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Raja Ramanna | |
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| Born | 28 January 1925 |
| Died | 24 September 2004 (aged 79) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Citizenship | India |
| Alma mater | |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Nuclear Physics |
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Raja Ramanna (28 January 1925 – 24 September 2004) was an Indian 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 bachelors 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.