India’s technological landscape is about to witness a significant advancement as the Digital India program gains momentum with the Union Cabinet’s green light for expansion. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the cabinet has given its nod to propel the Digital India initiative to new heights, earmarking a substantial budget of Rs 14,903 crores.
Initiated on July 1, 2015, the Digital India program has been instrumental in steering the nation towards a digitally empowered future. As part of this expansion, the program is set to usher in a remarkable stride in computational prowess – introducing nine more supercomputers under the National Super Computer Mission, augmenting the existing tally of 18 supercomputers.
Empowering Digital India: A Transformative Move
The recent cabinet approval stands as a pivotal moment in India’s technological journey. The Digital India program, with its multifaceted objectives, is geared towards harnessing technology for fostering inclusivity, transforming governance, and empowering citizens through digital avenues. This forward-looking decision underlines the government’s unwavering commitment to propel India into a digitally inclusive and technologically advanced nation.
Supercomputing Enrichment:
A Quantum Leap Central to this expansion is the National Super Computer Mission, a visionary initiative aimed at fortifying India’s capabilities in the realm of supercomputing. With the imminent addition of nine state-of-the-art supercomputers, India’s computational prowess is set to scale new heights, supporting a diverse array of scientific, research, and technology-driven pursuits.
AIRAWAT: The Jewel in India’s AI Crown
At the heart of India’s supercomputing achievements stands the illustrious ‘AIRAWAT’. This AI-powered supercomputer, a product of the National Program on Artificial Intelligence, shines as the crowning glory. AIRAWAT stands as India’s largest and fastest AI supercomputing system, boasting a remarkable performance speed of 13,170 teraflops (Rpeak). Manufactured by Netweb Technologies, AIRAWAT’s engine runs on the AMD EPYC 7742 64C 2.25GHz processor, backed by a robust configuration of 81,344 cores. This powerhouse operates on the Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS operating system, marking a groundbreaking leap for Indian supercomputing capabilities.
India’s Stellar Presence on the Global Supercomputing Map India’s influence in the global supercomputing arena doesn’t stop with AIRAWAT. The nation proudly showcases three additional supercomputers on the prestigious list of the world’s top 500 fastest supercomputers:
PARAM Siddhi-AI:
Standing tall at the 131st spot, PARAM Siddhi-AI, stationed at the Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in Pune, harnesses cutting-edge technologies including NVIDIA DGX A100, AMD EPYC 7742 64C 2.25GHz, NVIDIA A100, and Mellanox HDR Infiniband.
Pratyush:
Securing the 169th position, Pratyush, stationed at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, leverages a potent combination of Xeon E5-2695v4 18C 2.1GHz processors, Aries interconnect, and HPE architecture for meteorological advancements.
Mihir:
Occupying the 316th slot, Mihir, situated at the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting, boasts a Cray XC40 architecture, Xeon E5-2695v4 18C 2.1GHz processors, Aries interconnect, and HPE components.
As India strides confidently into a new era of computational excellence, its supercomputing capabilities will undoubtedly spearhead transformative scientific discoveries, technological innovations, and unprecedented computational achievements, positioning the nation as a global leader in the realm of high-performance computing.
