Smiling Buddha (MEA Designation: Pokhran - I ) was the assigned code name of India’s first successful nuclear bomb test on 18 May 1974. The bomb was detonated on the Army Base Pokhran Test Range (PTR), in Rajasthan by the Indian Army under the supervision of several key Indian generals. The test was conducted on 18 May 1974 under the supervision of Raja Ramanna, who was then the director of Indian Premier Nuclear Research Institute Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC). India is observing the 46th anniversary of its first nuclear test in Rajasthan Pokhran . The peaceful test- code named ‘Smiling Buddha’ conducted in 1974 helped India become the sixth country in the world to conduct a nuclear test. The test was named ‘ Smiling Buddha ’ because it was conducted on Buddha Purnima that year. “The Buddha has smiled, “Dr Ramanna is learnt to have told then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi After the test. With this feat, India became the first country outside the five permanent...