APJ Abdul Kalam Images, APJ Abdul Kalam Stock Photos: Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen “A. P. J.” Abdul Kalam (15 October 1931 – 27 July 2015) was the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. A career scientist turned reluctant politician, Kalam was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, and studied physics and aerospace engineering. He spent the next four decades as a scientist and science administrator, mainly at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and was intimately involved in India’s civilian space program and military missile development efforts. He thus came to be known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology. He also played a pivotal organizational, technical, and political role in India’s Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974.
Kalam was elected President of India in 2002 with the support of both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Indian National Congress. After serving a term of five years, he returned to his civilian life of education, writing and public service. He was a recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour.
APJ Abdul Kalam Images, APJ Abdul Kalam Stock Photos
This photo shows CPI (M) leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterji and Dr Abdul Kalam at the DRDO guest house in the capital in 2002, after Kalam was elected President on July 18, 2002.
Former President APJ Abdul Kalam (R) stands beside Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other officials while observing a painting of Mahatma Gandhi during his visit to Ahmedabad on August 12, 2002.
Outgoing President APJ Abdul Kalam with Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before a farewell function organised at Parliament House in New Delhi on July 23, 2007.
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam (right) being sworn in by Chief Justice of India BN Kirpal in the Central Hall of Parliament on July 25, 2002.
Former President APJ Abdul Kalam in Srinagar in June 2003.
President APJ Abdul Kalam evinces keen interest in the photographs connected with the life of Shaheed Bhagat Singh at the museum in the latter’s ancestral village, Khatkar Kalan, on March 23, 2003.
Former President APJ Abdul Kalam with Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in New Delhi in November 2012.
Former President APJ Abdul Kalam.
Tribune photo:Manas Ranjan Bhui
Former President APJ Abdul Kalam with US President Barack Obama in New Delhi when the latter visited India in January 2015.
Former President APJ Abdul Kalam with President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi in December 2014.
Kalam shakes hands with former US president George W Bush, right, as first lady Laura Bush, second right, looks on during Bush’s ceremonial welcome at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi on March 2, 2006.
President APJ Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister AB Vajpayee at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on August 15, 2003.
Indian Air Force personnel paying tribute to former President APJ Abdul Kalam at LGBI Airport in Guwahati on July 28, 2015.
Army, Air Force and Navy officers carry the body of former President APJ Abdul Kalam at Palam Air Force Station in New Delhi on July 28, 2915
In this photograph received from the Presidential Palace on July 28, 2015, President Pranab Mukherjee pays his last respects at the body of former President APJ Abdul Kalam at Palam Air Force Station in New Delhi on July 28, 2915, after its arrival from Guwahati.