New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that a country can aim for big achievements only when it has a big vision. He emphasized that upgradation of technology should be to empower the poor. The Prime Minister said this after dedicating to the nation three indigenously developed Param Rudra supercomputers costing about Rs 130 crore under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) in a program organized through video conference. He also inaugurated a high performance computing (HPC) system designed for weather and climate research. Modi said that today’s India is creating new opportunities in the infinite sky of possibilities. He said his government has taken steps to ensure that research in technology benefits the common man.
He said, “The significance of science lies not only in invention and development, but in fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the last person.” Today, if we are becoming hi-tech, we are also ensuring that our hi-tech technology becomes the strength of the poor.” He said, “At one time, supercomputers were considered the domain of only a few countries. We started the National Super Computing Mission in 2015 and today India is at par with big countries in the direction of supercomputers. We are not going to stop here.”
He said, “India is already leading in technologies like quantum computing. Our National Quantum Mission will play a big role in taking India forward in this field. This new technology is going to completely change our world in the coming times. “This will bring unprecedented changes and create new opportunities in the IT sector, manufacturing, industry, MSME and startup sectors.” Modi said that his government is giving priority to science, technology and research.
He said, “Preparations for Mission Gaganyaan have started and by 2035 we will have our own space station.” He said that the first phase of the project has been approved. Modi said, “Self-reliance through research is our mission.” The Prime Minister was initially scheduled to inaugurate these projects from Pune but his visit was canceled due to heavy rains in Maharashtra. According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), three Param Rudra supercomputers have been designed in line with the commitment to make India self-reliant in the field of supercomputing technology.
These supercomputers have been installed in Pune, Delhi and Kolkata for leading scientific research. The Giant Meter Radio Telescope (GMRT) in Pune will be used to detect fast radio bursts (FRBs) and other astronomical phenomena using supercomputers.
The Inter University Accelerator Center (IUAC) in Delhi will promote research in areas such as materials science and nuclear physics while the SN Bose Center in Kolkata will promote advanced research in areas such as physics, cosmology and earth sciences.
A high performance computing (HPC) system designed for weather and climate research that the Prime Minister inaugurated has been built with an investment of Rs 850 crore. According to the PMO, this project is a significant step forward in India’s computational capabilities for meteorological applications.
The PMO said that this HPC system, located at two major sites – Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune and National Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) in Noida, has extraordinary computing power.
The new HPC systems have been named ‘Arka’ and ‘Arunika’, reflecting their relation to the Sun. These high-resolution models will significantly increase the accurate predictions and ‘lead time’ of tropical cyclones, heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, hailstorms, heatwaves, droughts and other critical meteorological events.