10 things to know about Dr. Abdul Kalam in 30 seconds

1. Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born on 15th October 1931 at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, He specialized in Aeronautical Engineering from Madras Institute of Technology.

2. He made significant contribution in development of  India’s first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully injected the Rohini satellite in the near earth orbit in July 1980.

3. He was responsible for the evolution of ISRO’s launch vehicle programme, particularly the PSLV configuration.

4. Dr. Kalam took up the responsibility of developing Indigenous Guided Missiles at Defence Research and Development Organisation as the Chief Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).

5. He also worked for AGNI and PRITHVI Missiles.He was the Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development from July 1992 to December 1999

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6. He served as the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, in the rank of Cabinet Minister, from November 1999 to November 2001 .He was also the Chairman, Ex-officio, of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C) and piloted India Millennium Mission 2020.

7. Notable books written by Dr.Kalam are – “Wings of Fire”, “India 2020 – A Vision for the New Millennium”, “My journey” and “Ignited Minds – Unleashing the power within India”.

 8. He has been awarded the coveted civilian awards – Padma Bhushan (1981) and Padma Vibhushan (1990) and the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna (1997).

9. Dr. Kalam became the 11th President of India on 25th July 2002 to 2007. His vision was transforming India into a developed nation by 2020.

10. While delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong, Kalam collapsed and died from an apparent cardiac arrest on 27 July 2015, aged 83.