<P> The fully assembled device had a hexagonal cross section, 1.25 metres in diameter, and weighed 1400 kg . The device was mounted on a hexagonal metal tripod, and was transported to the shaft on rails which the army kept covered with sand . The device was detonated when Dastidar pushed the firing button at 8.05 a.m.; it was in a shaft 107 m under the army Pokhran test range in the Thar Desert (or Great Indian Desert), Rajasthan . </P> <P> The nuclear yield of this test still remains controversial, with unclear data provided by Indian sources, although Indian politicians have given the country's press a range from 2 kt to 20 kt . The official yield was initially set at 12 kt; post-Operation Shakti claims have raised it to 13 kt . Independent seismic data from outside and analysis of the crater features indicate a lower figure . Analysts usually estimate the yield at 4 to 6 kt, using conventional seismic magnitude - to - yield conversion formulas . In recent years, both Homi Sethna and P.K. Iyengar have conceded the official yield to be an exaggeration . </P> <P> Iyengar has variously stated that the yield was 8--10 kt, that the device was designed to yield 10 kt, and that the yield was 8 kt "exactly as predicted". Although seismic scaling laws lead to an estimated yield range between 3.2 kt and 21 kt, an analysis of hard rock cratering effects suggests a narrow range of around 8 kt for the yield, which is within the uncertainties of the seismic yield estimate . </P> <P> Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had already gained much popularity and publicity after her successful military campaign against Pakistan in the 1971 war . The test caused an immediate revival of Indira Gandhi's popularity, which had flagged considerably from its high after the 1971 war . The overall popularity and image of the Congress Party was enhanced and the Congress Party was well received in the Indian Parliament . In 1975, Homi Sethna, a chemical engineer and the chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission (AECI), Raja Ramanna of BARC, and Basanti Nagchaudhuri of DRDO, all were honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award . Five other project members received the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award . India consistently maintained that this was a peaceful nuclear bomb test and that it had no intentions of militarising its nuclear programme . However, according to independent monitors, this test was part of an accelerated Indian nuclear programme . In 1997 Raja Ramanna, speaking to the Press Trust of India, maintained: </P>

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