China was quick to test the nuclear bomb. India missed vital landmarks
The site couldn't have been chosen because of the irony in its name. In the days of Spanish expansion into the New World, this must have certainly been a deadly route to take, but that was centuries before America's wartime quest for the world's most potent weapon. And it was tested under the codename 'Trinity'. A multi-billion-dollar initiative that involved scores of enterprises, institutions, and scientists of various disciplines working under strict military supervision, it was innocently labelled 'Manhattan Project'.
In an era of multiple strifes across continents, an anniversary quietly slipped under the radar of world watchers. Eighty years ago, an explosion ushered in a new age of combat, weapons, tactics, and technology. At 5:29 am local time on 16 July 1945, the United States tested the world's first atomic bomb in the desolate desert of New Mexico in an area called Jornada del Muerto—Spanish for 'Dead Man's Road'.
Among the most extraordinary aspects of the report is that it was made public on 12 August 1945, even before the radioactive clouds had lifted from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Princeton University physicist Henry DeWolf Smyth penned the report. Within the community that contributed to making the nuclear fission device a success, the Smyth Report was the working paper on how the Manhattan Project was to be discussed. It is patently clear that the US was working on a long-term nuclear perspective.
Also read: What India can learn from Israel about atmanirbharta in defence
India's nuclear age
The American military approach is a far cry from how India viewed the arrival of the nuclear era. Although its nuclear journey is extraordinary among formerly colonised nations, India missed vital landmarks along the way.
In July 1945, India already had a nuclear research programme at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), established months before Washington's Trinity test. Within a year of Independence, the country also had an Atomic Energy Commission, and in less than a decade, it had commissioned Asia's first nuclear reactor, APSARA, at Trombay. India was light years ahead of any other Asian country.
In the 1950s, China was largely dependent on its larger ideological ally, the Soviet Union. It entered the nuclear age with a sole purpose, based on Chairman Mao's dictum, 'Power flows from the barrel of a gun.' The simple formulation offered Beijing both short-term benefits and dividends in the long run, too. It is now obvious that the possession of weapons of mass destruction will not invite military intervention in an era of mass hypocrisy. Iran and Iraq, which didn't possess nuclear arsenals, were attacked, while North Korea, which did, wasn't. Hypocrisy and discrimination are obviously kosher in today's world order.
India, however, approached the nuclear era from the perspective of 'peaceful utilisation' to harness unlimited energy and enter the club of rapidly developing countries. It officially launched a three-stage nuclear programme with an indigenous research and development project. But eight decades after TIFR initiated its research programme, India remains light years away from its early energy vision. And it has also missed the bus to power by failing to test a bomb on time.
Even as it was obvious that the world was entering a discriminatory nuclear regime that no amount of third-worldism or non-alignment mantras could prevent, India persisted in keeping company with those who had nothing to lose.
China, on the other hand, tested its first device in 1964, as soon as it could put the nuclear bolts together. It joined the nuclear club and subsequently became a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. By the time India tested the bomb in 1974, the doors of the nuclear elite club had closed.
Manvendra Singh is a BJP leader, Editor-in-Chief of Defence & Security Alert, and Chairman, Soldier Welfare Advisory Committee, Rajasthan. He tweets @ManvendraJasol. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News18
a day ago
- News18
Ancient Humans Cannibalised Children 850,000 Years Ago, Scientists Find Butchered Remains
Last Updated: Archaeologists found evidence of infant cannibalism from 850,000 years ago at Gran Dolina cave. A human neck bone with cut marks indicated intentional decapitation. Spanish archaeologists found evidence of 'infant cannibalism', around 850,000 years ago. Researchers discovered a human neck bone while digging at the Gran Dolina cave site in Atapuerca, northern Spain. The remains shows clear cut marks consistent with intentional decapitation. 'This case is particularly striking, not only because of the child's age, but also due to the precision of the cut marks," says Dr. Palmira Saladié, IPHES-CERCA researcher and co-director of the Gran Dolina excavation alongside Dr. Andreu Ollé. The IPHES researchers also mentioned that some bones also show defleshing marks and intentional fractures, typical indicators of meat exploitation similar to those found on animal bones consumed by these same humans. 'The vertebra presents clear incisions at key anatomical points for disarticulating the head. It is direct evidence that the child was processed like any other prey," Saladié added. The child was a Homo antecessor, a species that was the last link between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. Several of the other bones found over the years have cut marks. The archaeologists are certain that our ancestors were cannibals and ate children. view comments First Published: July 27, 2025, 10:18 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
NDTV
2 days ago
- NDTV
Ancient Humans Ate Children 850,000 Years Ago, New Discovery Reveals
In a remarkable scientific discovery, Spanish archaeologists have found evidence that human ancestors ate children, some 850,000 years ago. Digging at the Gran Dolina cave site in Atapuerca, northern Spain, the researchers discovered a human neck bone belonging to a child aged between two and four years old, with clear butchery marks, suggesting that the small children may have been devoured clean. The team from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES) stated that the site of the marks on the neck bone suggests the youngster was decapitated. Notably, the body parts of the child belong to Homo antecessor, believed to be the last common ancestor of both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. "This case is particularly striking, not only because of the child's age, but also due to the precision of the cut marks," said Dr Palmira Saladie, the co-director of the excavation. "The vertebra presents clear incisions at key anatomical points for disarticulating the head. It is direct evidence that the child was processed like any other prey." Although cannibalism is well documented in early humans, it is unusual to find evidence of a child being eaten. If the discovery stands verified, it could mark the earliest evidence of the practice found to date. 'What we are documenting now is the continuity of that behaviour: the treatment of the dead was not exceptional, but repeated,' said Ms Saladie. Stockier and shorter on average than modern humans, the Homo antecessor lived between 1.2 million and 800,000 years ago. Their brain size was roughly between 1,000 and 1,150 cubic centimetres, which is smaller than the average 1,350 cubic centimetres brain size of people today. "The new find reinforces the hypothesis that these early humans exploited their congeners as a food resource," the researchers stated. 'Every year we uncover new evidence that forces us to rethink how our ancestors lived, how they died, and how the dead were treated nearly a million years ago.'
Economic Times
2 days ago
- Economic Times
Swiss researchers decode ancient 'influenza virus' genome from preserved pandemic victim
TIL Creatives Swiss scientists decode 1918 Spanish flu virus using preserved tissue sample Scientists have decoded the genome of the deadly 1918 influenza virus from preserved tissue of a Swiss patient, offering new insights into how the virus adapted to humans and triggered one of the deadliest pandemics in modern history. The pandemic killed an estimated 20 to 100 million people globally. Researchers say their work could help prepare for future pandemics by improving models of how viruses evolve and spread in human populations. The breakthrough was led by researchers from the University of Zurich and the University of Basel, using a 107-year-old preserved lung specimen from an 18-year-old male patient in Zurich who died in July 1918, during the first wave of the Spanish flu in Switzerland. "This is the first time we've had access to an influenza genome from the 1918–1920 pandemic in Switzerland," said lead researcher Verena Schünemann, a paleogeneticist at the University of Basel. 'It opens up new insights into the dynamics of how the virus adapted in Europe at the start of the pandemic.'By comparing the Swiss strain to genomes previously reconstructed in Germany and North America, the team found that the virus already carried three key adaptations to human hosts at the very start of the outbreak. Two mutations helped it resist a human immune system component that normally blocks avian-like flu viruses, while a third mutation enhanced the virus's ability to bind to human cell receptors, making it more infectious. These findings suggest that the 1918 virus had adapted to humans early, allowing it to spread rapidly across populations. One of the biggest challenges was recovering the virus's fragile RNA, which degrades far more quickly than DNA. To overcome this, the team developed a new method for extracting ancient RNA from formalin-fixed tissue, a technique that could now be used to study other historical viral outbreaks. 'Ancient RNA is only preserved over long periods under very specific conditions,' said Christian Urban, first author of the study. 'That's why we developed a new method to improve our ability to recover these fragments.'The study also highlights the untapped potential of medical archives. 'Medical collections are an invaluable archive for reconstructing ancient RNA virus genomes,' said Frank Rühli, co-author and head of UZH's Institute of Evolutionary Medicine.
