ROURKELA: Dr APJ Abdul Kalam visited Sundargarh district thrice between 2003 and 2015 and left an indelible mark in the mind of people. On Tuesday, people from all walks of life paid tributes to the former President at various places in the Steel City.
At a condolence meeting held at the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela (NIT-R), its Director SK Sarangi recalled his personal experience with the visionary scientist. “As a young professor of IIT-Kharagpur in 1994, I had written a letter to Dr Kalam and despite being chief of DRDO and scientific advisor to Defence Minister then, he replied to me,” he said.
Employees of the cement major OCL India Ltd at Rajgangpur also paid tributes to Dr Kalam. Dr Kalam inaugurated LVPEI OCL Eye Centre on February 27.
In May 2003, Dr Kalam had laid the foundation stone for Biju Patnaik University of Technology at Chhend Colony.