Keeping up with the #ThrowbackThursday trend, FWD business looks at significant events that took place throughout history on May 18
Words: Vandana Devi Images: Various Sources
43 years ago..
18 May 1974 – India becomes sixth nation to explode an atomic bomb.
Code named “Smiling Buddha”, India conducted its first nuclear weapon testing in the Pokhran region of Rajasthan. With this, India questioned the nuclear monopoly of UN Security Council 5 – the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, China and France. This was during Indira Gandhi’s tenure as Prime Minister and the team of scientists behind this project was led by Raja Ramanna. India’s entry into the club of countries owning Nuclear weapons was indeed a prestigious moment for the country.
8 years ago..
18 May 2009 – End of Sri Lankan Civil War
The formal declaration of the end of the 25 year long civil war by the Sri Lankan government was made on this day, in 2009. Then Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa delivered a victory address to the Sri Lankan parliament declaring the end of the war between the government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam).