What happened on October 15: Kalam was born, China launched its first human space flight mission and Najeeb Ahmed went missing

Popularly known as the missile man of India, former President of India, A P J Abdul Kalam was born on October 15, 1931, in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. Nobody would have imagined that a little boy from the coastal town of Rameswaram would play a key role in working for India's first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV). Abdul Kalam was known for his work on the Agni missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. He also worked on developing the Prithvi Missile in 1994. In fact, Kalam was recognised as the father of the country's military missile programme. Kalam became the 11th president of India and was known to be the people's president.

October 15, 2003, has been a notable day for China because the country launched its first human space flight mission, Shenzhou-13. Launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the middle of the Gobi desert in northern China, this launch brought the Chinese into the exclusive club of countries that have achieved manned space flight.

The space flight was launched for a six-month mission on the Tianhe core space station module. It included a three-person crew with two men and a woman —Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping and rookie Ye Guangfu.

It has also been five years since Najeeb Ahmed, a first-year MSc Biotech student of Jawaharlal Nehru University went missing. Najeeb's family as well as the JNU Students' Union have reported that there is a connection the student's disappearance and an assault by the ABVP on him on October 14.  He was attacked by the nine members of ABVP after they allegedly knocked his door asking for votes in the upcoming hostel elections.