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Right to education to be a reality by 2007: Kalam

Special Correspondent

SCIENTIST HONOURED: President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam presenting the first Chithira Tirunal Award of the Chithira Tirunal Trust to ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. Uthradam Tirunal Marthanda Varma, head of the Travancore R oyal Family, looks on. - Photo: C. Ratheesh kumar

Thiruvananthapuram: President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has said right to education would be a reality by 2007. He had given assent to the Bill seeking to make education free and compulsory to children up to the age of 14.

Delivering his address after presenting the First Sree Chithira Tirunal Award to Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G. Madhavan Nair here on Thursday, Mr. Kalam said ISRO had plans to deploy a satellite with a payload of 50 kg to study the moon.

The ISRO had plans to land a man on the moon and Mars, marking India's second mission by 2030. It would also lead to the establishment of more than 500 space-based industries, he added.

The President recalled his rather long association with Mr. Madhavan Nair right from the days when ISRO started work on an indigenous satellite.

The award has been instituted by the Sree Chithira Tirunal Trust in memory of the erstwhile king of Travancore, Sree Chithira Tirunal Bala Rama Varma, who had initiated a series of social reforms. The award carries a cash prize of Rs.1 lakh and a citation.

The function was presided over by former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Vijayakumar, Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Jayan Babu also attended the function. Uthradam Tirunal Marthanda Varma Maharaja, the head of the Travancore royal family, presented a memento to the President. Trust chairman T. Raveendran Thampi welcomed the gathering and Sree Chithira Tirunal Group of Schools managing trustee T. Satheesh Kumar, proposed a vote of thanks.

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