Category Famous Personalities

Is there an island named after Dr. Kalam?

Yes, for sure. We do have Dr. Abdul Kalam Island and it is off the coast of Odisha. It was earlier named after an officer in the army of the English East India Company, Sir Hugh Wheeler. The island was renamed on September 4, 2015 to honour Dr. Kalam. It is around 150 kilometres from Odisha’s capital Bhubaneshwar.

We have an Integrated Test Range to test missiles here. Many missiles such as Akash, Agni, Astra, BrahMos, Nirbhay, Prahaar, Prithvi, Shaurya Missile, Advanced Air Defence, Prithvi Air Defence and ASAT missiles were tested here. It is one of the key missile testing facilities in India.

Abdul Kalam Island is close to the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary. This is the world’s largest rookery of the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtle. Turtles love to nest on these sandy beaches. But the bright lights at the missile testing facility misguided some baby turtles! Attracted by the lights they could not find their way to the sea. Some of them died. So, all the lights at the facility are dimmed during nesting season. Missile testing is also cut down during the turtles’ nesting and breeding season.

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What is the essence of Dr. Kalam’s book ‘Target 3 Billion’?

In this book Dr. Kalam focuses on the rural areas. He highlights the problems in rural India and talks on how to improve living standards there.

Dr. Kalam sites the examples of Palmeres and Magarpatta. Palmeres, a rural district in Brazil became prosperous through rural electrification. A person called Fabio Rosa was behind this. Another case is that of Magarpatta, Pune. It is the first project in India in which farmers pooled their land and created a township. The city is home to over 35,000 people and even has an IT park. He also suggests a rural development programme called PURA in this book.

This book was jointly written by Dr. Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh.

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Which are the major awards received by Dr. Kalam?

Dr. Kalam was the recipient of numerous national and international awards. Their list is really lengthy. Let us briefly look at how his own mother country venerated him.

He was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1981 and Padma Vibhushan in 1990. He also received India’s highest honour Bharat Ratna for his research and defence related work, and Outlook magazine ranked him as Second Greatest Indian in 2012.

Coming to his own state, Tamil Nadu, his death anniversary is observed as Youth Renaissance Day there. Further, the Abdul Kalam Award is given every year on the occasion of Independence Day from 2015 onwards. This carries a certificate, a gold medal and a whopping fifty thousand rupees.

On his 84th birth anniversary, October 15, 2015, a postage stamp in Dr. Kalam’s memory was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at DRDO Bhawan in New Delhi.

After Dr. Kalam’s death, several educational and scientific institutions were renamed after him.

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What is Dr. Kalam’s book ‘India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium’ all about?

‘India 2020’ was written in 1998 before Dr. Kalam became the President of India. Here we can read his ideas for India’s future and development. After analysing India’s strengths and weaknesses, he gives a vision of how we could be among the top four economic powers by 2020.

The importance Dr. Kalam gave to the ideas of school children is obvious. The book is dedicated to a ten-year-old girl whom he met during one of his talks. When asked about her ambitions, the young girl replied, “I want to live in a developed India.”

For Dr. Kalam, India was already a knowledge super power and a nation awaiting its time. He then describes his vision of India, its future and those of other developed countries.

He even compares the statistical data to show how India can progress. Dr. Kalam never forgets to say how his field -science and technology- is crucial for this.

The book is co-authored by Dr. Kalam and Y.S Rajan and has been translated into many languages.

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Does ‘Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India’ begin with a dream?

The book does begin with a dream; a dream that Kalam had after he and his aircraft crew met with a helicopter crash! After the frightening moments, the engines shutting down and the final crash, all of them started to look at life in a different way. All were alive, but their thinking had changed forever!

Kalam was given a tranquilizer. His mind was filled with one question: Why is the human race so prone to violence? While still under the effect of the tranquilizer, he had a strange dream.

In his dream came five people- Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Emperor Asoka, Abraham Lincoln and Caliph Omar. Kalam realized that the answer for his question were these people from different ages who continue to influence generations to come.

The book ends with some lines from Song of Youth, a poem by Dr. Kalam.

“As a young citizen of India,

armed with technology

and love for my nation,

I realize, a small aim is a crime.”

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Why is ‘Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India’ a much sought-after book after the death of Dr. Kalam?

Did you know the fact that this book is dedicated to a school child?

Well, here’s the story behind it. Kalam was talking to a group of school students and a question arose. “Who is our enemy?” Out of the many answers, the one accepted by all was “our enemy is our poverty.” The child who gave this answer was Snehal Thakkar and Kalam dedicated this work to Snehal.

You can find a lot of inspirational messages in this book. It is also a follow up of his previous work, ‘India 2020; A Vision for the New Millennium.’

Dynamic and original ideas fill this 205-page book. It analyses the attitudes of Indians and gives pointers on how to develop our country. The book is addressed to the young citizens of India. And after Dr. Kalam’s death it has soared in demand.

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