Apj Abdul Kalam

Contents
1 Early life and education

2 Career
3 Issues held
o 3.1 Future India: 2020
4 Awards and honours
5 Books and documentaries
6 References
7 External links

Introduction
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul
Kalam

Abdul Kalam at the 12th Wharton
India Economic Forum, 2008.
President of India
In office
25 July 2002 24 July 2007
Prime
Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Manmohan Singh
Vice
President
Bhairon Singh
Shekhawat
Preceded
by
Kocheril Raman
Narayanan
Succeeded
by
Pratibha Patil
Personal details
Born
15 October
1931 (age 79)
Rameswaram, British
India(now Tamil
Nadu, India)
Political
party
Independent
Alma
mater
St. Joseph's College,
Tiruchirappalli
Madras Institute of
Technology
Profession Aerospace engineer
Religion Islam
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam born 15 October
1931) usually referred to as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is an
Aerospace engineer, Professor and chancellor of Indian Institute
of Space Science and Technology, who served as
the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. During his term as
President, he was popularly known as the People's President. He
was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.
Before his term as India's president, he worked as
an aeronautical engineer with DRDO and ISRO. He is popularly
known as the Missile Man of India for his work on development
of ballistic missile and space rocket technology. Kalam played a
pivotal organizational, technical and political role in
India'sPokhran-II nuclear test in 1998, the first since the original
nuclear test by India in 1974.
He is currently the chancellor of Indian Institute of Space Science
and Technology, a professor at Anna University (Chennai), a
visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management
Ahmedabad, Indian Institute of Management Indore, and an
adjunct/visiting faculty at many other academic and research
institutions across India.
In May 2011, Dr. Kalam launched his mission for the youth of the
nation called the What Can I Give Movement. Dr. Kalam better
known as a scientist, also has special interest in the field of arts
like writing Tamil poems, and also playing the music
instrument Veena.

Early life and education
Abdul Kalam was born in Rameshwaram, presently Tamil Nadu, in
British India in 1931. He spent most of his childhood in financial
problems and started working at an early age to supplement his
family's income.
After completing his school education, Kalam graduated
in physics from St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirapalli. He then
graduated with a diploma in Aeronautical Engineering in the mid-
1950s from the Madras Institute of Technology. As the Project
Director, he was heavily involved in the development of India's
first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-II).
Career
As Chief Executive of the Integrated Guided Missile Development
Program (I.G.M.D.P), he played a major part in developing many
missiles in India including Agni and Prithvi although the entire
project has been criticised for being overrun and mismanaged. He
was the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and the
Secretary of Defence Research and Development
Organisation from July 1992 to December 1999. Pokhran-
II nuclear tests were conducted during this period and have been
associated with Kalam although he was not directly involved with
the nuclear program at the time.
Issues held
Future India: 2020
In his book India 2020, Kalam strongly advocates an action plan
to develop India into a knowledge superpower and a developed
nation by the year 2020. He regards his work on India's nuclear
weaponsprogram as a way to assert India's place as a
future superpower.
It has been reported that there is a considerable demand
in South Korea for translated versions of books authored by him.
Kalam continues to take an active interest in other developments
in the field of science and technology. He has proposed a
research program for developing bio-implants. He is a supporter
of Open Source over proprietary solutions and believes that the
use of free software on a large scale will bring the benefits
of information technology to more people.
Awards and honours
Year of
Award or
Honor
Name of Award or Honor
Awarding
Organization
2011
Doctor of
Science (microbiology)
S.Gujarati University
2009
Doctor of Science (Honoris
Causa)
Anna University of
Technology
2009 Hoover Medal
ASME Foundation,
USA
[12]

2009
International von Krmn
Wings Award
California Institute of
Technology, U.S.A
[13]

2008
Doctor of Engineering
(Honoris Causa)
Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore
[14]

1997 Bharat Ratna Government of India
1990 Padma Vibhushan Government of India
1981 Padma Bhushan Government of India
Books and documentaries
Kalam's writings
Wings of Fire: An Autobiography of APJ Abdul Kalam by A. P.
J Abdul Kalam, Arun Tiwari; by K. Bhushan, G. Katyal; A. P.
J. Pub. Corp, 2002.
Scientist to President by Abdul A. P. J. Kalam; Gyan
Publishing House, 2003.
Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India by A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam; Penguin Books, 2003.
India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium by A.P.J. Abdul
Kalam, Y.S. Rajan; Penguin Books India, 2003.
India-my-dream by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; Excel Books, 2004.
Envisioning an Empowered Nation: Technology for Societal
Transformation by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; TATA McGraw-Hill
Publishing Company Ltd, 2004.
Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose of Life by A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam, Arun K Tiwari; Ocean Books, 2005.
Children Ask Kalam by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; Pearson
Education, ISBN 81-7758-245-3
Indomitable Spirit by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, 2006
The Scientific Indian: A Twenty-first Century Guide to the
World around Us by APJ Abdul Kalam and YS Rajan
My Journey by APJ Abdul Kalam, Published By: V
Suryanarayana Murthy
Biographies
Eternal Quest: Life and Times of Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen
Abdul Kalam by S. Chandra; Pentagon Publishers, 2002.
President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam by R. K. Pruthi; Anmol
Publications, 2002.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam: The Visionary of India by K. Bhushan,
G. Katyal; A.P.H. Pub. Corp, 2002.
A Little Dream (documentary film) by P. Dhanapal; Minveli
Media Works Private Limited, 2008
The Kalam Effect: My Years with the President by P.M. Nair;
Harper Collins, 2008.
My Days With Mahatma Abdul Kalam by Fr.A.K. George;
ISBN No:978-8190452953; Publisher: Novel Corporation,
2009.
Dr.Kalam's Page

Profile

My Mother

My Teachers

Profile

Embodiment of Love

During the II world war in 1941, it was a difficult time for our family at Rameswaram. I was a ten year
old boy then. War had almost reached our doors of Rameswaram since the cloud of war had already
reached Colombo. Almost everything was a rarity from food articles to anything. Ours was a large
joint family. The size of our family was five sons and five daughters and three of whom had families. I
used to see in my house anytime three cradles. My grandmother and mother were almost managing
this large contingent. The environment in the home alternated by happiness and sadness. I used to
get up at four in the morning, take bath and went to my teacher Swamiyar for learning mathematics.
He will not accept students if they had not taken bath. He was a unique mathematics teacher and he
used to take only five students for free tuition in a year. My mother used to get up before me, and
gave bath to me and prepared me to go for the tuition. I use to comeback at 5:30 when my father
would be waiting for taking me to the Namaz and Koran Sharif learning in Arabic school. After that I
used to go to Rameswaram Road Railway station, three kilometers away to collect newspaper. Madras
Dhanushkodi Mail will pass through the station but will not stop, since it was war time. The newspaper
bundle will be thrown from the running train to the platform.

I used to collect the paper and run around the Rameswaram town and be the first one to distribute
the newspapers in the town. My elder cousin brother was the agent who went away to Sri Lanka in
search of better livelihood. After distribution, I used to come home at 8 AM. My mother will give me a
simple breakfast with a special quota compared to other children because I was studying and working
simultaneously. After the school gets over in the evening, again I will go around Rameswaran for
collection of dues from customers. I still remember an incident which I would like to share with you.
As a young boy I was walking, running and studying all together. One day, when all my brothers and
sisters were sitting and eating, my mother went on giving me chapattis (even though we are rice
eaters only, wheat was rationed). When I finished eating, my elder brother called me privately and
scolded "Kalam do you know what was happening? You went on eating Chappati, and mother went on
giving you. She has given all her chappatis to you. It is difficult time. Be a responsible son and do not
make your mother starve". First time I had a shivering sensation and I could not control myself. I
rushed to my mother and hugged her. Even though I was studying in 5th class, I had a special place

in my home because I was the last guy in the family. There used to be no electricity. Our house was
lit by the kerosene lamp that too between 7 to 9 PM. My mother specially gave me a small kerosene
lamp so that I can study up to 11 PM. I still remember my mother in a full moon night which has been
portrayed with the title "mother" in my book "Wings of Fire".

Mother
"I still remember the day when I was ten,
Sleeping on your lap to the envy of my elder brothers and sisters.
It was full moon night, my world only you knew Mother!, My Mother!
When at midnight, I woke with tears falling on my knee
You knew the pain of your child, My Mother.
Your caring hands, tenderly removing the pain
Your love, your care, your faith gave me strength,
To face the world without fear and with His strength.
We will meet again on the great Judgment Day. My Mother!

This is the story of my mother who lived ninety three years, a woman of love, a woman of kindness
and above all a woman of divine nature. My mother performed Namaz five times everyday. During
Namaz, my mother always looked angelic. Every time I saw her during Namaz I was inspired and
moved.

By, Dr. APJ Abdulkalam
I was always fortunate and blessed to have one or two great teachers during every phase of my
educational period between 1936 ? 1957. Evolution of the oath has resulted from what I have
experienced and what I have felt and grown through my teachers. The first oath talks about the
teacher loving teaching and teaching being the soul of the teacher. What is the significance of this?
Here I would like to give the example of the teacher who really loved teaching.
Teacher loves teaching

It was the year 1936; I recall my initiation of education at the age of 5 years in Rameswaram
Panchayat elementary school. I had a Teacher Muthu Iyer who took special interest on me mainly
because I performed very well in a class exercise. He was impressed and next day he came to my
house to tell my father that I was a very good student. My parents were happy and got my favourite
sweet from my mother. Another important event while I was in first class, which I cannot forget. One
day I did not turn up to my school. Teacher Muthu Iyer noticed my absence and same evening he
came to my father to ask what the problem was and why did I not go to school and whether he can do
anything to help me. On that day, I was having fever. Another important thing, which he noticed was
my hand writing, was very poor. He gave a three page writing exercise and told my father that he
should ensure that I do the exercise everyday regularly. By these actions of my teacher Muthu Iyer,
my father told me in later years that teacher Muthu Iyer is not only a good teacher to me in teaching
but he influenced and shaped me with good habits and he was a noble friend to my family. Even today
I realize how my teacher loved teaching and took personal interest to bring up his pupils. Now let me
talk about another teacher who taught me in my fifth class.

Teacher encourages questions from Students

I was studying in 5th class at the age of 10 who gave a vision for my life. I had a teacher, Shri Siva
Subramania Iyer. He was one of the very good teachers in our school. All of us loved to attend his
class and hear him. One day he was teaching about bird's flight. He drew a diagram of a bird on the
blackboard depicting the wings, tail and the body structure with the head. He explained how the birds
create the lift and fly. He also explained to us how they change direction while flying. Nearly 25
minutes he gave the lecture with various information such as lift, drag and how the birds fly in a
formation of 10, 20 or 30 etc. At the end of the class, he wanted to know whether we understood how
the birds fly. I said I did not understand how the birds fly. When I said this, he asked the other

students whether they understood or not. Many students said that they did not understand. Our
teacher was a real teacher and very good teacher. He did not get upset by our response.

In view of this, my teacher said that he would take all of us to the sea shore. That evening the whole
class was in the sea shore. We enjoyed the roaring sea waves knocking at the rocks in the pleasant
evening. Birds were flying with sweet chirping voice. He showed the sea birds in formation in 10 to 20
numbers, we have seen the marvelous formation of birds with a purpose and we were all amazed. And
we were simply looking at the formation. The teacher showed the birds and asked us to see when the
birds fly, what it looked like. We saw the wings being flapped. He explained how the birds flapped the
wings to generate the lift. He asked us to look at the tail portion with the combination of flapping wing
and twisting tail. We noticed closely and found that the birds in that condition flew in the direction
they wanted. Then he asked us a question, where the engine is and how it is powered. Bird is powered
by its own life and the motivation what it wants. All these aspects were explained to us within 15
minutes. We all understood the whole bird dynamics with practical example. How nice it was? Our
teacher was a great teacher; he could give as a theoretical lesson coupled with live practical example.
This is real teaching. I am sure, many of the teachers in schools and colleges will follow this example.

For me, it was not merely an understanding of how a bird flies. The bird's flight entered into me and
created a feeling on the seashore of Rameswaram. From that day evening, I thought that my future
study has to be with reference to something to do with flight. At that time, I did not realize that I have
to go towards flight science. I am telling this because my teacher?s teaching and the event that I
witnessed inspired me to lead to the goal in life. Then one evening after the classes, I asked the
teacher, "Sir, please tell me, how to progress further something to do with flight". He patiently
explained to me that I should complete 8th class, and then go to high school, and then I should go to
college that may lead to education of flight. If I do all these things I might do something connected
with flight sciences. This advice and the bird flying exercise given by my teacher really gave me a goal
and a mission for my life. When I went to college, I took Physics. When I went to engineering in
Madras Institute of Technology, I took Aeronautical Engineering.

Thus my life was transformed as a rocket engineer, aerospace engineer and technologist. That one
incident of my teacher encouraging me to ask questions, showing the visual examples proved to be a
turning point in my life which eventually shaped my profession. Shri Sivasubramania Iyer was an
example for shaping not just students but igniting the youth both average and extraordinary by
allowing them to ask questions and answering them till they fully understood.

Teacher puts the students ahead

Now I would like to discuss about my mathematics teacher Prof Thothatri Iyengar. As a young science
student, I had an opportunity at St. Joseph?s College to witness a unique scene of divine looking
personality walking through the college campus every morning, and teaching Mathematics to various
degree courses. Students looked at the personality who was a symbol of our own culture, with awe
and respect. When he walked, knowledge radiated all around. The great personality was, Prof
Thothatri Iyengar, our teacher. At that time, ?Calculus Srinivasan who was my mathematics teacher,
used to talk about Prof Thothatri Iyengar with deep respect. They had an understanding to have an
integrated class by Thothatri Iyengar for first year B.Sc. (Hons) and first year B.Sc. (Physics). Thus, I
had the opportunity to attend his classes, particularly on modern algebra, statistics and complex
variables. When we were in the B.Sc first year, Calculus Srinivasan used to select top ten students to
the Mathematics Club of St. Joseph?s, whom were addressed by Prof Thothatri Iyengar. I still
remember, in 1952, he gave a masterly lecture on ancient mathematicians and astronomers of India.
In that lecture, he introduced four great mathematicians and astronomers of India, which is still
ringing in my ears. They are Aryabhata, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Brahmagupta, Bhaskaracharya. Let me
discuss one.

Prof. Thothatri Iyengar explained, based on his analysis, that Aryabhata was both an astronomer and
mathematician, born in 476 AD in Kusuma-pura (now called Patna). He was known to represent a
summary of all Maths at that point of time. Just when he was only 23 years old, he wrote his book
ARYABHATIYAM in two parts. He covered important areas like arithmetic, algebra (first ever
contributor), trigonometry and of course, astronomy. He gave formulae for the areas of a triangle and
a circle and attempted to give the volumes of a sphere and a pyramid. He was the first to give value
of pie. He discovered that the earth takes about 365 days to orbit around the sun. Prof. Thothatri
Iyengar always puts the student to take a pride in India?s contribution in astronomy and mathematics
and puts the students ahead. This great teacher combined his knowledge of science with his deep
insight into many aspects of our civilizational heritage. Prof. Thothatri Iyengar was an example for
continuously building capacities among students and putting the students well ahead in mathematical
sciences. He also injected great thoughts in the minds of students and promoted nobility in thinking
and action. Now I would like to discuss about the teacher who built the capacity of working together
and evolution of integrated system design even during engineering student life.
Learning integrated system design

While I was studying aeronautical engineering in MIT, Chennai, (1954-57) during the third year of my
course, I was assigned a project to design a low-level attack aircraft together with six other
colleagues. I was given the responsibility of system design and system integration by integrating the
team members. Also, I was responsible for aerodynamic and structural design of the project. The
other five of my team took up the design of propulsion, control, guidance, avionics and
instrumentation of the aircraft. My design teacher Prof. Srinivasan, the then Director of MIT, was our
guide. He reviewed the project and declared my work to be gloomy and disappointing. He didn?t lend
an ear to my difficulties in bringing together data base from multiple designers. I asked for a month?s
time to complete the task, since I had to get the inputs from five of my colleagues without which I
cannot complete the system design. Prof. Srinivasan told me "Look, young man, today is Friday
afternoon. I give you three days time. If by Monday morning I don?t get the configuration design,
your scholarship will be stopped." I had a jolt in my life, as scholarship was my lifeline, without which
I cannot continue with my studies. There was no other way out but to finish the task. My team felt the
need for working together round the clock. We didn?t sleep that night, working on the drawing board
skipping our dinner. On Saturday, I took just an hour?s break. On Sunday morning, I was near
completion, when I felt someone?s presence in my laboratory. It was Prof. Srinivasan studying my
progress. After looking at my work, he patted and hugged me affectionately. He had words of
appreciation: "I knew I was putting you under stress and asking you to meet a difficult deadline. You
have done great job in system design".

Through this review mechanism Prof Srinivasan, really injected the necessity of understanding the
value of time by each team member and brought out the best from the system design team. I realized
that if something is at stake, the human minds get ignited and the working capacity gets enhanced
manifold. That?s what exactly happened. This is one of the techniques of building talent. The message
is that young in the organization, whatever be their specialization, be trained to systems approach and
projects, which will prepare them for new products, innovation and undertaking higher organizational
responsibilities. Teacher has to be a coach like Prof. Srinivasan.

Vision 2020 Missions

Vision for the Nation

Vision 2020 for Passenger Aircraft

Evolution of India Vision 2020

National Missions and opportunities

Integrated actions for development

Regional development leads to the best

Ambience In The Nation 2007

Economic development: Transforming India into a developed nation

Growth Competitive Index

Global Human Resource cadre

National Prosperity Index

Possible Ambience in 2020

Distinctive Profile of India 2020

Vision 2020 for Passenger Aircraft
Jun 28 2008

Updated on Jun 28 2008

Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post | Read Comment(24) | Post Comment| E-Mail This | Print

Air transportation is a vital component of the communication network which helps to transport people
on business, government officials, leisure travelers, transport of perishable and other goods. The
networking helps to establish production centers in the interiors where there is advantage of low cost
labor, low raw materials cost and low infrastructural cost. The air transportation while helping growth
of interior regions, also helps industry, business sector to produce products at lower costs enabling
competitiveness in the global market. The aircraft chosen for operation along with the airport
infrastructure provided must be able to provide low cost solutions for transportation of men and
materials. It would mean that there is a need for an aircraft whose acquisition and operating costs are
low and also it should be capable of being operated from airports with minimal infrastructure and
instrumentation facility. It may be pertinent to point out that the infrastructure cost for providing air
connectivity between city pairs is lower than that for either road or rail connectivity. Is it a dream or is
it possible?

There is a need for new generation of turboprop and turbojet aircraft that are cheaper to acquire and
costs less to operate and are independent of costly airport infrastructure and instrumentation. Safe,
nearly all weather access to any location in the country with an existing landing facility is a critical
need for all round growth. With this goal in mind, I would recommend NAL to become the nodal
agency to work on a 70 seater aircraft which should be so designed that with only change in fuselage
length should be able to vary the passenger capacity to 50 or 90. With the technology available in the
space programme, missile programme, LCA programme and other aircraft programme in the country,
definitely realization of design, development and leading to production of 70 seater passenger aircraft
before 2020 is possible.

Missions

Missions for enabling timely availability of a cost effective state of the art aircraft in service before
2020 are

1. System design: Modular system design leading cost effective variants of passenger aircraft of
different capacities. Objective should be to reduce acquisition cost by 25%, operation cost by 25%,

maintenance cost by 50% and emission reduced by 70%.
2. Avionics: Design and development of integrated avionics with COTS technology and open system
architecture.
3. Power Plant: Next generation modular power plant for varying thrust condition.
4. Structures: Composite airframe, NLF adoptive wing including structural health monitoring system.
Self clean, De-icing and abrasive resistant coating system.
5. Control system: Fly by wire flight control system. Aim for all electric architecture.
6. Maintenance: Advanced maintenance systems using IVHM, SHM and faster trouble.
7. Integrated Health monitoring: Development of integrated monitoring system for all utility
system over the entire fleet for enhancing reliability and reduce maintenance cost.
8. Simulator and flight testing: Development of state of the art simulator which will reduce the
over all time required for training of the pilots and also reduce the number of hours of flight tests
needed for certification for induction into operation.

Evolution of India Vision 2020
Jun 27 2008




Let me share with you my unique experience in mid 1990?s on formulation of Indian vision 2020
strategies. I was given the task of chairing Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment
Council (TIFAC). I recollect, that in the first meeting of the Council itself, we took a decision that
TIFAC must evolve a plan how India can be transformed into an economically developed nation by the
year 2020. When the suggestion was mooted everybody was wondering how we can evolve such a
long term mission under the then prevailing economic and social conditions of the country. That was
the time (1991); the then Prime Minister had just announced the economic liberalization and growth
measures for the Indian economy and its impact had just started being felt.

In spite of this, the council with many young members jumped into the idea and we discussed for one
full day on how we can translate the thought into action. At a time when the economy was growing at
around 5 to 6% per annum in GDP we had to envisage a growth rate of at least 10% per annum
consistently for over 10 years for realizing the development vision of billion democratic people of multi
lingual, multi religious and multi cultural characteristics. This really ignited the minds of all of us in the
council. We debated and arrived at 17 task teams with over 500 members who had consultations with
over 5000 people in various sectors of the economy. Committees worked for over two years resulting
in 25 reports which we presented to the then Prime Minister of India on 2 Aug 1996. Transforming
India into a developed nation implies that every citizen of the country lives well above the poverty
line, their education and health is of a high standard, national security assured and core-competence
in certain major areas enabled production of quality goods competitively including for exports,
bringing all-round prosperity for the countrymen. This event led to the birth of the book "India 2020:
a Vision for the New Millennium". Based on various inputs, the government announced the vision
statement that India will become a developed nation by 2020. Such a statement is very rare, since
every government is elected only for a period of five years and thinking of over 20 years time frame
by the Parliament and the government is a fresh breeze.

National Missions and opportunities
Jun 27 2008




Dear friends, while thinking on typical important missions that will bring societal transformation
through competitiveness and propel the vision 2020 missions of India, we could find common grounds
for new challenges and opportunites for investments in India. They are the following:

Agriculture and food processing: We are in the mission of generating 400 million tones of food
grains with reduced land, with reduced water and with reduced workforce from the present 200 million
tonnes. New technology needed in agriculture area from seeds to cultivation to grain, food process
and marketing. Value addition in the farm produce will be the focus in our 11th plan period for the
reason that it will have impact in the increase in productivity and economic growth. This entire chain
will enable employment particularly in rural areas in a big way.

Infrastructure: At this juncture, infrastructure development is a crucial area for development in
India. India is aspiring to build hundred million homes within next ten years. The infrastructure
development in metropolitan and tier-2 cities needs to be enhanced in the form of new bridges,
airports, marketing complexes and industrial units. 40% of the rural areas need to be covered with all
weather roads; we need to double the present national highways ratio per 100 square kilometer area.
Simultaneously, we are in the process of developing ports, railway systems and airports. For example,
the Indian Construction Industry employs over 31 million people for its asset generating activity of
around $80 Billion (Rs. 310,000 crore) which includes expenditure of $50 Billion (Rs. 200,000 crore)
incurred by the Government. This will need development of specialized quality human resource in all
the spectrum of infrastructure activity.

Energy: When I addressed to the nation in 2005, I have set a goal of realizing Energy Independence
(coming out of fossil fuel) by the year 2030. When our population may touch 1.4 billion people,
demand from power sector will increase from the existing 130,000 MW to about 400,000 MW. This
assumes an energy growth rate of 5% per annum. Electric power generation in India now accesses
four basic energy sources: Fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal; Hydroelectricity; Nuclear
power; and Renewable energy sources such as bio-fuels, solar, biomass, wind and ocean. We need a
major thrust in solar energy and wind energy for generating over 120,000 MW by 2030 through these
two renewable energy sources. Similarly we are planning to harness over 65,000 MW from hydro
power sources and 50,000 MW from nuclear energy sources.

Water Mission: We have a mission on the Networking of Rivers and the task team is evolving the
plan of action. Meanwhile, I have also suggested to the state governments interlinking of rivers and
other water sources within the state. Number of state governments is actively pursuing this mission.
This mission will eliminate the periodical problem of floods experienced in a number of river basin
states and manage the draught in most of the time and ensure availability of water and power
throughout the year. In addition nation has to embark on water harvesting and desalination of sea
water as national missions. Simultaneously another major mission is to create and strengthening the
inland waterways programmes and convert into smart waterways.

Sustainable Rural Development through PURA: In India, the development of a rural sector is
very important. Government, private and public sectors have been taking up rural development in
parts. For example, starting an education institutions, starting a healthcare centers, laying roads,

building houses, building a marketing complex, giving a communication link in a particular rural area
have been taken up in the past as individual activities. We have a rural development programme
PURA which envisages an integrated development plan with employment generation as the focus,
driven by provision of the habitat, healthcare, education, skill development, physical and electronic
connectivity and marketing.

PURA Mission: The entire country will have 7000 PURAs (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas)
encompassing over 600,000 villages. The theme of PURA, apart from concentrating on reinforcing
agriculture, will emphasize on agro processing, development of Rural Craftsmanship, dairy, fishing,
silk production, so that the non-farm revenue for the rural sector is enhanced, based on the core
competence of the region. Also the rural economy will be driven by renewable energy such as solar,
wind, bio-fuel and conversion of municipal waste into power. In this approach, the aim is to make
sustainable development using the core competence of the rural sector.

The programmes which I have mentioned above has social, research and technological content. It has
substantial amount of business opportunities leading to economic growth in the globalized scenario.

National Prosperity Index
Anna University, Chennai, Jul 26 2007

Updated on Jul 26 2007

While we are happy that our economy is in the ascent phase and our GDP is growing at nearly 9% per
annum, it is evident that economic growth is not fully reflected in the quality of life of a large number
of people, particularly in rural areas and even in urban areas. Hence, we have evolved what is called a
"National Prosperity Index (NPI)" which is a summation of (a) Annual growth rate of GDP; plus (b)
improvement in quality of life of the people, particularly those living below the poverty line plus (c)
the adoption of a value system derived from our civilizational heritage in every walk of life which is
unique to India. That is NPI=a+b+c. Particularly, ?b? is a function of availability of housing, good
water, nutrition, proper sanitation, quality education, quality healthcare and employment potential.
?c? is a function of promoting the joint family system, creation of a spirit of working together, leading
a righteous way of life, removing social inequities, and above all promoting a conflict free, harmonious
society. This will be indicated by peace in families and communities, reduction in corruption index,
reduction in court cases, elimination of violence against children and women and communal tensions.
There should also be progressive reduction in the number of people living below the poverty line
leading to its becoming near zero by 2020. All our efforts in improving the national economic
performance should be guided by the measured National Prosperity Index of the nation at any point of
time.

Possible Ambience in 2020


I visualize a prosperous India well before the year 2020. We expect the people below the poverty line
to come to near zero and our literacy must be nearly 100%. The Human Development Index of India
will be less than 50 against the present 127. Every Indian will have either have a good university
degree or quality training with globally competitive employable vocational skill. E-governance would
be in position for all Government to Government (G2G) and Government to Citizens (G2C)
transactions making the governance system transparent with a National ID card in position. Tele-
density will reach over 75%. All our villages will have reliable, uninterrupted quality electric power
supply. 600,000 villages will have all three connectivities such as physical connectivity, electronic
connectivity, knowledge connectivity leading to economic connectivity through the programme of
PURA. The interlinking of rivers and water bodies and use of technology for water collection, water
recycling and water management will result in equitable distribution of water for drinking, irrigation,
industry, navigation and as natural beauty. There will be no shortage of water in any part of the
country nor will there be disasters due to floods, water logging etc. India would have realized energy
security and would be working towards energy independence. Good sanitation facilities will be
available in homes in every part of India and for all Indians and tourists. We will be using more of
renewable energy such as solar energy, wind power, bio-mass, mini and micro Hydel and thorium
based nuclear reactors which are environment friendly energy sources.

Through responsive and innovative venture capital systems and entrepreneurial training both in
schools and colleges, we will have more enterprises leading to a large number of employment
generators rather than employment seekers. Before 2020, A pro-active healthcare system delivered
through innovative schemes will provide quality healthcare access at an affordable cost to all the
people including those living in remote areas. Everyone will have an opportunity to take up and
complete courses of choice in higher education. I am sure you will all see prosperity in the country,
which will replace scarcity and controls. In addition to the above economic, social and human
development, India will also have a visible global presence in strategic sectors and will contribute to
world peace. All our technological and economic advances while enhancing our prosperity would
embed our value system derived from our civilizational heritage. This unique combination will make
our growth robust and sustainable and will lead to a peaceful, secure, happy and prosperous society.
For achieving Vision 2020 from the present ambiance, we need a measurement tool which can guide
us in our growth path. Since we are looking for inclusive growth for our one billion people, we need a
comprehensive measure of our growth in terms of the National Prosperity Index.

Inspiration

Noble minds

Capacity Building

Five minds for the future

Value to Science

Science as a Life time mission

Science is Borderless:

Converting challenges into opportunities

Scientific Magnanimity

Teaching is a life time mission

Capacity Building
Jun 27 2008




When I visualize the five minds of the future(1. Disciplinary mind, 2. Synthesizing mind, 3. Creative
mind, 4. Respectful mind, 5. Ethical mind), I have a message for the all the teachers and students.
Nurturing all the five minds is possible, if you build the following five capacities among the youth.
What are those five capacities? The five capacities are: research and inquiry, creativity and
innovation, use of high technology, entrepreneurial and moral leadership are the five capacities
required to be built through the education process.

Research and enquiry: The 21st century is about the management of all the knowledge and
information we have generated and the value addition we bring to it. We must give our students the
skills with which they find a way through the sea of knowledge that we have created and continue
with life long learning. Today, we have the ability, through technology, to really and truly teach
ourselves to become the life-long learners. This is required for sustained economic development

Creativity and innovation: The management of knowledge in the 21st century is beyond the
capacity of a single individual. The amount of information that we have around is overwhelming. The
management of knowledge therefore must move out of the realm of the individual and shift into the
realm of the networked groups. The students must learn how to manage knowledge collectively. When
the information is networked the power and utility of the information grows as square as stated by
Metcalfe's law. Information that is static does not grow. In the new digital economy information that is
circulated creates innovation and contributes to national wealth.

Capacity to use high technology: Every student in our colleges should learn to know how to use
the latest technologies for aiding their learning process. Colleges should equip themselves with
adequate computing equipment, laboratory equipment, and Internet facilities and provide an
environment for the students to enhance their learning ability. In the midst of all of the technological
innovations and revolutions we cannot think that the role of the teachers will be diminished. In fact
the teacher will become even more important and the whole world of education will become teacher
assisted and would help in "tele-porting" the best teacher to every nook and corner of the country and
propagate the knowledge. There is a great opportunity and need for content generation in many fields
of education which can be used all over the country.

Entrepreneurship: The aptitude for entrepreneurship should be cultivated right from the beginning
and in the University environment. We must teach our students to take calculated risks for the sake of
larger gain, but within the ethos of good business. They should also cultivate a disposition to do things
right. This capacity will enable them to take up challenging tasks later.

Moral leadership: Moral leadership involves two aspects. First it requires the ability to have
compelling and powerful dreams or visions of human betterment. Moral leadership requires a
disposition to do the right thing and influence others also to do right things. In sum, inquiry,
creativity, technology, entrepreneurial and moral leadership are the five capacities required to be built
through the education process. I would suggest, all the educational institutions to consider carving out
a six months programme from the overall time available for the graduate and post-graduate
programme. In this period the students should be equipped with knowledge on subjects like
leadership, finance, marketing, inter-personal relationship, negotiation, entrepreneurship and ethical
values. The students should be provided a certificate or a diploma along with the professional degree.
This type of education will equip the youth with employable skills needed by the industry and also give

the confidence to the youth to take up entrepreneurship as an independent venture.

If we develop in all our students these five capacities, we will produce "Autonomous Learner" a self-
directed, self controlled, lifelong learner who will have the capacity to both, respect authority and at
the same time is capable of questioning authority, in an appropriate manner. These are the leaders
who would work together as a "Self-organizing Network" and transform any nation into a prosperous
nation. The most important part of the education is to imbibe the confidence among the student is the
spirit of "we can do it".

Five minds for the future
Jun 25 2008




I happened to see in the book stall, "Five Minds for the Future" written by Howard Gardner. Let us
remember, this book is being published, 25 centuries after Lord Buddha?s enlightenment. My curiosity
and desire increased to go into the details of this book; particularly in the today?s world environment
of social conflicts, political violence and impact of globalization and above all the youth of the world
have a question where their lives? are heading. I am convinced with the multi-religious background of
our nation, the future definitely needs these capacities to be built in the minds of the youth. I studied
the five minds of the future, let me describe based on my understanding:

1. Disciplinary mind: Disciplinary minds require the mastery of major schools of thought that may
include science, mathematics, history and religion. Apart from this the disciplinary mind has to be
enriched with expertise in at least one professional field. Research confirms that it takes up to 10
years to master a discipline. This mind also knows how to work steadily overtime to improve skill and
understand.

2.Synthesizing mind: What is needed is the ability to integrate ideas from different disciplines or
spheres into an integrated system and communicate the synthesized thoughts. With the increasing
volume of information in the present day world, capacity to synthesize assumes great importance.

3. Creating mind: It is essential to build capacity to uncover and create solutions to new problems,
questions and phenomena. For examples on creativity, in general we look for leaders, rather than
managers.

It puts forth new ideas, poses, familiar questions and arrives at unprecedented answers. The creating
mind seeks to remain at least one step ahead of even the most sophisticated computers and robots. I
understand that most of the computers of the future and accessories will be micro sized, wearable and
will have wireless communication with each other. Moderately priced PCs capable of performing about
a billion calculations per second today will be able to perform about a trillion calculations per second
within next 10 years. It is predicted that by 2019, the computational ability of an ordinary PC would
exceed the capability of human brain. By 2029, the capability of a normal PC would be around 1000

times that of the human brain. My view is that definitely the creating mind of the human being will
always be superior to the most powerful computers in the horizon.

4.Respectful mind: It is a uniquely developed mind, a mature mind that has awareness and
appreciation for differences among human beings. The capacity built in the respectful mind, leads to
understand other persons on their own terms with mutual trust. In the world where we are, all
interlinked and need to maintain working relationship, intolerance is no longer a viable option.

5. Ethical mind: It is indeed a built-in-capacity for fulfilling once responsibility as a worker and as a
citizen simultaneously, It will essentially lead to "work with integrity and succeed with integrity".

The mind conceptualizes how workers can serve purpose beyond self interest and how citizens can
work unselfishly to improve the lot of all. The ethical mind then acts on the basis of these analyses. In
the present scenario, the need for respecting mind and ethical mind is very important, because many
of the societal problems today are arising out of lack of consideration for others and overwhelming
selfishness of the individual. The education system has to cultivate these minds among the youth, so
that they learn to respect others, are tolerant and perseverant for realizing their goals in life.

With these five types of minds, a person will be well equipped to deal with what is expected as well as
what cannot be anticipated. Without these minds, a person will be at the mercy of forces that he or
she can?t understand. Our educational, political, managerial and spiritual system should nurture these
five kinds of minds for cultivating positive human potentials. Disciplines, syntheses and creativity can
be put to all kinds of ends if we do not cultivate the sense of respect and ethical orientation. Hence,
the five kinds of minds should be made to work synergistically.

When I visualize these five minds of the future, I have a message for all of you. Nurturing all the five
minds is possible, if you build the following five capacities among the youth. What are those five
capacities?

The five capacities are: research and inquiry, creativity and innovation, use of high technology,
entrepreneurial and moral leadership are the five capacities required to be built through the education
process.

If we develop in all our students these five capacities, we will produce "Autonomous Learner" a self-
directed, self controlled, lifelong learner who will have the capacity to both, respect authority and at
the same time is capable of questioning authority, in an appropriate manner. These are the leaders
who would work together as a "Self-organizing Network" and transform any nation into a prosperous
nation. The most important part of the education is to imbibe the confidence among the student is the
spirit of "we can do it".

Value to Science
Aug 26 2007

Updated on Aug 26 2007



I thought of sharing with you an incident about Sir CV Raman ?a Nobel Laureate in Physics for
discovering Raman Effect. Raman gives the view that the color of sky is blue due to molecular
diffraction, which determines the observed luminosity, and in great measures also its color. This led to
the birth of the Raman Effect. Raman was in the first batch of Bharat Ratna Award winners. The award
ceremony was to take place in the last week of January, soon after the Republic Day celebrations of
1954. The then President Dr. Rajendra Prasad wrote to Raman inviting him to be the personal guest in
the Rashtrapati Bhavan, when Raman came to Delhi for the award ceremony. Sir CV Raman wrote a
polite letter, regretting his inability to go. Raman had a noble reason for his inability to attend the
investiture ceremony. He explained to the President that he was guiding a Ph.D. student and that
thesis was positively due by the last day of January. The student was valiantly trying to wrap it all up
and Raman felt, he had to be by the side of the research student, see that the thesis was finished,
sign the thesis as the guide and then have it submitted.

Here was a scientist who gave up the pomp of a glittering ceremony associated with the highest
honour, because he felt that his duty required him to be by the side of the student. It is this unique
trait of giving value to science that builds science.

Science as a Life time mission
Aug 26 2007

Updated on Aug 26 2007



Chandrasekhar Subramanyan?s most famous discovery was the astrophysical Chandrasekhar limit.
The limit describes the maximum mass (~1.44 solar masses) of a white dwarf star, or equivalently,
the minimum mass for which a star will ultimately collapse into a neutron star or black hole following a
supernova. The limit was first calculated by Chandrasekhar while on a ship from India to Cambridge,
England. The Chandrasekhar Limit led to the determination of how long a star of particular mass will
shine. In 1983, Chandrasekhar Subramanyan got the Nobel Price for this discovery.

Two of Chandrasekhar's students in 1947 were the doctoral candidates Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning
Yang in Particle Physics research. Even though Chandrasekhar Subramanyan maintained his office at
the Yerkes Observatory in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, he would regularly drive the one hundred miles to
Chicago to guide and teach Lee and Yang and others many a times in difficult weather conditions. In
1957, these two of his students won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in particle physics
research. This also brings out Chandrasekhar Subramanyan?s commitment to science and there by to
his students. Science indeed is a life time mission for Chandrasekhar. It is this characteristic which
makes youth to become passionate towards science.

Thoughts

Developed India

Innovation and Indias Role in the Knowledge Economy

Integrated Action for developed India

Youth movement for Developed India 2020

Innovation and Indias Role in the Knowledge Economy
Jun 25 2008




Dear friends, let me share with you "Innovation ecosystem to empower Indian innovations". I
will discuss about few instances of Indian innovations.

Innovation in IT: We all know about the recent rise of India?s IT sector. Today the IT sector
employs more than 2 million persons and contributes roughly 25% of India?s exports. The IT sector
also contributes around 4% to India?s GDP. When you consider that the IT sector employs just 0.2%
of the population, you can see that the IT sector is contributing many times its share to the Indian
economy. Indeed it is not wrong to say that the IT sector, perhaps single-handedly, changed the
world?s perception about India. IT is not the only area where India is innovative.

Innovation in Consumer items: The sachet of shampoo that costs just Rs. 2, or about five cents!
Imagine producing something for five cents that includes not just the aluminum for the sachet, but
also its contents, not to mention the cost of distribution. Yet these sachets can be found everywhere
in India.

Innovation in Cell phone Business model: Today villagers are all speaking on cell phone. India
has the cheapest telephone rates in the world, for both land lines as well as cell phones. India also has
the fastest growing telecom market in the world, adding roughly eight million cell phones every
month! This amazing growth has been made possible because the Indian cell phone service providers
have a number of innovative business models, such as free incoming calls, prepaid calling cards, etc.
We should remember that innovation in business models is also innovation!

Innovation in healthcare: Next innovation let me focus on the "Jaipur foot," which was originally
made for about $ 28, by itself a very low price. But the DRDO applied its technical competence to the
problem, and designed a still lighter and more durable foot called FRO using carbon-composite
material. The Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad also developed a very low-cost "stent"
that brought down the price of stents by more than 90% to the Indian consumers. Similarly, the cost
of a heart bypass surgery in India is just about $ 3 ? 5K, compared to more than $ 50K abroad.

Innovation in Election system: India?s democratic society also benefits from Indian innovation. We
see here an Electronic Voting Machine used in our elections. Foreigners are often surprised to find out
that in Indian elections, 100% of the voting is through EVMs. In recent times doubts have been raised
about the reliability of the software used in electronic voting machines in some other countries. Our
EVMs are based on push button technology (rather than touch screen technology) which makes them
absolutely tamper-proof. Moreover, it is also possible to have a "recount" in the case of close contests,
without any difficulty. In some regions, Election Commission carrying EVMs on elephant back

particularly in Northeastern area is by itself an innovation in transportation.

Innovation in Nuclear Science: On 11 May 2008, I was with the members of the Department of
Atomic Energy (DAE) on the occasion of the National Technology Day celebrations-2008 and
distributed the DAE Awards-2006. I have seen 400 scientists who have shown excellent performance
in Science, Engineering and Technology in Department of Atomic Energy. Their innovations in the
nuclear science and technology will have tremendous potential; I would like to particularly mention a
few, such as

a. Carbide fuel processing in the nuclear Fast reactors at IGCAR, DAE;
b. reduced use of uranium to attain the same level of performance in power generation by DAE;
c. Indigenous design and development of an unique variable low energy positron beam system to
enable depth-resolved defect studies at surfaces and interfaces of materials;
d. BHABHA-TRON ? the first indigenous tele-cobalt machine;
e. design and development of optically pumped infrared molecular gas lasers producing output at 16
micron for molecular uranium isotope separation are some the innovative research which I have
witnessed.

Innovation in other Science and Technology departments: Dear friends, our scientists in
multiple scientific departments have worked for self-reliance and have succeeded. Some of the
innovative examples such as
a. Making the cryogenic engine; Successful launch of 10 satellites in one go and Successful Satellite
Recovery Experiment by ISRO;
b. Anti Ballistic Missile System and Indigenous Ring Laser Gyro based INS with high impact accuracy
in Agni-III by DRDO
c. Flight control system for LCA by ADA
Are some of the innovative achievements which stand today as witness to Indian innovations in
science and technology.

Innovation in Rural transformation through Jatropha : Let me now focus at the innovation in
rural transformation through Jatropha. Rani-dhera a tribal village in Chhattisgarh state which was
steeped in darkness after sun set has been lighted with Jatropha oil drawn straight from the seeds.
The villages are paying rupees 20 per light per month. This innovation has been promoted by
Department of New and Renewable energy sources in partnership with an NGO. Rani-Dhera is
bubbling with activities and per capita income of the village has gone up due to the availability of
power and light.

One of the unique studies carried out by CSIR through the collaborative effort of over 150 scientists
has lead to innovation in Genetic mapping of Indian Population.

Innovation in Genetic Mapping of Indian Population: Indian Statistical institute, Kolkata and
anthropologists from various institutes of India, and the Centre for Genomic Applications, Delhi, has
generated genetic information on over 4000 genetic markers from over 1000 bio-medically important
and Pharmaco-genetically relevant genes in reference populations encompassing diversity of
populations from across the country. This study has resulted in clear genetic profile of our populations,
explicitly indicating that there is a strong association between genetic and linguistic profiles in India
and that there are significant genetic differences in the frequencies of disease-associated genetic
markers. For example, this study has revealed that a known protective genetic marker against HIV-1
is virtually absent in India, implying the absence of natural or genetic protection against HIV-AIDS in
our country.

Similarly friends, the industry and service sectors have shown marked growth and our economy is in
the ascent phase right from 2003. All this clearly shows that the country?s landmark decision to
become a nuclear weapon state has given strength to the nation. The confidence in the country has
increased the spirit that "We can do it". India has always risen to the occasion when we are
constrained, the technological sanction after 1998 has not deterred our progress but has strengthened
the minds of every Indian to become self-reliant in critical technologies. We should understand our
own strength first in the scientific and technological achievements that we have made so far and give
confidence and encouragement to the scientists who are working towards making the nation proud.

So can we ask: What drives innovation in India? India has a unique blend of ingredients. We have a
shortage of capital, so we have to be very innovative to stretch our limited capital. By and large, the
general perception is that the government agencies are not able to deliver citizen services effectively,
at any level, be it national, state, or regional. But fortunately, we have had democracy, so that
individual citizens have been free to evolve local solutions for local problems. Until now our local
innovations have not been able to spread outside India excepting in certain sectors such as
pharmaceutical, Banking, IT Enabled Services, Software and Automobiles and recently the nano car.
Now is the time, for all of us to work together to make Indian innovation to become globalized and
have a world wide impact.

--, Jul 25 2007


To achieve the distinctive profile of India, all of us have before us the mission of transforming
India into a developed nation. In order to succeed in our mission, the key five areas where India
has a core competence for integrated action are: (1) Agriculture and food processing (2)
Education and Healthcare (3) Infrastructure: Reliable and Quality Electric power, Surface
transport and Infrastructure for all parts of the country. (4) Information and Communication
Technology (5) Self reliance in critical technologies.

These five areas are closely inter-related and if progressed in a coordinated way, will lead to
food, economic and national security. One of the major mission within these five areas is the
development of infrastructure for bringing rural prosperity through Provision of Urban
Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) by creating three connectivities namely physical, electronic,
knowledge leading to economic connectivity. The number of PURA clusters for the whole
country is estimated to be 7000. Simultaneously, both from energy and environmental
considerations, we should aim at achieving Energy Independence by 2030. Energy independence
has got to be achieved through three different sources namely renewable energy (solar, wind and
hydro power), electrical power from nuclear energy and bio-fuel for the transportation sector.
Energy independence throws very important technological challenges to the country.

While we are happy that our economy is in the ascent phase and our GDP is growing at nearly

9% per annum, it is evident that economic growth is not fully reflected in the quality of life of a
large number of people, particularly in rural areas and even in urban areas. Hence, we have
evolved what is called a "National Prosperity Index (NPI)" which is a summation of (a) annual
growth rate of GDP; plus (b) improvement in quality of life of the people, particularly those
living below the poverty line plus (c) the adoption of a value system derived from our
civilizational heritage in every walk of life which is unique to India. That is NPI=a+b+c.
Particularly, ?b? is a function of availability of housing, good water, nutrition, proper sanitation,
quality education, quality healthcare and employment potential. ?c? is a function of promoting
the joint family system, creation of a spirit of working together, leading a righteous way of life,
removing social inequities, and above all promoting a conflict free, harmonious society. This
will be indicated by peace in families and communities, reduction in corruption index, reduction
in court cases, elimination of violence against children and women and communal tensions.
There should be progressive reduction in the number of people living below the poverty line
leading to its becoming near zero by 2020. All our efforts in improving the national economic
performance should be guided by the measured National Prosperity Index of the nation at any
point of time.

How shall we realize this vision? What are the immediate steps that we need to take to realize
this vision?

My interaction with many of you and my understanding of the various central and state
programmes, the initiatives of private and non-governmental organizations as well as the
overwhelming desire of citizens to participate in the national development gives me the
confidence that our society is ready to work for these missions. May I suggest that you all work
together to evolve two major initiatives:
(i) To formulate an Energy Independence Bill - A three dimensional approach for energy choice
towards realizing clean planet earth.

(ii) To adopt a resolution for Vision 2020: Adopt a Resolution that India will be transformed into
a safe, prosperous, happy and socio-economically developed nation before the year 2020 using
National Prosperity Index (NPI) as a measure.

You will agree with me the importance of making these bills a reality in a time bound manner.

Jul 25 2007





Recently, in Hyderabad, I met a group of citizens who are putting into practice the motto of
transforming of our youth into enlightened citizen. The Lead India 2020 Foundation created by Dr.
N.B. Sudershan at Hyderabad is training thousands of students in many districts of Andhra Pradesh in

partnership with the District Administration. Particularly, I happened to know the transformation which
has taken place among the students of Medak district. As per the district authorities the impact of the
training on the students is visible in terms of self-discipline, love for their parents and teachers
shedding of stage fear and recognition of their duties towards the nation. I talked to Ms. Padma, a
student leader from Andhra Pradesh Tribal Welfare School, Nalgonda who related how she weaned her
father away from smoking after imbibing the spirit of the 10 point oath from the Lead India Training
Camp. This gives me an assurance that the youth of our country are on the right path through this
mission oriented programme. With the ignited minds of the 540 million youth below the age of 25,
which I consider is the most powerful resource on the earth, under the earth and above the earth, we
have to empower the youth through value based education and leadership
To Youth

To Youth

Ignited mind of the youth

Knowledge makes you great

Nothing is impossible

Political System Towards Developed India

Employment and education

Capacity Building Model

Challenges of 21st Century

Accelerate Development: Aspiration of the youth

Defeat the problems and succeed


Power of the Youth

Profile of a globally competitive nation

Ignited mind of the youth
Jun 27 2008




I would like to put forth that the ignited mind of the youth is the most powerful resource on
the earth, above the earth and under the earth. I am convinced that the youth power, if properly
directed and controlled, could bring about transformational changes in humanity for its progress,
meeting its challenges and bring peace and prosperity.

Let us now consider two major problems the world faces: one is, out of 6.6 billion people, two thirds
of the population lives below poverty line, 50% of the population do not have access to safe drinking
water, above all many do not have access to quality education. What can the youth of today
contribute to face the situation? Can every one of the educated spread literacy at least to five in their
life? Can the youth spread the message of water conservation? Can the youth come with "out of box
solutions" for solving water scarcity?

I have started a movement called "Lead India 2020 movement". It is indeed a youth movement, with
the mission for young students based on the 10 point oath which I have specially designed.

The ten point oath given to the youth by me conveys that the youth can make difference to the
society where they are living in the areas of literacy, environment, social justice, minimizing rural
urban divide, and work for the national development, while working hard for an individual goal. I insist
that small aim is a crime. I see the youth development has multiple dimensions: The youth working
hard improving his knowledge with a career goal, can serve the family, can serve the society, can
serve the nation to which he or she belongs and can serve the humanity as a whole. All are uniquely
connected.

Knowledge makes you great
May 27 2008

Updated on May 27 2008



While I am with you, I would like to talk about knowledge. Knowledge has four components,
creativity, righteousness, courage and indomitable spirit. That the combination of these characteristics
can generate enlightened citizens. Let us look at the first component Creativity:

"Learning gives creativity
Creativity leads to thinking
Thinking provides knowledge
Knowledge makes you great"

The next component of knowledge is righteousness. The power of Righteousness is described in a
divine hymn, which is as follows:

"Where there is righteousness in the heart
There is beauty in the character.
When there is beauty in the character,
There is harmony in the home.
When there is harmony in the home.
There is order in the nation.
When there is order in the nation,
There is peace in the world."

The third component is Courage, which is defined as follows:

"Courage to think different,
Courage to invent,
Courage to travel into an unexplored path,
Courage to discover the impossible,
Courage to combat the problems

And Succeed, are the unique qualities of the youth.
As a youth of my nation, I will work and work with courage to achieve success in all the missions."

The fourth component is Indomitable Spirit.

I would like to recall a great clarion call of indomitable spirit, which was given by Sir C V Raman, at
the age of 82. The message is still reverberating in my mind: "I would like to tell the young men and
women before me not to lose hope and courage. Success can only come to you by courageous
devotion to the task lying in front of you. I can assert without fear of contradiction that the quality of
the Indian mind is equal to the quality of any Teutonic, Nordic or Anglo-Saxon mind. What we lack is
perhaps courage, what we lack is perhaps driving force, which takes one anywhere. We have, I think,
developed an inferiority complex. I think what is needed in India today is the destruction of that
defeatist spirit. We need a spirit of victory, a spirit that will carry us to our rightful place under the
sun, a spirit, which will recognize that we, as inheritors of a proud civilization, are entitled to a rightful
place on this planet. If that indomitable spirit were to arise, nothing can hold us from achieving our
rightful destiny."

Hence friends, now you realize, knowledge is equal to the equation:

Knowledge = Creativity + Righteousness+ Courage+ Indomitable spirit.

By, Dr. APJ Abdulkala
Nothing is impossible
Sep 6 2007

Updated on Sep 6 2007



Human flight is nothing but creativity of human mind and it undergoes several struggles to achieve
excellence. In 1895, a great well-known scientist Lord Kelvin, who was the President of Royal Society
of London said, "any thing heavier than air cannot fly, and cannot be flown." Within a decade, Wright
Brothers proved man could fly of course at heavy risk and cost.

On the successful completion of Moon Mission in 1969, Von Braun, a very famous rocket designer,
who built Saturn-V, to launch the capsule with astronauts and made moon walk a reality, in 1975 said
"If I am authorized, I will remove the word impossible".

In ancient days, Ptolemaic astronomy is a widely used system in calculating the dynamics of various
stars and planets. Assumption by then was that the earth is flat. What a scientific struggle had to take
place to prove that the earth is spherical in shape orbiting around the sun. The three great
astronomers Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler had to give a new dimension to the world of astronomy.
Today we take it for granted that earth is a globe, orbiting around the sun, and the sun orbits in the
Milky Way. All the technological advancements we have today are the outcome of scientific exploration
of scientists of earlier centuries. At no time, man was beaten by problems. He strives continuously to
subjugate impossibility and then succeeds.

According to the laws of aerodynamics the bumble bee should never be able to fly. Because of the
size, weight, and shape of its body in relationship to the total wing span, flying is scientifically
impossible. The bumble bee, being ignorant of scientific theory, goes ahead and flies anyway.

Challenges of 21st Century


Based on my visits to all the States and Union Territories in the country and 16 countries in Asia,
Europe and Africa as the President and meeting over 1.5 million youth, I realize that all the youth
irrespective of which country they belong to, aspire to live in a peaceful, happy, prosperous and safe
nation. What does it mean? It means that economic prosperity alone is not sufficient. It has to be
complimented with the value systems and our five thousand years old Civilizational heritage which has
genetically shaped the Indian people.

I personally believe, when the nation is progressing towards economic development, it is also
essential to build education with value system drawn from our Civilization heritage. The good human
life comes out of the way we live; we may have series of problems. But the billion people have the
connectivity which gives us the united strength.

Speeches / Lectures

Recent

Trichy, 27/07/2011 - Address at Ramaswami Iyer Educational Complex Institutions

Periyar Maniammai University, Thanjavur, 27/07/2011 - Address during the Inauguration of
International conference on Emerging Green Technology (ICEGT-2011)

Childrens Peace Palace Rajsamand, Rajasthan, 23/07/2011 - Address at the National Seminar on
the Education of Moral and Spiritual Values in Schools

Udaipur, 23/07/2011 - Address during the meeting with HH Acharya Mahashraman, Monks and
Nuns

Udaipur, 22/07/2011 - Address to the Students of DPS and other schools

IGNOU, New Delhi, 15/07/2011 - Keynote Address at the Valedictory Session of the World
Education Summit Indira Gandhi National Open University

Jabalpur, 12/07/2011 - Address to the Students of St Aloysius Institutions

Jabalpur, 12/07/2011 - Address to the Officers and Staff of District Administration

Jabalpur, 12/07/2011 - Address to the Students of St Norberts Girls Higher Secondary School
and Other Schools

Jabalpur, 11/07/2011 - Address to the Army Officers, Families and Students of Army School and
Kendirya Vidyalaya

Jabalpur, 11/07/2011 - Address to the Children At Circuit House

New Delhi, 08/07/2011 - Address at Poetry Society of India

Kolkata, 05/07/2011 - Address at Calcutta Chamber of Commerce

Kolkata, 05/07/2011 - Address at Calcutta Management Summit Of Calcutta Management
Association

Kolkata, 05/07/2011 - Address and interaction with the Students and Faculty Members of
Heritage School

Kolkata, 05/07/2011 - Address and interaction with the Students of National University &
Juridical Sciences

Kolkata, 04/07/2011 - MP Birla Memorial Golden Jubilee Lecture

Kolkata, 04/07/2011 - Address to the Students at the MP Birla Memorial Golden Jubilee Award
Ceremony

New Delhi, 01/07/2011 - Address during the launch of Book Hinduism At Akshardham Temple

, 26/06/2011 -

Srivilliputtur, 26/06/2011 - Address and interaction with the Students of Kalasalingam
University,

Srivilliputhur, 26/06/2011 - Address at the Dr KS Krishnan Memorial Lecture G.S. Hindu Govt.
Higher Secondary School

Sivakasi, 26/06/2011 - Address and interaction with the Students of PSR Engineering College

Virudhunagar, 26/06/2011 - Address and interaction with the Students of VHNSN College

New York, 23/06/2011 - Address at AAPI Inaugural Luncheon

New York , 22/06/2011 - Address the AAPI and New York Area Youth At the Hotel

Chennai, 14/06/2011 - Address to the parents of the school children during the inauguration of
Sri Kanchi Mahaswami Vidya Mandir

BrahMos, New Delhi , 12/06/2011 - Address at the conference on "Joint Ventures and
Technology collaboration in Defence towards realizing world class systems"

New Delhi, 08/06/2011 - Address during the launch of Samagra Atal ji Project

Villupuram, 06/06/2011 - Inaugurate the Programme LEAD VILLUPURAM 2020 and Address the
students

Bangalore, 01/06/2011 - Address at 10th Anniversary Day of CII Institute of Quality

Bangalore, 01/06/2011 - Address at book release function All About Rockets by SK Das,
Advisor ISRO

Bangalore, 01/06/2011 - Second lecture After the book release function All About Rockets by
SK Das, Advisor ISRO

Bangalore, 01/06/2011 - Third lecture to the students At ISRO,

Bangalore , 01/06/2011 - Address at 125th Anniversary Celebrations of BOSCH Ltd

At IIC, New Delhi, 31/05/2011 - Address at the Release of the Book "Random Curiosity"

Sydney , 20/05/2011 - Address during the Graduation Ceremony of University of Sydney

Sydney , 19/05/2011 - Address and interaction with the Students of University of Technology,
Sydney (UTS)

Sydney, 19/05/2011 - Address and interaction with Students and Faculty University of Sydney

Sydney, 18/05/2011 - Address & Interaction with students of High School students at the
University of Sydney

Recent

, 18/05/2011 - Address and interaction during the Meeting with Indian Community

New Delhi, 12/05/2011 - Address at the International Conference on Equity and Access to
Medicine Research and Information System (RIS)

, 11/05/2011 - Address at the National Technology Day Celebrations

New Delhi, 29/04/2011 - Address at Cartoon Festival

Chicago , 26/04/2011 - Address and interaction with high level group of Chicago Council on
Global Affairs

FERMILAB, Batavia, IL, 25/04/2011 - Address to graduate students, young PG, Indian visitors
and Fermilab Scientists

Chicago, 25/04/2011 - Address at the Reception by Consulate General of India

Illinois, 24/04/2011 - Address at the BAPS Youth Assembly 2011 BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha
Bartlett, Illinois

Chicago, 24/04/2011 - Address and interaction with students of University of Illinois - Chicago

Chicago, Illinois., 24/04/2011 - Address at the Indo-American Centre community members

Chicago, 23/04/2011 - Address to the members of Indo-American Center Chicago

Chicago, 23/04/2011 - Address and interaction with the Avery Coonley School

Dubai, 17/04/2011 - Address and interaction with Teachers at the Inauguration of the Seminar
on CBSE-i Curriculum at Indian School

Dubai, 17/04/2011 - Address and interaction with Students of different Schools of Dubai at JSS
International School

Dubai, UAE, 17/04/2011 - Address and Interaction with Participants of Dubai Global Energy
Forum

Chennai, 11/04/2011 - Address during the participation of The Hindu-Saregama MS
Subbulakshmi Award Ceremony

Chennai, 11/04/2011 - Address and interaction with the Students of Meenakshi College for
Women

Chennai, 11/04/2011 - Address and interaction with the Students of Adhiparasakthi Engineering
College

Agra, 06/04/2011 - Address at National Chamber of Industry and Commerce

Agra, 06/04/2011 - Diamond Jubilee memorial lecture at Dayalbagh Educational Institution

New Delhi, 04/04/2011 - First Foundation Lecture of Petronet LNG Limited

Bangalore, 31/03/2011 - Address at Vicharamanthan of Kristu Jayanti College

Bangalore, 31/03/2011 - Convocation Address at GEMS B School

Bangalore, 31/03/2011 - Address at Agastya Creativity Conclave

Bangalore, 31/03/2011 - Graduation Ceremony Address at Brindavan College

Hyderabad, 30/03/2011 - Keynote Address at the 20th International World Wide Web

Conference

Hyderabad , 30/03/2011 - Address at Sankhya: The National Museum of Statistics

Hyderabad, 30/03/2011 - Address at the Foundation Day Celebration of Indian Institute of
Technology

Hyderabad, 30/03/2011 - Address and Interaction with young scientists of DRDO (RCI, DRDL,
ASL)

New Delhi, 26/03/2011 - Address at the DRDO Directors Conference

New Delhi, 23/03/2011 - Address to the members of 51st Course National Defence College

New Delhi, 20/03/2011 - Address during the 25th Anniversary of the Bahais House of
Worship,The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais

Pune, 18/03/2011 - Acceptance Speech at DIAT

PUNE, 18/03/2011 - Address and interaction with the participants of SBI Youth for India

PUNE, 18/03/2011 - Convocation Address at the Dr D Y Patil Vidyapeeth

Ghaziabad (UP), 12/03/2011 - Address and interaction with Students of Rahat Educational
Society,

Gurgaon, 10/03/2011 - Address and interaction with the Students of ITM University during the
degree distribution ceremony

Mumbai , 02/03/2011 - Address at the inauguration of International Conference and Exhibition
on Reinforced Plastics

Mumbai, 02/03/2011 - Address at the Banking Technology Conference & Banking Technology
Awards 2010

Mumbai, 02/03/2011 - Address at the inauguration of Homi Bhabha Block & visit TMC

Recent

Thane , 01/03/2011 - Address and interaction with the students of Thane Schools and Colleges

Chitrakoot, 27/02/2011 - Address to the Members of 500 self reliant villagers During the
Dedication of Self Reliance Model to the nation Chitrakoot (Bundelkahand Region)

Jharkhand, 25/02/2011 - Address at the inauguration of National Conference on 'Biotechnology
and National Development: Achievements and Challenges' Central University of Jharkhand,
Brambe Campus

Jamshedpur, 25/02/2011 - Address at TATA Steel Education Excellence Programme

Ranchi, 24/02/2011 - Address and interaction with the Students of Taurian World School

Ranchi, 24/02/2011 - Address at the XXI Convocation of Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra

Ranchi- Jharkand, 24/02/2011 - Address to the participants of 34th National Games

Amal Jyothi Engg College, Kanjirapally, 19/02/2011 - Address and interact with the participants
of Manorama Yuva Master Mind event and exhibition

Mammen Mappila Hall, Kottayam, 19/02/2011 - Participate in the Valedictory Function of the
Silver Jubilee celebrations of Darsana Cultural Centre

Kottayam, Kerala, 19/02/2011 - Address and interact with the Students participating in the
Student Empowerment for Environmental Development Programme (SEED) of Mathuruboomi,
Indraprastha Auditorium

Malliyoor Adhyatmika Peedam, Kottayam , 19/02/2011 - Visit to Malliyoor Adhyatmika Peedam
and inaugurate the Bhaghavatha Vrindavanam and meeting Bhagabatha Hamsam Sankaran
Namboothiri and address to the students.

Kozhikode, 18/02/2011 - Address and Interaction with the Children of Mukkum Muslim
Orphanage

Sports Council Stadium, Quilandy, 18/02/2011 - Address at the Inauguration of the Koyilandy
Municipality Program Change Quilandy-Clean Habitat for a New Green Earth

Devagiri, Kozhikode, 18/02/2011 - Address at the St Joseph's College

Calicut, 18/02/2011 - Lecture organized by Muslim Students Federation

Kozhikode, 18/02/2011 - Address to the Seminar on Vision on Kerala and the Present
Development in Kerala At Kozhikode Corporation

Wayanad, 17/02/2011 - Address during the Inauguration of the Arividam Program at Wayanad

Vytiri , 17/02/2011 - Address and interaction with the Students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya

New Delhi, 16/02/2011 - Samvatsar Lecture of Sahitya Academy New Delhi

New Delhi , 15/02/2011 - Address at the 112th Founders Day Hindu College, New Delhi

Belgaum, 08/02/2011 - Address at the Youth Convention At Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama

Gomatesh Nagar, Hindwadi, Belgaum, 07/02/2011 - Address and interaction with the students At
the Gomatesh Vidyapeeth

Panaji, Goa, 06/02/2011 - Address at the DD Kosambi Festival of Ideas

-, 29/01/2011 - Questions fromSaisudha Sugavanam,Producer, BBC World Service,

Delhi, 21/01/2011 - Address to the participants at Power Vision Conclave 2011

Amravati, 19/01/2011 - Address and Interaction with PR Pote College of Engineering students
and inauguration of the Tech festival

Amravati, 19/01/2011 - Address at the Youth Convention of Satpuda Shikshan Prasarak Mandal

Amravati , 19/01/2011 - Address and interaction with the Students of Vidya Bharati
Mahavidyalaya

Amravati, 19/01/2011 - Address to the District Administrative heads and inaugurating the
Students Council at Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University

Nagpur, 19/01/2011 - Address to the teachers and students of the Dharampeeth Education
Society

Bhubaneswar, 15/01/2011 - Address and interaction with the Students of Sai International
School

Bhubaneswar, 15/01/2011 - Address to the students of Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan

Bhubaneswar, 15/01/2011 - Address to the participants of the Prof Bijayanand Patnaik Memorial
Lecture

Pune , 13/01/2011 - Address to the First Indian Parliament Students Council Leaders

Madurai, 07/01/2011 - Address at the Inauguration of New Paediatric Oncology Block
Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre

Kancheepuram, 06/01/2011 - Address during the inauguration of L'Attitude 13005'

Chennai, 06/01/2011 - Silver Jubilee Endowment Lecture and Inauguration of Clean Energy &

Nano Convergence (CENCON) Centre

Chennai, 06/01/2011 - Address to the students of IIT Madras

Chennai, 06/01/2011 - Special Address at the Conference Cum Workshop on Water Partnerships
towards meeting the Climate Challenge by Centre of Excellence for Change

Chennai , 06/01/2011 - Address at 63rd Annual Conference of theAssociation of
Otolaryngologists

Recent

PUNE , 26/12/2010 - Address to the students of MAEERs MIT and Presentation of Philosopher
Saint Shri Dnyaneshwara World Peace Prize to Dr Vijay Bhaktar.

PUNE, 26/12/2010 - Address at the Launch of Paryavaran Mitra Programme of Centre for
Environment Education

Pune, 26/12/2010 - Address at the inauguration of the Convention on Scientific and
technological Approachesfor sustainable use of water resources

Pune, 26/12/2010 - Address at the inauguration of the Convention on Scientific and
technological Approaches for sustainable use of water resources

Gulbarga , 25/12/2010 - Address and interaction with the students of Sri Ramakrishna
Vivekananda Ashrama School Vivekananda Vidyapeetha

Gulbarga , 25/12/2010 - Address and interaction with the youth at Gyanshakti Sangam
Congregation

Hyderabad , 16/12/2010 - Address at the Inauguration of the International Working Conference
Life Skills & Livelihood Skills-Challenges For Institutional Development

Hyderabad , 16/12/2010 - Address at the Valedictory Session of the 43rd Annual Conference of
Indian Pharmacological Society (IPS-2010)

Hyderabad, 16/12/2010 - Address at the National Convention for Academics and Research
(NCAR 2010)

Hyderabad, 16/12/2010 - Distinguished Lecture Birla Science Center

New Delhi , 07/12/2010 - Address at the inauguration of 11th International Conference on Public
Communication of Science and Technology

Taipei, 02/12/2010 - Address at the XXX World Congress of Poets

Taipei, 02/12/2010 - Address during the Presentation of the Chinese Edition of Thirukkural

Meerut, 30/11/2010 - Address and interaction with the Students of Meerut Public Girls School

Pt. J.N.M. Medical College, Raipur (C.G.), 22/11/2010 - Address at the 4th International Congress
on Sickle Cell Disease 2010

Raipur, 22/11/2010 - Address during the inauguration of Workshop on Innovative Working
Models of care and Rehabilitation to Reach the unreached mentally challenged persons

Raipur, 22/11/2010 - Address and interaction with the Students of Raipur Schools

Raipur, 22/11/2010 - Address and interaction with the Medical/Nursing Students of JNM Medical
College

Hyderabad , 20/11/2010 - Cortona-India Conference

Hyderabad, 19/11/2010 - Address and interaction with the members of Deloitte US India,
Hyderabad

New Delhi, 17/11/2010 - Address at the 8th Knowledge Millennium Summit Organized by
ASSOCHAM

Chennai, 11/11/2010 - Inaugural Address at the International workshop on Electromagnetic
Forming Technology EMFT 2010 Anna University

Loyola College,Chennai, 11/11/2010 - Special Key note address at the Annual National
Management Symposium INSIGHT 10 Loyola Institute of Business Administration

Chennai, 11/11/2010 - Special Address at the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth
Development, Sriperumbudur

Aligarh, 02/11/2010 - Address and interaction with Students of CB Gupta Saraswati Vidyapeeth

Aligarh, 02/11/2010 - Address and interaction with Students of Delhi Public School

Aligarh, 02/11/2010 - Address during the Convocation of Mangalayatan University

Hassan, 29/10/2010 - Address and interaction with the Students during the visit to new school
of JSS Vidyapeeth

Hassan, 29/10/2010 - Address and interaction with the Students of Medical & Engineering

Mussoorie, 18/10/2010 - Address to the Officers during their Mid-Career Training Programme at
(LBSNAA)

(LBSNAA), Mussoorie, 18/10/2010 - Address to the Officers Trainees of 85th Foundation Course
at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration

Mussoorie , 18/10/2010 - Address at the Principal Conclave andinteraction with the Students of
Mussoorie International School

Dehradun, 18/10/2010 - Address during the Closing Ceremony of the Travelling Childrens
Literature Festival

Edathua, Alleppey , 15/10/2010 - Address during the Concluding Ceremony of Bi-centennial
Celebrations of St George Forane Church

Sanatana Dharma Vidyasala, Alleppey, 15/10/2010 - Address and interaction with the Students
of Sanatana Dharma Vidyasala and other schools

Trivandrum, 14/10/2010 - Address at the Annual Convocation of the Government Medical College

Trivandrum , 14/10/2010 - Address and interaction with Students (new batch) of IIST

Trivandrum, 14/10/2010 - Interaction with IIST Faculty

THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF ADVANCED LEGAL STUDIES (NUALS), KOCHI, 13/10/2010 -
CONVOCATION ADDRESS IN HONOUR OF AWARDING HONORARY DOCTORATE TO JUSTICE V.R
KRISHNA IYER

Kochi, 13/10/2010 - Address and interaction with the Students and Faculty of Adi Shankara
Institute of Engg & Tech

Looking Beyond

Looking Beyond

National Emergency Service: A Vision

Energy Independence in India - A Perspective

World Knowledge Platform

Ambience in the Nation

Technology through Ages

Research Challenges


Media Research

National Emergency Service Mission

e-Courts leading to e-Judiciary - A Vision

Networking of Dental Centres

Innovation is the capital

Space Vision 2050

Next Generation BRAHMOS

Connectivity for societal transformation

Indomitable Spirit

Interaction

Interaction

Kalam shares the nostalgia

Kalam shares the nostalgia
Jul 25 2007




He is leaving Raisina Hill as the people's President and says he has had no regrets. In an exclusive
interview to CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai ? his last as president ? A P J Abdul Kalam
speaks of his five years as the first citizen.

Exclusive Interview by Rajdeep Sardesai / CNN-IBN on July 25, 2007.

Rajdeep Sardesai: President Kalam, I want to start with the herbal garden because, in a sense, it
typifies how you have changed the Rashtrapati Bhavan. You got musical fountains, herbal gardens and
biodiversity parks ? what was the purpose?

A P J Abdul Kalam: It?s people?s Bhavan, they must be proud of this place.

Rajdeep Sardesai: But people have no access to Rashtrapati Bhavan?

A P J Abdul Kalam: No, a million people visit Rashtrapati Bhavan every year

Rajdeep Sardesai: You don?t think Rashtrapati Bhavan has become somewhat colonial? Most people
think, ?How do I reach the President of India? He is far away, a distant person.?

A P J Abdul Kalam: They e-mail, they reach here, or they write a letter and get here.

Rajdeep Sardesai: Do you think modern India needs institutions like a President or the Presidency?

A P J Abdul Kalam: In 1950, our Constitution was written and approved. Okay? It has withstood so
far. So, how can I say if it (Presidency) is needed or not?

Rajdeep Sardesai: What I found interesting is that you seem to have changed Presidency rather than
Presidency changing you. You don?t seem to be interested in protocol too much. You did what you
thought was best for the country. Would that be fair?

A P J Abdul Kalam: See, Presidency required me to do certain tasks. Also, I have seen that as a
President, it?s easy to do any innovation one wants in Rashtrapati Bhavan or even in nation. Nobody
will stop you.

Rajdeep Sardesai: As you demit office, do you have regrets or a sense of fulfillment?

A P J Abdul Kalam: I found President is a way of thinking. If he thinks big, he can definitely make the
nation. For example, take the India 2020 vision.

Rajdeep Sardesai: Let me ask you, do you see yourself as retiring now or are you going back to your
first love which is teaching?

A P J Abdul Kalam: I think retirement is a continuous process.

Rajdeep Sardesai: Sir, we are in the 60th year of Indian independence. What is your message to
Indians?

A P J Abdul Kalam: One great message is that India and its people should be self-confident and say,
?We can do it.?
My Presidential Address

Republic Day Address

Text of address to the nation by Dr.Kalam on the eve of 58th Republic Day - 2007





References
1. ^ "Former presidents". Government of India.
2. ^ "Kalam was real people's President: President's
bodyguards". Hindustan Times. 2007-07-24. Retrieved
2009-03-27.
3. ^ Perappadan, Bindu Shajan (2007-04-14). "The people's
President does it again". Chennai, India: The Hindu.
Retrieved 2009-03-27.
4. ^ Pruthi, R. K. (2005). "Ch. 4. Missile Man of
India". President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Anmol Publication.
pp. 6176. ISBN 978-8126113446.
5. ^ Sen, Amartya (2003). "India and the Bomb". In M. V.
Ramana and C. Rammanohar Reddy. Prisoners of the
Nuclear Dream. Sangam Book. pp. 167188. ISBN 978-
8125024774.
6. ^ "www.whatcanigive.info"
7. ^ India's A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Monday 30 Nov, 1998
TIME.com
8. ^ Missile History
9. ^ Pandit, Rajat (9 January 2008). "Missile plan: Some hits,
misses". The Times Of India.
10. ^ "Kalam, the author catching on in South Korea".
11. ^ "India leader advocates open source".
12. ^ "Former President Kalam chosen for Hoover
Medal". Indiatimes (New York). 27 March 2009. Retrieved 30
October 2010.
13. ^ Caltech GALCIT International von Krmn Wings
Award
14. ^ [1]
15. ^ "Documentary on Kalam released". Chennai,
India: The Hindu. 2008-01-12. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
16. ^ My Days With Mahatma Abdul Kalam, ISBN 978-
8190452953 Retrieved 2010-07-01

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Contents

1 Early life and education

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