A. P. J.

Abdul Kalam
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam pronunciation (helpinfo) (Tamil: ; born 15 October 1931) usually referred to as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is a renowned aerospace engineer, professor (of Aerospace engineering), and first Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram (IIST), who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007.[1] During his term as President, he was popularly known as thePeople's President.[2][3] He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour in 1997. Before his term as India's president, he worked as an aerospace engineer with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and space rocket technology.[4] Kalam played a pivotal organizational, technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974. Kalam has even been circled with various controversies as many scientific experts called him a man with no authority over "nuclear physics" and a man who just carried the works ofHomi J. Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai.[5] He is currently a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Chancellor of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram, a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Anna University (Chennai), a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management Indore, and an adjunct/visiting faculty at many other academic and research institutions across India. In May 2011, Kalam launched his mission for the youth of the nation called the What Can I Give Movement.[6] 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 Veenai.

Early life and education

Kalam spent most of his childhood running into financial problems and started working at an early age to [8] supplement his family's income. Kalam was brought up in a multi-religious, tolerant society, with Kalam strictly following his religious routine. Kalam, as a child, had a tough routine he would start his day by getting up at 4:00 am; study and review his homework before going to school to attend the mathematics [9] class as his first class of the day. After completing school, Kalam along with his cousin Samsuddin [8] Kalam distributed papers in order to financially contribute to his father's income. In his school years, Kalam was described as a mediocre student who had average grades in his class, but a bright and [9] hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn. Kalam spent hours on his studies, especially in mathematics, and his teachers always regarded him as a student who made an effort in his studies.

Career as scientist
After graduation from Madras Institute of Technology (MIT Chennai) in 1960, Kalam joined Aeronautical Development Establishment of DRDO as a chief scientist. There, Kalam started his career by designing a [9] small helicopter for the Indian Army, but remained unconvinced with the choice of his job. Kalam was also part of theINCOSPAR committee working under Vikram Sarabhai. In 1969, Kalam was transferred to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) where he was the project-director of India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III). Joining ISRO was one of Kalam's biggest achievements in life and he is said to have found himself when he started to work on the SLV project. However, Kalam first [10] started work on an expandable rocket project independently at DRDO in 1965. In 1969, Kalam received the government's approval and expanded the program to many engineers. In 1979, the first maiden flight of this project was made and in 1980, country's first satellite Rohini was launched with this rocket.

Criticisms and controversy

The controversy that surrounds Kalam's role as a nuclear scientist, is the lack of reliable and factual reporting of the yield of Pokhran-II tests. The director of the site test, K. Santhanam, publicly admitted that thethermonuclear bomb was a "fizzle" test, criticising Kalam for issuing the wrong report. However, Kalam dismissed the claims, and R. Chidambaram, a key associated with Pokhran-II, had also described these [13] claims as incorrect. In spite of his leading role in the development of Indian nuclear programme, Kalam has received rogue criticism from many of his leading nuclear peers who claimed that Kalam had "no [14] authority" over nuclear science. Homi Sethna, a chemical engineer criticised Kalam when Sethna claimed that Kalam had no background in publishing articles in nuclear science, even in nuclear physics. Sethna maintained that Kalam received his doctorate in Aerospace engineering which is a completely different discipline from Nuclear engineering, and what various universities awarded him for his achievements had nothing to do with nuclear physics.

Issues with American security authorities

Abdul Kalam was frisked at New York's JFK Airport, while boarding a plane in New York on 29 September 2011. The former President was on the plane when he was frisked again. He was separated [20] from his jacket and shoes for a while. The incident was not reported until 13 November that year. India threatened retaliatory action as there was a "general sense of outrage" around the country.

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 weapons program 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 [22] 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.