Early Life

• Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 to a Tamil Muslim family in Pamban Island Rameswaram  Tamil Nadu.
• His father Jainulabdeen was a boat owner and imam of a local mosque; his mother Ashiamma was a housewife.
• Abdul Kalam father owned a ferry that took Hindu pilgrims back and forth between Rameswaram and the now uninhabited Dhanushkodi.
• Abdul Kalam was the youngest of four brothers and one sister in his family. His ancestors had been wealthy traders and landowners, with numerous properties and large tracts of land.
• With the opening of the Pamban Bridge to the mainland in 1914, however, the businesses failed and the family fortune and properties were lost over time, apart from the ancestral home.
• By his early childhood, Kalam’s family had become poor; at an early age, he sold newspapers to supplement his family’s income.

Education

• In his school years, his teacher described Kalam as average grades but was hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn. He spent hours on his studies, especially mathematics.
• After completing his education at the Schwartz Higher Secondary School, Ramanathapuram, Kalam went on to attend Saint Joseph’s College, Tiruchirappalli. He graduated in physics in 1954.
• Abdul Kalam moved to Madras in 1955 to study aerospace engineering in Madras Institute of Technology.
• He narrowly missed achieving his dream of becoming a fighter pilot, as he placed ninth in qualifiers, and only eight positions were available in the IAF.

Abdul Kalam Professional Life

• After graduating from the Madras Institute of Technology in 1960, Kalam joined the Aeronautical Development Establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation as a scienltist.

  

• In 1969, Government transfered Abdul Kalam to Space Research Organisation (ISRO).  Later he became the project director of India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III)
• It successfully deployed the Rohini Satellite in near-earth orbit in July 1980; Kalam had first started work on an expandable rocket project independently at DRDO in 1965.
• In 1969, Kalam received the government’s approval and expanded the programme to include more engineers.
• Between the 1970s and 1990s, Kalam made an effort to develop the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and SLV-III projects, both of which proved to be successful.
• In the 1970s, Kalam also directed two projects, Project Devil and Project Valiant, which sought to develop ballistic missiles from the technology of the successful SLV programme.
• Soon 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 the 1980s, which prompted the government to initiate an advanced missile programme under his directorship.

Contribution to India Defense Technology

• Kalam and Dr V S Arunachalam  worked on the suggestion by the then Defence Minister, R. Venkataraman on a proposal for simultaneous development of a quiver of missiles instead of taking planned missiles one after another.
• R Venkatraman was instrumental in getting the cabinet approval for allocating ₹388 crores for the mission, named Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) and appointed Kalam as the chief executive.
• Abdul Kalam played a major part in developing many missiles under the mission including Agni, an intermediate range ballistic missile and Prithvi, the tactical surface-to-surface missile. Later the people criticised  Kalam’s management for cost and time overruns.
• Kalam served as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and Secretary of the Defence Research and Development Organisation from July 1992 to December 1999.
• Soon the Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted during this period in which he played an intensive political and technological role. Abdul Kalam served as the Chief Project Coordinator during the testing phase.
• As a result media coverage of Abdul Kalam during this period made him the country’s best known nuclear scientist.

As President of India

• Abdul Kalam served as the 11th President of India, succeeding K. R. Narayanan. He won the 2002 presidential election with an electoral vote of 922,884, surpassing the 107,366 votes won by Lakshmi Sahgal. His term lasted from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007.
• He became third President of India to have been honoured with a Bharat Ratna before becoming the President. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1954) and Dr Zakir Hussain (1963) were other two president.
• He was also the first scientist and the first bachelor to occupy Rashtrapati Bhawan.
• He also took the controversial decision to impose President’s Rule in Bihar in 2005.
• At the end of his term, on 20 June 2007, Abdul Kalam expressed his willingness to consider a second term in office provided there was certainty about his victory in the 2007 presidential election.
• However, two days later, he decided not to contest the Presidential election again stating that he wanted to avoid involving Rashtrapati Bhavan from any political processes.

After leaving presidency

• In May 2012, Abdul Kalam launched a programme for the youth of India called the What Can I Give Movement, with a central theme of defeating corruption.
• In 2011, civil groups criticised Abdul Kalam over his stand on the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant. He supported the establishment of the nuclear power plant. Later he was accused of not speaking with the local people.

  

• On 27 July 2015, Abdul Kalam travelled to Shillong to deliver a lecture on at the IIM Shillong. While climbing a flight of stairs, he experienced some discomfort. Later he was able to enter the auditorium after a brief rest. At around 6:35 p.m. IST, only five minutes into his lecture, he collapsed. Soon he was rushed to the nearby Bethany Hospital in a critical condition; upon arrival, he lacked a pulse or any other signs of life. Despite being placed in the intensive care unit, Doctored confirmed Kalam was died of a sudden cardiac arrest at 7:45 p.m IST.
• His last words, to his aide Srijan Pal Singh, were reportedly: “Funny guy! Are you doing well?”
• On 30 July 2015, the former president was laid to rest at Rameswaram Pei Karumbu Ground with full state honours.
• Over 350,000 people attended the last rites, including the Prime Minister, the governor of Tamil Nadu and the three chief ministers.

Awards

• Abdul Kalam received 7 honorary doctorates from 40 universities.
• The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1981. He also got Padma Vibhushan in 1990 for his role as a scientific advisor to the Government.
• In 1997, Abdul Kalam received India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, for his contribution to the scientific research.
• In 2013, he was the recipient of the Von Braun Award from the National Space Society.
• Researchers at the NASA had discovered a new bacterium on the filters of the International Space Station (ISS). NASA named it Solibacillus kalamii to honour the late president Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.