Raja Ramanna (28 January 1925 – 24 September 2004) was an Indian nuclear physicist. He was the director of India's nuclear program in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which culminated in Smiling Buddha, India's first successful nuclear weapon test on 18 May 1974. Ramanna obtained his bachelor's degree in Physics at Madras University and PhD from King's College, London. He joined the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and later the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) to work on nuclear physics. Ramanna worked under Homi Jehangir Bhabha, whom he had met earlier in 1944. He joined the nuclear program in 1964, and later became the director of this program in 1967. Ramanna expanded and supervised scientific research on nuclear weapons and was in charge of the team of scientists at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) that designed and carried out the testing of the first nuclear device in 1974. Ramanna was associated with India's nuclear program for more than four decades, and also facilitated research for the Indian Armed Forces. He served in various roles such as Secretary for Defence Research, Government of India (1978–81), Scientific Adviser to the Minister of Defence (1978–81), Director-general of Defence Research and Development Organisation (1978–82), Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (1983–87) and Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (1983–87). He later became the Minister of state for defence in 1990. He served as a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from 1997 to 2003. Towards the later part of his career, he advocated against nuclear proliferation and testing. Ramanna was associated with various academic institutions. He was the founder-director of National Institute of Advanced Studies and served as the chairman of board of governors at IIT Bombay. He has been awarded multiple honorary doctorates by various universities. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian decoration, in 1975. Ramanna died in Mumbai in 2004 at the age of 79.
Early life and education Raja Ramanna was born on 28 January 1925 to Rukmini and Ramanna in Tiptur, Princely State of Mysore, British India (now in Tumkur district, Karnataka, India). His father was working in the judicial department. Ramanna claimed to have been influenced by his mother's sister Rajamma, who was a government teacher. He did his early schooling at Dalvoy School and Good Shepherd Convent in Mysore before moving to Bishop Cotton Boys' School in Bangalore. Ramanna was interested in music from a young age and began taking piano lessons at the age of six. He auditioned in front of the Maharaja of Mysore at the age of 12. He later attended Madras Christian College, where he graduated with a BSc in physics from the University of Madras in 1945. Ramanna obtained his master's degree from Bombay University. In 1949, he completed his PhD in nuclear physics from King's College in London on a scholarship from Tata Group.
Career
Early career (1949-59) Ramanna had met Homi J. Bhabha in 1944 and was inspired by his work. In 1949, Ramanna joined Tata Institute of Fundamental Research to work under Bhabha. In 1952, he started working on the Indian nuclear programme at the Atomic Energy Establishment in Trombay (later renamed as Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)). In 1957, the first research nuclear reactor Apsara became operational at BARC and Ramanna was part of the team working on the same. He was working on neutron emission studies and research on nuclear fission. In July 1958, then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru authorized "Project Phoenix" to produce weapon grade Plutonium. In 1957, Ramanna established a training school at BARC to facilitate training of scientists in nuclear physics.
Heading the nuclear programme (1960-69) In the early 1960s, he was involved in learning and development of know-how to manufacture nuclear weapons. After Bhabha's unexpected death in 1966, the design work on the atomic bomb proceeded under Ramanna, who took charge of the nuclear weapons technology research. When Indira Gandhi became the prime minister in 1966, the project for the design and manufacturing of the nuclear device proceeded secretly. The program employed 75 scientists with Ramanna heading the project and P. K. Iyengar serving as his deputy. Later, the weapons programme was directed towards the production of plutonium rather than uranium and in 1969, enough plutonium had been accumulated for the production of a single nuclear bomb. In 1968–69, a plutonium fueled fast breeder reactor named Purnima was established at BARC.
First nuclear test (1970-75) In July 1970, physicist B. D. Nagchaudhuri was appointed as the scientific adviser to the Defense Minister and as Director of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Nagchaudhuri and Ramanna worked together to recruit the team and set up the requirements necessary for a nuclear weapon test. In 1971, Homi Sethna succeeded Vikram Sarabhai as the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, completing the leadership group. After India gained military and political initiative over Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, the work on building a nuclear device continued with Ramanna being appointed as the chairman of BARC in 1972. The hardware for the bomb began to be built in early 1972 and the Prime Minister authorized the development of a nuclear test device in September 1972. The nuclear test was planned for May 1974 with tight control being maintained on all aspects of the preparations of the test, which was conducted in extreme secrecy. The test was code named Smiling Buddha and called as a Peaceful Nuclear Explosive (PNE). A nuclear fission device was successfully detonated on 18 May 1974 at 8.05 IST. In 1975, Ramanna was honored with the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award.
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