My Science School

In 2006, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam visited the Navy submarine INS Sindhurakshak. (It was later destroyed in an accidental explosion in 2013 at the Mumbai naval dockyard).

Dr. Kalam went on board the INS Sindhurakshak, a Russian-origin kilo class submarine, from the Visakhapatnam naval dockyard. He was the first Indian president to undertake such a journey. Kalam had previously visited a submarine in the harbour during his tenure as the Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister. But this was a three-and-a half hour journey during which Kalam shared lunch with the crew members.

Later he said about his experience: “It was my first experience (to sail in a submarine underwater) and I learnt how the silent force of the Indian Navy would function when it was underwater. Success comes if we work very hard in the midst of challenges. I experienced the challenges the submarine faces to make our country powerful,” Kalam had said.

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It was Dr. Kalam’s childhood dream to join the Indian Air Force, but he was ranked ninth in a test conducted to select eight officers! Anyway, he must have felt his old dream coming true, as he took a 30-minute long flight in a Sukhoi-30MKI when he was president.

On July 28, 2015, on the 50th anniversary of the Lohegaon Air Force base, he co-piloted the Sukhoi-30 MKI with Wing Commander Ajay Rathore, who was the commanding of ficer of the Lightning Squadron based at Lohegaon. Before setting out on this flight, Dr. Kalam received a guard of honour. He then met senior defence officials in the air base and changed into the G-suit that was required on the Sukhoi. The G-Suit is an anti-gravitational suit that helps in proper blood circulation when the aircraft flies at supersonic speeds. Wing Commander Rathore took the jet to about 7.5 km above ground level and flew at 1.25 Mach (one-and-a-quarter times the speed of sound).

The Wing Commander took Dr. Kalam on a full fledged experience by stalling the plane mid-air, and by making twists and turns in the sky. When told to comment on what he saw from above, he jokingly said, “The sky was looking blue everywhere. The plane was travelling at a great speed. During the twists and turns I too had to help out in operating the flight, so the only thing I remembered in mid-air was that the colour of the sky was blue.”

The Wing Commander also showed how the planes spot and shoot enemy targets both in the air and on the ground. Dr. Kalam set the record for the oldest person to co-pilot such a plane and he was 74 years old, when he performed this feat.

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Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, during his term as the President of India, indulged in adventures which many of his age would not have dreamt of. His love for adventure kept inspiring all, including our soldiers.

One of his adventures was to visit the Siachen Glacier in 2004, where he witnessed the difficult conditions faced by the Indian army. Dr. Kalam’s presence left a deep impact on the soldiers and officers.

The troops and officers were amazed by his presence at Siachen because no president had ever visited the glacier, and that, too, at the age of 72. He lauded them for their commitment towards the country and their earnest service in hostile and harsh weather. Similarly, he had also visited the LoC in Uri in 2003 and had a similar experience with the soldiers of India.

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Children had great love for Dr. Kalam. He is still the role model for several people who grew up during the time of the “Missile Man of India”, a small boy from Rameshwaram, who made history. Hundreds of students were present at his swearing ceremony to celebrate his success.

Dr. Kalam also had a great deal of love for children. He believed that the future of India lies within the dreams of the children. As the head of the country, he addressed children and youth from all over the country.

Dr. Kalam, till his last breath, was driven by the passion to educate, motivate and guide children towards a better future.

He was also a man of sharp wit and intelligence. Amazed by his love for children, he was once questioned by media persons about having a child of his own, to which he replied “All of you are wrong, I have three sons.” All were stumped by the statement, but Dr. Kalam continued. “You don’t know my three sons? They are ‘Prithvi’, ‘Agni’, and ‘BrahMos’,” referring to the names of India’s three powerful missiles.

One could see his passion and drive towards science and development in all that he did. What one leaves for the next generation needn’t be only progeny but intellectual growth as well.

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Dr. Kalam was declared the 11th President of India on 18th July, 2002. He had won the presidential election held on 15th July 2002 with an electoral vote of 922,884. His nearest rival Lakshmi Sahgal won 107,366 votes.

After his massive victory, Dr. Kalam was sworn in as the president on 25th July. He was the third President of India to have been honoured with a Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, before becoming the president. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan (1954) and Zakir Hussain (1963) were his two predecessors who had become president after receiving the Bharat Ratna.

Dr. Kalam was the first scientist and the first bachelor to occupy the Rashtrapati Bhawan. He was referred to as the people’s president with love, as he had done countless deeds for the welfare of the people and the country.

 

He was brave and courageous enough to prioritise progress and took some decisions which were sometimes controversial. One of them was his so-called ‘inaction’ in deciding the fate of 20 out of the 21 mercy petitions submitted to him during his tenure. President’s rule in Bihar in 2005 during his tenure was also controversial. Despite all this however, he received immense recognition due to his stance and his works.

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One of Dr. Kalam’s remarkable achievements was the establishment of the Research Centre Imarat (RCI), a DRDO laboratory in Hyderabad, Telangana, in 1988. This was set up with generous government funding to build a centre for the future, which is geared for work in advanced missile technologies.

The ambience of the state-of-the-art facilities and the level of comfort provided to the workers are only matched by a few research and development facilities other than RCI.

Dr. Kalam’s interest in the environment ensured that the Centre was set up in beautiful premises in the midst of a rocky wasteland. Apart from the state-of-the art facilities, it also has a small orchard and a farm that meets the food requirements of those who stay in the RCI quarters.

RCI is located in an area called Vignyana Kancha, which was given by the government of undivided Andhra Pradesh. The foundation stone for the project was laid by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 5th August 1985, and it was inaugurated by the former President of India, R. Venkataraman, on 27th August 1988.

Research Centre Imarat is a global pioneer in developing avionics and navigation systems for missiles. It is the leading laboratory that has spearheaded the Indo-Israel joint development of Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) programme and had a hat-trick success in its first three consecutive missions.

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Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam derived immense satisfaction from saving lives through the development of the famed ‘Kalam-Raju stent’ for coronary heart disease. Kalam collaborated with the renowned cardiologist Dr. B. Soma Raju of Care Foundation and his colleagues to design the ‘K-R stent’ in the 1990s. These stents were developed to bring down the cost and make them affordable to the common man. They were made in India and introduced in the market in 1994. Cardiologists use these coronary stents to dilate constricted arteries while treating heart attacks.

Dr. B. Soma Raju was associated with Kalam since 1985. He used to say that Dr. Kalam was the “guiding soul” for the project. For this effort, the Care Foundation received the Defence Technology Spin-off Award in 1998, and, ‘Kalam - Raju stent’ went on to gain widespread acclaim.

Dr. Kalam along with Dr. B. Soma Raju also introduced the concept of a tablet PC for health care workers at primary health centres in rural areas.

While the Kalam-Raju stent took the centre stage for its affordability, the Kalam-Raju tablet was designed and aimed at arming healthcare personnel at the primary level like doctors, Anganwadi workers, ayahs and first responders to deal with an emergency. The tablet was capable of performing a number of medical processes at the rural level.

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Dr. Kalam served as the first Principal Scientific Advisor or PSA from November 1999 to November 2001. The post of PSA is equal to that of a Secretary in any ministry. Dr. Kalam developed numerous policies, strategies and missions for many development applications while serving as PSA.

The position of PSA was created with a Cabinet rank in 1999 by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. However, in 2018, the Union Ministry decided that the scientific advisor would have a position equal to a Secretary, with tenure of three years. It is the job of the PSA to advise the prime minister and the cabinet on matters related to science and technology, and how they can affect economic and social structures.

The office of the PSA also helps various ministries, institutions and the industry to cooperate and work together in matters related to science and technology, through the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).

Dr. Kalam had served as the Scientific Adviser to the defence minister from 1992-99 before being appointed as the PSA in 1999.

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India’s attempt to conduct a second nuclear test was revived in 1998, during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s second term as prime minister. On April 8, approval for the tests was given by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) chief R Chidambaram and DRDO chief Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. The entire operation was controlled by Vajpayee and his principal secretary Brajesh Mishra from the prime minister’s office. The operation was conducted in such high secrecy that nobody except the then home minister LK Advani knew about it. Even important persons such as the then defence minister, George Fernandes, were told about the tests on May 9 and the three service chiefs and the foreign secretary were informed over the next three days. On May 11, this information was shared by the Cabinet Committee on Security.

A team which included Dr. K Santhanam, Dr. Kalam, Chidambaram and few other nuclear scientists and engineers started arriving in Pokhran in May 1998. The entire operation was conducted in utmost secrecy. The tunnels were only dug at night, not to be seen by the U.S spy satellites. The scientists used army uniforms and camouflages to disguise themselves and dig the bomb shafts. To avoid suspicion, nuclear devices were also flown from different parts of the country.

On May 11, 1998, at around 3:45 PM, India tested three devices - a thermonuclear device (Shakti I), a fission device (Shakti II), and a sub-kiloton device (Shakti III).On May 13, India detonated two more sub-kiloton devices-Shakti IV and V.

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