Today (October 15, 1931) is the birthday of Indian Missile Man, People's President, Bharat Ratna Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam. Youth Awakening Day.

Today (October 15, 1931) is the birthday of Indian Missile Man, People's President, Bharat Ratna Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam. Youth Awakening Day. 

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (A.P.J. Abdul Kalam) was born on October 15, 1931 in Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, the 5th son of Jainulabdeen a boatman and woodcutter and housewife Ashiamma. Since he came from a poor background, he started going to work at a young age to earn extra income for his family. Although he was brought up in many religious contexts, he followed a religious tradition. After school, Kalam became involved in the distribution of newspapers in order to contribute to his father's income. During his school days, Kalam received average marks. However, he was a bright student and had a solid interest in learning and spent many hours studying, especially math. 

After completing his schooling at Rameswaram Primary School, Kalam joined St.Joseph's College in Tiruchirappalli and graduated in 1954 with a degree in Physics. At the end of that degree course, Kalam lost interest in physics and later regretted this four-year course. Then in 1955, he went to MIT Chennai to study aerospace engineering. There he also received a master’s degree. Although Kalam holds several prestigious doctoral degrees, he completed his formal studies with a master's degree from MIT Chennai. While Kalam was working on a high-quality project, the college principal complained about the progress of the project and threatened to terminate his scholarship if the project was not completed within two days. So Kalam worked tirelessly for the project, completed the project on time and earned the goodwill of the college president. Then he said "I gave you too much weight and imposed an easy deadline". 

After graduating from the Chennai Institute of Technology, Chennai in 1960, Kalam joined the Defense Research and Development Organization as Chief Scientist in the Aeronautical Development Division. Kalam started his career designing a small helicopter for the Indian Army. He did, however, have some grievances about joining the Defense Research and Development Organization. Kalam was also part of a team (INCOSPAR) operating under renowned astronaut Vikram Sarabhai. In 1969, Kalam transferred to the Indian Space Research Organization, where he became the director of India's first domestic satellite launcher (SLV-III) program. (SLV-III) The Rohini satellite was successfully launched near Earth in 1980. Kalam's life was considered the greatest achievement of joining the Indian Space Research Organization. Kalam is said to have discovered himself only after he started working on the SLV project. Kalam worked solo on the expandable spacecraft program in the Defense Research and Development Organization in 1965. 

In 1969, Kalam received government approval and added several more engineers to the project. In 1963–64, he visited Langley's Research Center at NASA's Hampton, Virginia, the Goddard Space Center at Greenfield, and the Wallops Airport on the East Coast of Maryland and Virginia. Between 1970 and 1990, Kalam worked for the Polar SLV and SLV-III projects. Both projects were successfully completed. Although Kalam did not participate in the design, development, and test site preparation of nuclear weapons, he was invited by Raja Ramanna to replace the terminal projectile laboratory to see the Smiley New Project, the country's first nuclear test. In 1970, the Rohini-1 was launched into space using the SLV spacecraft, a feat for ISRO. In the 1970s, Kalam directed two projects, Project Devil and Project Valiant, to project missiles from the technology of the successful SLV project. Despite the refusal of the Union Cabinet, President Indira Gandhi voluntarily allocated mysterious funds for space projects to be operated under Kalam. Kalam was instrumental in getting the Union Cabinet to agree to cover up the true nature of these space projects. 

In the 1980s, due to the great success and respect he received for his research and academic leadership, the government prompted him to launch an additional missile program under his auspices. Kalam and Dr. VS Arunachalam, Scientific Adviser to the Minister of Metallurgy and Defense and the then Defense Minister R.K. Following Venkatraman's idea, they were involved in the production of several missiles simultaneously. R. Venkatraman was instrumental in getting the approval of the Central Government to allocate Rs 388 crore for the Integrated Missile Development Project (IGMDP) project and making Kalam the Chief Executive Officer. Kalam spearheaded the project, although there was little talk of mismanagement, high cost and time consuming in the development of the Agni intermediate-range missile, the Prithvi tactical intercontinental ballistic missile and many other missiles. From July 1992 to December 1999 he was the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and Secretary of the Defense Research and Development Organization. He made serious political and technical contributions to the Pokhran-II nuclear test that took place during this time.

In the test phase Kalam, r. Worked with Chidambaram as Chief Project Coordinator. Photos taken by the media highlighted Kalam as the country’s top nuclear scientist. In 1998, Kalam developed a low-cost coronary stent with cardiologist Soma Raju. It was named "Kalam, Raju Stent" in their honor. In 2012, a tablet computer designed by them for a clean slate in the countryside was named "Kalam, Raju Tablet".

Abdul Kalam served as the Eleventh President of India, after KR Narayanan. On June 10, 2002, the then ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced that it would nominate Kalam to the presidency of the opposition Indian National Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. The Samajwadi Party and the Nationalist Congress announced their support for him as a candidate. After the Samajwadi Party announced its support for Kalam, then President KR Narayanan left the field to become Kalam's 11th President without contesting for a second term. Kalam became the 11th President of the Republic of India. He is the third President to be honored with the Bharat Ratna, India's highest award before becoming President. During his presidency, he was affectionately known as the "President of the People." He says the tough decision he made during his tenure was to sign a lucrative tenure bill.

 

In his book India 2020, Kalam announced plans to transform India into a world of knowledge and power by 2020. He is dedicating his mission to the Indian nuclear weapons program to make India one of the future powers. Kalam continues to be involved in many other developments in the fields of science and technology. He has proposed a research project to develop BIO-IMPLANTS. He is an open source supporter of privacy solutions and believes that large-scale use of free software will bring information technology benefits to a large number of people. After stepping down as a science consultant in 1999, he aimed to reach out to one million students within two years. He said in his own words, "I feel fulfilled when I'm with teenagers, especially high school students."

                             

The Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan Award in 1981 and the Padma Vibhushan Award in 1990 for his outstanding service to the Indian Space Research Organization, Defense Research and Development Organization and his service as Government Scientific Adviser. He received the Bharat Ratna, India's highest award, for his enormous and valuable contribution to the development of science and the modernization of technology. People's President Bharat Ratna Aul Bakhir Zainullah Abdul Kalam passed away on July 27, 2015 at the age of 86 while addressing students at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong, the state capital of Meghalaya. Leading political leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, attended a well-organized event in Rameshwaram on July 30, 2015 with full military honors.

On the first floor of Abdul Kalam's Birth House on Masjid Street, Rameswaram, there is a Mission of Life Gallery, which houses Abdul Kalam's awards, photographs and writings at major events. The exhibition is open to the public free of charge from 8 am to 7 pm daily. A native of Tamil Nadu, his birthday has been celebrated since 2015 as Youth Awakening Day in Tamil Nadu. In turn, the government has ordered schools and colleges to hold various competitions and give away prizes to students.

Source By: Wikipedia

Information: Ramesh, Assistant Professor of Physics, Nehru Memorial College, Puthanampatti.