the morning in May 1974, Ramanna conducted the first test of a small nuclear device under codename Smiling Buddha. Pictures of Indira Gandhi inspecting the aftermath of the explosion site were flashed on front pages of newspapers in India and the world over with Ramanna and Dr. Homi Sethna, India's top nuclear scientist duo, by her side. Following this achievement, Ramanna gained international fame and was also honoured with India's second highest civilian award in 1975 by the Indira Gandhi's administration. In 1978, Saddam Hussein approached Ramanna for help to build an Iraqi nuclear bomb. The offer came while Ramanna was in Baghdad for a week as Saddam's personal guest. He was given a tour of the capital and Iraq's main nuclear facility at Tuwaitha. At the end of the trip, Saddam invited the scientist to his office and told him: "You have done enough for your country; don't go back. Stay here and take over our nuclear programme. I will pay you whatever you want." Ramanna was shocked and scared by the Iraqi proposal. He reportedly could not sleep that night, worried that he might never see his homeland again. He took the next flight out. Later in his career, Ramanna advocated for the strict policies to prevent nuclear proliferation. Ramanna also travelled to Pakistan, where he attended the annual International Physics Conference to deliver a lecture on nuclear physics, notably lectures on nuclear force. Ramanna began lobbying for peace process between India and Pakistan, and was a leading force to prevent nuclear escalation in the region. Later in the 1980s and 1990s, Ramanna served as Director General of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and as scientific adviser to the Defence Minister of India in 2000. He was a member of the Defence Research & Development Service (DRDS). Ramanna also joined the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1984 where he served as the President of the 30th General Conference of the IAEA. Interests A multi-faceted personality, Ramanna was a gifted musician, and could play the piano as dextrously as he could speak about atomic energy. Music was close to his heart, and one of the two books he wrote was The Structure of Music in Raga And Western Systems (1993). The other was his autobiography, entitled Years of Pilgrimage (1991). Minister of State In 1990, Ramanna was made Union minister of State for defence by V.P. Singh