It was during Raja Ramanna’s tenure that India conducted its first nuclear bomb test in 1974. For this work, he was awarded India’s second highest civilian award Padma Vibhushan.
It was in 1978, when Iraq’s dictator Saddam Hussein invited an Indian scientist to visit his country as a personal guest. As per the schedule, this Indian scientist reached Iraq and was given a tour of the nuclear centre. Everything was going well when something happened which created a very strange situation for this Indian scientist . Actually, Saddam Hussein gave a shocking offer and asked him to head Iraq’s nuclear programme.
Saddam Hussein said, “You have done a lot for your country. But, I want you to stay here now. You take over our country’s nuclear programme. I am ready to give you whatever amount you want in return.” The Indian scientist was surprised to hear this offer and rejected with great respect.
The scientist took a flight to India the next day and returned to his country. The name of this scientist was Dr. Raja Ramanna, who played the biggest role in making India a nuclear power. It was Ramanna who carried out India’s first nuclear test Pokhran-I in the desert of Rajasthan.
Born on January 28, 1925 in Tumkur, Karnataka, Raja Ramanna studied science at Madras Christian College. After this he went to London. Here he did his PhD in Physics from King’s College. He returned to India in 1949. On returning to India, Homi Bhabha called him to join the Indian nuclear program. Raja Ramanna worked twice as the director of Bhabha Atomic Research Center.
Ramanna was awarded Padma Vibhushan
It was during Raja Ramanna’s tenure that India conducted its first nuclear bomb test in 1974. For this work, he was awarded India’s second highest civilian award Padma Vibhushan. Later, he was also the Minister of State for Defence and a member of the Rajya Sabha. The incident that happened with Raja Ramanna in Iraq is also compared with Pakistan’s scientist AQ Khan. On one hand, Ramanna had rejected Iraq’s offer. On the other hand, AQ Khan had sold nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
Why was he named Smiling Buddha?
In 1972, when Indira Gandhi was visiting the Bhabha Atomic Research Center, she allowed the scientists to build and test a nuclear device. Ramanna was the director of BARC at that time. This device was called a ‘peaceful nuclear explosion’ and was named ‘Smiling Buddha’. This is because the test was done on the day of Buddha Purnima.
