General Knowledge 101: A TRIBUTE TO Dr. APJ ABDUL KALAM

Alas! One era had come to an end when foremost leader Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was buried in his native place (Mayana puramboke) Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. My eyes got teared up when his mortal remains was arrived through a gun carriage. Why people were plunged into mourning? Why people wanted to have the last glimpse? Only because he was a President of India or just because he was a "MISSILE MAN"! May be most of us have this answer but mine is different. He was a quintessential archetype of being INDIAN. He had only one religion which was "HUMANITY". We can learn simplicity in every simple manner from his life's journey. He had lived his life as he was born with. What could be an unrivaled instance of "Rags to riches" than him. Overarching fact is that he didn't let anything to influence him besides his own fantasy world. He dreamed so many dreams only to achieve them not to just dreamt them. He loved urchins as a "Grandfather" and counselled teenagers as a "Cicerone". He was blessed with versatility consequently he was a dogged competition to his counterparts. He declaimed only to stimulate youth but never ever sermoned. He pursued his dreams regardless his circumstances since he was the ocean of equanimity. His greatest concern was youth empowerment. So being a youth it's our responsibility to always keep enlighten that luminosity for decades once which was galvanized by him.

Full Name- Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam
Birth- 15th October 1931, Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu.
Death- 25th July 2015, Shillong, Meghalaya.
Education- Physics and aerospace engineering.
Profession- Joined as a scientist in DRDO in 1960.
In 1969- Project director of India's Ist SLV-III in ISRO, SLV-III deployed satellite "ROHINI".
Between 1970s and 1990s- Made successful effort to develop PSLV and SLV-III projects.
Why "Missile Man"?- In 1980s- Appointed as chief executive under IGMDP, developed- Agni, Prithvi, Trishul, Akash, Nag.
The Pokhran-II- From July 1992 to December 1999-served as Chief scientific adviser to prime minister and the secretary of DRDO.
Kalam-Raju stent- In 1998- Developed "Coronary Stent" with cardiologist "Soma raju".
11th President- Between 25th July 2002 to 25th July 2007- Preceded by K.R. Narayana and succeeded by Pratibha Patil.
Kalam-Raju tablet- In 2012, designed rugged tablet computer in rural areas for health care again with"Soma raju".

-Recipient of honorary doctorates from 40 universities

-1981- PADMA BHUSHAN

-1990- PADMA VIBHUSHAN

-1997- BHARAT RATNA

-2013- VON BRAUN AWARD from National Space Society

1) 26th MAY- as "Science Day"
by Switzerland to commemorate Kalam's visit in 2005.

2) 15th OCTOBER- as "World Students day" by United Nations in 2010 on his 79th birthday.

DRDO- Defence Research and Development Organisation

SLV- Satellite Launch Vehicle

ISRO- Indian Space Research Organisation

PSLV- Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

IGMDP- Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme