A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Oct. 15 greeted President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on his birthday. Kalam, who turned 73, was on a tour of Karnataka and Gujarat. Manmohan Singh spoke to him on the phone and sent him a bouquet of flowers.

Regretting his inability to greet Kalam in person, the prime minister said the people of India would always cherish his contributions to the country and wished him many more years of distinguished service to the nation.

The former missile man spent his birthday with a whirlwind schedule in Mysore, Pahalgaon and Ahmedabad, but mostly interacting with his favorite people, youth and children.