NEW DELHI: Former President APJ Abdul Kalam passed away on this day in 2015.
Kalam, an aerospace scientist by profession, served as the 11th President of India, from 2002 to 2007.
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu.
He completed schooling from Schwartz Higher Secondary School, Ramanathapuram. He graduated with Physics from Saint Joseph’s College. Then he pursued aerospace engineering at Madras Institute of Technology.
In his professional career, he was long associated with Isro and DRDO. His most significant works include the development of the Indian ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology, that earned him the sobriquet ‘Missiile man of India.’ He played a central role in one of India’s most important nuclear tests, Pokhran-II. For his work in science and politics, he was awarded ‘Bharat Ratna’, India’s highest civilian honour.
He was widely regarded as the ‘People’s President’.
Kalam collapsed and died from an apparent cardiac arrest on 27 July 2015, aged 83, while delivering a lecture at IIM-Shillong.
BJP president JP Nadda paid tribute to former President Kalam on his sixth death anniversary.
“Humble tribute on the death anniversary of Bharat Ratna Dr APJ Abdul Kalam ji, the former President of the country, known as ‘Missile man’, a great scientist, a source of inspiration for youth, who played an important role in making India nuclear power,” JP Nadda said in a tweet.
Surjitt Sahani
