Bharat Ratna Dr

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Bharat Ratna Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam born October 15, 1931, Tamil Nadu, India, usually referred to as Dr. A. P.

J. Abdul Kalam, was the eleventh President of India, serving from 2002 to 2007. During his term as The President, he was popularlyknown as the People's President. Before his term as India's president, he worked as an engineer with DRDO and ISRO and was awarded

India's highest civilian honor Bharat Ratna in 1997 for his work with ISRO and DRDO and his role as a scientific advisor to the Indian

government. He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on development of ballistic missile and space rocket

technology. In India he is highly respected as a Statist and as an Engineer.

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. He is a professor at Anna University (Chennai) and adjunct/visiting faculty at many other academic andresearch institutions across India. Although he is an engineer he has received many honorary doctorate degrees.

With the death of R. Venkataraman on January 27, 2009, Kalam became the only surviving former President of India.

Kalam's father was a devout Muslim, who owned boats which he rented out to local fishermen and was a good friend of Hindu religious

leaders and the school teachers at Rameshwaram. APJ Abdul Kalam mentions in his biography that to support his studies, he started his

career as a newspaper vendor. This was also told in the book, A Boy and His Dream: Three Stories from the Childhood ofAbdul

Kalam by Vinita Krishna. The house Kalam was born in can still be found on the Mosque street in Rameshwaram, and his brother'scurio shop abuts it. This has become a point-of-call for tourists who seek out the place. Kalam grew up in an intimate relationship with

nature, and he says in Wings of Fire that he never could imagine that water could be so powerful a destroying force as that he witnessed

when he was thirty three. That was in 1964 when a cyclonic storm swept away the Pamban bridge and a trainload of passengers with it

and also Kalam's native village, Dhanushkodi.

Kalam observes strict personal discipline, vegetarianism, teetotalism and celibacy. Kalam is a scholar of Thirukkural; in most of his

speeches, he quotes at least one kural. Kalam has written several inspirational books, most notably his autobiography Wings of Fire,aimed at motivating Indian youth. Another of his books, Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose of Life reveals his spiritual side. He

has written poems in Tamil as well. It has been reported that there is considerable demand in South Korea for translated versions of

books authored by him.

Dr. Kalam received an honorary doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University.

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vul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (Tamil:) born 15 October

1931 in Rameshwaram, Madras Presidency, British India (now Tamil Nadu, India), usually referred to as Dr. A. P. J.

Abdul Kalam , was the 11thPresident of India, serving from 2002 to 2007,[2]

he was elected during the tenure of

the National Democratic Alliance (India) coalition government, under prime ministerAtal Bihari Vajpayee.[3]

During his

term as President, he was popularly known as the People's President.[4][5]

Before his term as India's president, he worked as an aeronautical engineerwith DRDO and ISRO. He is popularly

known as the Missile Man of India for his work on development ofballistic missile and space rocket technology.[6]

In

India he is highly respected as a scientist and as an engineer.

Kalam played a pivotal organisational, technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear test in 1998, the first

since the original nuclear test by Indiain 1974.[7]

He is chancellor ofIndian Institute of Space Science and

Technology(Thiruvanthapuram), a professor atAnna University (Chennai) and adjunct/visiting faculty at many other

academic and research institutions across India.

Contents

[hide]

1 Political views


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2 As an aerospace engineer

3 Honours

4 Books and documentaries

5 References

6 External links

[edit]Political views

In his book India 2020APJ Abdul Kalam strongly advocates an action plan to develop India into a

knowledge superpowerand into 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 considerable demand in South Korea for translated versions of books authored by

him[8]

.

Kalam continues to take an active interest in other developments in the field of science and technology. He has

proposed a research programme for developing bio-implants. He is a supporter ofOpen sourcesoftware over

proprietary solutions and believes that the use of open source software on a large scale will bring the benefits

ofinformation technology to more people[9]

.

[edit]As an aerospace engineer

After graduating in Physics from St. Joseph's College in Tiruchirapalli, Abdul Kalam graduated with a diploma in the

mid-1950s from Madras Institute of Technology specializing in Aeronautical Engineering[10]

. As the Project Director,

he was heavily involved in the development of India's first indigenousSatellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III). As Chief

Executive ofIntegrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), he also played a major part in developing

many missiles of India includingAgni and Prithvi. Although the entire project has been criticised for being overrun and

mismanaged[11]

. He was the Chief Scientific Adviser to Prime Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence

Research & Development from July 1992 to December 1999. Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted during this

period, and have been associated with Kalam although he was not directly involved with the nuclear programme at

the time.

[edit]Honours

On April 29, 2009, he became the first Asian to be bestowed the Hoover Medal, America's top engineering prize, for

his outstanding contribution to public service. The citation said that he is being recognised for making state-of-the-art

healthcare available to the common man at affordable prices, bringing quality medical care to rural areas by

establishing a link between doctors and technocrats, using spin-offs of defence technology to create state-of-the-art

medical equipment and launching tele-medicine projects connecting remote rural-based hospitals to the super-


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specialty hospital. A pre-eminent scientist, a gifted engineer, and a true visionary, he is also a humble humanitarian in

every sense of the word, it added.[12]

On 13 September 2009, he was a recipient of the International von Krmn Wings Award[13]

.

The Government of India has honoured him with the nation's highest civilian honours: the Padma Bhushan in

1981; Padma Vibhushan in 1990; and the Bharat Ratna in 1997 for his work with ISRO and DRDO and his role as a

scientific advisor to the Indian government..

Kalam is the third President of India to have been honoured with a Bharat Ratna before being elected to the highest

office, the other two being Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Zakir Hussain. He is also the first scientist and first bachelor

to occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan

After his tenure as the president he is now a visiting guest professor at JSS university, Mysore. He has agreed to

deliver a minimum of four lectures every year.

[edit]Books and documentaries

11thPresidentofIndia

Inoffice

25 July 2002 24 July 2007

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,Manmohan Singh

Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

Preceded by K. R. Narayanan


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Succeeded by Pratibha Patil

Born 15 October 1931 (age 78)[1]

Rameshwaram,Dhanuskodi, Republic of India

Alma mater

Madras Institute of Technology

Profession Aerospace Engineering

Religion Muslim

Born - 15 October 1931

Achievements - This eminent scientist and engineer has also served as the 11th President of India from the period 2002 to

2007. APJ Abdul Kalam is a man of vision, who is always full of ideas aimed at the development of the country. He firmly

believes that India needs to play a more assertive role in international relations.

Apart from being a notable scientist and engineer, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam served as the 11th President of India from the period

2002 to 2007. He is a man of vision, who is always full of ideas aimed at the development of the country and is also often

also referred to as the Missile Man of India. People loved and respected Dr APJ Abdul Kalam so much during his tenure as

President that was popularly called the People's President. Read more about the biography of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam here.

APJ Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 at the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and received honorary doctorates

from about 30 universities globally. In the year 1981, the Government of India presented him the nation's highest civilian

honor, the Padma Bhushan and then again, the Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and the Bharat Ratna in 1997. Before Kalam,

there have been only two presidents - Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Zakir Hussain - to have received the Bharat Ratna

before bring appointed to the highest office in India.

Read on about the life history of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who's also the first scientist and bachelor to occupy the seat of the

Rashtrapati Bhavan. His perspectives on important topics have been enunciated by him in the book 'India 2020'. It highlights

the action plans that will help develop the country into a knowledge superpower by the time 2020. One thing for which he

received ample kudos is his unambiguous statement that India needs to play a more assertive role in international relations.

And Dr APJ Abdul Kalam regards his work on India's nuclear weapons program as a way to assert India's place as a future

superpower. Even during his tenure as President, APJ Kalam took avid interest in the spheres of India's science andtechnology. He has even put forward a project plan for establishing bio-implants. He is also an ardent advocate of open

source software over proprietary solutions to churn out more profits in the field of information technology in India.

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