What was the code name of India's first nuclear test, conducted at Pokhran on 18 May 1974?
- A.Operation Shakti
- B.Smiling Buddha
- C.Operation Vijay
- D.Project Agni
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Smiling Buddha. India carried out its first underground nuclear explosion at Pokhran in the Thar desert of Rajasthan on 18 May 1974, which happened to be Buddha Purnima, and the government described it as a peaceful nuclear explosion. Raja Ramanna led the team of scientists and Homi Sethna headed the Atomic Energy Commission. Option A is wrong because Operation Shakti is the name of the series of five tests conducted at the same site in May 1998, after which India declared itself a nuclear weapon state. Option C is wrong because Operation Vijay was the military operation to liberate Goa in 1961 and also the name used for the Kargil operation of 1999. Option D is wrong because Agni is a series of ballistic missiles developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, not a nuclear test.
Read the full article: India after Nehru, 1964 to 1991: Complete Notes
Practice Questions
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- A.Gulzarilal Nanda
- B.Lal Bahadur Shastri
- C.Morarji Desai
- D.Indira Gandhi
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- A.The United States of America
- B.The Soviet Union
- C.The United Kingdom
- D.Egypt
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- A.Six
- B.Fourteen
- C.Twenty
- D.Twenty-one
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- A.Ayub Khan
- B.Yahya Khan
- C.Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
- D.Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
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- A.External aggression
- B.Internal disturbance
- C.Armed rebellion
- D.Failure of the constitutional machinery
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