ABDUL-KALAM

Abdul Kalam

Abdul Kalam's real name is Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam. He was an aerospace scientist and was the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and did his studies as well. He also studied physics and aerospace engineering. He spent four decades working in scientific and science administration, he was primarily in the Defense Research & Development Organisation and was seriously involved in interdisciplinary programs and military missile development efforts. He is also called "Missile Man" by the people of India, in appreciation of his development and work of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology. For India's Pokhran-2 nuclear test, he played an important role organizationally, technically, and politically, the first nuclear test in India took place in 1974.

After the support and decision of both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Indian National Congress party in 2002, Abdul Kalam was elected the 11th President of India. He is also known by extension as "People's President". After completing his term, he again shifted to education, writing, and public service. He has also received India's best civilian award " Bharat Ratna " and many proud awards.

EARLY LIFE

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born in a Tamil Muslim family, he was born on 15 October 1931 in Pamban Island, Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. His father Jainulabdeen Marakayar rode the boat and was also a Maulana of a mosque and his mother was a homemaker. His father has a boat that used to take Hindu passengers to Rameswaram. Abdul Kalam had four brothers and a sister, of whom he was the youngest. His ancestor Marakayar was a very wealthy businessman who owned property and land. Even though his ancestors were rich, in 1920 his ancestors lost all their wealth and they became poor at the time of Abdul Kalam's birth. Marakayar belongs to the Muslim caste living in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, who claim to be the heirs of a rich businessman and domestic woman. Their task is to employ the travelers between the big land and the island and travel to Sri Lanka and Pamban. Abdul Kalam used to sell newspapers at an early age to feed his family with food and run the house.

In school, Abdul Kalam was good at reading but he was a brilliant and hard-working person and he wanted to learn something. He used to study a lot, especially mathematics. After completing his studies at Schwartz Higher Secondary School, Ramanathapuram, Abdul Kalam took admission in St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli which was attached to the University of Madras, where he obtained a Bachelor of Physics degree in 1954. In 1955, he moved to Madras to complete his engineering studies  at the Madras Institute of Technology.

ABDUL KALAM'S CAREER

In 1960, after graduating from the Madras Institute of Technology, Abdul Kalam became part of the DEFENSE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICE (DRDS) and joined the Aeronautics Development Institute of the Defense Research and Development Service as a Scientist. Abdul Kalam also joined the INDIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR SPACE RESEARCH (INCOSPAR) company, working with noted space scientist Vikram Sarabhai. Abdul Kalam was handpicked to INDIAN SPACE RESEARCH ORGANIZATION (ISRO) in 1969 where he was the first project director of India's Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3), which in July 1980 sent Rohini satellite to the Earth's orbit in perfect state. In 1965, Abdul Kalam started work on a detailed rocket project according to him for the first time. After the government's approval in 1969, Abdul Kalam started a scheme to add more engineers.

From 1963 to 1964, he visited NASA'S (NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION) Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Between 1970 and 1990, Abdul Kalam tried to update the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and the SLV-3 project and was successful in this project.

PRESIDENCY

Abdul Kalam as the 11th President of India worked in place of K. R. Narayanan. In the 2002 presidential election, he won by 922,884 electoral votes, which was more than 107,366 votes from Lakshmi Sahgal. His post was from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007.

On 10 June 2002, the NDA made it clear that they would nominate Abdul Kalam for the presidency, Samajwadi Party, and Nationalist Congress Party approved his candidature. When the Samajwadi Party thought of extending its support to Abdul Kalam, Narayanan decided not to seek a second term during his tenure.

On June 18, Abdul Kalam signed his nomination papers with Vajpayee and his senior cabinet co-operative in the Indian Parliament.

DEATH

On 27 July 2015, Abdul Kalam went to Shillong to teach at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong on becoming habitable planet Earth. He was having trouble climbing the stairs, but after resting for a while, he recovered to go to the auditorium. At around 6:35 pm IST, he was giving a lecture, and suddenly he fell. As the condition worsened, he was taken to Bethany Hospital. On coming, when the doctor saw him, he said that there is a lack of pulse and other things in his body. Even after being kept in the intensive care center, Abdul Kalam's heart stopped beating and died at 7:45 pm.

After his death, Abdul Kalam's body was taken from Guwahati from Shillong in a helicopter from the Indian Air Force, from there he was brought to New Delhi in the air force C-130J Hercules on the morning of 28 July. The plane landed at Palam Air Base and the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Chief Minister and three Service Chiefs of the Indian Armed Forces saluted him and honored him by wearing a garland on his dead body. After that, his body was wrapped with cloth of Indian tricolor and he was kept in a carriage and taken to his residence on 10 Rajaji Marg. There, the people and many distinguished people paid tribute to Abdul Kalam, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav were present.

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