Bhubaneswar: As a befitting tribute to former President APJ Abdul Kalam on his second death anniversary, the state government on Thursday officially renamed the Outer Wheeler Island, an island for missile test facility, after him.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled the notification issued by Revenue and Disaster Management Department the previous day after obtaining no-objection certificate from Union Ministry of Home Affairs on July 13.
“With a view to paying a humble tribute to the former President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the state government on obtaining no objection certificate from Ministry of Home Affairs, do hereby rename the ‘Outer Wheeler’ as ‘APJ Abdul Kalam Island’ under Chandbali Tehsil of Bhadrak,” the notification read.
Earlier in the day, revenue minister Maheswar Mohanty handed over a copy of the gazette notification to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the state secretariat here.
On September 4, 2015, Naveen, in a handwritten note, had announced to rename the island after Kalam as a tribute to the People’s President. He shared the note on twitter this morning.
Kalam, the first director of the then interim test range in 1982, was the brain behind the establishment of ITR.
He died on July 27, 2015, after suffering a massive cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture at the IIM-Shillong in Meghalaya.
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