Mahatma Gandhi

World Students' Day

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	India celebrates World Students&#39; Day on October 15 every year. The day is marked to celebrate the birth anniversary of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. People&rsquo;s President, as Dr Kalam was popularly called, served as India&#39;s 11th president from 2002 to 2007. He was elected with the support of then Bharatiya Janata Party-led govt under the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the main Opposition party, Indian National Congress.</div>
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	He was an aerospace scientist, teacher and played a crucial role in the success of Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, which earned him the title of &ldquo;Missile Man of India&rdquo;. India&rsquo;s missile defence programme reached several milestones under him.</div>
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	However, he wanted the world to remember him as a teacher. Dr Kalam was a president everyone knew about. Students, children and teachers looked up to him and he loved to interact and listen to new ideas. His famous quote, &ldquo;you have to dream first to succeed&rdquo; inspired a generation of students and children to do what they love. His thoughts and quotes are still widely shared. Kalam was a man of principle and ideas and he surpassed the expectations of his job and which is why it was thought fit to mark his birth anniversary as World Students Day.</div>
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	<strong>APJ Abdul Kalam&#39;s life</strong></div>
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	Born and raised in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu in 1931, Dr Kalam studied aerospace engineering. He spent four decades in DRDO, Isro handling important projects and serving as science administrator.</div>
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	He won numerous awards in his lifetime. He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1981 and Padma Vibhushan in 1990. He was the recipient of Bharat Ratna for his contribution to research.&nbsp; He was also an author and wrote many books such as &lsquo;Wings of Fire&rsquo;,&nbsp; &lsquo;My journey&rsquo;, &lsquo;Ignited Minds&rsquo; among others.</div>
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	<strong>Kalam&#39;s death</strong></div>
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	Dr Kalam died doing what he loved the most &mdash; teaching. In 2015, while he was delivering a lecture at Indian Institute of Management, Shillong, he suffered a stroke and died almost instantly.</div>
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	World Students Day, however, is not officially observed by the United Nations as reported by several Indian news agencies.</div>
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Learn when is World Students' Day, why it is celebrated, its importance, history and World Students' Day meaning here at Business Standard.

World Students' Day

When is World Students' Day

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Important dates in October 2021: List of national, international days