APJ Abdul Kalam

Abdul Kalam, 2007

APJ Abdul Kalam ( Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam ; Tamil : ஏ. பி. ஜே. அப்துல் கலாம்; born October 15, 1931 in Dhanushkodi , Madras presidency ; † July 27, 2015 in Shillong , Meghalaya ) was an Indian rocket engineer and politician. Kalam was the eleventh President of the Republic of India from July 25, 2002 to July 25, 2007 and the third Muslim in this office.

Life

The son of Muslim parents was born in the fishing village of Dhanushkodi on the island of Rameswaram in the Palk Strait off the coast of what is now Tamil Nadu and studied aeronautical engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology from 1954 to 1957 . After successfully graduating as an aerospace engineer, Kalam initially unsuccessfully applied to the Indian Air Force. In 1963 he came across the research and development organization of Defense ( Defense Research and Development Organization , DRDO) to the Indian Space Authoritative Body, where he worked for almost 20 years and was involved in various projects.

In 1982 Kalam was entrusted with the management of the missile program and became director of the DRDO . In the following years five major projects were initiated, the results of which became synonymous with a new Indian self-confidence. Nag , Prithvi , Akash , Trishul and Agni are the names of the creations of the "father of the Indian missile program", from which Pakistan in particular feels threatened. With Agni , a medium-range missile , China could also be reached.

In May 1998, Kalam, along with then Defense Secretary George Fernandes and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee , waved triumphantly into the cameras of the world press; In the Rajasthan desert , India had successfully carried out five underground nuclear weapons tests and became a nuclear power . Kalam played a key role in developing the delivery systems for nuclear weapons .

In November 1999, Prime Minister Vajpayee made the unmarried Kalam the government's chief science adviser.

In 2002, Kalam was elected as the new President of India, who mainly has representative tasks, in the presidential election on July 15, 2002 by the members of the central parliament and the state parliaments (the Hindu nationalist BJP government). He received nine times as many votes as his communist rival Lakshmi Sahgal .

In July 2007, Kalam was replaced as President of the Republic of India by Pratibha Patil . He had not stood for re-election. In the run-up to the 2012 presidential election , his name was discussed again as a possible candidate. Kalam, however, canceled if there were no prospects of a successful candidacy.

His followers revered Kalam as a "200 percent Indian" for his boundless patriotism . His visions were ambitious, for example he wanted to lead India to the group of G8 countries by 2020 . “Dream, dream, dream! Put these dreams into practice and act, ”Kalam announced in 1998.

death

Abdul Kalam passed away on July 27, 2015 after collapsing while giving a speech in Shillong. Since 2011 there had been several false reports about his death on the Internet, most recently in January 2015.

Awards

Abdul Kalam has been awarded honorary doctorates by more than 30 universities. He has been awarded the three highest Indian civil orders - the Padma Bhushan 1981, the Padma Vibhushan 1990 and the Bharat Ratna 1997.

Works

• India 2020: A Vision of the New Millennium. Penguin Books India, 1998, ISBN 0-670-88271-2
• Target 3 trillion. PURA: Innovative Solutions towards Sustainable Development . Together with Srijan Pal Singh. Penguin Books India, 2011, ISBN 978-0-14-341730-9

Web links

Commons : Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ India: Ex-President APJ Abdul Kalam is dead . Spiegel Online , July 27, 2015.
2. ^ Krishnan M. Anantha: I am absolutely fine; don't believe rumors. Happy Diwali: Dr Abdul Kalam . Oneindia , January 11, 2015.