Smiling Buddha: All You Need To Know About India's First Nuclear Test

India is observing the 46th anniversary of its first nuclear test in Rajasthan's Pokhran today. The peaceful test -- codenamed 'Smiling Buddha' -- conducted in 1974 helped India become the sixth country in the world to conduct a nuclear test.

The test was conducted on May 18, 1974 under the supervision of Raja Ramanna, who was then the director of India's premier nuclear research institute Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

The test was named 'Smiling Buddha' because it was conducted on Budda Purnima that year. "The Buddha has smiled," Dr Ramanna is learnt to have told then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi after the test.