Coconut Wheeler Island, 80

  Congress party (INC), 12, 20, 134, 135

  Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), 122

  court cases, arrears of, 37-40

  Dabur, 75

  Deendayal Research Institute (DRI), 115

  Defence Institute of Work Study (DIWS), 18

  Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), 19, 70, 80

  Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), 19, 20, 22, 71, 79, 122

  Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), 20, 21

  Deshmukh, Nanaji, 112, 115

  developmental politics, 49-50

  Dhawan, Dr Satish, 18, 19, 70

  Drexler, Dr K. Eric, 84

  e-governance, 6, 29-30, 56, 74, 75, 97, 129

  e-judiciary, 38, 39

  effective treaty oversight in place, 151

  Emergency Trauma Management Programme, 147

  energy independence, 35, 45, 46, 75, 97, 99, 147, 158

  Energy Independence Bill, 54

  European Parliament, address to, 45, 98-102

  Focus Africa, 98

  Fontelles, Josep Borrell, 98

  Fukushima crisis, 146

  G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, 139

  Gandhi, Indira, 80

  Gandhi, Sonia, 12, 129

  Gatton College of Business and Economics, 139

  Global Competitiveness Index, 77

  Global Innovation Index, 77

  Gowda, H.D. Deve, 20, 22, 70, 72

  grade system, 46

  GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product), 144

  Guiding Soul, 120

  Gujral, I.K., 22, 70

  Haj pilgrimage, 62-65

  Harvard University, 84

  Hindustan Times, The, 67

  Hindustan Times–Hindustan U.P. Development Conclave, 143

  Hongkun Park, Prof., 84

  hovercraft (Nandi), 17

  ICT (Information and Communication Technology), 38, 39, 83

  IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme), 10, 79-81

  Ignited Minds, 24, 102

  IIM Ahmedabad, 139

  IIM Indore, 139

  IIT Kharagpur, 139

  Ilango, P., 89

  Imam Nurul Khuda, 14

  Immortal Hut, 120

  India 2020, 102

  India 2020 vision, 12, 22, 24, 26, 59, 139, 157

  Indian Committee for Space Research (ICSR), 17

  Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), 122

  Indian Military Academy, 107

  Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), 17, 18, 19, 77, 82

  Indiresan, P.V., 111

  Indomitable Spirit, 119

  INS Sindhurakshak, 41

  Institute of Technology Management, Mussoorie, 18

  International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 145

  Internet Courts, 39

  Jainulabdeen, Janab Avul Pakir, 59

  Jatropha curcas, 46

  Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, 74

  Jayakumar, I., 89

  Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), 131

  Kafka, Franz, 87

  Kalam, A.P.J. Abdul,

  addresses to the nation, 6, 44-47, 55

  addresses to Parliament, 33-35, 148-58

  address to parliamentarians, 48-54

  addresses to twelve state assemblies, 55

  after demitting office, 139-47

  breakfast meetings, 30-33

  career, 17-25

  decision making, 125-36

  helicopter crash, 23-24

  interactions with PMs, 70-72

  mission orientation, 25

  nuclear tests, 10, 20-21, 159

  role as president, 28

  Kalam’s schedule, 141-43

  Kalanidhi, Prof. A., 10

  Kathrada, Ahmed, 104

  Koodankulam nuclear plant, 146-47

  Kore, Tatya Saheb, 112

  Kumar, Nitish, 106

  Kumar post 40, 41

  Lal, Sunil, and Gitanjali and Nitika, 2

  Left parties, 12

  Leonard, Rev. A.G., 14

  Light Combat Aircraft, naval variant, 83

  Lincoln, Abraham, 89

  Lok Adalats, 37

  Long Walk to Freedom, 104

  Long Wheeler Island, 80

  Loni PURA, 112

  Mahajan, Pramod, 13, 14

  Mahatma Gandhi, 35, 93, 109

  Malayala Manorama, 56

  Mandela, Dr Nelson, 103-04

  Manekshaw, Field Marshal S.H.F.J. ‘Sam’, 65-67

  Manoharan, Vinod, 84

  Mansingh, Sonal, 15

  Manu Smriti, 60, 131

  Mbeki, Thabo, 99

  Mediratta, Dr Gopinath, 17

  ‘Message from Mother Earth’, 99, 100-01

  Menon, Prof. M.G.K., 17

  Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), 79

  Modi, Narendra, 93

  Moon Impact Probe, 77

  Moradabad Institute of Technology, 143

  Mughal Garden, 118-21

  Nag missile, 79

  Naidu, N. Chandrababu, 11

  Naik, 41

  Nair, P.M., 66

  Nalanda International University, 56

  nanotechnology, 83

  Narasimhan, E.S.L., 1

  Narasimhaswamy, D., 89

  Narayanan, Chitra, 118

  Narayanan, K.R., 14, 118

  Narayanan, Usha, 118

  national addresses, 6, 44-47,55

  National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), 122

  National Cooperative Development Corporation, 142

  National Democratic Alliance (NDA), 11, 12

  National Litigation Pendency Clearance Mission, 37

  National Prosperity Index (NPI), 53

  ‘Nishank’, Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal, 1

  nuclear disarmament, 159

  nuclear power plants, safety of, 146

  nuclear tests, 10, 20, 21, 159

  Nehru, Pandit Jawaharlal, 35

  Office of Profit Bill, 129-32

  Outlook magazine, 138

  Pan African e-Network, 98, 99, 141, 143

  Pan African Parliament, 99

  Pandalai, Prof. K.V., 14

  parliamentary democracy, 149

  Patel, Sardar Vallabhbhai, 35, 93

  Patnaik, Biju, 81

  Patni village, 115

  Periyar Maniammai College, 114

  Periyar PURA, 112, 114

  photonics, 83

  Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C19), 82

  Pöttering, Hans-Gert, 99

  Prakash, Admiral Arun, 41

  Prasad, Dr Rajendra, 35

  Prasad, R.K., 140

  Prasangam, 10

  Prithvi missile, 79, 80

  Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA), 25, 52, 110, 111-13, 114-17

  Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1), 82

  Rai, K.N., 22

  Rajaji (C. Rajagopalachari), 35

  Rajan, Dr Y.S., 22, 123

  Raman, Sir C.V., 103

  Ramanna, Dr Raja, 18, 19, 70

  Ramchand, K., 88

  Rameswaram, 104

  Rao, Prof. C.N.R., 74

  Rao, P.V. Narasimha, 20, 70, 71-72

  Rashtrapati Nilayam, 74, 76

  Rathore, Wing Commander Ajay, 42

  Ravi, S., 89

  Reddy, Dr Chenna, 19

  Reddy, Neelam Sanjiva, 105

  Republic Day speech, 45-46, 55

  Robben Island, 103

  Rohini satellite, 10, 18

  role as president, 28

  Rumi, 91

  Sabarmati Ashram, 94

  Salim, 41

  Salwan, Dr S.K., 80

  Samajwadi Party, 145

  Saraf, 18

  Sarabhai, Dr Vikram, 17, 93

  Saraswat, Dr V.K., 79, 80

  Sardesai, Rajdeep, 1

  Sastrigal, Pakshi Venkatasubramaniam, 14

  Sat
ish Dhawan Space Centre, 82

  Scindia, Madhav Rao, 24

  seminar on judicial reforms, 37

  Seshu, Sqn Ldr N.V., 89

  Shaju, K.P., 89

  Sharma, Pandit Shiv Kumar, 123

  Shekhawat, Bhairon Singh, 128

  Sheridon, H., 22

  Singh, Amar, 145

  Singh, Marshal of the Air Arjan, 66

  Singh, Brahma, 121-23

  Singh, Khushwant, 67-68

  Singh, Dr Manmohan, 36, 70, 72, 98, 126, 135

  skill map of U.P., 144

  Small Wheeler Island, 80, 81

  Socrates’ cave, 102

  solar energy, 46, 47

  Space Launch Vehicle (SLV-3), 10, 18, 87

  Sree Sree Sivakumara Swamigalu, 69

  Sudan, 99, 108

  Sudhir, Dr, 123, 124

  Sukhoi-30 MKI, 40, 42-43

  Supreme Court, 126-28

  Swamiji Maharaj, Pramukh, 93

  Swaminathan, Major General R., 22

  tactile garden, 122

  Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, 17

  ten pillars of development, 32

  Tiwari, Prof. Arun, 86, 120

  The 123 Agreement, 145

  TIFAC (Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council), 10

  Tipnis, Air Chief Marshal A.Y., 88

  Torni village, 110, 111

  Trishul missile, 79

  Ukraine visit, 99

  UPA (United Progressive Alliance), 145

  Ustad Bismillah Khan, 2

  Vajpayee, Atal Bihari, 11, 12, 20-21, 24, 33, 36, 70, 72, 92

  Vallam PURA, 112

  Venkataraman, Sqn Ldr P., 89

  Venkataraman, R., 19, 70

  Venkatraman, Dilip, 1

  Venkataswamy, Dr G., 14

  videoconferencing, 38

  Vijayaraghavan, Dr M.S., 22

  virtual conferences, 55

  visionary leaders, 35

  Williams, 41

  World Knowledge Platform, 97, 102

  Yadav, Akhilesh, 143

  Yadav, Lalu Prasad, 106

  Yadav, Mulayam Singh, 145-46

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Dear Friends, I am eighty years of age, and have just completed my twenty-first book – Turning Points. It all started one winter morning at my residence at 10 Rajaji Marg, New Delhi. I and H. Sheridon, my personal secretary, were going through my diaries and we found that there were seven turning points or challenges – eight if you include life after demitting the office of president – navigating which made me succeed in life.

  I am full of gratitude to the people who have poured out their love and affection to me throughout my life. As also to those who have shared their challenges and happiness with me. I would add to this number the readers of my books, two of which have reached more than a million readers, and five others have found more than a 100,000 readers. I am deeply grateful to all. Particularly, one person whom I would like to convey my heartiest gratitude to is Major General R. Swaminathan, who has been with me for more than thirty years, during all the phases of my life in many successes and a few failures. He is a friend, philosopher and guide. He played a very important role in bringing out Turning Points making sure to maintain the utmost accuracy in the details.

  The book would not have taken shape without the untiring and dedicated efforts of Dhan Shyam Sharma and Vishal Rastogi in the preparation of the manuscript. I value the fine inputs given by Narayana Moorthy and V. Ponraj. I am deeply indebted to Krishan Chopra of HarperCollins for his great contribution in reviewing the manuscript and structuring the book through his constant interaction with me and carrying out meticulous editing. I also thank Rajinder Ganju, who went out of his way in typesetting the whole manuscript in a very short time to help take the book through to press.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  AVUL PAKIR JAINULABDEEN ABDUL KALAM was the eleventh President of India, from 2002 to 2007. He is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, the Padma Vibhushan and the nation’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.

  Born in 1931 in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Dr Kalam studied aeronautical engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology. He played a key role in the development of India’s first satellite launch vehicle, the SLV-3, which launched the Rohini satellite in 1980 to take India into the space club; in the building and operationalization of India’s strategic missile systems; and in the 1998 nuclear tests. As chairman of the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) and as an eminent scientist, he led the country with the help of 500 experts to arrive at Technology Vision 2020 giving a road map for transforming India into a developed nation.

  As an elder statesman, he remains in the public eye for his role in offering counsel, reaching out to people and building bridges across religious and social divides. Dr Kalam’s focus stays on transforming India into a developed nation by 2020 and to this end he continues to follow a rigorous schedule that has him travelling across the country for his teaching assignments at IITs and IIMs, to address conferences and to meet students and people from all walks of life.

  The Family and the Nation with Acharya Mahapragya

  First published in India in 2011 by

  HarperCollins Publishers India

  a joint venture with

  The India Today Group

  Copyright © A.P.J. Abdul Kalam 2012

  ISBN: 978-93-5029-347-8

  Epub Edition © June 2012 ISBN: 9789350295434

  4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3

  A.P.J. Abdul Kalam asserts the moral right to be identified

  as the author of this work.

  The views and opinions expressed in this book are the author’s own and the facts are as reported by him, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same.

  All rights reserved under The Copyright Act, 1957. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers India.

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  A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Turning Points: A Journey Through Challenges

 


 

 
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