introduction

 A.P.J. Abdul Kalam /ˈæbdʊl kəˈlɑːm/; (15 October 1931 – 27 July 2015) was
i

the 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.[1] 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.[2][3][4] 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.[5]
 Kalam was elected as the 11th President of India in 2002 with the support of both the
ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the then-opposition Indian National Congress. Widely
referred to as the "People's President,"[6] he returned to his civilian life of education, writing
and public service after a single term. He was a recipient of several prestigious awards,
including the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.
 While delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong, Kalam collapsed
and died from an apparent cardiac arrest on 27 July 2015, aged 83.[7] Thousands including
national-level dignitaries attended the funeral ceremony held in his hometown of
Rameshwaram, where he was buried with full state honours.[8]
 EARLY LIFE

 Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 to a Tamil Muslim family
in the pilgrimage centre of Rameswaram on Pamban Island, then in the Madras
Presidency and now in the State of Tamil Nadu. His father Jainulabudeen was a boat owner
and imam of a local mosque;[9] his mother Ashiamma was a housewife.[10][11][12][13] His father
owned a ferry that took Hindu pilgrims back and forth between Rameswaram and the now
uninhabited Dhanushkodi.[14][15] Kalam was the youngest of four brothers and one sister in his
family.[16][17][18] His ancestors had been wealthy traders and landowners, with numerous
properties and large tracts of land. Their business had involved trading groceries between
the mainland and the island and to and from Sri Lanka, as well as ferrying pilgrims between
the mainland and Pamban. As a result, the family acquired the title of "Mara Kalam iyakkivar"
(wooden boat steerers), which over the years became shortened to "Marakier." With the
opening of the Pamban Bridge to the mainland in 1914, however, the businesses failed and
the family fortune and properties were lost over time, apart from the ancestral home.[19] By his
early childhood, Kalam's family had become poor; at an early age, he sold newspapers to
supplement his family's income.[20][20][21]
 In his school years, Kalam had average grades but was described as a bright and
hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn. He spent hours on his studies,
especially mathematics.[21] After completing his education at the Schwartz Higher Secondary
School, Ramanathapuram, Kalam went on to attend Saint Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli,
then affiliated with the University of Madras, from where he graduated in physics in
1954.[22] He moved to Madras in 1955 to study aerospace engineering in Madras Institute of
Technology.[13] While Kalam was working on a senior class project, the Dean was dissatisfied
with his lack of progress and threatened to revoke his scholarship unless the project was
finished within the next three days. Kalam met the deadline, impressing the Dean, who later
said to him, "I was putting you under stress and asking you to meet a difficult deadline".[23] He
narrowly missed achieving his dream of becoming a fighter pilot, as he placed ninth in
qualifiers, and only eight positions were available in the IAF.[24]
  Kalam was the youngest of five siblings, the eldest of whom was a sister, Asim Zohra (d.
1997), followed by three elder brothers: Mohammed Muthu Meera Lebbai Maraikayar (b.
1916; aged 99), Mustafa Kamal (d. 1999) and Kasim Mohammed (d. 1995).[116] He was
extremely close to his elder siblings and their extended families throughout his life,
 CONTRIBUTIONS TO
 Kalam started his career by designing a small helicopter for the Indian Army, but
remained unconvinced with the choice of his job at DRDO.
 Kalam was also part of the INCOSPAR committee working under Vikram Sarabhai, the
renowned space scientist.[9] In 1969, Kalam was transferred to theIndian Space Research
Organization (ISRO) where he was the project director of India's first indigenous Satellite
Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully deployed the Rohini satellite in near earth
orbit in July 1980.
 Joining ISRO was one of Kalam's biggest achievements in life and he is said to have found
himself when he started to work on the SLV project.
 Kalam first started work on an expandable rocket project independently at DRDO in 1965.
In 1969, Kalam received the government's approval and expanded the program to include
more engineers.
 In 1963–64, he visited Nasa's Langley Research Center in Hampton Virginia, Goddard
Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland andWallops Flight Facility situated at Eastern
Shore of Virginia.
 During the period between the 1970s and 1990s, Kalam made an effort to develop the
Polar SLV and SLV-III projects, both of which proved to be success.
 In the 1970s, Kalam also directed two projects, namely, Project Devil and Project Valiant ,
which sought to develop ballistic missiles from the technology of the successful SLV
programme. Despite the disapproval of Union Cabinet, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
allotted secret funds for these aerospace projects through her discretionary powers under
Kalam's directorship.Kalam played an integral role convincing the Union Cabinet to
conceal the true nature of these classified aerospace projects.
 His research and educational leadership brought him great laurels and prestige in 1980s,
which prompted the government to initiate an advanced missile program under his
directorship.
 Kalam and Dr. V. S. Arunachalam, metallurgist and scientific adviser to the Defense
Minister, worked on the suggestion by the then Defense Minister, R. Venkataraman on a
proposal for simultaneous development of a quiver of missiles instead of taking planned
missiles one by one.R Venkatraman was instrumental in getting the cabinet approval for
allocating 388 crore rupees for the mission, named Integrated Guided Missile
Development Program (I.G.M.D.P) and appointed Kalam as the Chief Executive.
 Kalam played a major part in developing many missiles under the mission including Agni,
an intermediate range ballistic missile and Prithvi, the tactical surface-to-surface missile,
although the projects have been criticised for mismanagement and cost and time
overruns.
He was the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of Defence
Research and Development Organisation from July 1992 to December 1999.
 The Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted during this period where he played an
intensive political and technological role. Kalam served as the Chief Project Coordinator,
along with R. Chidambaram during the testing phase. Photos and snapshots of him taken
by the media elevated Kalam as the country's top nuclear scientist.
 In 1998, along with cardiologist Dr.Soma Raju, Kalam developed a low cost Coronary
stent. It was named as "Kalam-Raju Stent" honouring them.
 In 2012, the duo, designed a rugged tablet PC for health care in rural areas, which was
named as "Kalam-Raju Tablet".
 Presidency
 Kalam served as the 11th President of India, succeeding K. R. Narayanan. He won the 2002
presidential election with an electoral vote of 922,884, surpassing the 107,366 votes won
by Lakshmi Sahgal. His term lasted from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007.[38]
 On 10 June 2002, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which was in power at the time,
expressed that they would nominate Kalam for the post of President,[39][40] and both
the Samajwadi Party and the Nationalist Congress Party backed his candidacy.[41][42] After the
Samajwadi Party announced its support for Kalam, Narayanan chose not to seek a second
term in office, leaving the field clear.[43] Kalam said of the announcement of his candidature:
 I am really overwhelmed. Everywhere both in Internet and in other media, I have been asked
for a message. I was thinking what message I can give to the people of the country at this
juncture.[44]
 On 18 June, Kalam filed his nomination papers in the Indian Parliament, accompanied by
Vajpayee and his senior Cabinet colleagues.[45]

 Kalam along with Vladimir Putin and Manmohan Singh during his presidency
 The polling for the presidential election began on 15 July 2002 in Parliament and the state
assemblies, with the media claiming that the election was a one-sided affair and Kalam's
victory was a foregone conclusion; the count was held on 18 July.[46] Kalam became the 11th
president of the Republic of India in an easy victory,[47] and moved into the Rashtrapati
Bhavan after he was sworn in on 25 July.[48] Kalam was the third President of India to have
been honoured with a Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, before becoming the
President. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1954) and Dr Zakir Hussain (1963) were the earlier
recipients of Bharat Ratna who later became the President of India.[49] He was also the first
scientist and the first bachelor to occupy Rashtrapati Bhawan.[50]
 During his term as president, he was affectionately known as the People's
President,[51][52][53] saying that signing the Office of Profit Bill was the toughest decision he had
taken during his tenure.[54][55][56] Kalam was criticised for his inaction in deciding the fate of 20
out of the 21 mercy petitions submitted to him during his tenure.[57] Article 72 of
the Constitution of India empowers the President of India to grant pardons, and suspend or
commute the death sentence of convicts on death row.[57][58] Kalam acted on only one mercy
plea in his five-year tenure as president, rejecting the plea of rapist Dhananjoy Chatterjee,
who was later hanged.[57] Perhaps the most notable plea was from Afzal Guru,
a Kashmiri terrorist who was convicted of conspiracy in the December 2001 attack on the
Indian Parliament and was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court of India in
2004.[58] While the sentence was scheduled to be carried out on 20 October 2006, the
pending action on his mercy plea resulted in him remaining on death row.[58] He also took the
controversial decision to impose President's Rule in Bihar in 2005.[59]
 In September 2003, in an interactive session in PGI Chandigarh, Kalam supported the need
of Uniform Civil Code in India, keeping in view the population of the country.[60][61][62][63]
 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.[64] 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.[65] He did not have the support of the left parties, Shiv Sena and UPA
constituents, to receive a renewed mandate.[66][67]
 Nearing the expiry of the term of the 12th President Pratibha Patil on 24 July 2012, media
reports in April claimed that Kalam was likely to be nominated for his second
term.[68][69][70] After the reports, social networking sites witnessed a number of people
supporting his candidature.[71][72] The BJP potentially backed his nomination, saying that the
party would lend their support if the Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and Indian
National Congress proposed him for the 2012 presidential election.[73][74] A month ahead of
 the election, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mamata Banerjee also expressed their support for
Kalam.[75] Days afterwards, Mulayam Singh Yadav backed out, leaving Mamata Banerjee as
the solitary supporter.[76] On 18 June 2012, Kalam declined to contest the 2012 presidential
poll. He said of his decision not to do so:
 Many, many citizens have also expressed the same wish. It only reflects their love and
affection for me and the aspiration of the people. I am really overwhelmed by this support.
This being their wish, I respect it. I want to thank them for the trust they have in me.[

 Writings

 A P J Abdul Kalam delivering a speech
 In his book India 2020, Kalam strongly advocated an action plan to develop India into a
"knowledge superpower" and a developed nation by the year 2020. He regarded his work on
India's nuclear weapons programme as a way to assert India's place as a future
superpower.[141]
 I have identified five areas where India has a core competence for integrated action: (1)
agriculture and food processing; (2) education and healthcare; (3) information and
communication technology; (4) infrastructure, reliable and quality electric power, surface
transport and infrastructure for all parts of the country; and (5) self-reliance in critical
technologies. These five areas are closely inter-related and if advanced in a coordinated
way, will lead to food, economic and national security.
 Kalam describes a "transformative moment" in his life when he asked Pramukh Swami, the
guru of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sampradaya, how India might realise this five-pronged
vision of development. Pramukh Swami's answer—to add a sixth area developing faith in
God and spirituality to overcome the current climate of crime and corruption—became the
spiritual vision for the next 15 years Kalam's life, which he describes in his final
book, Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji, published just a
month before his death.[137]
 It was reported that there was considerable demand in South Korea for translated versions of
books authored by him.[142]
 Kalam took an active interest in other developments in the field of science and technology,
including a research programme for developing biomedical implants. He also supported open
source technology over proprietary software, predicting that the use of free software on a
large scale would bring the benefits of information technology to more people.[143]
 Kalam set a target of interacting with 100,000 students during the two years after his
resignation from the post of scientific adviser in 1999.[21] He explained, "I feel comfortable in
the company of young people, particularly high school students. Henceforth, I intend to share
with them experiences, helping them to ignite their imagination and preparing them to work
for a developed India for which the road map is already available." His dream is to let every
student to light up the sky with victory using their latent fire in the heart. [2

AWARDS AND HONOURS

Kalam received 7 honorary doctorates from 40 universities.[144][145] 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.[146] In 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.[147] In 2013, he was the recipient of the Von Braun
Award from the National Space Society "to recognize excellence in the management and leadership
of a space-related project".[148]
Following his death, Kalam received numerous tributes. The Tamil Nadu state government
announced that his birthday, 15 October, would be observed across the state as "Youth
Renaissance Day;" the state government further instituted the "Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award,"
constituting an 8-gram gold medal, a certificate and ₹500,000 (US$7,800). The award will be
awarded annually on Independence Day, beginning in 2015, to residents of the state with
achievements in promoting scientific growth, the humanities or the welfare of students.[149]
On occasion of his birth day (2015), CBSE has given the topics on his name in the CBSE expression
series.[150]
The Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi released the commemorative postal stamps on the former
President of India, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on his 84th birth anniversary celebrations, at DRDO
Bhawan, in New Delhi on 15 October 2015.

Year of award or
Name of award or honour Awarding organisation
honour

2014 Doctor of Science Edinburgh University,UK[158]

2013 Von Braun Award National Space Society

2012 Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) Simon Fraser University[159]

2011 IEEE Honorary Membership IEEE[160]

2010 Doctor of Engineering University of Waterloo[161]

2009 Honorary Doctorate Oakland University[162]

2009 Hoover Medal ASME Foundation, USA[163]

International von Kármán Wings California Institute of Technology,

2009
Award USA[164]

Doctor of Engineering (Honoris Nanyang Technological University,

2008
Causa) Singapore[165]
 Year of award or
Name of award or honour Awarding organisation
honour

Aligarh Muslim University,

2008 Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa)
Aligarh[166][167]

Honorary Doctorate of Science and

2007 Carnegie Mellon University[168]
Technology

2007 King Charles II Medal Royal Society, UK[169][170][171]

2007 Honorary Doctorate of Science University of Wolverhampton, UK[172]

2000 Ramanujan Award Alwars Research Centre, Chennai[173]

1998 Veer Savarkar Award Government of India[13]

Indira Gandhi Award for National

1997 Indian National Congress[13][173]
Integration

1997 Bharat Ratna Government of India[173][174]

National Academy of Medical

1995 Honorary Fellow
Sciences,[175]

1994 Distinguished Fellow Institute of Directors (India)[176]

1990 Padma Vibhushan Government of India[173][177]

Government of India[173][177]
1981 Padma Bhushan