Wikipedia:VideoWiki/A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Introduction
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was an aerospace scientist who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007.



Early life
Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 to a Tamil Muslim family in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. His father Jainulabdeen was a boat owner and imam of a local mosque; his mother Ashiamma was a housewife. By his early childhood, Kalam's family had become poor; at an early age, he sold newspapers to supplement his family's income.



Education
He moved to Madras in 1955 to study aerospace engineering in Madras Institute of Technology. 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.



Career as a scientist
After graduating from the Madras Institute of Technology in 1960, Kalam joined the Aeronautical Development Establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation. Kalam had first started work on an expandable rocket project independently at DRDO in 1965.

ISRO
Kalam was also part of the INCOSPAR committee working under Vikram Sarabhai, the renowned space scientist.

SLV
In 1969, Kalam was transferred to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) where he was the project director of India's first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully deployed the Rohini satellite in near-earth orbit in July 1980

PSLV
Between the 1970s and 1990s, Kalam made an effort to develop the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and SLV-III projects, both of which proved to be successful.

Integrated Guided Missile Development Program
He was intimately involved in India's civilian space programme and military missile development efforts.



Missile Man of India Hindustan
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.

Pokhran-II
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.

Coronary stent
In 1998, along with cardiologist Soma Raju, Kalam developed a low cost coronary stent, named the "Kalam-Raju Stent".

praise for Abdul kalam

Bharat Ratna
Kalam was hounoured with Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, in 1997, before becoming the President. He was awarded for his work in the fields of space and defence technologies.



Presidency
Kalam served as the 11th President of India, succeeding K. R. Narayanan. He won the 2002 presidential election, and his term lasted from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007. He was also the first scientist and the first bachelor to occupy Rashtrapati Bhawan. During his term as president, he was affectionately known as the People's President.

Post-presidency
After leaving office, Kalam became a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and the Indian Institute of Management Indore; an honorary fellow of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore;[78] chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram; professor of Aerospace Engineering at Anna University; and an adjunct at many other academic and research institutions across India. He taught information technology at the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, and technology at Banaras Hindu University and Anna University.[79]

In May 2012, Kalam launched a programme for the youth of India called the What Can I Give Movement, with a central theme of defeating corruption.[80][81]

In 2011,A.P.J Abdul Kalam was criticised by civil groups over his stand on the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant; he supported the establishment of the nuclear power plant and was accused of not speaking with the local people.[82] The protesters were hostile to his visit as they saw him as a pro-nuclear scientist and were unimpressed by the assurances he provided regarding the safety features of the plant.[83]

Editted by : _Aman Mittal HFCS_

Death
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. Thousands including national-level dignitaries attended the funeral ceremony held in his hometown of Rameshwaram, where he was buried with full state honours.



Memorial
The Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam National Memorial was built in memory of Kalam by the DRDO in Pei Karumbu, in the island town of Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2017.