Write the introduction to A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Ans.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, in full Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, (born October 15, 1931, Rameshwaram, India-died July 27, 2015, Shillong), Indian scientist and politician who played a leading role in the development of India’s missile and nuclear weapons programs. He was president of India from 2002 to 2007.

Kalam earned a degree in aeronautical engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology and in 1958 joined the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). In 1969, he moved to the Indian Space Research Organization, where he was project director of the SLV-III, the first satellite launch vehicle that was both designed and produced in India. Rejoining DRDO in 1982, Kalam planned the program that produced a number of successful missiles, which helped earned him the nickname ‘Missile Man’.

From 1992 to 1997 Kalam was scientific advisor to the defence minister, and he later served as principal scientific advisor (199-2001) to the government with the rank of cabinet minister. His prominent role in the country’s 1998 nuclear weapons tests solidified India as a nuclear power and established Kalam as a national hero, although the tests caused great concern in the international community.

In 2002 India’s ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) put forward Kalam to succeed outgoing President Kocheril Raman Narayan. Kalam was nominated by the Hindu nationalist (Hindutva) NDA even though he was Muslim: and his stature and popular appeal were such as even the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, also proposed his candidacy. He left office at the end of his term in 2007.

Kalam wrote several books including an autobiography, Wings of Fire (1999). Among his numerous awards were two of the country’s highest honours, the Padma Vibhushan (1990 and the Bharat Ratna (1997).