Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam


Biography Abdul Kalam was born at Rameswaram in Dhanushkodi, Tamil Nadu, to a working class Tamil Muslim family. He received his degree in aeronautical engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology in 1958. He joined India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) upon graduation to work on a hovercraft project. In 1962, Kalam moved to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), where his team successfully launched several satellites. He made a significant contribution as Project Director to develop India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully placed the Rohini satellite into the near earth orbit in July 1980.

In 1982, Kalam returned to the DRDO as director, focusing on Indigenous guided missiles. He was responsible for the development and operationalisation of the AGNI and PRITHVI missiles. This earned him the sobriquet "India's missile-man". He also helped in building healthcare products using technology developed for missiles.

In July 1992, Kalam became scientific advisor to India's defence minister. As the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Indian government, he held the rank of a Cabinet Minister. His work led to the successful Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, which reiterated India's position as a nuclear weapon state. Kalam was also the Chairman, Ex-officio, of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C) and piloted India Millennium Mission 2020.

Kalam took up academic pursuit as Professor, Technology & Societal Transformation at Anna University, Chennai from November 2001 and was involved in teaching and research tasks. Above all, he took up a mission to ignite the young minds for national development by meeting high school students across the country.

Kalam was elected the 11th President of India and took office on July 25, 2002.


Honours
Kalam has the unique distinction of having received honorary doctorates from at least thirty universities, as also India's three highest civilian honours - the Padma Bhushan in 1981; the Padma Vibhushan in 1990; and the Bharat Ratna in 1997. He has recently refused a honorary doctorate from a University, claiming he is satisfied with the ones he has earned with his hardwork and determination

Kalam has been the subject of vicious criticism from leftists in the Indian press, [1], Praful Bidwai being among his staunchest critics. In popular forums on the web such as this one [2] Kalam has been derided for his appearance and his perceived closeness to the earlier Bharatiya Janata Party led administration.

He has also been widely criticized for giving his assent for the dissolution of Bihar assembly in the middle of the night without holding any serious discussions with legal experts. During the recent Controversy of reservations in Central government funded universities and colleges in India, it was alleged that he acted no more than a mute spectator and could have played a more active role.

This can be attributed to the limited power that the Constitution of the Country confers on the President. Under the Indian constitution, President can either give his consent to a bill or send the Bill back to the Lok Sabha for review in accordance with Section 111 of the Constitution. In case Lok Sabha again sends the Bill to the President, the president has no other option but to give his consent. Under the limitation that the President works, the majority opinion is that A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is doing a good job in the present circumstances


As a rule Muslim industry leaders, scholars, and politicians who have made a name for themselves in India and Pakistan have been from the elite classes of their community, such as the Kutchi Memons, the Bohras, or the wealthy families of Hyderabad and Lucknow. Kalam is the first Muslim from Southern India from a Muslim community that does not speak Urdu to have achieved the kind of recognition he has. His idea of India's interests is modernist and nationalistic. This stands in contrast to the articulation of India's interests by different groups across India's political spectrum. The Congress and its related formations derive their idea of national interest from the ideas expressed by Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, that sees India as an historic entity that must stand at the forefront of nations that have won their independence during the 20th century from colonial powers and are trying to create societies with regulated economic systems. The communist parties of India and its allies see India as an entity of the 20th century and a temporary creation of the current capitalist phase of human society that should some day be a part of a worldwide classless and nationless socialist economy that is the final and inevitable endpoint of human progress. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party sees India as an entity inspired by its Hindu heritage that is required to recapture its once glorious position on the world stage, with its current structure of a Nation State being a modern requirement. Kalam's views are inspired partly by Nehru's ideas and those articulated by Hindu nationalists and he attempts to draw the best from both. While rejecting Nehru's role for India as a spokesperson of other nations with perceived common interests, his views also reject the Hindu nationalist idea of a national identity based on a religious heritage. Kalam point of view however makes no room whatsoever for the Indian left's idea of India. This may be a reason why leftists journalists in India have criticized him. Kalam's belief in the power of technology to resolve society's problems and his views of these problems as a result of inefficient distribution of resources is modernistic. He also sees science and technology as ideology free areas and emphasizes the cultivation of a scientific temper and an entrepreneurial drive. In this he finds much support among India's new economy business leaders some of whom especially the founders of Infosys have begun their career as technology professionals much in the same way as Kalam has.

Trivia
He loves children, and encourages their audiences with him. For info about his work with the children of India. Visit his website [3] and visit "Children's Corner"
On Tuesday, 14 February, 2006, he created history by becoming the country's first President to undertake an undersea journey. Abdul Kalam boarded the INS Sindhurakshak, a Russian-origin kilo class submarine, from the Visakhapatnam Naval dockyard. The duration of the journey was around three-and-half hours during which Kalam had lunch with the crewmembers.
He did his college studies at the Madras Institute of Technology, where he used to head the vegetarian mess
Initially he wanted to become a pilot, but opted for aeronautical engineering later.
On Thursday, 08 June, 2006, he created history by becoming the country's first president to undertake a sortie in an aircraft, the Sukhoi-30 MKI, the latest supersonic fighter aircraft, from Lohegaon airbase.The 74-year old created a record by becoming not just the first Indian President to fly a fighter jet but also the oldest Indian co-pilot to do so. The president donned the G Suit before boarding the aircraft, and was also given certain instructions by Air Force officials. He was strapped in by Corporal H L Ganesh into India's most modern all weather supersonic fighter aircraft. He flew at a height of six to eight kilometers in the air at a speed of 1500Km/Hr. The flight lasted 30 minutes. Wing Commander Ajay Rathore, Commanding Officer of the SU-30 MKI squadron flew the President.

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • Spurl
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati

Lal Bahadur Shastri ( 2nd prime minister)




Name: Lal Bahadur Shastri
Birth Date:
02 October 1904
Death Date: 11 January 1966
Birthplace: Mughalsarai, United Province (now Uttar Pradesh)
Occupation: Prime Minister
Born In: Uttar Pradesh
Biography  
Lal Bahadur Shastri (Hindi लालबहादुर शास्त्री) (October 2, 1904 - January 11, 1966) was the second permanent Prime Minister of independent India and a significant figure in the struggle for independence.

Shashtriji was born in Mughalsarai (also spelt as Moghalsarai), in United Province (now Uttar Pradesh). To take part in the non-cooperation movement of Mahatma Gandhi in 1921, he began studying at the nationalist, Kashi Vidyapeeth in Kashi, and upon completion, he was given the title Shastri, or Scholar, Doctor at Kashi Vidyapeeth in 1926. He spent almost nine years in jail in total, mostly after the start of the Satyagraha movement in 1940, he was imprisoned until 1946[1].

Following India's independence, he was Home Minister under Chief Minister Govind Ballabh Pant of Uttar Pradesh. In 1951, he was appointed General Secretary of the Lok Sabha before re-gaining a ministerial post as Railways Minister. He resigned as Minister following a rail disaster near Ariyalur, Tamil Nadu. He returned to the Cabinet following the General Elections, first as Minister for Transport, in 1961, he became Home Minister.

Jawaharlal Nehru died in office on May 27, 1964 and left a vacuum. The major figures of the Congress Party were unable to find enough support which allowed the lesser regarded Shastri to come through as the compromise candidate, becoming Prime Minister on June 9. Shastri, though mild-mannered and soft-spoken, was a Nehruvian socialist and thus held appeal to those wishing to prevent the ascent of conservative right-winger Morarji Desai.

Shastri worked by his natural characteristics to obtain compromises between opposing viewpoints, but in his short tenure was ineffectual in dealing with the economic crisis and food shortage in the nation. However, he commanded a great deal of respect in the Indian populace, and he used it to advantage in pushing the Green Revolution in India; which directly led to India becoming a food-surplus nation, although he did not live to see it. His administration began on a rocky turf.

The chief problem was Pakistan. Laying claim to half of the Kutch peninsula, Pakistan sent incursion forces in August 1965, who skirmished with Indian tanks. Under a scheme proposed by the British PM, Pakistan obtained 10% of their original claim of 50%. But Pakistan's main aggressive intentions were upon Kashmir. Just in September 1965, major incursions of militants and Pakistani soldiers began, hoping not only to break-down the government but incite a sympathetic revolt. The revolt did not happen, and an angry India sent its forces across the Line of Control, and the war broke out on a general scale. Massive tank battles occurred in the Punjab, and while Pakistani forces made some gains, Indian forces captured the key post at Haji Pir, in Kashmir, and brought the Pakistani city of Lahore under artillery and mortar fire.

A ceasefire was declared, and the soft-spoken, mild-mannered Shastri, once butt of jokes was now a national hero. In January 1966 Shastri and Pakistani President Muhammad Ayub Khan attended a summit in Tashkent (former USSR, now in modern Uzbekistan), organised by Kosygin. Shastri signed a treaty with Pakistan on January 10, the Tashkent Declaration, but the next day he was dead of a heart attack. He is the only Indian Prime Minister to have died in office overseas, and indeed probably one of the few heads of government in history to do so. All his lifetime, he was known for his honesty and humility.

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • Spurl
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati

Atal Bihari Vajpayee


Biography 
  Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Hindi: अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी in Devanagari) (born December 25, 1924) was the Prime Minister of India in 1996 and again from October 13, 1998 until May 19, 2004.

He is the senior-most leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindu Nationalism in Indian politics. He has served as a member of the Parliament of India for nearly 50 years. He is a native Hindi speaker.

Early Life and Family
Vajpayee is a native of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and has been active in Indian politics throughout his adult life (as a member of parliament, he has often resided in Delhi). He holds the distinction of being a well-educated politician, having earned a masters degree in political science from the Victoria College (now Laxmibai College) and DAV College. He is well-known for being a poet, and has published a book of poetry. He is a bachelor, and has adopted daughters of Mrs & Mr. B. N. Kaul: Nandita (Nanni) and Namita (Gunu). Nandita is a doctor in US and Namita lives in Delhi. Nandita is married to Ashok Nanda, a software engineer and Namita is married to Ranjan Bhattacharya and has a daughter.

Early Political Career
He began his involvements in politics as a freedom-fighter during the Quit India Movement of 1942-1945, initially adhering to Communism, but shedding that for membership in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the foundation of Hindutva, or Hindu Nationalism and the Right-Wing in Indian politics. He became a student, close follower and aide to Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the leader of the right-wing, pro-Hindu Bharatiya Jana Sangh. When Mookherjee went on a fast-unto-death in Kashmir in 1953, protesting the id card requirement and inferior treatment of Indian citizens visiting Kashmir, and the special treatment of Kashmir just because it was Muslim-majority, Vajpayee was close his side. Mookherjee's fast and protest ended the id requirement, and hastened the integration of Kashmir into the Indian Union. But Mookherjee died after weeks of weakness, illness and being confined in jail. These events were a watershed for the young Vajpayee. Taking the baton from Mookherjee, Vajpayee won his first parliamentary seat in 1957. Leading the BJS, he expanded its political appeal, organization and agenda. He soon became a respected voice in the opposition, one of reason and intelligence despite his youth. His broad appeal brought respect, recognition and acceptance in the mainstream of a rising nationalist cultural movement.

Vajpayee has served in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and represented the constituencies of Lucknow and Gwalior.

Prime Minister of India, Twice
Political energy and expansion for the BJP made it the single-largest political party in the Lok Sabha elected in 1996. Mired down by corruption scandals, the Congress was at a historic low, and a vast medley of regional parties and break-off factions dominated the hung Parliament. Asked to form the Government, A.B. Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime Minister, but the BJP failed to gather enough support from other parties to make a majority. Vajpayee was forced to resign after just 13 days, when it was clear there could be no majority. After a third-party coalition ruled between 1996 and 1998, the terribly divided Parliament was dissolved and fresh elections again put the BJP on the front. This time, a cohesive bloc of political parties lined up with it to form the National Democratic Alliance, and A.B. Vajpayee was sworn in as the Prime Minister, and the NDA proved its 286 vote majority in a narrow vote of confidence.

Vajpayee strode into a decisive phase of national life and history: the Congress Party, dominant over 40 years, had fallen into ignominy, and warring, corrupt and fractious regional parties threatened the very stability of the nation by continually fracturing government work. The failed third-party coalition presented two years of chaos and pure incompetence. No visible and inspiring leaders showed amidst a myriad of confusion, and a struggling economy dampened the hopes of the whole nation. With terrorism strong in Kashmir and the Northeastern states, and with the inherent national problems of poverty, illiteracy, corruption and unemployment plaguing uniformly, it was the worst period in free India's history.

A.B. Vajpayee faced several crises while heading a fractious coalition. Tamil Nadu's AIADMK party continually threatened, on one point or the other, to withdraw support from the coalition, exhausting the Government before it could take off. In a situation comic and tragic as well, national leaders had to fly down from Delhi to Chennai to pacify the AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha.

But Prime Minister Vajpayee also earned praise for strong leadership in this chaotic period.

The Janata Phase
While the Bharatiya Jana Sangh had strong constituencies of support, it failed to dislodge the Indian National Congress. Indira Gandhi's winning vast majorities in 1969 and 1971 only diminished other political parties.

In 1974 when PM Gandhi imposed a state of Emergency, the RSS and BJS joined a wide-array of parties in opposing the suspension of elections and civil liberties. Vajpayee was briefly jailed during the Indian Emergency.

When Indira Gandhi called elections in 1977, the BJS joined the Janata coalition wholeheartedly, a vast collage of regional groups, socialist, communist and right-wing forces. Janata swept the polls and formed the next government. Under Prime Minister Morarji Desai, Vajpayee took office as the Minister for External Affairs.

In a tenure lasting just 2 years, Vajpayee achieved major milestones. He went on a historic visit to China in 1979, normalizing relations with that Asian giant for the first time since the 1962 war. He also visited Pakistan and initiated normal dialogue and trade relations that were frozen since the 1971 War and political instability in both countries. This was particularly surprising for a man perceived as a hard-right Hindu nationalist at the time. Minister Vajpayee represented the nation at the International Disarmament Conference, where he defended the national nuclear program (India had become the 6th nuclear power in the world with one underground nuclear test in Pokhran in 1974), the centerpiece of national security in the Cold War world, especially as China was a nuclear power. Although he resigned in 1979 when the Government politically attacked the RSS, he had established his credentials as an experienced statesman and respectable political leader.

Pokhran, Lahore and Kargil
Prime Minister Vajpayee began his potent term of office by changing the direction of the nation completely. In May 1998, India conducted 5 absolute surprise underground nuclear weapon tests in Pokhran, Rajasthan. The 5 tests sent the desert rumbling all the way into Pakistan, and shocked and surprised the world. Two weeks later, Pakistan responded with its own nuclear testing, making it the World's newest nuclear weapons power.

It is widely speculated that the tests were planned in 1995, but Vajpayee takes credit for decisively acting on such an important issue. The first and only nuclear test India undertook was in 1974, and its nuclear ability, potential and defensive systems were unproven and undeveloped since. But Pakistan's aggressively progressing nuclear program and China's atomic and ballistic missile dominance made it essential for India to rejuvenate, modernize, expand and prepare.

The five tests took the world completely by surprise, showing not only the skill of counter-intelligence, but the leadership of PM Vajpayee, who decided to brave the worst criticism and sanctions from literally the whole world. Although nations like Russia and France endorsed India's right to defensive nuclear power, the USA, Canada, Japan, the UK and the European Union imposed sanctions on the selling of military equipment and high-tech scientific information, resources and technology to both India and Pakistan.

Although introducing the nuclear element in South Asia, PM Vajpayee's move solidified national defenses, denying Pakistan and China a major, and terrible advantage. His popularity and the BJP's prestige rose meteorically, even though the nation began braving immense criticism and a steady decline in foreign investment and trade. PM Vajpayee also advanced the ballistic missiles program of the nation, and bolstered defence modernization and spending.

PM Vajpayee also introduced many important economic and infrastructural reforms, encouraging the private sector, eradicating waste and restrictions and encouraging foreign investment, research and development and privatization of incompetent government entities. Soon in late 1998 and early 1999, Vajpayee began pushing for a full-scale diplomatic peace process with Pakistan. By visiting Lahore in with the historic inauguration of the Delhi-Lahore bus service in February 1999, Vajpayee initiated a historic new peace process to permanently resolve the Kashmir dispute and other territorial/nuclear/strategic conflicts with Pakistan. The Lahore Declaration espoused a commitment to dialogue, expanded trade relations and a goal of denuclearized South Asia, and mutual friendship. This eased much of the pressure created by the 1998 N-tests, not only between the two heavily militarized nations, but in South Asia and the world, and gave hope to hundreds of millions of Indians and Pakistanis that peace could still defeat the odds.

In May 1999 (before the Kargil War), the AIADMK finally pulled the plug on the NDA, and the Vajpayee administration was reduced to a caretaker status pending fresh elections in October. Not this, however, but another cataclysmic event, arguably the biggest challenge of Vajpayee's administration shattered this hope of a new era, when just three months later, it was revealed that thousands of terrorists and Pakistani soldiers, (albeit un-uniformed, many carried official ids and Pakistan Army custom weaponry) had infiltrated into the Kashmir Valley, capturing control of border hilltops, unmanned border posts and spreading out fast. The action was centric to the town of Kargil, but also around the Batalik and Akhnoor sectors, including firing exchanges at the Siachen Glacier.

Immediately major Army units were rushed into Kashmir. Operation Vijay, launched and fought throughout June, saw hundreds of brave soldiers fighting not only thousands of terorrists and soldiers amidst heavy artillery shelling, but extremely cold weather, snow and treacherous terrain at the highest altitude in the world. Over 500 soldiers died, and it is estimated around 600 Pakistani militants and soldiers died as well, but the hills and border posts were systematically liberated. Pakistan's army shot down two Air Force jets that were pounded the militants, and brutally killed and mutilated the body of pilot Ajay Ahuja, an act which angered literally hundreds of millions in India. But with steady Air Force support, the Army fought some absolutely heroic and legendary battles in heavy natural and military odds. The epic Battle of Tiger Hill, the most prominent and important hillpoint and post under militant contro, captured the anxiety and hope of 1 billion people as a few men climbed, charging into heavy fire but nevertheless liberating the post.

Those few hundred soldiers, the Indian Army and the Prime Minister of India were national heroes. After both the United States and China refused to condone the incursion or threaten India to stop its military operations, Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif admitted defeat and now openly asked the militants to stop and withdraw to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Pakistan was internationally exposed for this misadventure, and summarily humiliated by shady politicians and generals.

Life and Legacy, Praise and Criticism, after Elections 2004
A.B. Vajpayee's BJP and the National Democratic Alliance were expected to pick up more seats and score a major victory in the 2004 elections. The Parliament was dissolved earlier than necessary in order to capitalize on the national economic boom and improved security and cultural atmosphere.

A vigorous BJP campaign did its best to highlight the major progress achieved, and win the votes of the traditionally averse Muslims for the BJP candidates. Controversial and ideological issues were side-stepped in favor of bread-butter economic issues. But by the time the first three phases of voting were over, it was clear that the BJP was losing too many important seats to retain a formidable position in Parliament. The BJP and its flagship coalition, the NDA, lost almost half their seats in parliamentane several prominent cabinet ministers were defeated, and regional, socialist and Communist parties quickly grouped round the resurgent Indian National Congress to form a left-of-center United Progressive Alliance, which formed the government under Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

The fact that Vajpayee attended the swearing-in of the new government despite his party's decision to boycott them symbolized the growing acrimony to come. Many criticized Vajpayee for sacrificing core issues like Hindutva and the Ram Temple, and going overboard to woo Muslims (the BJP lost the Muslim vote by a heavy margin), and even moving too early to elections. The pro-Vajpayee activists accused Narendra Modi's controversial regime in Gujarat and the obstructiveness of the Hindu hard-right VHP and RSS for the defeat. A possible factor behind the defeat was the widespread disenchantment amongst hundreds of millions of farmers, labourers and workers who were on the bottom-rung of society, mired in poverty, illiteracy and debt, and yet to cash in any benefit from the boom. While the BJP pandered to the rising middle-class of the cities, India's villages and small towns rallied behind pro-poor, socialistic political forces like the Congress.

A.B. Vajpayee expressed his anger and frustration with repeated signals of resignation and retirement. But at a high-level party meeting, he decided to give up the position of the Leader of the Opposition to his long-time friend, second-in-command and successor, Lal Krishna Advani, who also became BJP President. Always a figure of consensus, Vajpayee became Chairman of the National Democratic Alliance. It is a widespread feeling with critics, journalists and many people that Vajpayee's time at the pinnacle of national politics and the BJP, and his position as the obvious BJP choice for Prime Minister is steadily fading. Vajpayee himself is taking more backseat roles and responsibilities, and his health ailments limit his ability to deal with the premier position in national life.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee's 6 years at the Prime Minister's Office led to a major transformation and expansion of the national economy. In the 1999 Kargil War, his leadership defended the country's integrity and security, while his broad-minded statesmanship in 1999, 2001 and 2004 kept the country's safety, peace and future on the high-course despite many discouraging events, failures and threats. During his 50 years as Member of Parliament, Vajpayee has established impeccable and virtually infallible credentials as a man of principle, integrity and commitment in the world of Indian politics, and as a leading visionary and statesman of the world.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee sowed the seeds and rose with the growing nationalist movement in Indian politics. For four decades he was the flag-bearer, icon and undisputed leader of the Hindu nationalist political movement, working steadily through years of defeat and desolation to foster a major national movement, broad support amongst hundreds of millions and the leadership of the World's largest democracy and most diverse nation.

Vajpayee's government is criticized over its ignorance of the issues and concerns of India's poor millions, over the famous corruption scandals, and the episodes of communal violence and rise of both Hindu and Muslim radicalism in politics. While praised for his leadership during the Kargil War and for his peace efforts with Pakistan, the Vajpayee administration is blamed for not being able to detect and prevent two serious terrorist attacks on the country, and an incursion into Indian sovereign territory.

Vajpayee led a diverse, fractious coalition to complete a full five-year term in office, be the guiding light over a collage of political chaos. He gave stability and unity when the country was the least united, and security when the country was most susceptible. This included not only the security of the borders from invasion, but of the security of 100 million families with the provision of jobs and education in a solid, hopeful economic future, and the strategic national future security.

Despite the rejection of his party in 2004, Vajpayee has retained a position of esteem and respect amongst common people seldom offered to politicians in India.

In December of 2005, Vajpayee announced his retirement, declaring that he would not participate in the next general election. At a rally in the western city of Mumbai, Vajpayee said "I will not participate in any electoral politics. There are many other leaders to take forward the work which I and other senior leaders have been doing. In a now famous statement at the BJP's silver Jubilee rally at Mumbai's historic Shivaji Park, Vajpayee announced that "from now onwards, Lal Krishna Advani and Pramod Mahajan (a BJP leader from Maharashtra, shot fatally by his own brother.) would be the Ram-Laxman (the two godly brothers much revered and worshipped by Hindus) of the BJP.

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • Spurl
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati