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            India had three Acting Presidents – V.V. Giri, Mohammad Hidayatullah and B.D. Jatti. Among them V.V. Giri later became the 4th President of India.

            Mohammad Hidayatullah was the Chief Justice of India. He was the only person to serve twice as Acting President. He served as the Acting President of India from 20th July 1969 to 24th August 1969 and from 6th October 1982 to 31st October 1982.

           In December 1958, he acquired the position of Justice at the Supreme Court of India. He was the youngest person to be a judge in the Supreme Court. He served in this position for almost ten years, and on 25th February 1968, he took oath as the Chief Justice of India and remained on the seat till 16th December 1970. He served as the Vice President of India from August 1979 to August 1984.

          Mohammad Hidayatullah was born on 17th December 1905. He belonged to an upper class family. His father Khan Bahadur Hafiz Mohammed Wilayatullah was an Urdu poet.

          Mohammad Hidayatullah completed his primary education at the Government High School of Rajpur. He attended Morris College in Nagpur. He attended Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. He was called to the Bar from Lincoln’s Inn when he was just 25 years old. He was awarded an LL.D. from University of the Philippines and a D. Litt. from the University of Bhopal. After graduation, Hidayatullah returned to India and enrolled as an advocate of the High Court of Central Provinces and Berar at Nagpur on 19th July 1930. He also taught Jurisprudence and Mahomedan Law in the University College of Law at Nagpur. He was appointed Government Pleader in the High Cour tat Nagpur. On 1st December 1958, he was elevated as a justice to the Supreme Court of India. In his time, he was the youngest judge of the Supreme Court of India. Later, Hidayatullah became the chief Justice of the India on 25th February, 1968.

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               Mukherjee was nominated as the presidential candidate of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in June, 2012.

               In order to file his nomination for the presidential poll, Mukherjee resigned from the government. He comfortably defeated P.A. Sangma winning 70 per cent of the electoral-college vote. Mukherjee was sworn in by the Chief Justice of India on 25th July 2012, becoming the first Bengali to hold the post of President of India.

               As the president of India, he promulgated the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013. He rejected 24 mercy pleas, including those of extremist militants like Ajmal Kasab.

               After completion of his tenure as the President, Pranab Mukherjee didn’t intend to stand for a second term, owing to his failing health.

               He is a multifaceted personality. He is an eminent politician as well as a great author. Mukherjee’s works narrates the political situations witnessed by the country over the years.

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              It was former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who recognized Pranab Mukherjee’s potential, and helped him join her party, the Indian National Congress. Mukherjee became a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1969. He was re-elected to the house in 1975, 1981, 1993 and 1999. He was appointed Union Deputy Minister of Industrial Development in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet in 1973.

              Later, Mukherjee also held various cabinet posts, including the post of Finance Minister from 1982 to 1984. As Finance Minister, Mukherjee signed the letter appointing Manmohan Singh as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India who later became the Prime Minister of India.

              Mukherjee served as External Affairs Minister for the first time from 1995 to 1996 in P. V. Narasimha Rao’s cabinet. Rao appointed Pranab Mukherjee as Deputy Chairman of the Indian Planning Commission in 1991.

              Pranab Mukherjee also had the distinction of being the Minister for various high-profile Ministries including Defence, Finance, and External Affairs in the Manmohan Singh government too.

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               Pranab Mukherjee was born on 11th December, 1935, in Mirati in the Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, into a Brahmin family. His parents Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee, and Rajlakshmi were freedom fighters.

               He attended the Suri Vidyasagar College, and then affiliated to the University of Calcutta. He earned an MA degree in political science and history. He then furthered his education, and received an LL.B degree from the department of law of the University of Calcutta.

               He was an upper-division clerk in the Office of the Deputy Accountant-General (Post and Telegraph) in Calcutta. Pranab Mukherjee embarked on a professional career as a college teacher when he began teaching political science at the Vidyanagar College in 1963. He also worked as a journalist for some time with the ‘Desher Dak’ (Call of Motherland). He ventured into politics and later became a member of the Rajya Sabha.

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               Pranab Mukherjee assumed the office of the President of India, on 25th July 2012, and continued till 25th July 2017. He became the President of India after four decades of political life, and is the first Bengali to hold this office.

               Mukherjee held many important positions. He served as the Finance Minister of India from 2009 to 2012, before becoming the President. He was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress.

               Pranab Mukherjee was a key strategist in the Congress party. He was often known as the walking encyclopedia. In 2008, he was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan.

               Pranab Mukherjee is also a noted author, and has written many books including ‘Off the Track’, ‘Challenges before the Nation/ Saga of Struggle and Sacrifice’ and ‘The Coalition Years’.

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               Pratibha Patil was announced as a candidate for the post of President of India on 14th June, 2007. Her opponent was Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who contested as an independent candidate and also had the support of the opposition parties.

               In 2007, Pratibha Patil entered the presidential battle, and won with a distinct edge over her rival, defeating her opponent by more than three lakh votes.

               On 25th July 2007, she was sworn in, and took office becoming the first female President of India. She held this post till 25th July, 2012 and was succeeded by Pranab Mukherjee. Like many other presidents, she too faced many controversies.

               Not only as a president, but as a social worker, Patil’s role was significant. Pratibha Patil set up the Vidya Bharati Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, an educational institute, which runs a chain of schools and colleges. She also set up the Shram Sadhana Trust, which runs hostels for working women in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune; and an engineering college for rural students.

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            Pratibha Patil began her political career at the age of 27. She joined the Indian National Congress, and entered politics in 1962.

            Ever since 1962, she won every election in which she contested. From 1962 to 1985, she was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, and during this period she was appointed as Minister of many departments like Education, Tourism etc.

          In 1985, she was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a Congress candidate, and she served as Deputy Chairman of that body from 1986 to 1988. Patil left the Rajya Sabha in 1990 and was elected to represent Amravati in the Lok Sabha in 1991.

          On 8th November 2004, she was appointed as the 24th Governor of Rajasthan and became the first woman to hold that office till 2007. She also held office as Director of the National Federation of Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies, and as a Member of the Governing Council of the National Co-operative Union of India.

 

            Pratibha Patil was the 12th President of India. She was the first and the only woman to hold this office. She served as President from 2007 to 2012. She has played a very important role in the development of India, and in the welfare of women.

            A lawyer by profession, she has also served in the post of Governor of Rajasthan. But, that is not all. In her long political career spanning 28 years, Pratibha Patil had held several impressive ministerial portfolios in Maharashtra, from being the Deputy Minister of Education to being the Minister of Social Welfare, Tourism, and Housing.

            Patil was born on 19th December 1934, in Nadgaon, a village in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra. Her father, Narayan Rao Patil was a local politician. She completed her primary education from R.R. Vidyalaya, Jalgaon, and received her Bachelor’s degree in law from Government Law College, Mumbai. She pursued her Master’s in political science and economics from Mooljee Jetha College, Jalgaon.

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            After finishing his tenure as the President, Dr. Kalam ventured into the academic field. Interacting with bright young minds was what he loved the most. He became a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong, and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad, and the Indian Institute of Management Indore.

         The post-presidency years also saw him teaching information technology at the international Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, and technology at Banaras Hindu University and Anna University. He also served as the Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapurum. He was an adjunct at many other academic and research institutions across India.

        Dr. Kalam was a prolific literary contributor after his political career. In 2012, he launched a programme called ‘What Can I Give Movement’ to develop a ‘giving’ attitude among the youth, and to encourage them to contribute towards the nation’s progress.

        He remained active till the very end of his life. While delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong on 27th July 2015, he collapsed. He was confirmed dead of a cardiac arrest.

       The Government of India declared a seven-day state mourning period as a mark of respect.

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            Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was elected as 11th President of India in 2002. The NDA government initially proposed Dr. Kalam’s name for the presidential post. However, he received support from both the ruling, and the opposition parties. The polling for the Presidential election began on 15th July 2002 in Parliament and the state assemblies. He won the election, getting 922,884 votes, thus defeating Lakshmi Sehgal, who got 107,366 votes.

            Dr. Kalam succeeded K.R. Narayanan as the 11th President of India. He was the first bachelor and scientist to reside in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Dr. Kalam was affectionately called the People’s President.

            The nation honoured Dr. Kalam with Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award, in 1997 for his contributions to the field of scientific research, development and modernization of technology in the defence sector of India.

            Kalam served as the President of India for five years, from 25th July 2002 to 25th July 2007.

            Dr. Kalam never contested for a second term even though many Indians wanted him to do so.

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            Dr. Kalam is renowned for his pivotal role in the nation’s civilian space programme and military missile development. Kalam began his career as a scientist at the Aeronautical Development Establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). He was later transferred to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) where he served as the project director of India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III), which successfully deployed the Rohini satellite in near-earth orbit in July 1980.

            Then, Dr. Kalam took up the responsibility of developing Indigenous Guided Missiles at DRDO as the Chief Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).

            Kalam led the programme, which soon proved to be a resounding success, and produced a number of successful missiles, including the first Prithvi missile in 1988 and the Agni missile in 1989.

He was the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and Secretary of the Department of Defence Research & Development. He also played a major role in conducting the Pokhran-II, a series of five nuclear bomb test explosions in Pokhran in May, 1998.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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            Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu on 15th October 1931. His father Jainulabdeen was a boat owner and imam of a local mosque, his mother Ashiamma, was a housewife. Even though Kalam’s ancestors were rich, the family had lost most of its fortunes and was poverty-stricken by the time Kalam was born. As a young boy he had to sell newspapers in order to add to his family’s income.

            After completing his studies at Schwartz Higher Secondary School, he enrolled at Saint Joseph’s College, Tiruchirappalli, graduating in science in 1954. He moved to Madras in 1955 to study aerospace engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology.

            Later, he narrowly missed achieving his dream of becoming a fighter pilot. Kalam earned his degree in 1957, and joined the aeronautical development establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organization as a scientist.

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