A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as president of India from 2002 to 2007.
[1] Born in Rameswaram in Southern India, Kalam spent four decades as a scientist and science administrator, mainly at the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Indian Space Research Organisation and was intimately involved in India's civilian space programme and military missile development efforts.
[4][5] He also played a pivotal organisational, technical, and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998.
[11][12] He was a recipient of several awards, including the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.
[15] In 2015, the Government of Tamil Nadu announced that Kalam's birthday would be observed as "Youth Renaissance Day".