Abdul Kalam

Abdul Kalam

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam  born 15 October 1931) usually referred to as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is a renowned aerospace engineer, professor (of Aerospace engineering), and first Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram (IIST), who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. During his term as President, he was popularly known as the People's President. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna India's highest civilian honour in 1997. Before his term as India's president, he worked as an aerospace engineer with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and space rocket technology. Kalam 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. Kalam has even been circled with various controversies as many scientific experts called him a man with no authority over "nuclear physics" and a man who just carried the works of Homi Jahangir Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai. He is currently a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Chancellor of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram, a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Anna University (Chennai), a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management Indore, and an adjunct/visiting faculty at many other academic and research institutions across India. In May 2011, Kalam launched his mission for the youth of the nation called the What Can I Give Movement. Kalam better known as a scientist, also has special interest in the field of arts like writing Tamil poems, and also playing the music instrument Veenai.

Early life and education

Kalam spent most of his childhood running into financial problems and started working at an early age to supplement his family's income. Kalam was brought up in a multi-religious, tolerant society, with Kalam strictly following his religious routine. Kalam, as a child, had a tough routine – he would start his day by getting up at 4:00 am; study and review his homework before going to school to attend the mathematics class as his first class of the day. After completing school, Kalam along with his cousin Samsuddin Kalam distributed papers in order to financially contribute to his father's income. In his school years, Kalam was described as a mediocre student who had average grades in his class, but a bright and hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn. Kalam spent hours on his studies, especially in mathematics, and his teachers always regarded him as a student who made an effort in his studies. After completing his school education, Kalam went on to attend the Saint Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli where he graduated in Physics in 1954 but towards the end he was not enthusiastic about seeing himself as a physicist. Kalam soon discovered aerospace engineering at Madras, and he regretted the loss of the four years spent in physics. In 1955, Kalam moved to Madras and began taking courses on Aerospace engineering. While Kalam was working on a senior class project, the Dean of the Engineering came by to see Kalam's progress. The Dean was dissatisfied with Kalam's progress and said that his scholarship would be revoked if the project wasn't finished within the next two days. Kalam worked tirelessly on his project, and met the deadline. His tireless effort impressed the Dean who said, "It was a test, and under extreme stress, Kalam met a difficult deadline to complete the project".

Career as scientist

After graduation from Madras Institute of Technology (MIT – Chennai) in 1960, Kalam joined Aeronautical Development Establishment of DRDO as a chief scientist. There, Kalam started his career by designing a small helicopter for the Indian Army, but remained unconvinced with the choice of his job. Kalam was also part of the INCOSPAR committee working under Vikram Sarabhai. In 1969, Kalam was transferred to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) where he was the project-director of India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III). Joining ISRO was one of Kalam's biggest achievements in life and he is said to have found himself when he started to work on the SLV project. However, Kalam first started work on an expandable rocket project independently at DRDO in 1965. In 1969, Kalam received the government's approval and expanded the program to many engineers. In 1979, the first maiden flight of this project was made and in 1980, country's first satellite Rohini was launched with this rocket.

From 1970s and 1990s, Kalam made an effort to develop the Polar SLV and SLV-III project which proved to be successful. In 1974, Kalam was shifted to the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), a subsidiary of DRDO. Kalam was invited to witnessed the country's first nuclear test, Smiling Buddha as the representative of TBRL, even though he had not participated in developing or even taken part in the test site preparations or weapon designing. Kalam arrived at the test site on the invitation of Raja Ramanna. In 1970s, a landmark was passed when ISRO first launched into space the locally built Rohini-1, using the SLV rocket. In the 1970s, Kalam also directed the Project Devil and Project Valiant to developed the ballistic missiles from the technology of Kalam's successful SLV programme. Despite the disapproval of Union Cabinet, Premier Indira Gandhi allotted secret funds for these aerospace projects through her discretionary powers under Kalam's directorship. Kalam played an integral role convincing the Union Cabinet to conceal the true nature of these classified aerospace projects. His research and educational leadership brought him great laurels and prestige in 1980s, which prompted the government to initiate an advanced missile program under his directorship. As Chief Executive of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (I.G.M.D.P), he played a major part in developing many missiles in India including Agni and Prithvi although the entire project has been criticised for being overrun and mismanaged. He was the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of Defence Research and Development Organisation from July 1992 to December 1999. The Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted during this period where he played an intensive political and technological role. Kalam served as the Chief Project Coordinator, along with R. Chidambaram during the testing phase. Photos and snapshots of him taken by the Media elevated Kalam as the country's top nuclear scientist although Kalam was not directly involved with the nuclear program at the time.

Criticisms and controversy

Main article: Pokhran-II -: The controversy that surrounds Kalam's role as a nuclear scientist, is the lack of reliable and factual reporting of the yield of Pokhran II  tests. The director of the site test, K. Santhanam, publicly admitted that the thermonuclear bomb was a "fizzle" test, criticising Kalam for issuing the wrong report. However, Kalam dismissed the claims, and R. Chidambaram, a key associated with Pokhran-II, had also described these claims as incorrect. In spite of his leading role in the development of Indian nuclear programme, Kalam has received rogue criticism from many of his leading nuclear peers who claimed that Kalam had "no authority" over nuclear science. Homi Sethna, a chemical engineer criticised Kalam when Sethna claimed that Kalam had no background in publishing articles in nuclear science, even in nuclear physics. Sethna maintained that Kalam received his doctorate in Aerospace engineering which is a completely different discipline from Nuclear engineering, and what various universities awarded him for his achievements had nothing to do with nuclear physics. Sethna, in his last interview, maintained that in 1950s Kalam had failed advanced physics courses during his college life, and quoted "What does he know (about [nuclear] physics)....?", on national television. Others felt that Kalam had never worked in any of the Indian nuclear power plants and had no role in developing the nuclear weapon which was completed under Raja Ramanna Kalam worked as an aerospace engineer in a SLV project in 1970s and 1980s onwards as a project director before he was shifted to Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Sethna concluded. In 2008, Indian media questioned his claims over his inventions such as missiles, while working in a classified missile programme. Kalam took the credit of inventing the Agni, Prithvi, and Aakash missile system. All of these were developed, researched and designed by other scientists whereas Kalam was involved in getting the funds and other logistic tasks. As a director of DRDO, Kalam named all these missiles and got all the fame. R. N. Agarwal, former director, Advanced System Laboratory and former Program Director of Agni missile was considered to be the real architect behind the successful design of Agni Missile. However it is apparent that it was the Media Propaganda which portrayed Kalam as the developer of India's most potent ballistic missile "Agni", in his own Biography Dr.Kalam has given the credit of "Agni" development to Dr Ram Narayan Agarwal. Dr Agarwal was an alumnus of MIT and Dr Kalam in his book gave the credit of Agni development to Dr Agarwal. For the Prithvi Missile project he has named Col VJ Sundaram as the brain behind this project, for Trishul Missile he gave the credit to Cmdr SR Mohan. In 2006, senior media correspondent Praful Bidwai, in the The Daily Star, wrote that two aerospace projects, Project Valiant and Project Devil, which were authorised by former Premier Indira Gandhi under the directorship of Abdul Kalam, resulted in "total failure"; in 1980s, these projects were ultimately cancelled by the government under pressure by the Indian Army. Kalam was also criticised by civil groups over his stand on the Kudankulam nuclear plant, where he supported setting up of the nuclear power plant and never spoke with the local people.

Issues with American security authorities : Abdul Kalam was frisked at New York's JFK Airport, while boarding a plane in New York on 29 September 2011. The former President was on the plane when he was frisked again. He was separated from his jacket and shoes for a while. The incident was not reported until 13 November that year. India threatened retaliatory action as there was a "general sense of outrage" around the country.

Issues held:

Future India: 2020

In his book India 2020, Kalam strongly advocates an action plan to develop India into a knowledge superpower and a developed nation by the year 2020. He regards his work on India's nuclear weapons program as a way to assert India's place as a future superpower. It has been reported that there is a considerable demand in South Korea for translated versions of books authored by him. Kalam continues to take an active interest in other developments in the field of science and technology. He has proposed a research program for developing bio-implants. He is a supporter of Open Source over proprietary solutions and believes that the use of free software on a large scale will bring the benefits of information technology to more people.

Awards and honors

                                                                    

2011  Doctor of Science (microbiology)           S.Gujarati University

2011  IEEE Honorary Membership                  IEEE

2009  Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa)        Anna University of Technology

2009  Hoover Medal                                       ASME Foundation, USA

2009  International von Kármán Wings Award California Institute of Technology, U.S.A

2008  Doctor of Engineering (Honoris Causa)  Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

2007  King Charles II Medal                           Royal Society, U.K

1997  Bharat Ratna                                        Government of India

1990  Padma Vibhushan                                 Government of India

1981  Padma Bhushan                                    Government of India

Books and documentaries

Kalam's writings

• Wings of Fire: An Autobiography of APJ Abdul Kalam by A. P. J Abdul Kalam, Arun Tiwari; by K. Bhushan, G. Katyal; A. P. J. Pub. Corp, 2002.
• Scientist to President by Abdul A. P. J. Kalam; Gyan Publishing House, 2003.
• Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; Penguin Books, 2003.
• India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Y.S. Rajan; Penguin Books India, 2003.
• India-my-dream by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; Excel Books, 2004.
• Envisioning an Empowered Nation: Technology for Societal Transformation by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; TATA McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd, 2004.
• Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose of Life by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Arun K Tiwari; Ocean Books, 2005.
• The Life Tree : Poems by A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, Paintings by Manav Gupta; Penguin Books India, 2005
• Children Ask Kalam by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; Pearson Education, ISBN 81-7758-245-3
• Indomitable Spirit by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, 2006
• The Scientific Indian: A Twenty-first Century Guide to the World around Us by APJ Abdul Kalam and YS Rajan
• My Journey by APJ Abdul Kalam, Published By: V Suryanarayana Murthy
• Target 3 Billion PURA: Innovative Solutions towards Sustainable Development by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh ISBN 978-0-143-41730-9

Biographies

• Eternal Quest: Life and Times of Dr. Kalam by S. Chandra; Pentagon Publishers, 2002.
• President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam by R. K. Pruthi; Anmol Publications, 2002.
• A. P. J. Abdul Kalam: The Visionary of India by K. Bhushan, G. Katyal; A.P.H. Pub. Corp, 2002.
• A Little Dream (documentary film) by P. Dhanapal; Minveli Media Works Private Limited, 2008.
• The Kalam Effect: My Years with the President by P.M. Nair; Harper Collins, 2008.
• My Days With Mahatma Abdul Kalam by Fr.A.K. George; ISBN No:978-8190452953; Publisher: Novel Corporation, 2009.