Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday tweeted on twitter to pay tribute to the former president and the “Missile Man” APJ Abdul Kalam on his 85th birth anniversary. “Tributes to our former President, the person who captures the imagination of every Indian, Dr, APJ Abdul Kalam on his birth anniversary, Modi,” wrote on twitter.
Kalam had received several awards including Padma Bhushan in 1981, Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in 1997. He became the 11th president of the country on July 25,2002 and served the post till July 25, 2007.
He also authored many best-selling books, which motivate people such as Wings of Fire, Ignited Minds: Unleashing the power within India and India2020 Kalam was a great speaker and inspiration for millions of people, especially youth. He always tried to encourage children to dream big and achieve great goals in life.
Tributes to our former President, the person who captured the imagination of every Indian, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam on his birth anniversary.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 15, 2016
Kalam and his roots
Dr. Kalam was born on October 15, 1931, in Rameshwaram town of Tamil Nadu and died due to cardiac arrest on July 2017 last year while delivering a speech at IIM Shillong. Developing India’s first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-3) Kalam had made the admirable record which successfully injected the Rohini Satellite in the Earth Orbit in July 1980 and also made the country an exclusive member of Space club.
On the other hand, the work on the construction of a memorial for the former president will commence today on the occasion of his birth anniversary. A team of DRDO officials led by P K Singh reached here today to visit the memorial site at Peikarumbu where Kalam was laid to rest after his death in July last year. Around Rs50 crore had been allocated for the memorial in which the burial site and the statue will also be constructed. The memorial in the memory of Dr. Kalam would be inaugurated on July27 next year when his next death anniversary falls.
