Page 139 - DENG104_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_I

Elective English–I

Notes Four Milestones in Dr. Kalam’s Career

Dr.Kalam says that being the project director for India’s first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3,
was the first milestone in his career. Second was when Agni met its mission requirements in
1994. Third came the partnership between DRDO and the Dept of Atomic Energy. Removing
the pain of little boys and girls in hospital, by replacing heavy metallic callipers weighing over
three kg each with 300-gram callipers, was the fourth bliss or milestone of his career.

Did u know? Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam
• Born in the island town of Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu on October 15,
1931.
• Became the 11th President of India, serving from 2002—2007 and was
popularly known as the People’s President.
• Spent most of his childhood in financial problems and worked at an
early age to supplement his family’s income.
• Was the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and the Secretary
of Defence Research and Development Organisation from July 1992 to
December 1999.
• Project Director for (SLV-II) and Chief Executive of the Integrated Guided
Missile Development Program (I.G.M.D.P).
• Patronised grassroots innovations.
• Closely associated with the Honey Bee Network and The National Innovation
Foundation.
• An iconic and inspirational figure among the masses, he is immensely
loved and adored by the children of India.
• His clean image and ability to inspire the youths in India made him the
Bharat Ka Paryavaran Ambassador.
• The first Asian to be bestowed upon with Hoover Medal, America’s top
engineering prize, for outstanding contribution to public service on April
29, 2009.
• Was honoured with the nation’s highest civilian honours: the Padma
Bhushan in1981, the Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and the Bharat Ratna in
1997 for his work with ISRO and DRDO and his role as a scientific
advisor to the Indian government.

The Media’s Obsession with Bad News, Failures and Disasters

Dr.Kalam wonders how the media in India could be so negative. Giving the example of
Dr.Sudarshan, who has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit,
Dr.Kalam says that there are millions of such achievements in India but our media is only
obsessed with only the bad news and failures and disasters.
In Tel Aviv, where gory killings, deaths and bombardments take place every now and then,
the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had
transformed his desert land into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that
everyone woke up to.

134 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY