2003.

India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Y.S. Rajan; Penguin

Books India, 2003.

India-my-dream by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; Excel Books, 2004.

Envisioning an Empowered Nation: Technology for Societal Transformation by A.P.J. Abdul

Kalam; TATA McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd, 2004.

Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose of Life by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Arun K Tiwari; Ocean

Books, 2005.

Children Ask Kalam by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; Pearson Education, ISBN 81-7758-245-3 Indomitable Spirit by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, 2006 The Scientific Indian: A Twenty-first Century Guide to the World around Us by APJ Abdul

Kalam and YS Rajan

My Journey by APJ Abdul Kalam, Published By: V Suryanarayana Murthy

Biographies

Eternal Quest: Life and Times of Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam by S. Chandra;

Pentagon Publishers, 2002.

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam by R. K. Pruthi; Anmol Publications, 2002. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam: The Visionary of India by K. Bhushan, G. Katyal; A.P.H. Pub. Corp,

2002.

A Little Dream (documentary film) by P. Dhanapal; Minveli Media Works Private Limited,

2008.[15]

The Kalam Effect: My Years with the President by P.M. Nair; Harper Collins, 2008. My Days With Mahatma Abdul Kalam by Fr.A.K. George; ISBN No:978-8190452953;

Publisher: Novel Corporation, 2009.[16]

[edit]Quotations

Thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life. Climbing to the top demands strength, whether it is to the top of Mount Everest or to the top of your career. Educationists should build the capacities of the spirit of inquiry, creativity, entrepreneurial and moral leadership among students and become their role model. God, our Creator, has stored within our minds and personalities, great potential strength and ability. Prayer helps us tap and develop these powers.

If we are not free, no one will respect us.

Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow.

Man needs his difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success. You have to dream before your dreams can come true.

We are all born with a divine fire in us. Our efforts should be to give wings to this fire and fill the world with the glow of its goodness.

[edit]References

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

^ "Former presidents". Government of India. ^ "Kalam was real people's President: President's bodyguards". Hindustan Times. 2007-

07-24. Retrieved 2009-03-27. ^ Perappadan, Bindu Shajan (2007-04-14). "The people's President does it again".

Chennai, India: The Hindu. Retrieved 2009-03-27. ^ Pruthi, R. K. (2005). "Ch. 4. Missile Man of India". President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Anmol

Publication. pp. 6176. ISBN 978-8126113446. ^ Sen, Amartya (2003). "India and the Bomb". In M. V. Ramana and C. Rammanohar

Reddy. Prisoners of the Nuclear Dream. Sangam Book. pp. 167188. ISBN 978-8125024774. ^ "www.whatcanigive.info" ^ India's A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Monday 30 Nov, 1998 TIME.com ^ Missile History ^ "Kalam, the author catching on in South Korea". ^ "India leader advocates open source". ^ "IEEE Honorary Membership Recipients". IEEE. Retrieved 28 August 2011. ^ "Former President Kalam chosen for Hoover Medal". Indiatimes (New York). 27 March

2009. Retrieved 30 October 2010. ^ Caltech GALCIT International von Krmn Wings Award ^ "Dr Abdul Kalam, former President of India, receives NTU Honorary Degree of Doctor of

Engineering". Nanyang Technological University. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 28 August 2011.

15. 16.

^ "Documentary on Kalam released". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 2008-01-12. Retrieved

2009-03-27. ^ My Days With Mahatma Abdul Kalam, ISBN 978-8190452953 Retrieved 2010-07-01

[edit]External

links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam - A Site for Inspiration and Nation Building Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam: Former President of India Profile of Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Political offices Preceded by K. R. Narayanan President of India 20022007 Succeeded by Pratibha Patil
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