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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (2342)	8/13/1998 9:19:00 PM
From: Baronss	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12475

India joins Paris Convention on patents. expressindia.com What does this mean to the pharmaceutical industry in India? I would expect some medicines to cost much more in future. Baron.

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (2342)	8/14/1998 9:29:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12475

Super computing-We have come a long way baby. Super Computing India A Force to Reckon With Radhakrishna Rao The restrictions imposed by the United States on the transfer of know-how in frontier areas of Technology and its consistent refusal to make available to India a range of hardware for its development programmes have proved to be a blessing in disguise. For, Indian scientists and engineers have now managed to develop indigenously most of the components and hardware required for its rapidly advancing space and nuclear power programmes. It was again the refusal of the US administration to clear the shipment to India of a Cray X-MP super computer for use by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, in 1980s, along with severe restrictions on the sale of computers exceeding 2000 Mega Theoretical Operations per Second (MTOPS), that led India to build one of the most powerful super computers in the world. In fact the recent unveiling of the Param-10, 000 super computer capable of performing one trillion mathematical calculations per second stands out as a shining example of how 'restrictions and denials' could be turned into impressive scientific gains. For the Pune-based Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) which built this supercomputing machine, it was a dream come true. In fact, the Param-10, 000 based on an openframe architecture is considered to be the most powerful super computer in Asia outside Japan. So far only USA and Japan have built up a proven capability to build similar type of super computers. To be sure, Europe is yet to build its own super computer in this category. As it is Param-10, 000 has catapulted India into the ranks of the elite nations that are already in the rarefied world of tera flop computing which implies a capability to perform one trillion calculations per second. In this context, a beaming Dr. Vijay P. Bhatkar, Director, C-DAC says, "We can now pursue our own mission critical problems at our own pace and on our own terms. By developing this, India's esteem in Information Technology (IT) has been further raised." As things stand now, Param-10, 000 will have applications in as diverse areas as long range weather forecasting, drug design, molecular modelling, remote sensing and medical treatment. According to cyber scientists many of the complex problems that India's space and nuclear power programmes may encounter in the future could be solved with Param-10, 000 without going in for the actual ground level physical testing. On a more practical plane, it could help in the exploration of oil and gas deposits in various parts of the country. Perhaps the most exciting application of Param-10, 000 will be storing information on the Indian culture and heritage, beginning with Vedic times. "We want to preserve our timeless heritage in the form of a multimedia digital library on Param-10,000", says Dr. Bhatkar. That C-DAC could manage to build Param-10,000 machine in less than five years is a splendid tribute to the calibre and dedication of its scientists and engineers. No wonder C-DAC has bagged order for as many as three Param-10,000 machines. And two of these orders are from abroad: a Russian academic institute and Singapore Univesity are keenly awaiting the installation of Param-10,000 machines at their premises. The third machine will be used by the New Delhi based National Informatics Centre (NIC) for setting up a geomatics faculty designed to provide solutions in the area of remote sensing and image processing. C-DAC is also planning to develop advanced technologies for the creation of a national information infrastructure. Meanwhile, C-DAC has proposed the setting up of a full-fledged company to commercially exploit the technologies developed by it. C-DAC was set up in 1988 with the mandate to built India's own range of super computers. Incidentally, Param-10,000 is hundred times more powerful than the first Param machine built way back in the early 1990s. [The author is afreelance writer on science & technology.]