APJ Abdul Kalam

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

(1931-2015)

This post provides a short note on the life, achievements and posthumous honours of India's first scientist-president Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.


  • Birth – 15 October 1931, Dhanushkodi, Rameswaram.
  • Full Name – Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam.
  • Nicknames – People’s President, Missile Man of India.
  • Autobiography – Wings of Fire.
  • 11th President of India (2002 - 2007).
    • Lady who competed with APJ for presidency – Lakshmi Sahgal.
    • APJ got electoral vote of 922,884 while Lakshmi Sahgal got 107,366 votes.
  • First Scientist to become President of India.
  • First President to travel on a Warplane.
  • First President to travel in a Submarine.
  • First Indian President to visit Siachin.
  • First President to receive a salary of one rupees.
  • First Indian President to cast vote in Parliamentary election.
  • E-Newspaper started by APJ – Billion Beats.
  • Proposed 10 item programme for Kerala.
  • Bharat Ratna – 1997.
  • Padma Vibhushan (1990) & Padma Bhushan (1981).
  • King Charles II Medal (Royal Society, UK) – 2007.
  • Project director of India's first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) at ISRO.
  • Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister & the Secretary of the DRDO (1992-1999).
  • Operation Shakti –  a series of five nuclear explosions  conducted at the Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district in May 1998. 
    • Message sent to PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee 'Buddha has smiled again.'
  • Developed coronary stent 'Kalam-Raju Stent' & 'Kalam-Raju tablet' jointly with Soma Raju.
  • Science Day in Switzerland – May 26. (to commemorate APJ's visit to Switzerland in 2006)
  • Received doctorates from 40 universities.
  • Death – July 27, 2015, Shillong.


Posthumous Honours


  • October 15 (APJs Birthday) – World Student’s Day by UN, Youth Renaissance Day (Tamil Nadu).
  • Indian state which decided to institute the life of APJ into their curriculum – Madhya Pradesh.
  • UN launched satellite in the honor of APJ – Global stat.
  • Odisha renamed island in the remembrance of APJ – Wheeler Island.
  • A.P.J. Abdul Kalam National Memorial – Pei Karumbu, in the island town of Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu,
  • Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam Award
    • Insituted by – Tamil Nadu.
    • Consists of 8 gm gold medal, a certificate, & Rs 500,000.
  • Postage stamp – 15 October, 2015.
  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory @ NASA named a newly discovered bacterium as Solibacillus Kalami.
  • A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Memorial Travancore Institute of Digestive Diseases, Kollam.
  • Kerala Technological University was renamed as A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technological University.
  • Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU) was renamed as A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University.
  • Films on APJ – Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran
    • Based on Pokhran-II nuclear tests conducted at the Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district in May 1998

Thanks for reading!!!