Big loss to India and Indian science, say scientists

Indian scientists on Monday mourned the death of former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as a big loss to both the scientific community and the country at large.

"It is typical of him to breathe his last giving a lecture to the students. Kalam's life proves the point that in India one can reach the highest position in the country provided on puts in necessary hard work," R.Chidambaram, principal scientific advisor to the government, told IANS.

"It is certainly a big loss of the Indian science. He was a great scientist. More than anything else he was a great human being. He was the beckon for all and a man who can inspire everybody," he added.

Kalam always used to talk about development.

"He was people's president who opened the Rashtrapathi Bhavan for the people. He was a great team player who brought people from different sectors to work on a project," Atomic Energy Commission member M.R.Srinivasan told IANS.

During the second Pokhran test, the Defence Research and Development Organisation then headed by Kalam had an important role to play even though the weapon was built by the nuclear energy team led by Anil Kakodkar and R.Chidambaram.

"We had worked in the nuclear submarine project. He was a man who encouraged all to give their best," Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) director Sekhar Basu told IANS.