Do u know...about President A P J Abdul Kalam

President A P J Abdul Kalam has Received India's three highest civilian honours: the Padma Bhushan in 1981; the Padma Vibhushan in 1990; and the Bharat Ratna in 1997.

On Tuesday, 19 February, 2006, he created history by becoming the country's first President to undertake an undersea journey. Abdul Kalam boarded the INS Sindhurakshak, a Russian-origin kilo class submarine, from the Visakhapatnam Naval dockyard. The duration of the journey was around three-and-half hours during which Kalam had lunch with the crew members.

While studying at the Madras Institute of Technology, he used to head the vegetarian mess.

Initially he wanted to become a pilot, but was rejected and then opted for aeronautical engineering later.

On June 8, 2006, he created history by becoming the first president to undertake a sortie in a fighter aircraft, a Sukhoi-30 MKI, from Lohegaon (Pune) airbase. As a 74-year old, he created a record by becoming the oldest Indian co-pilot to do so. The president donned a G Suit before boarding the aircraft. The flight, flown by Wing Commander Ajay Rathore, lasted 30 minutes flying at a height of six to eight kilometers in the air at a speed of 1500 Km/h.

His popularity among Indian youth is evident from the fact that the request to his re-election as president petition in Petition Online site is the one of the Top 10 petitions.