About Former President of IndiaDr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam – The Missile Man of India
Name: Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam)
Nick Name: Missile Man
Nationality: Indian
Occupation: Engineer, Scientist, Author, Professor, Politician
Born: 15-Oct -1931
Place of Birth: Dhanushkodi, Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, India
Died: 27 July 2015
Died at the age of: 83
Place of Death: Shillong, Meghalaya, India
Famous as: Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam President from 2002 to 2007
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam also known as Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam. He was born in Dhanushkodi, Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied physics and aerospace engineering.
He was the 11th president of India and elected against Lakshmi Sehgal in 2002. Before becoming the President of India, he worked with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as an aerospace engineer.
He was known as the Missile Man of India for his important role in the nation's civilian space programme and military missile development. Also, in 1998, he made significant contributions to India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests.
A.P.J Abdul Kalam began his career as a scientist at the Aeronautical Development Establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). He had also served as the project director of India's first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) at ISRO.
In 1990s he had served as the Chief Scientific adviser to the Prime Minister before becoming the President of India in 2002. Dr. Abdul Kalam served as the President of India from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007. He was the first scientist and the first bachelor to occupy the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Abdul Kalam played a major role in conducting the Pokhran-II, a series of five nuclear bomb test explosions in May 1998. With the success of these tests he got the status of a national hero and then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee declared India a full-fledged nuclear state.
Not this much, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 1998 proposed a countrywide plan called Technology Vision 2020 to make India a developed nation by the year 2020 and suggested nuclear empowerment, various technological innovations, improvement of agricultural productivity etc.
On 27 July 2015, Dr. Abdul Kalam was delivering a lecture at IIM Shillong where he suffered a heart attack and his condition became critical, so, he was shifted to Bethany Hospital where thereafter, he died of cardiac arrest. His last words, to Srijan Pal Singh, were "Funny guy! Are you doing well?"