Kerala mourns Kalam

Kerala today paid rich
tributes to former President, A P J Abdul Kalam, who passed away at Shillong this evening.
In his condolence message, chief minister Oommen Chandy, said the former President was a person who earned respect of all, including foreign nations.
In the arena of Space Research, he took India to International heights and made the office of President more "people friendly", Chandy said.
Dr Kalam had special love for Kerala as he had spent many years in the state during his stint as scientist at VSSC here, he said.
Former Union ministers, A K Antony, Vayalar Ravi, state Health Minister, V S Sivakumar, M K Muneer, CPI(M) State secretary, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, were among those who remembered Kalam.

The former president had on July 28, 2005, addressed members of the Legislative Assembly and presented Kerala with a 10-point agenda aimed at making the state an economic power house by 2015.
He delivered a historic address in the assembly and had urged Kerala to identify its core competencies and adopt 10 different missions, including development of tourism, waterways and deep sea fishing besides creation of an army of nurses and paramedics to meet the rising demand at national and global levels.