President K R Narayanan's successor, Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was sworn in as India's 11th President on July 25, 2002.
Dubbed the 'missile man' for his work on the country's Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme and missiles like Agni and Prithvi, Kalam is perhaps the most popular President in recent times, if not ever.
Born on October 15, 1931 at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, he specialised in aero-engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology. He initially worked at the Defence Research and Development Organisation and joined the Indian Space Research Organisation in 1963.
Kalam made significant contribution to ISRO's satellite and launch vehicles and also in DRDO's missile programme. As project director, SLV-III, he contributed to the design, development and management of India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) to inject the Rohini satellite in near earth orbit.
He was responsible for the evolution of ISRO's launch vehicles programme and configurations. He rejoined DRDO in 1982 and conceived the IGMDP for indigenous missiles. He was scientific adviser to the defence minister and secretary, department of defence research & development from July 1992 to December 1999.
Kalam also served as the principal scientific adviser to the Government of India, in the rank of Cabinet minister, from November 1999 to November 2001. He was primarily responsible for evolving policies, strategies and missions for generation of innovations and support systems for multiple applications.
He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1981, Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and Bharat Ratna in 1997.
Top: February 17, 2003. President A P J Abdul Kalam, accompanied by Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Dr Yogendra Narain, secretary-general, Rajya Sabha, and G C Malhotra, secretary-general, Lok Sabha.
June 7, 2004. President A P J Abdul Kalam, accompanied by Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Photograph: Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty
Also see: Return of the Reformer