Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com, who is in Rameswaram to attend the funeral of former President A P J Abdul Kalam, has sent this photograph:

Convicted spy for Israel Jonathan Pollard has been granted parole and will be released from an American jail on Nov. 21, his lawyer announced Tuesday.

According to media reports, a three-storeyed building has collapsed in Thane district in Maharashtra. Many persons are said to be trapped in the rubble. 

According to reports, A major cyclone has hit Kandla in Kutch, Gujarat. Extremely heavy widespread rain has been recorded over most parts of Gujarat. After remaining almost dry and rain deficit for about 20 days in the month of July, heavy Monsoon showers have finally made an entrance in many pockets in the state.

Cecil the lion '" the most famous creature in one of Zimbabwe's national parks '" was killed by an American hunter who has boasted about shooting a menagerie of animals with his bow and arrow, The Telegraph can reveal.

"Kindly accept deepest condolences on sad passing away of the former President of India, Dr Abdul Kalam," the Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

The government of Tamil Nadu has declared July 30 a state holiday as a mark of respect for late former president A P J Abdul Kalam.

The former president, popularly known as India's 'missile man' passed away on July 27 in Shillong.

As the family of former President APJ Abdul Kalam waits for the former's mortal remains to be brought to his home in Rameswaram, Kalam's elder brother Mohammed Muthu Meera Lebbai Maraicker said that his brother's loss was too great for him. This is a big loss for me. I don't know if I will be able to sleep. I will always have his thoughts with me," said the distraught brother. 

Fondly recalling former President A P J Abdul Kalam's two memorable visits to China to interact with students, the Chinese academic community paid rich tributes to India's 'missile man' saying he was not simply a scientist of India but of the entire world.  "Kalam's death made us feel very very sad. We will remember him forever with tears in our eyes," said Professor Jiang Jingkui, who heads the Centre for South Asian Studies in Peking University which honoured Kalam as visiting professor. 

A lesson on the life of late former President APJ Abdul Kalam will be taught in schools across Madhya Pradesh in a bid to make students ideal citizens in their life, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in Bhopal. "A lesson on Dr Kalam's life will be taught in schools," Chouhan told reporters at airstrip in Bhopal. Chouhan said that teaching children about Dr Kalam's life inspire them in achieving their goal and make them ideal citizens.

JUST IN: According to reports, Jyoti Punwani (Rediff contributor), lawyers Susan Abraham, Maharukh Adenwalla, &others for protesting against Yakub Memon's penalty. 

The 340-room Raisina Hill marvel Rashtrapati Bhavan had been the abode of the humble missile man APJ Abdul Kalam for five years during which he left an indelible impression on the staff with his caring and affable nature and a preference for simple lifestyle. The post is known for strict protocols which are adhered to by the staff of Rashtrapati Bhavan with hardly any direct interaction with the President unless the Supreme Commander wants to have one.

But Kalam was different.


"I was posted in the household section when Dr Kalam asked me to connect a call to someone. Normally, secretaries call us to connect calls. I could not hear the name. I thought it would not be proper to check with the President. So I called his secretary Harry Sheridon to know the name.


"Once the call was over, he called me over the phone and said gently that 'if you do not understand what I say then call me again to clarify'," J K Saha, who has been working at the President's Estate for last 18 years, said.


Saha says he never made anyone feel that there was any difference between him and other people working at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.


Kalam specially loved to interact with children and would patiently hear them out. "His interactions with children continued till the last child was able to meet him, however late it may get," he said.


"During his five-year stay in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, his family visited him only once to see the place," D K Sahoo, who has served 19 years in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, said when asked about the visits of his family.


Salim Ahmed, a butler at the the President's residence for last 31 years who used to handle Kalam's food, says the former President relished south Indian food but never once made any request for a specific dish to be prepared. "He would never complain about the food. There were times when the salt in the dishes was on the higher side but he never complained. If there was a third dish prepared for him, he would ask whether there was any festival. He never asked us to prepare any particular dish," Ahmed said.

A recent photograph of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon whose life hangs by a thread. Pic courtesy: ABP News. 

Abdul Kalam in 1989 after the successful launch of Agni Missile. 

A special aircraft carrying the mortal remains of late President APJ Abdul Kalam will leave for Madurai at 7.45 am tomorrow from Palam. The body will reach Rameswaram by an IAF helicopter from Madurai tomorrow afternoon. At Rameswaram, the mortal remains of the late President will lie in state till 7 pm for public to pay homage. The funeral will take place on July 30 at 11 am.

Meanwhile, Yakub Memon's lawyer approaches the CJI and apprises him of the split order.

Family members of APJ Kalam and his brother, who is 99. It was at his brother's insistence that Kalam is being laid to rest in Rameswaram.  Dr Kalam's last rites will be held at Rameswaram on Thursday, July 30.


The body is expected to reach Rameswaram by tomorrow noon and the funeral will be held in Rameswaram, District Collector K Nandhakumar said.


Nandhakumar said chief ministers of six states are expected to participate in Kalam's funeral on Thursday. Kalam's body will lie in state till evening so that people can pay homage, after which his body will be taken to his house. The last rites will be on  Thursday.

Amul's take on Dr Kalam.

Tje Kerala State Women's Development Corporation, under the state Social Justice Department, has decided to work on August 2, a Sunday, as a mark of respect to former President A P J Abdul Kalam, who passed away last night.

A direct fallout of Shashi Tharoor's outstanding speech.


British Indian MP Keith Vaz today called for the world-famous 'Koh-i-Noor' diamond to be returned to India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's UK visit in November.


Vaz's comments came in response to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's recent stirring speech at the Oxford Union calling for Britain to pay reparations to India for 200 years of its brutal colonial rule.


"I welcome Dr Tharoor's speech and the endorsement of its message by Prime Minister Modi. I share their views. These are genuine grievances which must be addressed.


"Pursuing monetary reparations is complex, time consuming and potentially fruitless, but there is no excuse for not returning precious items such as the Koh-i-Noor diamond, a campaign I have backed for many years," said Vaz, the longest serving British MP of Asian descent.


Modi is due to arrive in the UK in November, and Prime Minister David Cameron has gone out of his way to maintain a strong bilateral relationship. "What a wonderful moment it would be, if and when Prime Minister Modi finishes his visit, which is much overdue, he returns to India with the promise of the diamond's return," Vaz said.


The Koh-i-Noor was mined in medieval times in the Kollur Mine in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district. At one time it was considered the largest diamond in the world. The diamond was originally owned by the Kakatiya dynasty, which had installed it in a temple of a Hindu goddess as her eye. It passed through the hands of various invaders and was finally confiscated by the British during the Raj. Today the diamond is a part of the Crown of Queen Elizabeth II. But till now Britain has refused demands to return the diamond to its country of origin.

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has sentenced five religious zealots to five years in jail for attacking civil society members during a candlelight vigil on the death anniversary of former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, who was gunned by his guard for supporting changes in the controversial blasphemy law.

In other news, a video that shows the Gurdaspur terrorists in army fatigues.


NDTV reports that just before they unleashed a massive attack in Punjab, the trio of men who would burst, with automatic weapons blazing, into a police station near the border with Pakistan, were captured on a security camera placed at Taragarh intersection just before they entered the town of Dinanagar.  


The footage shows the three men, wearing army fatigues, walking down the road at 4.55 am, AK47s in hand.  


Minutes later they tried unsuccessfully to snatch a tempo from its driver, killing a dhaba owner in the process. Next, they opened fire on a bus, injuring six passengers. 


A man heading to buy vegetables in his Maruti became their next target.  After taking a bullet in the shoulder, Kamaljit Singh crashed his car into a wall. 


The terrorists, he said, pulled him out of the car, shoved him onto the road, and drove away.  


After storming into a police station complex, they fought security forces for 12 hours, till they were killed. 


Police sources have said Chinese-made grenades were recovered from them, along with GPS devices that show the location of the police station had been programmed or entered into the system -it had been listed as a target in advance.

Iconic cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was among a host of dignitaries, who paid homage to late former President APJ Abdul Kalam at his residence  today. Kalam, aged 83, passed away yesterday in Shillong where he had gone to deliver a lecture to IIM students.


Kalam's mortal remains were flown to Delhi and have been kept at his Rajaji Marg residence where political bigwigs and commoners paid their last respects to the departed soul.


"The nation mourns the loss of a great person. Former President of India, a renowned scientist, an inspiration to all, a terrific human being..RIP Abdul Kalam," Tendulkar had tweeted.

Alright, here you go.

The government has announced that the state funeral of former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam will be held with full military honours on July 30, 2015 (Thursday) at 11 am at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.

Some confusion here. Home minister Rajnath Singh now says that the state funeral of APJ Abdul Kalam will be held with full military honours tomorrow at 11 am at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.

Earlier reports said that Kalam's funeral would on Thursday, postponed by a day from Wednesday. 

As the gates of former President APJ Kalam's home in New Delhi open to the public, people queue up to pay their respects to a man who was easily India's most respected, most loved president. Dr Kalam's last rites will be held at Rameswaram on Thursday, July 30, instead of tomorrow as announced earlier.


The body is expected to reach Rameswaram by tomorrow noon and the funeral will be held in Rameswaram, District Collector K Nandhakumar said. Nandhakumar said chief ministers of six states are expected to participate in Kalam's funeral on Thursday.


Kalam's body will lie in state till evening so that people can pay homage, after which his body will be taken to his house. The last rites will be on  Thursday.

The Samajwadi Party today said it will ask Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to name the 35-km long coastal road, that will connect the island city with Kandivali in North Mumbai, after former President late APJ Abdul Kalam. SP MLA Abu Azmi told reporters outside Vidhan Bhawan that he will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also Fadnavis, with a request to name the ambitious project after Kalam. "Kalam was a great person and naming the coastal road after him would be a befitting tribute," Azmi said.


Azmi's demand came three weeks after a Shiv Sena MLA wrote to the chief minister demanding that the road be named after late Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.


"Balasaheb Thackeray had a stature that has got Maharashtra not only national but international repute. Thus, I have demanded that this coastal road, which will be a one of kind project, be named after Balasaheb," Sena MLA Sunil Prabhu had said.

Amid debate over whether Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon should be hanged, late A P J Abdul Kalam had supported abolition of capital punishment saying that as President of India, he felt pain in deciding on such cases as most of them had "social and economic bias".


Kalam had recently responded to a Law Commission consultation paper on capital punishment and was one of the few people who had supported abolition of death sentence. Most


of the over 400 respondents had supported continuing with the provision of death penalty. In his response to the paper, Kalam had said capital punishment was one of the most difficult tasks for him as President.


A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court today delivered a split verdict on a plea by Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, the lone death convict in 1993 Mumbai blasts case, seeking stay of his scheduled execution on July 30 and referred the matter to the Chief Justice to take call on it.

"Choosing the Greatest Indian After Gandhi is difficult when the present exerts such a strong pull over our view of the past and there is a wide variation between how the greatness of an individual is assessed by the aam aadmi and by the expert, says Ramachandra Guha. Collating the votes, a final list of 10 was arrived at, which, in alphabetical order read: BR Ambedkar; Indira Gandhi; APJ Abdul Kalam; Lata Mangeshkar; Jawaharlal Nehru; Vallabhbhai Patel; JRD Tata; Sachin Tendulkar; Mother Teresa; AB Vajpayee.

Read  historian Ramchandra Guha's 2012 piece.

"With awesome foresight, planning and some unconventional organisational skills, Kalam transformed moribund defence research establishments into institutes of high performance and quality that function with missionary zeal.


"With his spartan lifestyle and total dedication to the programme, Kalam continues to inspire his team. Even today he occupies only two small rooms in an official guest-house in New Delhi refusing the large government quarters he is entitled to as secretary to a Union Ministry. His rooms are littered with books ranging from pulp fiction to Chinese philosophy. A veena, which he has just begun learning to play, lies covered in a corner."


India Today's Raj Chengappa's 1994 piece on the Missile Man. Read

The son of deposed Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi has been sentenced to death for alleged war crimes. A court in Tripoli passed the sentence today in absentia after finding him guilty of orchestrating a campaign of murder, torture and the bombardment of civilians during the 2011 Arab Spring.

School children bid farewell to the late President APJ Abdul Kalam as the gun carriage passes by in New Delhi. The picture was tweeted by MoD.

Clockwise from top left: President Pranab Mukherjee, PM Narendra Modi, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Marshal Arjan Singh, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Defence minister Manohar Parrikar pay homage to Dr Kalam.

Click on the picture for a larger image.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has declared a seven-day state mourning while the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not observe its foundation day today as a mark of respect to former President APJ Abdul Kalam, who passed away last evening.


"A seven-day official mourning will be observed in the state. A notification to this effect has been issued," an official spokesman said. He added that the national flag and the state flag hoisted atop various government buildings would fly at half mast during the mourning period. "There will be no state celebrations during the period," he added.

This 96-year-old made it a point to pay his respects to former President APJ Kalam at Palam airport this morning. As Dr Kalam's body reached New Delhi from Guwahati, Arjan Singh, a Marshal of the Indian Air Force, walked up to Dr Kalam's tri-colour wrapped body and said his final goodbye. 


The Marshal, is the only officer of the Indian Air Force to be promoted to five-star rank.

 
Arjan Singh, who was born in 1919, led the no 1 Squadron of the Indian Air Force into command during the Arakan Campaign in 1944. He received Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) award in 1944. He also commanded the IAF Exhibition Flight in 1945.


Arjan Singh was awarded the Padma Vibhushan for his leadership  of the Air Force, and subsequently in recognition of the Air Force's contribution in the war, the rank of the CAS was upgraded to that of Air Chief Marshal following which Arjan Singh became the first Air Chief Marshal of the Indian Air Force.


He retired in August 1969, thereupon accepting ambassadorship to Switzerland. He remained a flyer to the end of his tenure in the IAF, visiting forward squadrons and units and flying with them. Arjan Singh remains a source of inspiration to a generation of Indians and officers.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin says controversial Fifa president Sepp Blatter deserves Nobel Prize. Read 

PM Modi lays a wreath at Dr Kalam's cortege. All three chiefs of staff in the room along with Vice President Hamid Ansari at the former president's residence in New Delhi.

Home minister Rajnath Singh lays a wreath as well. Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur paid their respects as well. 

LK Advani pays his respects to Dr Kalam. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi also stopped by to lay a wreath at Dr Kalam's residence where his body is lying in state. 

Read from our selection of columns, reports, stories on APJ Abdul Kalam. 

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court today delivered a split verdict on a plea by Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, the lone death convict in 1993 Mumbai blasts case, seeking stay of his scheduled execution on July 30 and referred the matter to the Chief Justice to take call on it.


While Justice A R Dave dismissed his plea, Justice Kurian Joseph stayed the death warrant issued on April 30 for his execution on July 30. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and other senior advocates, including Raju Ramachandran, appearing for Memon, said that since the two judges have differed on staying the death warrant, "there will be no order in law if one judge has stayed it and the other has not".


The bench referred the matter to Chief Justice of India H L Dattu to take an urgent call at 4 pm in view of the divergence of opinion on the issue of death warrant.


The bench also requested the Chief Justice to constitute an appropriate bench and list the matter for hearing tomorrow.


Justice Dave dismissed the petition filed by Memon and said it will be open for the Maharashtra Governor to dispose of his mercy plea before the scheduled date of execution of death warrant.


While rejecting the petition in which Memon has contended that the correct procedure was not adopted in deciding his curative petition on July 21, Justice Dave disagreed with Justice Kurian on the issue of staying death warrant issued by the TADA court in Mumbai on April 30.


"Sorry, I will not like to be part of staying the death warant. Let CJI decide," Justice Dave said and quoted a couplet from Manu Smriti relevant to the issue.


Justice Kurian said he is expressing his inability to agree with Justice Dave as there is a "procedural violation" in deciding the curative petition filed by Memon. Justice Kurian said once it is found that the procedure established under law is not followed while dealing with the curative petition, that too when the life of a person is concerned, and there is error apparent on the face that the mandatory process has not been followed, then such defects need to be cured.


While holding that Memon's curative petition is required to be heard afresh, Justice Kurian referred to the order dismissing his curative petition, saying, "The curative petition itself was not decided in accordance with the rules laid down by this court. That defect needs to be cured otherwise there will be a clear violation of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution." Justice Kurian said the technicalities involved in dealing with the matter should not stand in the way of justice being done to a person as this court under the Constitution is for the protection of life of a person.


He said, "The technicalities should not stand in the way as the law is for common man and also law is not helpless and this court should not be rendered powerless." He noted that Article 21 deals with the right to life of a person and same shall be deprived only in accordance with the procedure adopted by law. "It has been noticed that the procedure by law was not followed in this case while depriving the right to life of a person," he said.

In other news, the family of police officer Baljit Singh, who was killed fighting terrorists in Dinanagar, on Tuesday refused to cremate him till the state government hands over appointment letters of SP rank to his son and post of tehsildar to his daughters.


Kulwant Kaur, wife of the slain SP (Detective), said the family had suffered a lot at the time of the death of her father-in-law, police inspector Achhar Singh, to get appointment for her husband and he had to wait for two years to get the job.


Baljit Singh was a son of a policeman, who too was killed by militants during the height of militancy in Punjab in 1984. Kaur also charged that the state government did not provide sophisticated weapons to the police force for fighting militants. 

In photos: Remembering the People's President. Take a look.

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam's mortal remains reach his New Delhi residence. After the VIP visits, the public can pay their respects after 4 pm. Dr Kalam's funeral is tomorrow at Rameswaram. Stay with us for live updates from Rameswaram tomorrow.

Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma just learnt the importance of Google the hard way.


As the world mourned former President APJ Kalam's death, Anushka, much like everyone else, tweeted her condolences, but unlike everyone else, made a major boo boo.

She tweeted:  Very sad to hear about the passing of ABJ kalam Azad. Loss of an inspiring visionary and a wonderful soul. May his soul RIP.


Twitteratti tore into her for getting the name wrong. So Anushka deleted the tweet and made posted another message where she got the name wrong again. "Praying for the soul of 'APJ Kalam Azad", the tweet said.


That's when Google probably helped and she got the name right. "Very sad to hear about the passing of APJ Abdul Kalam . Loss of an inspiring visionary and a wonderful soul. May his soul RIP", the tweet read.


Click on the picture for a larger image.

Amitabh Bachchan today mourned the sudden death of former President APJ Abdul Kalam, calling him as a simple man who was endearing to all. Kalam, who would have turned 84 in October, died after suffering a massive cardiac arrest during a lecture at the IIM Shillong yesterday.


"Our former President of India passes away suddenly .. was delivering a lecture at an IIM, in Shillong and collapsed .. sudden end to an iconic figure...," Bachchan wrote on his blog.


The 72-year-old actor said Kalam put India on the world map in science, missile technology and space research facilities. "A simple man, of childlike demeanour, practical, caring and endearing to all .. my only achievement of contact with him - a telephone conversation just before he was announced to be the next President of India !! India is grieved," Bachchan wrote.

"He was one of us. He was a perfect Indian. He breathed India, he wore India's core values. His faith was India. We will miss you sir," says Tarun Vijay, MP. Read

Former President A P J Abdul Kalam had called up his family from Shillong a day before his death to enquire about the health of his 99-year-old brother, Mohd. Muthu Meera Lebbai Maraicker.


Kalam's grand nephew Saleem said that Kalam had called the family members on July 26th evening and enquired about the health of his brother and others. He had also stated that it was very cold in Shillong, where he breathed his last yesterday.


The late President's last rites will be performed here as per the wishes of his close relatives and the general public in the island city. "It is the wish of not only our family, but the entire people of this island that his body should be brought and buried here," Saleem told reporters.


District officials were, meanwhile, inspecting a site near a mosque, adjacent to the Railway station for burying the former President. His cousin Kasim Mohammed said a memorial should be built for him in Rameswaram.


All the shops in Rameswaram island remained closed as a mark of respect for the great leader. Fishermen also decided not to go to the sea for the next three days to mourn his death.

Although former President A P J Abdul Kalam is no more, his Twitter account will continue to be active in a new form. A team of his close associates has decided to run his official Twitter account which has now been renamed as 'In memory of Dr Kalam'.


"Dedicated 2 immortal memories of Dr Kalam. this account wil nw reflect his thoughts, his lessons & missions. Miss you sir! (sic)," Kalam's close aide Srijan Pal Singh said in a tweet. Singh would now act as the administrator of his Twitter account and will keep sharing inspirational quotes from an innumerable number of speeches made by Kalam and his books like 'Wings of Fire', 'India 2020' and 'Ignited Minds'.


Another book 'Advantage India', co-authored by Kalam and Singh, is due to release later the year. Since February 2011, Kalam had been regularly posting his views on contemporary issues facing the country besides sending out inspirational messages on Twitter.


He had more than 1.4 million followers on Twitter which is now flooded with his one-liners. Hashtag 'KalamSir' has been trending on Twitter in India since last night.


Pic: Dr Kalam's school in Rameswaram

Dr Kalam's home in Rameswaram. His father, a humble boat owner, Jainulabdeen, was a devout Muslim and a close friend of the Rameswaran temple priest.

Kalam was brought up in a multi-religious, tolerant society; one with a progressive outlook.

His father often quoted from the Quran to make the young Kalam see the world without fear.

He had seven siblings, and a doting mother who, at times, made chappatis for Kalam, while the others were given rice as Kalam's day would start at four in the morning and end at 11 pm.

His father wasn't educated, but he wanted Kalam to study.

Kalam would get up at 4 am, bathe, and then go for his mathematics class, which was taught by a teacher who took only five students in the whole session; and bathing before class was a condition he had laid to all his students.

After his morning class, Kalam along with his cousin Samsuddin went around town distributing the newspaper.

As the town had no electricity, kerosene lamps were lit at his home between 7 pm and 9 pm. But because Kalam studied until 11, his mother would save some for him for later use.

Dr Suniti Solomon, whose team was the first to document evidence of HIV infection in India in 1986, died at her residence in Chennai on Tuesday morning.

The casket bearing former President APJ Kalam's body is now being loaded on a gun carriage. A glass cover is placed on the coffin. Mortal remains of Dr Kalam are now being taken to his residence at 10 Rajaji Marg in a gun carriage. After the formal ceremonies are over, public can pay their homage after 4 pm. 

Vice President Hamid Ansari pays his last respects to late former President Dr Kalam. The Last Post was played in honour of the former Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces APJ Abdul Kalam.

PM Modi has a brief one-on-one with Defence minister Parrikar and President Mukherjee.

Way to go, Andhra Pradesh.  In honour of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Andhra Pradesh govt will work an extra hour today. Earlier today, the Telangana govt had announced a holiday.

President of India Pranab Mukherjee pays homage to late former President APJ Abdul Kalam.

PM Modi, President Mukherjee pay tributes as the haunting Last Post plays. 

Delhi Lt governor Najeeb Jung, defence minister Manohar Parrikar pay homage.

The tricolour draped casket carrying former president Dr APJ Kalam's body carried by armed services personnel is placed on the flower-bedecked pedestal at the airport runway.

Delhi police chief BS Bassi pays his tribute. Army chief Dalbir Singh lays a wreath at the casket.

President Mukhrjee, PM Modi yet to arrive.

The casket bearing Dr Kalam's body is now being carried out from the aircraft. 

Guard of honour by all three service chiefs shortly. The PM is likely to be there by 12:30 pm. If President Pranab Mukherjee is at the airport if we go by unconfirmed media reports, he will receive the body first since he is the supreme commander of the armed forces.

IAF flight with Dr Kalam's mortal remains lands in Delhi. Reports say that President Pranab Mukherjee is also likely to be at the airport to receive the casket. PM Modi, HM Rajnath Singh will also be there.

The chiefs of staff (Army chief Dalbir Singh in picture) at the airport.

Often Dr Kalam would ask me, "You are young, decide what will like to be remembered for?" I kept thinking of new impressive answers, till one day I gave up and resorted to tit-for-tat. I asked him back, "First you tell me, what will you like to be remembered for? President, Scientist, Writer, Missile man, India 2020, Target 3 billion... What?"


I thought I had made the question easier by giving options, but he sprang on me a surprise. "Teacher," he said.


Then something he said two weeks back when we were discussing about his missile time friends. He said, "Children need to take care of their parents. It is sad that sometimes this is not happening."


He paused and said, "Two things. Elders must also do. Never leave wealth at your deathbed -- that leaves a fighting family. Second, one is blessed is one can die working, standing tall without any long drawn ailing. Goodbyes should be short, really short."


Today, I look back -- he took the final journey, teaching, what he always wanted to be remembered doing. And, till his final moment he was standing, working and lecturing. He left us, as a great teacher, standing tall. He leaves the world with nothing accumulated in his account but loads of wishes and love of people. He was successful, even in the end. Srijan Pal Singh, advisor to President A P J Abdul Kalam, recalls his final journey to IIM-Shillong.

Read

Read the complete coverage on Dr Kalam on Rediff.com right here.

The IAF flight with former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam's mortal remains to land in Delhi shortly. PM Narendra Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh will be at Palam airport to receive the body which is being flown in from Guwahati.

A young Abdul Kalam with Dr Vikram Sarabhai, who the father of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). 

Lok Sabha to meet on July 30 to enable members attend Dr Kalam's funeral tomorrow; Rajya Sabha will have its sitting tomorrow. The funeral to take place in Rameswaram, which is where he was born and brought up. 

Change of timing: The public can pay homage to late President APJ Abdul Kalam at 10 Rajaji Marg from 4 pm onwards, not 3 pm as announced earlier by the ministry of defence. 

Dr APJ Kalam's mortal remains at the Guwahati airport. The casket will be flown to Palam airport Delhi from where it will be taken to his 10 Rajaji Marg residence. The government has announced a 7-day national mourning, but not a national holiday. The tricolour will be flown at half-mast for all seven days. An IAF flight bringing the mortal remains of APJ Abdul Kalam departed Guwahati and is scheduled to arrive at Palam, at around 12.30 pm.

The very erudite Dr Shashi Tharoor defines Dr Kalam as a man who embodied the eclecticism of India's heritage.

Both Houses of Parliament adjourned for the day after paying glowing tributes to former President A P J Abdul Kalam.

BJP Parliamentary Party passes two resolutions condoling the death of former President APJ Abdul Kalam and the loss of lives in the Gurdaspur terror attack.

Lok Sabha has been adjourned till July 30 so that members can attend the funeral. But there is still no clarity on when the funeral will be.

Dr Kalam is survived by his elder brother, who is at least 90. And it is at the behest of the family that he is being cremated in Rameswaram which is where he was born.

Working late?

Read Dr Kalam's advice on keeping late hours in office. Click on the picture for a larger image.

Former President A P J Abdul Kalam's last rites to take place at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu at the request of his family members: Govt sources.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan pays tribute to Dr Kalam in Parliament as does Rajya Sabha chairperson.

A brief class by his teacher on the Rameswaram seashore on how birds fly and the locomotive force behind their flight gave former President A P J Abdul Kalam his aim in life and helped him in understanding physics better. Read

PM Modi likely to pay respects to APJ Kalam at the former president's Delhi home at 10 Rajaji Marg. There will be a tri-services guard of honour at Palam airport in Delhi. The casket containing the mortal remains of Kalam will be taken from Palam airport to the 10 Rajaji Marg residence in a gun carriage. That is where the public can pay homage to the former president from 3 pm onwards.

"Let us celebrate the fact of his having lived amongst us, and our having lived in his time." B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant, remembers President Kalam. Read

Working tirelessly even on his last day, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam had planned a surprise assignment for the students of IIM Shillong on finding innovative ways to end disruption in Parliament.


Kalam's close aide Srijan Pal Singh, who was with him on his last day, said while travelling from Delhi to Shillong they were discussing about disruptions in Parliament.


"He was very worried and said he had seen the tenures of many governments but disruption keeps on happening every time. He had told me to prepare a surprise assignment question for the students which would be given to them at the end of the lecture," Singh, who co-authored two books with Kalam, told PTI from Shillong.


He said the former President wanted students to come up with three innovative ideas to make Parliament more productive and vibrant.


"We had also decided to include this topic of disruptions in Parliament into our next book 'Advantage India' which would be released in September-October. I'll do that now before the book comes into the market," the IIM Ahmedabad alumnus said.


When asked about Kalam's last wish, he said Kalam always wanted a billion smiles on a billion faces in the country. "He wanted rural India to develop and also he kept on talking about youth empowerment. Now his ideas are more alive as the man who was leading it from the front is no more," he said.


The only regret the 'Missile Man' had in his life was not being able to provide facilities like 24-hour electricity to his parents during their lifetime "That is I think one regret he always had in his life," Singh said.

Union Cabinet passes two separate resolutions condoling the death of former President APJ Abdul Kalam and the loss of lives in Gurdaspur terror attack.

The casket containing the mortal remains of Kalam will be taken from Palam airport in Delhi to his residence at 10 Rajaji Marg in a gun carriage.

Sitanshu Kar '@SpokespersonMoD has tweeted saying that the public can pay homage to the late President #APJAbdulKalam from 3 pm onwards at 10 Rajaji Marg, New Delhi. 

Calling it a nation's "loss of a visionary", BJP today paid glowing tributes to former President A P J Abdul Kalam with party chief Amit Shah describing him as the "best exemplar" of the idea of India. Shah said Kalam was a "rare combination" of science, education and morality and his personality and achievements will inspire the coming generations. 

Government has announced a seven-day state mourning in honour of former President APJ Abdul Kalam, however there will be no holiday. 

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal calls off meeting with Pak envoy after terror attack in Gurdaspur.

Union Cabinet is to hold a special meeting in New Delhi to condole the former President's death. The date, place and time of his funeral would also be decided. 

The body of former President APJ Abdul Kalam, who died in Shillong last evening, was carried to Delhi early this morning by a special aircraft from Guwahati.     

A powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked the eastern Indonesian province of Papua today, US seismologists said, causing panicked people to run out of their homes. No tsunami warning was issued after the quake, which struck inland, and Indonesia's national disaster agency said there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. 

ritish terrorist "Jihadi John' has reportedly left the Islamic State group, fearing for his life after being identified six months earlier as a Kuwaiti-born Londoner from a well-to-do family.

Tamil Nadu government has declared a seven-day state mourning from July 27-August 2, both days inclusive, as a mark of respect to former President A P J Abdul Kalam.

Pakistan today condoled the death of former president APJ Abdul Kalam, saying he would be remembered for his meritorious services.

Preliminary investigations into the Gurdaspur terror strike indicate that the three suspected Lashker-e-Tayiba militants had entered the country through Bamiyal village in Pathankot, located close to the international border.

Journalist Rasheed Kidwai on Kalam: When Pramod Mahajan asked Kalam about"auspicious"timing for swearing in,he said,"Earth rotates on its axis,& Earth revolves around the Sun.

The government tonight announced that a seven-day state mourning will be observed throughout the country as a mark of respect to former President APJ Abdul Kalam.

The government tonight announced that a seven-day state mourning will be observed throughout the country as a mark of respect to former President APJ Abdul Kalam.

President Pranab Mukherjee, who arrived here on a two-day visit to Karnataka, has cancelled all his programmes scheduled tomorrow and will head back to New Delhi following the death of former President A P J Abdul Kalam.

n as a mark of respect to his memory. Leaders cutting across the political spectrum paid glowing tributes to Kalam with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi describing him as a "people's President" and an "inspirational leader" who dedicated his entire life to the nation.

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