World Students' Day is held every year on October 15 to commemorate the...
Digital Desk: Former Indian President Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam was born on October 15, 1931, and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. He was an aerospace scientist who also served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007 and was regarded as the People’s President. He studied aerospace engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology, after which he joined the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). He breathed his last on July 27, 2015, in Shillong due to cardiac arrest. World Students' Day is held every year on October 15 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Kalam.
Contributions
He was known as the Missile Man of India and was assigned to design and develop a hovercraft for the country’s defence applications. Not only was he the project director of India's first satellite launch vehicle (SLV), but he was also part of the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR). He implemented the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. DRDO developed several missiles under the leadership of Dr. Kalam. He served as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and as the Chief Project Coordinator of the Pokhran-II nuclear tests. Kalam made huge contributions to the healthcare sector and developed a cost-effective coronary stent, which helped in making healthcare accessible to all.
Awards
He had won the Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, Bharat Ratna, Veer Savarkar Award, Ramanujan Award, and other awards. In 2007, he was honoured with the King Charles II Medal by the Royal Society, UK, and a Doctorate of Science from the University of Wolverhampton, UK. In 2008, he won the Hoover Medal given by the ASME Foundation, USA, and received a Doctor of Engineering from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Several educational, scientific, and geographical places are named after Dr. Abdul Kalam. For example, Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU) was renamed "A.P.J Abdul Kalam Technical University" after his death, and Kerala Technological University was renamed "A.P.J Abdul Kalam Technological University" after his death.
Books
Amongst many other literary contributions, some major books written by Kalam are Wings of Fire: An Autobiography (1999), Ignited Minds: Unleashing India's Power (2002), India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium, written along with Yagnaswami Sundara Rajan (1998), etc.
India will forever be grateful to him for his immense contributions and simplistic spirit. A simple and intellectually rich human who will be remembered for good.
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