Raja Ramanna ರಾಜಾ ರಾಮಣ್ಣ | |
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| Born | 28 January 1925 |
| Died | September 24, 2004 (aged 79) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Citizenship | India |
| Alma mater | Madras Christian College King’s College London, United Kingdom |
| Known for | Indian nuclear programme Operation Smiling Buddha Operation Shakti Indian nuclear programme |
| Awards | Padma Shri (1968) Padma Bhushan (1973) Padma Vibhushan (1975) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Nuclear Physics |
| Institutions | Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Defence Research and Development Organisation International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ministry of Defence (India) |
Raja Ramanna (Kannada: ರಾಜಾ ರಾಮಣ್ಣ)(January 28, 1925 - September 24, 2004), D.Phil., was an Indian nuclear scientist and a prominent nuclear physicist, is best known for his work in Indian nuclear programme. Ramanna, since 1967, was associated with the country's nuclear weapons programme, and first headed the team that supervised and carried out the test of the nuclear device, under a codename Smiling Buddha, in 1974. Ramanna worked and led the research in nuclear weapons for more than 40 years. Because of his role and association for 4 decades, Ramanna is often considered the "Father of the Indian nuclear programme". He died in Mumbai in 2004 at the age of 80. As a physicist and scientist, Dr. Raja Ramanna received highly respected in both India and academic scientists from Pakistan.
Beginning his studies at Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore, where he mostly studied literature. He he later attended from Madras Christian College and resided at St.Thomas's Hall. At Madras Christian College, Ramanna did B.Sc. in Physics and gained B.A. degree in Classical musics in 1947. The same year, he attended the Bombay University where gained his M.Sc. in Physics, followed by M.Mus. in Music theory. He was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship, and traveled to Great Britain in 1952. Ramanna attended London University's King's College, a constitute college of London University. There, Raja Ramanna obtained [[|Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in Nuclear physics and also did a L.R.S.M. from King's College London. In Great-Britain, Ramanna specialized in reactor physics and design, european music and philosophy.
Dr. Ramanna was also an accomplished pianist having performed at many a public concert in India and abroad but had a keen ear for Indian classical music. His music talent was also praised in adjacent and neighbor country, Pakistan.
Dr. Ramanna was the director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) for over a decade. It was during this time that India carried out its first nuclear test in Pokhran in 1974, codenamed Operation Smiling Buddha. Pictures of the late Mrs. Indira Gandhi, then India's Prime Minister, inspecting the aftermath of the explosion site were flashed on front pages of newspapers in India and the world over with Dr. Ramanna and Dr. Homi Sethna, India's top nuclear scientist duo, by her side. He has served as Director-General of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and as scientific adviser to the Defence Minister of India. He was the President of the 30th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
He was the Union minister of state for defence in 1990 in the V.P. Singh government. In 1997, he became a Member of Parliament through the upper house, the Rajya Sabha. He was also the first director of National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore.
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