FORMER PRESIDENT APJ ABDUL KALAM IS NO MORE
AMN / Our Correspondent /
Former President of India Dr. Abul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, popularly known as APJ Abdul Kalam passed away today in Meghalya capital Shilong at around 6:40 evening. Dr. Kalam collapsed during a lecture at IIM Shillong and rushed to hospital where he was declared dead after getting some medical treatment. Dr Kalam was great scientist, super patriot and peoples President. kalam was 11th president of the country
He was elected the President of India in 2002 with the support of the both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Indian National Congress. After serving a term of 5 years, he returned to his civilian life of education, writing, and public service.
Kalam was born and raised in Rameswaram distric of Tamil Nadu and studied physics and aerospace engineering. He spent the next four decades as a scientist and science administrator, mainly at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and was intimately involved in the India’s civilian space program and military missile development efforts.
He was known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology. He also 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.
He has received several prestigious awards, including the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honor.