Dr. Abdul Kalam

Born on 15th October 1931 at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, specialized in Aeronautical Engineering from Madras Institute of Technology. Dr. Kalam made significant contribution as Project Director to develop India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully injected the Rohini satellite in the near earth orbit in July 1980 and made India an exclusive member of Space Club. He was responsible for the evolution of ISRO's launch vehicle programme, particularly the PSLV configuration. After working for two decades in ISRO and mastering launch vehicle technologies, Dr. Kalam took up the responsibility of developing Indigenous Guided Missiles at Defence Research and Development Organisation as the Chief Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). He was responsible for the development and operationalisation of AGNI and PRITHVI Missiles and for building indigenous capability in critical technologies through networking of multiple institutions. He was the Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development from July 1992 to December 1999. During this period he led to the weaponisation of strategic missile systems and the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in collaboration with Department of Atomic Energy, which made India a nuclear weapon State. He also gave thrust to self-reliance in defence systems by progressing multiple development tasks and mission projects such as Light Combat Aircraft.

As Chairman of 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 from the present developing status to a developed nation. Dr. Kalam has served as the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, in the rank of Cabinet Minister, from November 1999 to November 2001 and was responsible for evolving policies, strategies and missions for many development applications. Dr. Kalam was also the Chairman, Ex-officio, of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C) and piloted India Millennium Mission 2020.

Dr. 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. In his literary pursuit four of Dr. Kalam's books - "Wings of Fire", "India 2020 - A Vision for the New Millennium", "My journey" and "Ignited Minds - Unleashing the power within India" have become household names in India and among the Indian nationals abroad. These books have been translated in many Indian languages. Dr. Kalam is one of the most distinguished scientists of India with the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from 40 universities and institutions. He has been awarded the coveted civilian awards - Padma Bhushan (1981) and Padma Vibhushan (1990) and the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna (1997). He is a recipient of several other awards and Fellow of many professional institutions. Dr. Kalam became the 11th President of India on 25th July 2002. His focus is on transforming India into a developed nation by 2020.

By, Dr. APJ Abdulkalam

www.abdulkalam.com

Cricket will miss Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid
Born 11 January 1973 (1973-01-11) (age 38)
Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India

Not many people know that Dravid's middle name is "Sharad" but they surely know that he was one of the best middle order batsmen.

All of cricket knows that Rahul Dravid, THE WALL, is one of the classy cricket players, of both Test and ODI, in the entire world.
He has set landmarks which are not immortal but surely eternal.
Rahul Dravid has been a keeper, a batsmen, a bowler, a captain, a vice captain and also a mentor, and has played and won for India endless number of times.

Today, 9/16/2011, he has decided to move on and will be retiring from the ODIs. His contribution towards cricket will always be remembered. Farewell Wall!!!

Evacuation; Fire Drill Tommorow

"We have scheduled a Building Evacuation/Fire Drill at Towers No. 1 to train the employees on the mode of evacuation from the building safely without panic in the event of a fire/disaster. This exercise is planned for 27^th July 2011, Wednesday between 3:30 and 4:30 PM."

 

<Big Laugh> I don’t understand why the authority notifies everyone of this drill beforehand. Don’t they really want to check how the people behave in times of crisis?

I had been a part of this drill the previous year, and had seen people grabbing a cup of coffee from the coffee vending machine before actually leaving the office premises. They know they are safe, and so they don’t actually show there real reflexes.

What i feel is, if we keep this drill spontaneous, then we may get to know, how the people reacts. We may get to know real time flaws in the building, and may reduce any funnels (if any).

It’s funny how the fire authority really keeps a check on the situation. But anyways it’s better to at least get a glimpse (if not more) of the critical times <Sighhh…..>

WIN WIN SPIRIT

We have won many times, in work, in some silly debates, in play or in some arguments which could have given a well deserved output. Winning may always sound sweet to an individual or a group, but there are moments when this feeling just fade away. Often we realize that there could have been a possibility that some more content could have been added to the confrontation to make both parties satisfied. Its not at all about negotiations. It’s about presenting an optimal solution to a problem where both sides could be benefited but without affecting the actual result/output as a whole. Of course the theory may sound impractical but putting a bit of extra efforts we could do that.

One silly example which I could figure out write now is the problem of getting change ($10). We go to a vendor and buy a less value product instead of actually asking him for change. And there is it, we have two happy sides. Another example I remember which is derived from the nature itself. There is fish specie that makes sure, that when they die, there dead body is close to the baby eggs, so that the eggs get proper diet.
People often get confused between win-win model and a ‘compromise’ model. It’s not about sharing or giving away what we have, it’s about having that vital spirit which forces our senses to strive for that extra bit, not for us, but for others as well.

Super Selector or an Indian Fan?

Super Selector, is a game, which gives ordinary talents (like us) a chance to select a team of eleven players (in this case-cricket) which they think will perform the best during a particular match.
After the real time performance, the team of an indivisual is rewarded with points based on the performace of the players he/she had selected in his/her team.
This time i decided to play this game and try my luck (modest) with slight hope to be a "Super" selector.

But, here's a paradox:
Once u lock (freeze :)) your team, which may contain players of opposition team, and start viewing a match, your way of observing a match changes (trust me).

There was a match between India and SouthAfrica, and i had 4 players from each team (mind boggling scenario). Although i am a great follower of cricket and truly love my indian team, but i dont know y i started supporting players from SA. The reason was obvious. I wanted more points. But second half of my mind kept on cursing me, as y was i supporting SA or SA's players.

Now that i managed my team for more than 30 matches during ICC 2011 Cricket World Cup, i have learnt how i can master my mind and be a Super Selector and an Indian Fan all together.

Saw a UFO

6/Feb/2011

Time: 11:45 pm

We group of four people decided to go on the terrace and get some fresh air. It was not long when one of my friend pointed our attention at an unexpected spot of light near the horizon. Then the debate started as what was the light all about. One said its mercury, other said it was mars, but then our guessing domain shifted from planets to smaller things as we observed that the light started to move towards the earth, not perpendicularly but diagonally. We believed that someone was flying kite with a lantern attached to it as the light was not constant and it's intensity varied like fire, but this theory was soon rejected as the light was too far and still immensely bright. Then finally we figured out that that it could be merely a plane as the light faded just above the area which we thought was Bangalore's old airport.

The next morning our deepest of imaginations came true when over three news channels claimed that a UFO was spotted over Bangalore.

You can’t 'shop' this janta @cricket!!!

It was India V/S Australia test match, and final day began with flurry of Indian wickets…131 for 8 and another 100 odd runs required by Indian team to prevent Ricky pointing wining its first test match in India…VVS, an amazing anti ‘Australia’ dote stood on the crease with the hope that one single souls stand by him on the other end of the pitch.

There was still some work left in our drawers, and we were sure that Laxman would not get that vital partnership. We were again busy in our work but after few minutes we heard a strong roar of some office dugs, and the first thing we could relate with that was cricket…

Was India back on track? India closes the gap? India won? All the answers were on our beloved web site “cricinfo ©” which was apparently over jammed by freaky cricket fans from all around the world. But apparently we got the good news and yes, India had won.Cheers!!!