India is making giant leaps in supercomputing. It has commissioned ‘Param Pravega’ at IISc Bengaluru. Part of the NSM-Indigenous design and manufacturing of supercomputers, it is designed to achieve a peak capacity of 3.3 petaflops. The Mission envisages building supercomputing capabilities, increasing the capacity of research, and a national supercomputing grid interconnected through NKN.
The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) has made a huge stride with the installation of Param Pravega at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru. Boasting a supercomputing capacity of 3.3 petaflops, this development marks a crucial phase in India’s journey towards indigenizing the development and manufacturing of high-performance computers.
A supercomputer is a high-performance computing machine that operates at the cutting edge of processing speeds. Typically measured in PETAFLOPS, these machines can perform thousands of trillion floating-point operations per second (FLOPS). This extraordinary processing power makes supercomputers indispensable for tasks requiring massive computational capabilities.
The applications involving complex tasks are many and vital, hence very important. Supercomputers are used in weather forecasting, scientific research, intelligence gathering, and data mining. They have great processing power, hence can handle and analyze a lot of data, and for this reason, enterprises and research institutions have found them indispensable.
On the global stage, China leads in the number of supercomputers, followed by the United States, Japan, France, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. This distribution reflects the strategic importance and advanced technological capabilities of these nations in the field of supercomputing.
India’s journey in supercomputing started with the first supercomputer, PARAM 8000. Other milestones in the journey were the commissioning of PARAM Shivay, PARAM Shakti, PARAM Brahma, PARAM Yukti, PARAM Sanganak, and PARAM Siddhi. More importantly, PARAM Siddhi was ranked 62nd in the Top 500 most powerful supercomputer systems in the world in 2020.
The National Supercomputing Mission was launched in 2015 to strengthen the country’s research capabilities through a supercomputing grid linked to the NKN. It supplements the programs ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India‘ through assured robust and safe digital infrastructure.
The mission’s objectives align with national initiatives such as ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’. It aims to develop a strong supercomputing infrastructure. Thus, ensuring secure connectivity across various research and academic institutions in the country.
The National Supercomputing Mission is a collaborative effort steered by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The mission is implemented by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune, and IISc, Bengaluru.
The mission is structured into three phases: Phase I focuses on assembling supercomputers, Phase II on manufacturing certain components within India, and Phase III on designing supercomputers indigenously. Each phase is a step forward in achieving self-reliance in supercomputing technology.
Significant Indigenous developments under the mission include the Rudra server platform and the Trinetra interconnect for inter-node communication. These innovations are pivotal in advancing India’s capabilities in supercomputing, enhancing both performance and reliability.
The National Supercomputer Mission is a milestone in the journey of technological self-reliance and innovation in India. As civil services aspirants, the exposition of such missions brings forth the crucial role of government policy in driving scientific and technological advancements. In tune with the vision of ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’, this mission epitomizes the potential for India to take a quantum leap to emerge as a global leader in supercomputing.
| National Supercomputing Mission UPSC Notes |
| 1. Param Pravega was installed at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, as part of the National Supercomputing Mission to give a fillip to India’s supercomputing prowess. 2. These are very powerful computers that can execute the most complex computations at very high speeds, measured in petaflops. 3. China and the USA top the charts, with supercomputers being of strategic importance. 4. From the times of PARAM 8000 to PARAM Siddhi, the journey is endless and has marked key technological advancement milestones. 5. National Supercomputing Mission was launched in 2015 with the aim of strengthening both research infrastructure and digital capability in the country. 6. The implementation is driven by DST and MeitY, with predominant mission responsibility resting with C-DAC and IISc. 7. The mission is proposed to be executed in three phases, namely, assembly, manufacturing of components, and indigenous design. |
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