Odisha renames Wheeler Island after Abdul Kalam

The Odisha government on Thursday issued a gazette notification renaming Wheeler Island in Bhadrak district as Abdul Kalam Island to mark the second death anniversary of the former President.

The Odisha government on Thursday issued a gazette notification renaming Wheeler Island in Bhadrak district as Abdul Kalam Island to mark the second death anniversary of the former President.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiling the bust of late President A PJ Abdul Kalam during the inauguration of his memorial at Peikarumbu in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu on Thursday.(PTI Photo)

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had died on July 27 in 2015 while delivering a lecture at the IIM-Shillong in Meghalaya.

“With the view to paying a humble tribute to the former President of India, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the state government on obtaining no objection certificate from Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, do hereby rename the ‘Outer Wheeler’ as APJ Abdul Kalam Island,” read the notification.

Last year, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced that the island will be renamed after the Missile Man, who had worked as a scientist at the Integrated Test Range, a unit of the Defence Research and Development Organisation in Balasore.

Meanwhile, sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has created five sand sculpture of Kalam at Puri beach with the messages “Tribute to common man, Missile Man, Bharat Ratna, People’s President, Students’ Icon”.

The artist has created five faces of Kalam with five messages using six tonnes of sand.

“It was a great honour for me when Kalam gave me a cheque of Rs 3,000 from his personal account. It was today that we lost the nation’s Missile Man, People’s President with a simple heart and beautiful mind and soul who was an inspiration to the nation’s youth,” he said.