expansion of idea about APJ Abdul kalam a visionary
Answers
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former President of India, Bharat Ratna and far-sighted architect of India's space and missile programmes, passed away in Shillong on Monday.
Kalam was an institution-builder and a team-builder, a visionary and a dreamer, who always wanted to build a strong and self-reliant India. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Defence Minister R. Venkataraman, scientific advisor to the Defence Minister V.S. Arunachalam and Kalam were a formidable team in the early 1980s who wanted to weld into India into a puissant country in science and technology. Kalam devised every stratagem in the book to beat the embargoes and sanction regimes including the Missile Technology Control Regime imposed on India following the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1974 and later in 1998.
As K. Radhakrishnan, former Chairman, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said, "Kalam had a single-minded approach in leading projects and his connect with other scientists and the younger generation distinguished him from everybody else. His taking over the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-3) programme as its Project Director led to its spectacular success in 1980 and it was the turning point in India's space programme.”
In the 1960s, Kalam was at the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station near Thiruvananthapuram, and he built ISRO's sounding rocket programme to probe the upper atmosphere. The scientist’s puckish sense of humour came to the fore during celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the first sounding rocket. Now President, Kalam began his address to the gathering from Rashtrapathi Bhavan thus: “Ten , nine, eight, seven...” His countdown sent ISRO’s scientists and engineers into raptures.
part....2
. India should market itself well. 8. Dr. Abdul Kalam interview. 9. India’s missile development with foreign assistance. 10. Dr. Kalam suggests alternative systems for treating CAD. 11. In the service of the country. 12. Vision for a proud India. 13. Missile man rises from humble base. 14. Abdul Kalam with Amrita institute of computer technology. 15. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam—biography. 16. Salaam Kalam. 17. India’s nuclear bomb. 18. Policies programmes and initiatives. 19. Developed nation : the vision. 20. Current events. Index.
"Born on 15 October 1931 at Dhanushkodi in the Rameswaram district of Tamil Nadu, Abdul Kalam’s father had to rent boats out to fishermen to pay this genius’ school fees. He received secondary education at the Schwartz School, a missionary institute in Ramanathapuram, and later joined the St. Joseph’s College at Tiruchirapalli, where he graduated with a Bachelor in Science. Abdul Kalam went on to study Aeronautical engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology.
"Even though a devout Muslim, his favourite pastimes include reading Hindu scriptures like the Bhagvad Gita, plucking the veena and writing poetry in Tamil, his first language. Unlike other great Indian Scientists, he was neither educated abroad, nor was his family financially very strong to support his academic pursuits. Branded as "200 percent Indian" by his colleagues and acquaintances, ‘India’s Missile Man’, Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam has done the country proud on many fronts.
"Do things yourself. Do not indulge in short-cuts by importing equipment", thundered the great scientist after the famed Pokhran-2 nuclear blasts in 1998. A strong advocate of this philosophy, he distributed newspapers at a young age to help with household expenses.
"Thoroughly Indian, the only brief exposure that he got abroad was in 1963-64 when he was invited by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) to spend four months in the United States at the Wallops Island Rocketry Centre and the Langley Research Centre.
"Abdul Kalam joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in 1958 and in his forty-year career as a scientist, achieved many milestones. He later joined the ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) where he succeeded in putting the 35-kg Rohini-I satellite on a iow-earth orbit with help of the SLV-III (Satellite Launch Vehicle). After spending 19 fruitful years in ISRO, he returned to DRDO to head the country’s integrated Missile Development Programme, which culminated in the successful launch of the Agni and Prithvi missiles.
"A vegetarian and a teetotaller, Abdul Kalam recites the Quran and the Bhagvad Gita with equal ease. A confirmed bachelor, his modesty is evident from the fact that he gives all the credit to his colleagues. He burst into the limelight after the Pokhran nuclear explosions in 1998. Totally dedicated to the development of the nation, he has been felicitated with many national awards. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1981, the Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and the HK Firodia Award for excellence in science and technology in 1996. More recently, he was honoured with the Bharat Ratna in 1997, the highest civilian award in India.