He was addressing a function on Saturday organised by the South Indian Education Society in association with The Indian Express and Corporation Bank to confer "lifetime achievement award" on Kalam and Atomic Energy Commission chairman R Chidambaram and Indian Space Research Organisation chairman K Kasturirangan. Kalam called for a mission to make the country a developed nation within the next 10 years. "The mission should be on the lines of one that was launched in 1857 to achieve freedom from British Raj," he said.

Regarding the spread of "misinformation" by some developed nations about the country's capability in supercomputers, Kalam said, "I am happy to say that DRDO'ssupercomputer is 20 times more powerful than that of Cray of the US and we have installed this supercomputer in most of our laboratories." In the field of electronics computers, the country was advanced enough to have the "developed" nation status, he said.

Chidambaram, one of the key persons involved in the Pokhran tests, said that the country's nuclear programme was meant for national security and development plans. "Without national security, you cannot carry out development in peace," he stated, adding that the government's moratorium showed its commitment to global peace.

Chidambaram said that the country's nuclear programme was for deterrence and security. He said that the sanctions imposed by the US and other countries would not affect technological development. "The sanctions imposed have given us a chance to synergise our energies and work together to face challenges," he said.

Chidambaram said that it was now time to translate the vision of great scientists like CV Raman, S Ramanajum and SChandrashekar into ideas to achieve goals. He said that India had reached great heights in nuclear technology and had exported 100 tons of heavywater to Korea, earning $20 million.

On the energy scenario, he said that the country has a vision of achieving 20,000 mw capacity by 2020 through nuclear power projects. The Department of Atomic Energy and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre were working closely on the thorium-uranium cycle projects, he added.

Kasturirangan highlighted the country's leadership in space transportation system and said it was time to maintain the "leadership quality" into the next century.

He said that space scientists were aiming at a new dimension of exploration, including colonising in other planets. "In these fields of high capability, affordability was no longer a question with the visions emerging and concepts getting into place," he added.

Kasturirangan, an alma mater of SIES school and college, presented a model of polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) to the school onthe occasion.