Contents

1   Early life and education

2   Career

3   Issues held

o 3.1   Future India: 2020

4   Awards and honours

5   Books and documentaries

6   References

7   External links

Introduction

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul

Kalam

Abdul Kalam at the 12th Wharton

India Economic Forum, 2008.

President of India

In office

25 July 2002 – 24 July 2007

Prime

Minister

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Manmohan Singh

Vice Bhairon Singh

President Shekhawat

Preceded

by

Kocheril Raman

Narayanan

Succeeded

byPratibha Patil

Personal details

Born

15 October

1931 (age 79)

Rameswaram, British

India(now Tamil

Nadu, India)

Political

partyIndependent

Alma

mater

St. Joseph's College,

Tiruchirappalli

Madras Institute of

Technology

Profession Aerospace engineer

Religion Islam

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam    born 15 October

1931) usually referred to as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is an

Aerospace engineer, Professor and chancellor of Indian Institute

of Space Science and Technology, 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.

Before his term as India's president, he worked as an aeronautical

engineer with DRDO and ISRO. He is popularly known as

the Missile Man of India for his work on development of ballistic

missile and space rocket technology. Kalam played a pivotal

organizational, technical and political role in India'sPokhran-

II nuclear test in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by

India in 1974.

He is currently the chancellor of Indian Institute of Space Science

and Technology, a professor at Anna University (Chennai), a

visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management

Ahmedabad, Indian Institute of Management Indore, and an

adjunct/visiting faculty at many other academic and research

institutions across India.

In May 2011, Dr. Kalam launched his mission for the youth of the

nation called the What Can I Give Movement. Dr. 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 Veena.

Early life and education

Abdul Kalam was born in Rameshwaram, presently Tamil Nadu, in

British India in 1931. He spent most of his childhood in financial

problems and started working at an early age to supplement his

family's income.

After completing his school education, Kalam graduated

in physics from St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirapalli. He then

graduated with a diploma in Aeronautical Engineering in the mid-

1950s from the Madras Institute of Technology. As the Project

Director, he was heavily involved in the development of India's

first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-II).

Career

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. Pokhran-

II nuclear tests were conducted during this period and have been

associated with Kalam although he was not directly involved with

the nuclear program at the time.

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

weaponsprogram 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 honours

Year of

Award or

Honor

Name of Award or HonorAwarding

Organization

2011Doctor of

Science (microbiology)S.Gujarati University

2009Doctor of Science (Honoris

Causa)

Anna University of

Technology

2009 Hoover MedalASME Foundation,

USA[12]

2009International von Kármán

Wings Award

California Institute of

Technology, U.S.A[13]

2008Doctor of Engineering

(Honoris Causa)

Nanyang Technological

University, Singapore[14]

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.

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

Biographies

Eternal Quest: Life and Times of Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen

Abdul 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.

Dr.Kalam's Page

Profile

       My

Mother

       My

Teachers

       Profil

e

Embodiment of Love

During the II world war in 1941, it was a difficult time for our family at Rameswaram. I was a ten year old boy then. War had almost reached our doors of Rameswaram since the cloud of war had already reached Colombo. Almost everything was a rarity from food articles to anything. Ours was a large joint family. The size of our family was five sons and five daughters and three of whom had families. I used to see in my house anytime three cradles. My grandmother and mother were almost managing this large contingent. The environment in the home alternated by happiness and sadness. I used to get up at four in the morning, take bath and went to my teacher Swamiyar for learning mathematics. He will not accept students if they had not taken bath. He was a unique mathematics teacher and he used to take only five students for free tuition in a year. My mother used to get up before me, and gave bath to me and prepared me to go for the tuition. I use to comeback at 5:30 when my father would be waiting for taking me to the Namaz and Koran Sharif learning in Arabic school. After that I used to go to Rameswaram Road Railway station, three kilometers away to collect newspaper. Madras Dhanushkodi Mail will pass through the station but will not stop, since it was war time. The newspaper bundle will be thrown from the running train to the platform.

I used to collect the paper and run around the Rameswaram town and be the first one to distribute the newspapers in the town. My elder cousin brother was the agent who went away to Sri Lanka in search of better livelihood. After distribution, I used to come home at 8 AM. My mother will give me a simple breakfast with a special quota compared to other children because I was studying and working simultaneously. After the school gets over in the evening, again I will go around Rameswaran for collection of dues from customers. I still remember an incident which I would like to share with you. As a young boy I was walking, running and studying all together. One day, when all my brothers and sisters were sitting and eating, my mother went on giving me chapattis (even though we are rice eaters only, wheat was rationed). When I finished eating, my elder brother called me privately and scolded "Kalam do you know what was happening? You went on eating Chappati, and mother went on giving you. She has given all her chappatis to you. It is difficult time. Be a responsible son and do not make your mother starve". First time I had a shivering sensation and I could not control myself. I rushed to my mother and hugged her. Even though I was studying in 5th class, I had a special place in my home because I was the last guy in the family. There used to be no electricity. Our house was lit by the kerosene lamp that too between 7 to 9 PM. My mother specially gave me a small kerosene lamp so that I can study up to 11 PM. I still remember my mother in a full moon night which has been portrayed with the title "mother" in my book "Wings of Fire". 

Mother"I still remember the day when I was ten,

Sleeping on your lap to the envy of my elder brothers and sisters.It was full moon night, my world only you knew Mother!, My Mother!

When at midnight, I woke with tears falling on my knee

You knew the pain of your child, My Mother.Your caring hands, tenderly removing the pain

Your love, your care, your faith gave me strength,To face the world without fear and with His strength.

We will meet again on the great Judgment Day. My Mother! 

This is the story of my mother who lived ninety three years, a woman of love, a woman of kindness and above all a woman of divine nature. My mother performed Namaz five times everyday. During Namaz, my mother always looked angelic. Every time I saw her during Namaz I was inspired and moved. 

By, Dr. APJ AbdulkalamI was always fortunate and blessed to have one or two great teachers during every phase of my educational period between 1936 ? 1957. Evolution of the oath has resulted from what I have experienced and what I have felt and grown through my teachers. The first oath talks about the teacher loving teaching and teaching being the soul of the teacher. What is the significance of this? Here I would like to give the example of the teacher who really loved teaching.

Teacher loves teaching

It was the year 1936; I recall my initiation of education at the age of 5 years in Rameswaram Panchayat elementary school. I had a Teacher Muthu Iyer who took special interest on me mainly because I performed very well in a class exercise. He was impressed and next day he came to my house to tell my father that I was a very good student. My parents were happy and got my favourite sweet from my mother. Another important event while I was in first class, which I cannot forget. One day I did not turn up to my school. Teacher Muthu Iyer noticed my absence and same evening he came to my father to ask what the problem was and why did I not go to school and whether he can do anything to help me. On that day, I was having fever. Another important thing, which he noticed was my hand writing, was very poor. He gave a three page writing exercise and told my father that he should ensure that I do the exercise everyday regularly. By these actions of my teacher Muthu Iyer, my father told me in later years that teacher Muthu Iyer is not only a good teacher to me in teaching but he influenced and shaped me with good habits and he was a noble friend to my family. Even today I realize how my teacher loved teaching and took personal interest to bring up his pupils. Now let me talk about another teacher who taught me in my fifth class.

Teacher encourages questions from Students

I was studying in 5th class at the age of 10 who gave a vision for my life. I had a teacher, Shri Siva Subramania Iyer. He was one of the very good teachers in our school. All of us loved to attend his class and hear him. One day he was teaching about bird's flight. He drew a diagram of a bird on the blackboard depicting the wings, tail and the body structure with the head. He explained how the birds create the lift and fly. He also explained to us how they change direction while flying. Nearly 25 minutes he gave the lecture with various information such as lift, drag and how the birds fly in a formation of 10, 20 or 30 etc. At the end of the class, he wanted to know whether we understood how the birds fly. I said I did not understand how the birds fly. When I said this, he asked the other students whether they understood or not. Many students said that they did not understand. Our teacher was a real teacher and very good teacher. He did not get upset by our response.

In view of this, my teacher said that he would take all of us to the sea shore. That evening the whole class was in the sea shore. We enjoyed the roaring sea waves knocking at the rocks in the pleasant evening. Birds were flying with sweet chirping voice. He showed the sea birds in formation in 10 to 20 numbers, we have seen the marvelous formation of birds with a purpose and we were all amazed. And we were simply looking at the formation. The teacher showed the birds and asked us to see when the birds fly, what it looked like. We saw the wings being flapped. He explained how the birds flapped the wings to generate the lift. He asked us to look at the tail portion with the combination of flapping wing and twisting tail. We noticed closely and found that the birds in that condition flew in the direction they wanted. Then he asked us a question, where the engine is and how it is powered. Bird is powered by its own life and the motivation what it wants. All these aspects were explained to us within 15 minutes. We all understood the whole bird dynamics with practical example. How nice it was? Our teacher was a great teacher; he could give as a theoretical lesson coupled with live practical example. This is real teaching. I am sure, many of the teachers in schools and colleges will follow this example.

For me, it was not merely an understanding of how a bird flies. The bird's flight entered into me and created a feeling on the seashore of Rameswaram. From that day evening, I thought that my future study has to be with reference to something to do with flight. At that time, I did not realize that I have to go towards flight science. I am telling this because my teacher?s teaching and the event that I witnessed inspired me to lead to the goal in life. Then one evening after the classes, I asked the teacher, "Sir, please tell me, how to progress further something to do with flight". He patiently explained to me that I should complete 8th class, and then go to high school, and then I should go to college that may lead to education of flight. If I do all these things I might do something connected with flight sciences. This advice and the bird flying exercise given by my teacher really gave me a goal and a mission for my life. When I went to college, I took Physics. When I went to engineering in Madras Institute of Technology, I took Aeronautical Engineering.

Thus my life was transformed as a rocket engineer, aerospace engineer and technologist. That one incident of my teacher encouraging me to ask questions, showing the visual examples proved to be a turning point in my life which eventually shaped my profession. Shri Sivasubramania Iyer was an example for shaping not just students but igniting the youth both average and extraordinary by allowing them to ask questions and answering them till they fully understood.

Teacher puts the students ahead

Now I would like to discuss about my mathematics teacher Prof Thothatri Iyengar. As a young science student, I had an opportunity at St. Joseph?s College to witness a unique scene of divine looking personality walking through the college campus every morning, and teaching Mathematics to various degree courses. Students looked at the personality who was a symbol of our own culture, with awe and respect. When he walked, knowledge radiated all around. The great personality was, Prof Thothatri Iyengar, our teacher. At that time, ?Calculus Srinivasan who was my mathematics teacher, used to talk about Prof Thothatri Iyengar with deep respect. They had an understanding to have an integrated class by Thothatri Iyengar for first year B.Sc. (Hons) and first year B.Sc. (Physics). Thus, I had the opportunity to attend his classes, particularly on modern algebra, statistics and complex variables. When we were in the B.Sc first year, Calculus Srinivasan used to select top ten students to the Mathematics Club of St. Joseph?s, whom were addressed by Prof Thothatri Iyengar. I still remember, in

1952, he gave a masterly lecture on ancient mathematicians and astronomers of India. In that lecture, he introduced four great mathematicians and astronomers of India, which is still ringing in my ears. They are Aryabhata, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Brahmagupta, Bhaskaracharya. Let me discuss one.

Prof. Thothatri Iyengar explained, based on his analysis, that Aryabhata was both an astronomer and mathematician, born in 476 AD in Kusuma-pura (now called Patna). He was known to represent a summary of all Maths at that point of time. Just when he was only 23 years old, he wrote his book ARYABHATIYAM in two parts. He covered important areas like arithmetic, algebra (first ever contributor), trigonometry and of course, astronomy. He gave formulae for the areas of a triangle and a circle and attempted to give the volumes of a sphere and a pyramid. He was the first to give value of pie. He discovered that the earth takes about 365 days to orbit around the sun. Prof. Thothatri Iyengar always puts the student to take a pride in India?s contribution in astronomy and mathematics and puts the students ahead. This great teacher combined his knowledge of science with his deep insight into many aspects of our civilizational heritage. Prof. Thothatri Iyengar was an example for continuously building capacities among students and putting the students well ahead in mathematical sciences. He also injected great thoughts in the minds of students and promoted nobility in thinking and action. Now I would like to discuss about the teacher who built the capacity of working together and evolution of integrated system design even during engineering student life.

Learning integrated system design

While I was studying aeronautical engineering in MIT, Chennai, (1954-57) during the third year of my course, I was assigned a project to design a low-level attack aircraft together with six other colleagues. I was given the responsibility of system design and system integration by integrating the team members. Also, I was responsible for aerodynamic and structural design of the project. The other five of my team took up the design of propulsion, control, guidance, avionics and instrumentation of the aircraft. My design teacher Prof. Srinivasan, the then Director of MIT, was our guide. He reviewed the project and declared my work to be gloomy and disappointing. He didn?t lend an ear to my difficulties in bringing together data base from multiple designers. I asked for a month?s time to complete the task, since I had to get the inputs from five of my colleagues without which I cannot complete the system design. Prof. Srinivasan told me "Look, young man, today is Friday afternoon. I give you three days time. If by Monday morning I don?t get the configuration design, your scholarship will be stopped." I had a jolt in my life, as scholarship was my lifeline, without which I cannot continue with my studies. There was no other way out but to finish the task. My team felt the need for working together round the clock. We didn?t sleep that night, working on the drawing board skipping our dinner. On Saturday, I took just an hour?s break. On Sunday morning, I was near completion, when I felt someone?s presence in my laboratory. It was Prof. Srinivasan studying my progress. After looking at my work, he patted and hugged me affectionately. He had words of appreciation: "I knew I was putting you under stress and asking you to meet a difficult deadline. You have done great job in system design".

Through this review mechanism Prof Srinivasan, really injected the necessity of understanding the value of time by each team member and brought out the best from the system design team. I realized that if something is at stake, the human minds get ignited and the working capacity gets enhanced manifold. That?s what exactly happened. This is one of the techniques of building talent. The message is that young in the organization, whatever be their specialization, be trained to systems approach and projects, which will prepare them for new products, innovation and undertaking higher organizational responsibilities. Teacher has to be a coach like Prof. Srinivasan.

By, Dr. APJ Abdulkalam

Vision 2020 Missions

Vision for the Nation

       Vision 2020 for Passenger

Aircraft

       Evolution of India Vision

2020

       National Missions and

opportunities

       Integrated actions for

development

       Regional development leads to the

best

       Ambience In The Nation

2007

       Economic development: Transforming India into a

developed nation

       Growth Competitive

Index

       Global Human Resource

cadre

       National Prosperity

Index

       Possible Ambience in

2020

       Distinctive Profile of India

2020

Vision 2020 for Passenger Aircraft Jun 28 2008

Updated on Jun 28 2008Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(24)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

Air transportation is a vital component of the communication network which helps to transport people on business, government officials, leisure travelers, transport of perishable and other goods. The networking helps to establish production centers in the interiors where there is advantage of low cost labor, low raw materials cost and low infrastructural cost. The air transportation while helping growth of interior regions, also helps industry, business sector to produce products at lower costs enabling competitiveness in the global market. The aircraft chosen for operation along with the airport infrastructure provided must be able to provide low cost solutions for transportation of men and materials. It would mean that there is a need for an aircraft whose acquisition and operating costs are low and also it should be capable of being operated from airports with minimal infrastructure and instrumentation facility. It may be pertinent to point out that the infrastructure cost for providing air connectivity between city pairs is lower than that for either road or rail connectivity. Is it a dream or is it possible?

There is a need for new generation of turboprop and turbojet aircraft that are cheaper to acquire and costs less to operate and are independent of costly airport infrastructure and instrumentation. Safe, nearly all weather access to any location in the country with an existing landing facility is a critical need for all round growth. With this goal in mind, I would recommend NAL to become the nodal agency to work on a 70 seater aircraft which should be so designed that with only change in fuselage length should be able to vary the passenger capacity to 50 or 90. With the technology available in the space programme, missile programme, LCA programme and other aircraft programme in the country, definitely realization of design, development and leading to production of 70 seater passenger aircraft before 2020 is possible. 

Missions

Missions for enabling timely availability of a cost effective state of the art aircraft in service before 2020 are

1. System design: Modular system design leading cost effective variants of passenger aircraft of different capacities. Objective should be to reduce acquisition cost by 25%, operation cost by 25%, maintenance cost by 50% and emission reduced by 70%. 2. Avionics: Design and development of integrated avionics with COTS technology and open system architecture. 3. Power Plant: Next generation modular power plant for varying thrust condition. 4. Structures: Composite airframe, NLF adoptive wing including structural health monitoring system. Self clean, De-icing and abrasive resistant coating system. 5. Control system: Fly by wire flight control system. Aim for all electric architecture. 6. Maintenance: Advanced maintenance systems using IVHM, SHM and faster trouble. 7. Integrated Health monitoring: Development of integrated monitoring system for all utility system over the entire fleet for enhancing reliability and reduce maintenance cost. 8. Simulator and flight testing: Development of state of the art simulator which will reduce the over all time required for training of the pilots and also reduce the number of hours of flight tests needed for certification for induction into operation.

Evolution of India Vision 2020 Jun 27 2008

Updated on Jun 27 2008Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(33)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

Let me share with you my unique experience in mid 1990?s on formulation of Indian vision 2020 strategies. I was given the task of chairing Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC). I recollect, that in the first meeting of the Council itself, we took a decision that TIFAC must evolve a plan how India can be transformed into an economically developed nation by the year 2020. When the suggestion was mooted everybody was wondering how we can evolve such a long term mission under the then prevailing economic and social conditions of the country. That was the time (1991); the then Prime Minister had just announced the economic liberalization and growth measures for the Indian economy and its impact had just started being felt.

In spite of this, the council with many young members jumped into the idea and we discussed for one full day on how we can translate the thought into action. At a time when the economy was growing at around 5 to 6% per annum in GDP we had to envisage a growth rate of at least 10% per annum consistently for over 10 years for realizing the development vision of billion democratic people of multi lingual, multi religious and multi cultural characteristics. This really ignited the minds of all of us in the council. We debated and arrived at 17 task teams with over 500 members who had consultations with over 5000 people in various sectors of the economy. Committees worked for over two years resulting in 25 reports which we presented to the then Prime Minister of India on 2 Aug 1996. Transforming India into a developed nation implies that every citizen of the country lives well above the poverty line, their education and health is of a high standard, national security assured and core-competence in certain major areas enabled production of quality goods competitively including for exports, bringing all-round prosperity for the countrymen. This event led to the birth of the book "India 2020: a Vision for the New Millennium". Based on various inputs, the government announced the vision statement that India will become a developed nation by 2020. Such a statement is very rare, since every government is elected only for a period of five years and thinking of over 20 years time frame by the Parliament and the government is a fresh breeze.

National Missions and opportunities Jun 27 2008

Updated on Jun 27 2008Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(4)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

Dear friends, while thinking on typical important missions that will bring societal transformation

through competitiveness and propel the vision 2020 missions of India, we could find common grounds for new challenges and opportunites for investments in India. They are the following:

Agriculture and food processing: We are in the mission of generating 400 million tones of food grains with reduced land, with reduced water and with reduced workforce from the present 200 million tonnes. New technology needed in agriculture area from seeds to cultivation to grain, food process and marketing. Value addition in the farm produce will be the focus in our 11th plan period for the reason that it will have impact in the increase in productivity and economic growth. This entire chain will enable employment particularly in rural areas in a big way.

Infrastructure: At this juncture, infrastructure development is a crucial area for development in India. India is aspiring to build hundred million homes within next ten years. The infrastructure development in metropolitan and tier-2 cities needs to be enhanced in the form of new bridges, airports, marketing complexes and industrial units. 40% of the rural areas need to be covered with all weather roads; we need to double the present national highways ratio per 100 square kilometer area. Simultaneously, we are in the process of developing ports, railway systems and airports. For example, the Indian Construction Industry employs over 31 million people for its asset generating activity of around $80 Billion (Rs. 310,000 crore) which includes expenditure of $50 Billion (Rs. 200,000 crore) incurred by the Government. This will need development of specialized quality human resource in all the spectrum of infrastructure activity.

Energy: When I addressed to the nation in 2005, I have set a goal of realizing Energy Independence (coming out of fossil fuel) by the year 2030. When our population may touch 1.4 billion people, demand from power sector will increase from the existing 130,000 MW to about 400,000 MW. This assumes an energy growth rate of 5% per annum. Electric power generation in India now accesses four basic energy sources: Fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal; Hydroelectricity; Nuclear power; and Renewable energy sources such as bio-fuels, solar, biomass, wind and ocean. We need a major thrust in solar energy and wind energy for generating over 120,000 MW by 2030 through these two renewable energy sources. Similarly we are planning to harness over 65,000 MW from hydro power sources and 50,000 MW from nuclear energy sources.

Water Mission: We have a mission on the Networking of Rivers and the task team is evolving the plan of action. Meanwhile, I have also suggested to the state governments interlinking of rivers and other water sources within the state. Number of state governments is actively pursuing this mission. This mission will eliminate the periodical problem of floods experienced in a number of river basin states and manage the draught in most of the time and ensure availability of water and power throughout the year. In addition nation has to embark on water harvesting and desalination of sea water as national missions. Simultaneously another major mission is to create and strengthening the inland waterways programmes and convert into smart waterways.

Sustainable Rural Development through PURA: In India, the development of a rural sector is very

PURA Mission: The entire country will have 7000 PURAs (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) encompassing over 600,000 villages. The theme of PURA, apart from concentrating on reinforcing agriculture, will emphasize on agro processing, development of Rural Craftsmanship, dairy, fishing, silk production, so that the non-farm revenue for the rural sector is enhanced, based on the core competence of the region. Also the rural economy will be driven by renewable energy such as solar, wind, bio-fuel and conversion of municipal waste into power. In this approach, the aim is to make sustainable development using the core competence of the rural sector. 

The programmes which I have mentioned above has social, research and technological content. It has substantial amount of business opportunities leading to economic growth in the globalized scenario.

National Prosperity Index Anna University, Chennai, Jul 26 2007

Updated on Jul 26 2007Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(1)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

While we are happy that our economy is in the ascent phase and our GDP is growing at nearly 9% per annum, it is evident that economic growth is not fully reflected in the quality of life of a large number of people, particularly in rural areas and even in urban areas. Hence, we have evolved what is called a "National Prosperity Index (NPI)" which is a summation of (a) Annual growth rate of GDP; plus (b) improvement in quality of life of the people, particularly those living below the poverty line plus (c) the adoption of a value system derived from our civilizational heritage in every walk of life which is unique to India. That is NPI=a+b+c. Particularly, ?b? is a function of availability of housing, good water, nutrition, proper sanitation, quality education, quality healthcare and employment potential. ?c? is a function of promoting the joint family system, creation of a spirit of working together, leading a righteous way of life, removing social inequities, and above all promoting a conflict free, harmonious society. This will be indicated by peace in families and communities, reduction in corruption index, reduction in court cases, elimination of violence against children and women and communal tensions. There should also be progressive reduction in the number of people living below the poverty line leading to its becoming near zero by 2020. All our efforts in improving the national economic performance should be guided by the measured National Prosperity Index of the nation at any point of time.

Possible Ambience in 2020 Anna University, Chennai, Jul 26 2007

Updated on Jul 26 2007Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(6)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

I visualize a prosperous India well before the year 2020. We expect the people below the poverty line to come to near zero and our literacy must be nearly 100%. The Human Development Index of India will be less than 50 against the present 127. Every Indian will have either have a good university degree or quality training with globally competitive employable vocational skill. E-governance would be in position for all Government to Government (G2G) and Government to Citizens (G2C) transactions making the governance system transparent with a National ID card in position. Tele-density will reach over 75%. All our villages will have reliable, uninterrupted quality electric power supply. 600,000 villages will have all three connectivities such as physical connectivity, electronic connectivity, knowledge connectivity leading to economic connectivity through the programme of PURA. The interlinking of rivers and water bodies and use of technology for water collection, water recycling and water management will result in equitable distribution of water for drinking, irrigation, industry, navigation and as natural beauty. There will be no shortage of water in any part of the country nor will there be disasters due to floods, water logging etc. India would have realized energy security and would be working towards energy independence. Good sanitation facilities will be available in homes in every part of India and for all Indians and tourists. We will be using more of renewable energy such as solar energy, wind power, bio-mass, mini and micro Hydel and thorium based nuclear reactors which are environment friendly energy sources. 

Through responsive and innovative venture capital systems and entrepreneurial training both in schools and colleges, we will have more enterprises leading to a large number of employment generators rather than employment seekers. Before 2020, A pro-active healthcare system delivered through innovative schemes will provide quality healthcare access at an affordable cost to all the people including those living in remote areas. Everyone will have an opportunity to take up and complete courses of choice in higher education. I am sure you will all see prosperity in the country, which will replace scarcity and controls. In addition to the above economic, social and human development, India will also have a visible global presence in strategic sectors and will contribute to world peace. All our technological and economic advances while enhancing our prosperity would embed our value system derived from our civilizational heritage. This unique combination will make our growth robust and sustainable and will lead to a peaceful, secure, happy and prosperous society. For achieving Vision 2020 from the present ambiance, we need a measurement tool which can guide us in our growth path. Since we are looking for inclusive growth for our one billion people, we need a comprehensive measure of our growth in terms of the National Prosperity Index.

Inspiration

Noble minds

       Capacity

Building

       Five minds for the

future

       Value to

Science

       Science as a Life time

mission

       Science is

Borderless:

       Converting challenges into

opportunities

       Scientific

Magnanimity

       Teaching is a life time

mission

Capacity Building Jun 27 2008

Updated on Jun 27 2008Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(46)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

When I visualize the five minds of the future(1. Disciplinary mind, 2. Synthesizing mind, 3. Creative mind, 4. Respectful mind, 5. Ethical mind), I have a message for the all the teachers and students. Nurturing all the five minds is possible, if you build the following five capacities among the youth. What are those five capacities? The five capacities are: research and inquiry, creativity and innovation, use of high technology, entrepreneurial and moral leadership are the five capacities required to be built through the education process.

Research and enquiry: The 21st century is about the management of all the knowledge and information we have generated and the value addition we bring to it. We must give our students the skills with which they find a way through the sea of knowledge that we have created and continue with life long learning. Today, we have the ability, through technology, to really and truly teach ourselves to become the life-long learners. This is required for sustained economic development

Creativity and innovation: The management of knowledge in the 21st century is beyond the capacity of a single individual. The amount of information that we have around is overwhelming. The management of knowledge therefore must move out of the realm of the individual and shift into the realm of the networked groups. The students must learn how to manage knowledge collectively. When the information is networked the power and utility of the information grows as square as stated by Metcalfe's law. Information that is static does not grow. In the new digital economy information that is circulated creates innovation and contributes to national wealth.

Capacity to use high technology: Every student in our colleges should learn to know how to use the

Entrepreneurship: The aptitude for entrepreneurship should be cultivated right from the beginning and in the University environment. We must teach our students to take calculated risks for the sake of larger gain, but within the ethos of good business. They should also cultivate a disposition to do things right. This capacity will enable them to take up challenging tasks later.

Moral leadership: Moral leadership involves two aspects. First it requires the ability to have compelling and powerful dreams or visions of human betterment. Moral leadership requires a disposition to do the right thing and influence others also to do right things. In sum, inquiry, creativity, technology, entrepreneurial and moral leadership are the five capacities required to be built through the education process. I would suggest, all the educational institutions to consider carving out a six months programme from the overall time available for the graduate and post-graduate programme. In this period the students should be equipped with knowledge on subjects like leadership, finance, marketing, inter-personal relationship, negotiation, entrepreneurship and ethical values. The students should be provided a certificate or a diploma along with the professional degree. This type of education will equip the youth with employable skills needed by the industry and also give the confidence to the youth to take up entrepreneurship as an independent venture.

If we develop in all our students these five capacities, we will produce "Autonomous Learner" a self-directed, self controlled, lifelong learner who will have the capacity to both, respect authority and at the same time is capable of questioning authority, in an appropriate manner. These are the leaders who would work together as a "Self-organizing Network" and transform any nation into a prosperous nation. The most important part of the education is to imbibe the confidence among the student is the spirit of "we can do it".

By, Dr. APJ Abdulkalam

Five minds for the future Jun 25 2008

Updated on Jun 25 2008Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(33)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

I happened to see in the book stall, "Five Minds for the Future" written by Howard Gardner. Let us remember, this book is being published, 25 centuries after Lord Buddha?s enlightenment. My curiosity and desire increased to go into the details of this book; particularly in the today?s world environment of social conflicts, political violence and impact of globalization and above all the youth of the world have a question where their lives? are heading. I am convinced with the multi-religious background of our nation, the future definitely needs these capacities to be built in the minds of the youth. I studied the five minds of the future, let me describe based on my understanding:

1. Disciplinary mind: Disciplinary minds require the mastery of major schools of thought that may include science, mathematics, history and religion. Apart from this the disciplinary mind has to be enriched with expertise in at least one professional field. Research confirms that it takes up to 10 years to master a discipline. This mind also knows how to work steadily overtime to improve skill and understand.

2.Synthesizing mind: What is needed is the ability to integrate ideas from different disciplines or spheres into an integrated system and communicate the synthesized thoughts. With the increasing volume of information in the present day world, capacity to synthesize assumes great importance.

3. Creating mind: It is essential to build capacity to uncover and create solutions to new problems, questions and phenomena. For examples on creativity, in general we look for leaders, rather than managers.

It puts forth new ideas, poses, familiar questions and arrives at unprecedented answers. The creating mind seeks to remain at least one step ahead of even the most sophisticated computers and robots. I understand that most of the computers of the future and accessories will be micro sized, wearable and will have wireless communication with each other. Moderately priced PCs capable of performing about a billion calculations per second today will be able to perform about a trillion calculations per second within next 10 years. It is predicted that by 2019, the computational ability of an ordinary PC would exceed the capability of human brain. By 2029, the capability of a normal PC would be around 1000 times that of the human brain. My view is that definitely the creating mind of the human being will always be superior to the most powerful computers in the horizon.

4.Respectful mind: It is a uniquely developed mind, a mature mind that has awareness and appreciation for differences among human beings. The capacity built in the respectful mind, leads to understand other persons on their own terms with mutual trust. In the world where we are, all interlinked and need to maintain working relationship, intolerance is no longer a viable option.

5. Ethical mind: It is indeed a built-in-capacity for fulfilling once responsibility as a worker and as a citizen simultaneously, It will essentially lead to "work with integrity and succeed with integrity". 

The mind conceptualizes how workers can serve purpose beyond self interest and how citizens can work unselfishly to improve the lot of all. The ethical mind then acts on the basis of these analyses. In the present scenario, the need for respecting mind and ethical mind is very important, because many of the societal problems today are arising out of lack of consideration for others and overwhelming

selfishness of the individual. The education system has to cultivate these minds among the youth, so that they learn to respect others, are tolerant and perseverant for realizing their goals in life.

With these five types of minds, a person will be well equipped to deal with what is expected as well as what cannot be anticipated. Without these minds, a person will be at the mercy of forces that he or she can?t understand. Our educational, political, managerial and spiritual system should nurture these five kinds of minds for cultivating positive human potentials. Disciplines, syntheses and creativity can be put to all kinds of ends if we do not cultivate the sense of respect and ethical orientation. Hence, the five kinds of minds should be made to work synergistically.

When I visualize these five minds of the future, I have a message for all of you. Nurturing all the five minds is possible, if you build the following five capacities among the youth. What are those five capacities? 

The five capacities are: research and inquiry, creativity and innovation, use of high technology, entrepreneurial and moral leadership are the five capacities required to be built through the education process.

If we develop in all our students these five capacities, we will produce "Autonomous Learner" a self-directed, self controlled, lifelong learner who will have the capacity to both, respect authority and at the same time is capable of questioning authority, in an appropriate manner. These are the leaders who would work together as a "Self-organizing Network" and transform any nation into a prosperous nation. The most important part of the education is to imbibe the confidence among the student is the spirit of "we can do it".

Value to Science Aug 26 2007

Updated on Aug 26 2007Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(8)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

I thought of sharing with you an incident about Sir CV Raman ?a Nobel Laureate in Physics for discovering Raman Effect. Raman gives the view that the color of sky is blue due to molecular diffraction, which determines the observed luminosity, and in great measures also its color. This led to the birth of the Raman Effect. Raman was in the first batch of Bharat Ratna Award winners. The award ceremony was to take place in the last week of January, soon after the Republic Day celebrations of 1954. The then President Dr. Rajendra Prasad wrote to Raman inviting him to be the personal guest in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, when Raman came to Delhi for the award ceremony. Sir CV Raman wrote a polite letter, regretting his inability to go. Raman had a noble reason for his inability to attend the investiture ceremony. He explained to the President that he was guiding a Ph.D. student and that thesis was positively due by the last day of January. The student was valiantly trying to wrap it all up and Raman felt, he had to be by the side of the research student, see that the thesis was finished, sign the thesis as the guide and then have it submitted. 

Here was a scientist who gave up the pomp of a glittering ceremony associated with the highest honour, because he felt that his duty required him to be by the side of the student. It is this unique trait of giving value to science that builds science.

Science as a Life time mission Aug 26 2007

Updated on Aug 26 2007Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(2)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

Chandrasekhar Subramanyan?s most famous discovery was the astrophysical Chandrasekhar limit. The limit describes the maximum mass (~1.44 solar masses) of a white dwarf star, or equivalently, the minimum mass for which a star will ultimately collapse into a neutron star or black hole following a supernova. The limit was first calculated by Chandrasekhar while on a ship from India to Cambridge, England. The Chandrasekhar Limit led to the determination of how long a star of particular mass will shine. In 1983, Chandrasekhar Subramanyan got the Nobel Price for this discovery. 

Two of Chandrasekhar's students in 1947 were the doctoral candidates Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang in Particle Physics research. Even though Chandrasekhar Subramanyan maintained his office at the Yerkes Observatory in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, he would regularly drive the one hundred miles to Chicago to guide and teach Lee and Yang and others many a times in difficult weather conditions. In 1957, these two of his students won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in particle physics research. This also brings out Chandrasekhar Subramanyan?s commitment to science and there by to his students. Science indeed is a life time mission for Chandrasekhar. It is this characteristic which makes youth to become passionate towards science.

Thoughts

Developed India

       Innovation and India’s Role in the Knowledge

Economy

       Integrated Action for developed

India

       Youth movement for Developed India

2020

Innovation and India’s Role in the Knowledge Economy Jun 25 2008

Updated on Jun 25 2008Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(15)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

Dear friends, let me share with you "Innovation ecosystem to empower Indian innovations". I will discuss about few instances of Indian innovations.

Innovation in IT: We all know about the recent rise of India?s IT sector. Today the IT sector employs more than 2 million persons and contributes roughly 25% of India?s exports. The IT sector also contributes around 4% to India?s GDP. When you consider that the IT sector employs just 0.2% of the population, you can see that the IT sector is contributing many times its share to the Indian economy. Indeed it is not wrong to say that the IT sector, perhaps single-handedly, changed the world?s perception about India. IT is not the only area where India is innovative.

Innovation in Consumer items: The sachet of shampoo that costs just Rs. 2, or about five cents! Imagine producing something for five cents that includes not just the aluminum for the sachet, but also its contents, not to mention the cost of distribution. Yet these sachets can be found everywhere in India.

Innovation in Cell phone Business model: Today villagers are all speaking on cell phone. India has the cheapest telephone rates in the world, for both land lines as well as cell phones. India also has the fastest growing telecom market in the world, adding roughly eight million cell phones every month! This amazing growth has been made possible because the Indian cell phone service providers have a

number of innovative business models, such as free incoming calls, prepaid calling cards, etc. We should remember that innovation in business models is also innovation!

Innovation in healthcare: Next innovation let me focus on the "Jaipur foot," which was originally made for about $ 28, by itself a very low price. But the DRDO applied its technical competence to the problem, and designed a still lighter and more durable foot called FRO using carbon-composite material. The Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad also developed a very low-cost "stent" that brought down the price of stents by more than 90% to the Indian consumers. Similarly, the cost of a heart bypass surgery in India is just about $ 3 ? 5K, compared to more than $ 50K abroad.

Innovation in Election system: India?s democratic society also benefits from Indian innovation. We see here an Electronic Voting Machine used in our elections. Foreigners are often surprised to find out that in Indian elections, 100% of the voting is through EVMs. In recent times doubts have been raised about the reliability of the software used in electronic voting machines in some other countries. Our EVMs are based on push button technology (rather than touch screen technology) which makes them absolutely tamper-proof. Moreover, it is also possible to have a "recount" in the case of close contests, without any difficulty. In some regions, Election Commission carrying EVMs on elephant back particularly in Northeastern area is by itself an innovation in transportation.

Innovation in Nuclear Science: On 11 May 2008, I was with the members of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) on the occasion of the National Technology Day celebrations-2008 and distributed the DAE Awards-2006. I have seen 400 scientists who have shown excellent performance in Science, Engineering and Technology in Department of Atomic Energy. Their innovations in the nuclear science and technology will have tremendous potential; I would like to particularly mention a few, such as

a. Carbide fuel processing in the nuclear Fast reactors at IGCAR, DAE; b. reduced use of uranium to attain the same level of performance in power generation by DAE;c. Indigenous design and development of an unique variable low energy positron beam system to enable depth-resolved defect studies at surfaces and interfaces of materials; d. BHABHA-TRON ? the first indigenous tele-cobalt machine; e. design and development of optically pumped infrared molecular gas lasers producing output at 16 micron for molecular uranium isotope separation are some the innovative research which I have witnessed.

Innovation in other Science and Technology departments: Dear friends, our scientists in multiple scientific departments have worked for self-reliance and have succeeded. Some of the innovative examples such as a. Making the cryogenic engine; Successful launch of 10 satellites in one go and Successful Satellite

Recovery Experiment by ISRO; b. Anti Ballistic Missile System and Indigenous Ring Laser Gyro based INS with high impact accuracy in Agni-III by DRDOc. Flight control system for LCA by ADA Are some of the innovative achievements which stand today as witness to Indian innovations in science and technology.

Innovation in Rural transformation through Jatropha : Let me now focus at the innovation in rural transformation through Jatropha. Rani-dhera a tribal village in Chhattisgarh state which was steeped in darkness after sun set has been lighted with Jatropha oil drawn straight from the seeds. The villages are paying rupees 20 per light per month. This innovation has been promoted by Department of New and Renewable energy sources in partnership with an NGO. Rani-Dhera is bubbling with activities and per capita income of the village has gone up due to the availability of power and light. 

One of the unique studies carried out by CSIR through the collaborative effort of over 150 scientists has lead to innovation in Genetic mapping of Indian Population.

Innovation in Genetic Mapping of Indian Population: Indian Statistical institute, Kolkata and anthropologists from various institutes of India, and the Centre for Genomic Applications, Delhi, has generated genetic information on over 4000 genetic markers from over 1000 bio-medically important and Pharmaco-genetically relevant genes in reference populations encompassing diversity of populations from across the country. This study has resulted in clear genetic profile of our populations, explicitly indicating that there is a strong association between genetic and linguistic profiles in India and that there are significant genetic differences in the frequencies of disease-associated genetic markers. For example, this study has revealed that a known protective genetic marker against HIV-1 is virtually absent in India, implying the absence of natural or genetic protection against HIV-AIDS in our country.

Similarly friends, the industry and service sectors have shown marked growth and our economy is in the ascent phase right from 2003. All this clearly shows that the country?s landmark decision to become a nuclear weapon state has given strength to the nation. The confidence in the country has increased the spirit that "We can do it". India has always risen to the occasion when we are constrained, the technological sanction after 1998 has not deterred our progress but has strengthened the minds of every Indian to become self-reliant in critical technologies. We should understand our own strength first in the scientific and technological achievements that we have made so far and give confidence and encouragement to the scientists who are working towards making the nation proud.

So can we ask: What drives innovation in India? India has a unique blend of ingredients. We have a shortage of capital, so we have to be very innovative to stretch our limited capital. By and large, the general perception is that the government agencies are not able to deliver citizen services effectively, at any level, be it national, state, or regional. But fortunately, we have had democracy, so that individual citizens have been free to evolve local solutions for local problems. Until now our local innovations have not been able to spread outside India excepting in certain sectors such as pharmaceutical, Banking, IT Enabled Services, Software and Automobiles and recently the nano car.

Now is the time, for all of us to work together to make Indian innovation to become globalized and have a world wide impact.

Integrated Action for developed India --, Jul 25 2007

Updated on Jul 25 2007Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(15)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

To achieve the distinctive profile of India, all of us have before us the mission of transforming India into a developed nation. In order to succeed in our mission, the key five areas where India has a core competence for integrated action are: (1) Agriculture and food processing (2) Education and Healthcare (3) Infrastructure: Reliable and Quality Electric power, Surface transport and Infrastructure for all parts of the country. (4) Information and Communication Technology (5) Self reliance in critical technologies. 

These five areas are closely inter-related and if progressed in a coordinated way, will lead to food, economic and national security. One of the major mission within these five areas is the development of infrastructure for bringing rural prosperity through Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) by creating three connectivities namely physical, electronic, knowledge leading to economic connectivity. The number of PURA clusters for the whole country is estimated to be 7000. Simultaneously, both from energy and environmental considerations, we should aim at achieving Energy Independence by 2030. Energy independence has got to be achieved through three different sources namely renewable energy (solar, wind and hydro power), electrical power from nuclear energy and bio-fuel for the transportation sector. Energy independence throws very important technological challenges to the country. 

While we are happy that our economy is in the ascent phase and our GDP is growing at nearly 9% per annum, it is evident that economic growth is not fully reflected in the quality of life of a large number of people, particularly in rural areas and even in urban areas. Hence, we have evolved what is called a "National Prosperity Index (NPI)" which is a summation of (a) annual growth rate of GDP; ¬ plus (b) improvement in quality of life of the people, particularly those living below the poverty line plus (c) the adoption of a value system derived from our civilizational heritage in every walk of life which is unique to India. That is NPI=a+b+c. Particularly, ?b? is a function of availability of housing, good water, nutrition, proper sanitation, quality education, quality healthcare and employment potential. ?c? is a function of promoting the joint family system, creation of a spirit of working together, leading a righteous way of life, removing social inequities, and above all promoting a conflict free, harmonious society. This will be indicated by peace in families and communities, reduction in corruption index, reduction in court cases, elimination of violence against children and women and communal tensions.

There should be progressive reduction in the number of people living below the poverty line leading to its becoming near zero by 2020. All our efforts in improving the national economic performance should be guided by the measured National Prosperity Index of the nation at any point of time. 

How shall we realize this vision? What are the immediate steps that we need to take to realize this vision? 

My interaction with many of you and my understanding of the various central and state programmes, the initiatives of private and non-governmental organizations as well as the overwhelming desire of citizens to participate in the national development gives me the confidence that our society is ready to work for these missions. May I suggest that you all work together to evolve two major initiatives: (i) To formulate an Energy Independence Bill - A three dimensional approach for energy choice towards realizing clean planet earth. 

(ii) To adopt a resolution for Vision 2020: Adopt a Resolution that India will be transformed into a safe, prosperous, happy and socio-economically developed nation before the year 2020 using National Prosperity Index (NPI) as a measure. 

You will agree with me the importance of making these bills a reality in a time bound manner.Youth movement for Developed India 2020 

Jul 25 2007Updated on Jul 25 2007

Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(49)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

Youth movement for Developed India 2020

Recently, in Hyderabad, I met a group of citizens who are putting into practice the motto of transforming of our youth into enlightened citizen. The Lead India 2020 Foundation created by Dr. N.B. Sudershan at Hyderabad is training thousands of students in many districts of Andhra Pradesh in partnership with the District Administration. Particularly, I happened to know the transformation which has taken place among the students of Medak district. As per the district authorities the impact of the training on the students is visible in terms of self-discipline, love for their parents and teachers shedding of stage fear and recognition of their duties towards the nation. I talked to Ms. Padma, a student leader from Andhra Pradesh Tribal Welfare School, Nalgonda who related how she weaned her father away from smoking after imbibing the spirit of the 10 point oath from the Lead India Training Camp. This gives me an assurance that the youth of our country are on the right path through this mission oriented programme. With the ignited minds of the 540 million youth below the age of 25, which I consider is the most powerful resource on the earth, under the earth and above the earth, we have to empower the youth through value based education and leadership

By, Dr. APJ Abdulkalam

To Youth

To Youth

       Ignited mind of the

youth

       Knowledge makes you

great

       Nothing is

impossible

       Political System Towards Developed

India

       Employment and

education

       Capacity Building

Model

       Challenges of 21st

Century

       Accelerate Development: Aspiration of the

youth

       Defeat the problems and

succeed

       Youth movement for Developed India

2020

       Power of the

Youth

       Profile of a globally competitive

nation

Ignited mind of the youth Jun 27 2008

Updated on Jun 27 2008Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(61)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

I would like to put forth that the ignited mind of the youth is the most powerful resource on the earth, above the earth and under the earth. I am convinced that the youth power, if properly directed and controlled, could bring about transformational changes in humanity for its progress, meeting its challenges and bring peace and prosperity. 

Let us now consider two major problems the world faces: one is, out of 6.6 billion people, two thirds of the population lives below poverty line, 50% of the population do not have access to safe drinking water, above all many do not have access to quality education. What can the youth of today contribute to face the situation? Can every one of the educated spread literacy at least to five in their life? Can the youth spread the message of water conservation? Can the youth come with "out of box solutions" for solving water scarcity?

I have started a movement called "Lead India 2020 movement". It is indeed a youth movement, with the mission for young students based on the 10 point oath which I have specially designed. 

The ten point oath given to the youth by me conveys that the youth can make difference to the society where they are living in the areas of literacy, environment, social justice, minimizing rural urban divide, and work for the national development, while working hard for an individual goal. I insist that small aim is a crime. I see the youth development has multiple dimensions: The youth working hard improving his knowledge with a career goal, can serve the family, can serve the society, can serve the nation to which he or she belongs and can serve the humanity as a whole. All are uniquely connected.

Knowledge makes you great May 27 2008

Updated on May 27 2008Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(43)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

While I am with you, I would like to talk about knowledge. Knowledge has four components, creativity, righteousness, courage and indomitable spirit. That the combination of these characteristics can generate enlightened citizens. Let us look at the first component Creativity:

"Learning gives creativityCreativity leads to thinkingThinking provides knowledgeKnowledge makes you great"

The next component of knowledge is righteousness. The power of Righteousness is described in a divine hymn, which is as follows: 

"Where there is righteousness in the heartThere is beauty in the character.When there is beauty in the character,There is harmony in the home.When there is harmony in the home.There is order in the nation.When there is order in the nation,There is peace in the world."

The third component is Courage, which is defined as follows: 

"Courage to think different,Courage to invent,Courage to travel into an unexplored path,Courage to discover the impossible,Courage to combat the problems

And Succeed, are the unique qualities of the youth. As a youth of my nation, I will work and work with courage to achieve success in all the missions."

The fourth component is Indomitable Spirit. 

I would like to recall a great clarion call of indomitable spirit, which was given by Sir C V Raman, at the age of 82. The message is still reverberating in my mind: "I would like to tell the young men and women before me not to lose hope and courage. Success can only come to you by courageous devotion to the task lying in front of you. I can assert without fear of contradiction that the quality of the Indian mind is equal to the quality of any Teutonic, Nordic or Anglo-Saxon mind. What we lack is perhaps courage, what we lack is perhaps driving force, which takes one anywhere. We have, I think, developed an inferiority complex. I think what is needed in India today is the destruction of that defeatist spirit. We need a spirit of victory, a spirit that will carry us to our rightful place under the sun, a spirit, which will recognize that we, as inheritors of a proud civilization, are entitled to a rightful place on this planet. If that indomitable spirit were to arise, nothing can hold us from achieving our rightful destiny." 

Hence friends, now you realize, knowledge is equal to the equation: 

Knowledge = Creativity + Righteousness+ Courage+ Indomitable spirit.By, Dr. APJ Abdulkala

Nothing is impossible Sep 6 2007

Updated on Sep 6 2007Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(48)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

Human flight is nothing but creativity of human mind and it undergoes several struggles to achieve excellence. In 1895, a great well-known scientist Lord Kelvin, who was the President of Royal Society of London said, "any thing heavier than air cannot fly, and cannot be flown." Within a decade, Wright Brothers proved man could fly of course at heavy risk and cost. 

On the successful completion of Moon Mission in 1969, Von Braun, a very famous rocket designer, who built Saturn-V, to launch the capsule with astronauts and made moon walk a reality, in 1975 said "If I am authorized, I will remove the word impossible".

In ancient days, Ptolemaic astronomy is a widely used system in calculating the dynamics of various stars and planets. Assumption by then was that the earth is flat. What a scientific struggle had to take place to prove that the earth is spherical in shape orbiting around the sun. The three great astronomers Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler had to give a new dimension to the world of astronomy. Today we take it for granted that earth is a globe, orbiting around the sun, and the sun orbits in the Milky Way. All the technological advancements we have today are the outcome of scientific exploration of scientists of earlier centuries. At no time, man was beaten by problems. He strives continuously to subjugate impossibility and then succeeds.

According to the laws of aerodynamics the bumble bee should never be able to fly. Because of the size, weight, and shape of its body in relationship to the total wing span, flying is scientifically impossible. The bumble bee, being ignorant of scientific theory, goes ahead and flies anyway.

By, Dr. APJ Abdulkalam

Challenges of 21st Century Anna University, Chennai, Jul 26 2007

Updated on Jul 26 2007Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(6)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

Based on my visits to all the States and Union Territories in the country and 16 countries in Asia, Europe and Africa as the President and meeting over 1.5 million youth, I realize that all the youth irrespective of which country they belong to, aspire to live in a peaceful, happy, prosperous and safe nation. What does it mean? It means that economic prosperity alone is not sufficient. It has to be complimented with the value systems and our five thousand years old Civilizational heritage which has genetically shaped the Indian people. 

I personally believe, when the nation is progressing towards economic development, it is also essential to build education with value system drawn from our Civilization heritage. The good human life comes out of the way we live; we may have series of problems. But the billion people have the connectivity which gives us the united strength.

By, Dr. APJ Abdulkalam

Speeches / Lectures

Recent

Trichy,   27/07/2011   -     Address at Ramaswami Iyer Educational Complex Institutions

Periyar Maniammai University, Thanjavur,   27/07/2011   -     Address during the Inauguration of International conference on Emerging Green Technology (ICEGT-2011)

Children’s Peace Palace Rajsamand, Rajasthan,   23/07/2011   -     Address at the National Seminar on the Education of Moral and Spiritual Values in Schools

Udaipur,   23/07/2011   -     Address during the meeting with HH Acharya Mahashraman, Monks and Nuns

Udaipur,   22/07/2011   -     Address to the Students of DPS and other schools

IGNOU, New Delhi,   15/07/2011   -     Keynote Address at the Valedictory Session of the World Education Summit Indira Gandhi National Open University

Jabalpur,   12/07/2011   -     Address to the Students of St Aloysius Institutions

Jabalpur,   12/07/2011   -     Address to the Officers and Staff of District Administration

Jabalpur,   12/07/2011   -     Address to the Students of St Norbert’s Girls Higher Secondary School and Other Schools

Jabalpur,   11/07/2011   -     Address to the Army Officers, Families and Students of Army School and Kendirya Vidyalaya

Jabalpur,   11/07/2011   -     Address to the Children At Circuit House

New Delhi,   08/07/2011   -     Address at Poetry Society of India

Kolkata,   05/07/2011   -     Address at Calcutta Chamber of Commerce

Kolkata,   05/07/2011   -     Address at Calcutta Management Summit Of Calcutta Management Association

Kolkata,   05/07/2011   -     Address and interaction with the Students and Faculty Members of Heritage School

Kolkata,   05/07/2011   -     Address and interaction with the Students of National University & Juridical Sciences

Kolkata,   04/07/2011   -     MP Birla Memorial Golden Jubilee Lecture

Kolkata,   04/07/2011   -     Address to the Students at the MP Birla Memorial Golden Jubilee Award Ceremony

New Delhi,   01/07/2011   -     Address during the launch of Book Hinduism At Akshardham Temple

கா�ந்தி�கா�ரா�மம் ,   26/06/2011   -     அறி�வி யல் தொதி�லை�நோ��க்கு பா�ர்லைவியும் கா�ரா�மப்புறி விளர்ச்சி�யும்

Srivilliputtur,   26/06/2011   -     Address and interaction with the Students of Kalasalingam University,

Srivilliputhur,   26/06/2011   -     Address at the Dr KS Krishnan Memorial Lecture G.S. Hindu Govt. Higher Secondary School

Sivakasi,   26/06/2011   -     Address and interaction with the Students of PSR Engineering College

Virudhunagar,   26/06/2011   -     Address and interaction with the Students of VHNSN College

New York,   23/06/2011   -     Address at AAPI Inaugural Luncheon

New York ,   22/06/2011   -     Address the AAPI and New York Area Youth At the Hotel

Chennai,   14/06/2011   -     Address to the parents of the school children during the inauguration of Sri Kanchi Mahaswami Vidya Mandir

BrahMos, New Delhi ,   12/06/2011   -     Address at the conference on "Joint Ventures and Technology collaboration in Defence – towards realizing world class systems"

New Delhi,   08/06/2011   -     Address during the launch of Samagra Atal ji Project

Villupuram,   06/06/2011   -     Inaugurate the Programme LEAD VILLUPURAM 2020 and Address the students

Bangalore,   01/06/2011   -     Address at 10th Anniversary Day of CII Institute of Quality

Bangalore,   01/06/2011   -     Address at book release function “All About Rockets” by SK Das, Advisor ISRO

Bangalore,   01/06/2011   -     Second lecture After the book release function “All About Rockets” by SK Das, Advisor ISRO

Bangalore,   01/06/2011   -     Third lecture to the students At ISRO,

Bangalore ,   01/06/2011   -     Address at 125th Anniversary Celebrations of BOSCH Ltd

At IIC, New Delhi,   31/05/2011   -     Address at the Release of the Book "Random Curiosity"

Sydney ,   20/05/2011   -     Address during the Graduation Ceremony of University of Sydney

Sydney ,   19/05/2011   -     Address and interaction with the Students of University of Technology, Sydney (UTS)

Sydney,   19/05/2011   -     Address and interaction with Students and Faculty University of Sydney

Sydney,   18/05/2011   -     Address & Interaction with students of High School students at the University of Sydney

Recent

,   18/05/2011   -     Address and interaction during the Meeting with Indian Community

New Delhi,   12/05/2011   -     Address at the International Conference on Equity and Access to Medicine Research and Information System (RIS)

,   11/05/2011   -     Address at the National Technology Day Celebrations

New Delhi,   29/04/2011   -     Address at Cartoon Festival

Chicago ,   26/04/2011   -     Address and interaction with high level group of Chicago Council on Global Affairs

FERMILAB, Batavia, IL,   25/04/2011   -     Address to graduate students, young PG, Indian visitors and Fermilab Scientists

Chicago,   25/04/2011   -     Address at the Reception by Consulate General of India

Illinois,   24/04/2011   -     Address at the BAPS Youth Assembly 2011 BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha Bartlett, Illinois

Chicago,   24/04/2011   -     Address and interaction with students of University of Illinois - Chicago

Chicago, Illinois.,   24/04/2011   -     Address at the Indo-American Centre community members

Chicago,   23/04/2011   -     Address to the members of Indo-American Center Chicago

Chicago,   23/04/2011   -     Address and interaction with the Avery Coonley School

Dubai,   17/04/2011   -     Address and interaction with Teachers at the Inauguration of the Seminar on CBSE-i Curriculum at Indian School

Dubai,   17/04/2011   -     Address and interaction with Students of different Schools of Dubai at JSS International School

Dubai, UAE,   17/04/2011   -     Address and Interaction with Participants of Dubai Global Energy Forum

Chennai,   11/04/2011   -     Address during the participation of The Hindu-Saregama MS Subbulakshmi Award Ceremony

Chennai,   11/04/2011   -     Address and interaction with the Students of Meenakshi College for Women

Chennai,   11/04/2011   -     Address and interaction with the Students of Adhiparasakthi Engineering College

Agra,   06/04/2011   -     Address at National Chamber of Industry and Commerce

Agra,   06/04/2011   -     Diamond Jubilee memorial lecture at Dayalbagh Educational Institution

New Delhi,   04/04/2011   -     First Foundation Lecture of Petronet LNG Limited

Bangalore,   31/03/2011   -     Address at Vicharamanthan of Kristu Jayanti College

Bangalore,   31/03/2011   -     Convocation Address at GEMS B School

Bangalore,   31/03/2011   -     Address at Agastya Creativity Conclave

Bangalore,   31/03/2011   -     Graduation Ceremony Address at Brindavan College

Hyderabad,   30/03/2011   -     Keynote Address at the   20th International World Wide Web Conference

Hyderabad ,   30/03/2011   -     Address at Sankhya: The National Museum of Statistics

Hyderabad,   30/03/2011   -     Address at the Foundation Day Celebration of Indian Institute of Technology

Hyderabad,   30/03/2011   -     Address and Interaction with young scientists of DRDO (RCI, DRDL, ASL)

New Delhi,   26/03/2011   -     Address at the DRDO Director’s Conference

New Delhi,   23/03/2011   -     Address to the members of 51st Course National Defence College

New Delhi,   20/03/2011   -     Address during the 25th Anniversary of the Baha’is House of Worship,The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is

Pune,   18/03/2011   -     Acceptance Speech at DIAT

PUNE,   18/03/2011   -     Address and interaction with the participants of SBI Youth for India

PUNE,   18/03/2011   -     Convocation Address at the Dr D Y Patil Vidyapeeth

Ghaziabad (UP),   12/03/2011   -     Address and interaction with Students of Rahat Educational Society,

Gurgaon,   10/03/2011   -     Address and interaction with the Students of ITM University during the degree distribution ceremony

Mumbai ,   02/03/2011   -     Address at the inauguration of International Conference and Exhibition on Reinforced Plastics

Mumbai,   02/03/2011   -     Address at the Banking Technology Conference & Banking Technology Awards 2010

Mumbai,   02/03/2011   -     Address at the inauguration of Homi Bhabha Block & visit TMC

Recent

Thane ,   01/03/2011   -     Address and interaction with the students of Thane Schools and Colleges

Chitrakoot,   27/02/2011   -     Address to the Members of 500 self reliant villagers During the Dedication of Self Reliance Model to the nation Chitrakoot (Bundelkahand Region)

Jharkhand,   25/02/2011   -     Address at the inauguration of National Conference on 'Biotechnology and National Development: Achievements and Challenges' Central University of Jharkhand, Brambe Campus

Jamshedpur,   25/02/2011   -     Address at TATA Steel Education Excellence Programme

Ranchi,   24/02/2011   -     Address and interaction with the Students of Taurian World School

Ranchi,   24/02/2011   -     Address at the XXI Convocation of Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra

Ranchi- Jharkand,   24/02/2011   -     Address to the participants of 34th National Games

Amal Jyothi Engg College, Kanjirapally,   19/02/2011   -     Address and interact with the participants of Manorama Yuva Master Mind event and exhibition

Mammen Mappila Hall, Kottayam,   19/02/2011   -     Participate in the Valedictory Function of the Silver Jubilee celebrations of Darsana Cultural Centre

Kottayam, Kerala,   19/02/2011   -     Address and interact with the Students participating in the Student Empowerment for Environmental Development Programme (SEED) of Mathuruboomi, Indraprastha Auditorium

Malliyoor Adhyatmika Peedam, Kottayam ,   19/02/2011   -     Visit to Malliyoor Adhyatmika Peedam and inaugurate the Bhaghavatha Vrindavanam and meeting Bhagabatha Hamsam Sankaran Namboothiri and address to the students.

Kozhikode,   18/02/2011   -     Address and Interaction with the Children of Mukkum Muslim Orphanage

Sports Council Stadium, Quilandy,   18/02/2011   -     Address at the Inauguration of the Koyilandy Municipality Program “Change Quilandy-Clean Habitat for a New Green Earth

Devagiri, Kozhikode,   18/02/2011   -     Address at the St Joseph's College

Calicut,   18/02/2011   -     Lecture organized by Muslim Students Federation

Kozhikode,   18/02/2011   -     Address to the Seminar on Vision on Kerala and the Present Development in Kerala At Kozhikode Corporation

Wayanad,   17/02/2011   -     Address during the Inauguration of the Arividam Program at Wayanad

Vytiri ,   17/02/2011   -     Address and interaction with the Students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya

New Delhi,   16/02/2011   -     Samvatsar Lecture of Sahitya Academy New Delhi

New Delhi ,   15/02/2011   -     Address at the 112th Founder’s Day Hindu College, New Delhi

Belgaum,   08/02/2011   -     Address at the Youth Convention At Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama

Gomatesh Nagar, Hindwadi, Belgaum,   07/02/2011   -     Address and interaction with the students At the Gomatesh Vidyapeeth

Panaji, Goa,   06/02/2011   -     Address at the DD Kosambi Festival of Ideas

-,   29/01/2011   -     Questions fromSaisudha Sugavanam,Producer, BBC World Service,

Delhi,   21/01/2011   -     Address to the participants at Power Vision Conclave 2011

Amravati,   19/01/2011   -     Address and Interaction with PR Pote College of Engineering students and inauguration of the Tech festival

Amravati,   19/01/2011   -     Address at the Youth Convention of Satpuda Shikshan Prasarak Mandal

Amravati ,   19/01/2011   -     Address and interaction with the Students of Vidya Bharati Mahavidyalaya

Amravati,   19/01/2011   -     Address to the District Administrative heads and inaugurating the Students Council at Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University

Nagpur,   19/01/2011   -     Address to the teachers and students of the Dharampeeth Education Society

Bhubaneswar,   15/01/2011   -     Address and interaction with the Students of Sai International School

Bhubaneswar,   15/01/2011   -     Address to the students of Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan

Bhubaneswar,   15/01/2011   -     Address to the participants of the Prof Bijayanand Patnaik Memorial Lecture

Pune ,   13/01/2011   -     Address to the First Indian Parliament Students Council Leaders

Madurai,   07/01/2011   -     Address at the Inauguration of New Paediatric Oncology Block – Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre

Kancheepuram,   06/01/2011   -     Address during the inauguration of L'Attitude 13005'

Chennai,   06/01/2011   -     Silver Jubilee Endowment Lecture and Inauguration of Clean Energy & Nano Convergence (CENCON) Centre

Chennai,   06/01/2011   -     Address to the students of IIT Madras

Chennai,   06/01/2011   -     Special Address at the Conference Cum Workshop on “Water Partnerships towards meeting the Climate Challenge” by Centre of Excellence for Change

Chennai ,   06/01/2011   -     Address at 63rd Annual Conference of theAssociation of Otolaryngologists

Recent

PUNE ,   26/12/2010   -     Address to the students of MAEER’s MIT and Presentation of Philosopher Saint Shri Dnyaneshwara World Peace Prize to Dr Vijay Bhaktar.

PUNE,   26/12/2010   -     Address at the Launch of Paryavaran Mitra Programme of Centre for Environment Education

Pune,   26/12/2010   -     Address at the inauguration of the Convention on Scientific and technological Approachesfor sustainable use of water resources

Pune,   26/12/2010   -     Address at the inauguration of the Convention on Scientific and technological Approaches for sustainable use of water resources

Gulbarga ,   25/12/2010   -     Address and interaction with the students of Sri Ramakrishna Vivekananda Ashrama School –Vivekananda Vidyapeetha

Gulbarga ,   25/12/2010   -     Address and interaction with the youth at Gyanshakti Sangam Congregation

Hyderabad ,   16/12/2010   -     Address at the Inauguration of the International Working Conference –Life Skills & Livelihood Skills-Challenges For Institutional Development

Hyderabad ,   16/12/2010   -     Address at the Valedictory Session of the 43rd Annual Conference of Indian Pharmacological Society (IPS-2010)

Hyderabad,   16/12/2010   -     Address at the National Convention for Academics and Research (NCAR 2010)

Hyderabad,   16/12/2010   -     Distinguished Lecture Birla Science Center

New Delhi ,   07/12/2010   -     Address at the inauguration of 11th International Conference on Public Communication of Science and Technology

Taipei,   02/12/2010   -     Address at the XXX World Congress of Poets

Taipei,   02/12/2010   -     Address during the Presentation of the Chinese Edition of Thirukkural

Meerut,   30/11/2010   -     Address and interaction with the Students of Meerut Public Girls’ School

Pt. J.N.M. Medical College, Raipur (C.G.),   22/11/2010   -     Address at the 4th International Congress on Sickle Cell Disease 2010

Raipur,   22/11/2010   -     Address during the inauguration of Workshop on Innovative Working Models of care and Rehabilitation to Reach the unreached mentally challenged persons

Raipur,   22/11/2010   -     Address and interaction with the Students of Raipur Schools

Raipur,   22/11/2010   -     Address and interaction with the Medical/Nursing Students of JNM Medical College

Hyderabad ,   20/11/2010   -     Cortona-India Conference

Hyderabad,   19/11/2010   -     Address and interaction with the members of Deloitte US India, Hyderabad

New Delhi,   17/11/2010   -     Address at the 8th Knowledge Millennium Summit Organized by ASSOCHAM

Chennai,   11/11/2010   -     Inaugural Address at the International workshop on “Electromagnetic Forming Technology – EMFT 2010” Anna University

Loyola College,Chennai,   11/11/2010   -     Special Key note address at the Annual National Management Symposium INSIGHT 10 Loyola Institute of Business Administration

Chennai,   11/11/2010   -     Special Address at the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Sriperumbudur

Aligarh,   02/11/2010   -     Address and interaction with Students of CB Gupta Saraswati Vidyapeeth

Aligarh,   02/11/2010   -     Address and interaction with Students of Delhi Public School

Aligarh,   02/11/2010   -     Address during the Convocation of Mangalayatan University

Hassan,   29/10/2010   -     Address and interaction with the Students during the visit to new school of JSS Vidyapeeth

Hassan,   29/10/2010   -     Address and interaction with the Students of Medical & Engineering

Mussoorie,   18/10/2010   -     Address to the Officers during their Mid-Career Training Programme at (LBSNAA)

(LBSNAA), Mussoorie,   18/10/2010   -     Address to the Officers Trainees of 85th Foundation Course at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration

Mussoorie ,   18/10/2010   -     Address at the Principal Conclave andinteraction with the Students of Mussoorie International School

Dehradun,   18/10/2010   -     Address during the Closing Ceremony of the Travelling Children’s Literature Festival

Edathua, Alleppey ,   15/10/2010   -     Address during the Concluding Ceremony of Bi- centennial Celebrations of St George Forane Church

Sanatana Dharma Vidyasala, Alleppey,   15/10/2010   -     Address and interaction with the Students of Sanatana Dharma Vidyasala and other schools

Trivandrum,   14/10/2010   -     Address at the Annual Convocation of the Government Medical College

Trivandrum ,   14/10/2010   -     Address and interaction with Students (new batch) of IIST

Trivandrum,   14/10/2010   -     Interaction with IIST Faculty

THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF ADVANCED LEGAL STUDIES (NUALS), KOCHI,   13/10/2010   -     CONVOCATION ADDRESS IN HONOUR OF AWARDING HONORARY DOCTORATE TO JUSTICE V.R KRISHNA IYER

Kochi,   13/10/2010   -     Address and interaction with the Students and Faculty of Adi Shankara Institute of Engg & Tech

Looking Beyond

Looking Beyond

       National Emergency Service: A

Vision

       Energy Independence in India - A

Perspective

       World Knowledge

Platform

       Ambience in the

Nation

       Technology through

Ages

       Research

Challenges

       Integrated Action for developed

India

       Media

Research

       National Emergency Service

Mission

       e-Courts leading to e-Judiciary - A

Vision

       Networking of Dental

Centres

       Innovation is the

capital

       Space Vision

2050

       Next Generation

BRAHMOS

       Connectivity for societal

transformation

       Indomitable

Spirit

Interaction

Interaction

       Kalam shares the

nostalgia

Kalam shares the nostalgia Jul 25 2007

Updated on Jul 25 2007Published bywww.abdulkalam.com

Rate this Post  |  Read Comment(51)  |  Post Comment|  E-Mail This   | Print  

 

He is leaving Raisina Hill as the people's President and says he has had no regrets. In an exclusive

interview to CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai ? his last as president ? A P J Abdul Kalam speaks of his five years as the first citizen. 

Exclusive Interview by Rajdeep Sardesai / CNN-IBN on July 25, 2007.

Rajdeep Sardesai: President Kalam, I want to start with the herbal garden because, in a sense, it typifies how you have changed the Rashtrapati Bhavan. You got musical fountains, herbal gardens and biodiversity parks ? what was the purpose?

A P J Abdul Kalam: It?s people?s Bhavan, they must be proud of this place.

Rajdeep Sardesai: But people have no access to Rashtrapati Bhavan?

A P J Abdul Kalam: No, a million people visit Rashtrapati Bhavan every yearRajdeep Sardesai: You don?t think Rashtrapati Bhavan has become somewhat colonial? Most people think, ?How do I reach the President of India? He is far away, a distant person.?

A P J Abdul Kalam: They e-mail, they reach here, or they write a letter and get here.

Rajdeep Sardesai: Do you think modern India needs institutions like a President or the Presidency?

A P J Abdul Kalam: In 1950, our Constitution was written and approved. Okay? It has withstood so far. So, how can I say if it (Presidency) is needed or not?

Rajdeep Sardesai: What I found interesting is that you seem to have changed Presidency rather than Presidency changing you. You don?t seem to be interested in protocol too much. You did what you thought was best for the country. Would that be fair?

A P J Abdul Kalam: See, Presidency required me to do certain tasks. Also, I have seen that as a President, it?s easy to do any innovation one wants in Rashtrapati Bhavan or even in nation. Nobody will stop you. 

Rajdeep Sardesai: As you demit office, do you have regrets or a sense of fulfillment? 

A P J Abdul Kalam: I found President is a way of thinking. If he thinks big, he can definitely make the nation. For example, take the India 2020 vision.

Rajdeep Sardesai: Let me ask you, do you see yourself as retiring now or are you going back to your first love which is teaching?

A P J Abdul Kalam: I think retirement is a continuous process. 

Rajdeep Sardesai: Sir, we are in the 60th year of Indian independence. What is your message to

Indians?

A P J Abdul Kalam: One great message is that India and its people should be self-confident and say, ?We can do it.?

By, Dr. APJ Abdulkalam

My Presidential Address

Republic Day Address

         Text of address to the nation by Dr.Kalam on the eve of 58th Republic

Day - 2007

       Text of address to the nation by Dr.Kalam on the eve of 57th Republic

Day - 2006

       Text of address to the nation by Dr.Kalam on the eve of 56th Republic

Day - 2005

       Text of address to the nation by Dr.Kalam on the eve of 55th Republic

Day - 2004

       Text of address to the nation by Dr.Kalam on the eve of 54th Republic

Day - 2003

References

1. ̂  "Former presidents". Government of India.

2. ̂  "Kalam was real people's President: President's

bodyguards". Hindustan Times. 2007-07-24. Retrieved 2009-

03-27.

3. ̂  Perappadan, Bindu Shajan (2007-04-14). "The people's

President does it again". Chennai, India: The Hindu.

Retrieved 2009-03-27.

4. ̂  Pruthi, R. K. (2005). "Ch. 4. Missile Man of India". President

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Anmol Publication. pp. 61–76. ISBN 978-

8126113446.

5. ̂  Sen, Amartya (2003). "India and the Bomb". In M. V.

Ramana and C. Rammanohar Reddy. Prisoners of the

Nuclear Dream. Sangam Book. pp. 167–188. ISBN 978-

8125024774.

6. ̂  "www.whatcanigive.info"

7. ̂  India's A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Monday 30 Nov, 1998 TIME.com

8. ̂  Missile History

9. ̂  Pandit, Rajat (9 January 2008). "Missile plan: Some hits,

misses". The Times Of India.

10. ̂  "Kalam, the author catching on in South Korea".

11. ̂  "India leader advocates open source".

12. ̂  "Former President Kalam chosen for Hoover

Medal". Indiatimes (New York). 27 March 2009. Retrieved 30

October 2010.

13. ̂  Caltech GALCIT International von Kármán Wings

Award

14. ̂  [1]

15. ̂  "Documentary on Kalam released". Chennai,

India: The Hindu. 2008-01-12. Retrieved 2009-03-27.

16. ̂  My Days With Mahatma Abdul Kalam, ISBN 978-

8190452953 Retrieved 2010-07-01