Today is the Death Anniversary of Former president Bharat Ratna Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who is also known as the Missile Man of India.

 Today is the Death Anniversary of  Former president Bharat Ratna Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who is also known as the Missile Man of India.          

• He was Born on 15th October 1931 at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu. 

• His full name was Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam. He specialized in Aeronautical Engineering from Madras Institute of Technology. 

His achievements:

• Dr. Kalam made significant contribution as Project Director to develop India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully injected the Rohini satellite in the near earth orbit in July 1980 and made India an exclusive member of Space Club. 

• He was also responsible for the evolution of ISRO's launch vehicle programme, particularly the PSLV configuration. 

• After working for two decades in ISRO and mastering launch vehicle technologies, Dr. Kalam took up the responsibility of developing Indigenous Guided Missiles at Defence Research and Development Organisation as the Chief Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). 

• He was responsible for the development and operationalisation of AGNI and PRITHVI Missiles and for building indigenous capability in critical technologies through networking of multiple institutions.

• He was the Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development from July 1992 to December 1999. 

• During this period he led to the weaponisation of strategic missile systems and the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in collaboration with Department of Atomic Energy, which made India a nuclear weapon State.  

• Dr. Kalam has served as the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, in the rank of Cabinet Minister, from November 1999 to November 2001 and was responsible for evolving policies, strategies and missions for many development applications. 

• Dr. Kalam became the 11th President of India on 25th July 2002. His focus is on transforming India into a developed nation by 2020.

• While delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong, Dr. Kalam collapsed and died from an apparent cardiac arrest on 27 July 2015, aged 83.

His Books and Awards

• Dr. Kalam's famous books are - 

1. Wings of Fire

2. India 2020 - A Vision for the New Millennium

3. My journey

4. Ignited Minds - Unleashing the power within India" have become household names.

• Dr. Kalam is one of the most distinguished scientists of India with the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from 30 universities and institutions. 

• He has been awarded the coveted civilian awards - Padma Bhushan (1981) and Padma Vibhushan (1990) and the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna (1997). 

• He is a recipient of several other awards and Fellow of many professional institutions.