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It was some 15 years
ago when the leaders of what was then the Soviet Union
and their Indian counterparts signed a document called
"Comprehensive Long-Term Program of Scientific
and Technical Cooperation". The document covered
joint studies in key areas of science, including Mathematics,
Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Physics and Astronomy,
Ecology, Chemistry and Biotechnology, to name but a
few. The program of research was being implemented with
an active participation of many leading centers and
such prominent figures of Russian Science as the Nobel
Prize laureate, Academician V. Prokhorov, academicians
Yu. Gulyaev and K. Zamarayev, F. Kuznetsov, G. Marchuk,
K. Frolov and A. Yanshin.
 A
special place in this program was given to the development
and applications of modern technology - supercomputers
of the latest generations - which was prompted by the
need for streamlining the organizational forms of our
cooperation and promoting closer contacts between scientists
and specialists of the two countries.
And it was back in
1995 that the RAS Institute of Automation and Design
Engineering (IADE) and India's main computer design
center - the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing
(C-DAC
Pune) set up a joint Rusindtekh enterprise.
Today C-DAC and IADE
RAS continue their fruitful cooperation. India has supplied
to this country one of the fastest computer systems
PARAM whose
capacity will be brought up to 100 GF. The unit is available
in a multiprocessor version on the modular principle,
using state-of-the-art processors of different frequencies
and boasts exceptional reliability, which makes it possible
to use it for solving problems of increased complexity.
And it should be stressed that India today is one of
the world leaders in computer technology; it produces
4.5 billion dollars worth of software a year, being
second only to the United States in this respect.
As for our Russian
scientists, they have accumulated years of experience
in developing what we call universal algorithms used
for digital modeling of volumetric multidimensional
(i.e. non-linear) problems associated with various branches
of science and technology and calling for increased
computer "resources", or capabilities. This
includes aerodynamics, seismology, medicine, etc.
 At
the present time researchers of IADE RAS focus their
efforts on building mathematical models, methods and
algorithms (including those for parallel architecture
computers). This provides the basis for producing application
packages and automated work stations for dealing with
problems like: studies of different processes and phenomena;
expert assessment of design and engineering solutions;
design of aircraft prototypes, automobiles, ships, high
speed trains and the development of ways and means of
combating urban air pollution. Much is being done for
the development of automated cybernetic vision systems,
different systems of expert assessment and their multiple
applications for prognosticating the course of natural
phenomena and anomalies, diagnostics and non-invasive
diagnostics of various medical disorders. In a word,
achievements scored by scientists of the two countries
have proved to be most practical, promising and extremely
profitable for us all.
Bearing in mind current
progress in the development of multiprocessor computer
technology and the need of developing multipurpose software,
the Russian Academy and the Department of Science and
Technology of the Govt. of India (DST) have reached
an agreement on elevating our mutual cooperation to
a new and higher level. With this aim in view the RAS
President, Academician Yu. Osipov, and DST Secretary,
Prof. V.S. Ramamurthy, signed on November 20, 1998 a
"Program of Cooperation in Promising Computer Studies".
It is sponsored by the Ministry of Industry, Science
and Technology of the Russian Federation and on the
Indian side by the Department of Electronics of the
Ministry of Science and Technology. The document provided
for the establishment on the basis of IADE RAS of a
Russian-Indian Center for Advanced Computer Research
(RICCR) and its equipment with PARAM
supercomputers (with the expenses being shared by the
Indian and Russian sides).
 The
inauguration of RICCR took place on July 3, 2000 and
the ceremony was attended on the Indian side by Prof.
M.M. Joshi - Minister of Science and Technology; DST
staff members - Prof. V.S. Ramamurthy, Yu. P. Kumar
and Shri. R.K. Arora - Executive Director of C-DAC;
Mr. S.K. Lambah - India's Ambassador to Russia and Mr.
H.M. Saxena - Embassy Counsellor. The Russian side was
represented by: Academician G. Mesyats - RAS Vice-President;
Academician M. Kirpichnikov - First Deputy of the RF
Minister of Industry, Science and Technologies; Academician
M. Alfimov - Chairman of RFFI; academicians Mr. O. Belotserkovsky,
Mr. Ye. Velikhov, Mr. Yu. Gulyaev, Mr. L. Leontyev,
Mr. G. Marchuk, Mr. A. Mikaelyan, Mr. A. Petrov, Mr.
G. Savin, Mr. V. Savin and Mr. V. Sadovnichy and Russia's
Ambassador to India, Mr. A. Kadakin.
September of the year
2000 saw the signing of the documents for the establishment
of RICCR and on December 7 of that same year it received
the certificate of the Moscow Registration Chamber.
The Center is administered by its Joint Supervisory
Council, which includes government officials and leading
scientists of the two countries.
Today the IADE RAS
and RICCR have at their disposal PARAM systems of three
types: a PARAM 8000 computer on 128 processors, built
on the basis of transputer blocks T-800, T-805 which
has been in operation since 1991; PARAM Open Frame -
with 4 Ultra Sparc processors (in operation since 1997)
and PARAM 10000 with 16 Ultra Sparc processors (in operation
since 2000). Added to these in January 2001 was a computer
of 12.8 GF, which is incorporated into the local network
of IADE RAS and RICCR with direct access for all staff
from their workstations and also for outside INTERNET
users. A contract has been signed for doubling the capacity
of the IADE RAS-RICCR Center, and talks are in progress
on the delivery of a teraflop machine.
In March 2001 the Center
and C-DAC signed contracts on joint research in Seismic
Data Processing, Computer Hydrodynamics, Modeling
of Atmospheric
Processes and cooperation in other areas of scientific
and technological development. Taking part on the Russian
side, apart from our Institute staff, are researchers
from other Academic centers, including: Institute of
Computer Mathematics, Computer Center of Systematic
Programming, Joint Institute of Physics of the Earth
named after O. Schmidt; Moscow University Institute
of Mechanics, etc. New proposals being prepared now
include the development of a general-purpose multi-functional
software package for the Hyper-Solver computer with
parallel architecture.
The dynamic growth
of the RICCR potential gives grounds for hopes that
its activities will further promote the development
of contacts between our scientists and specialists and
the general cause of scientific and technical cooperation
between our two and traditionally friendly countries.
During a recent visit to the Center India's Minister
of Science and Technology, Shri. M.M. Joshi, said he
was "very pleased with the visit to the Institute
and meetings with you and your colleagues". He
said that the Russian-Indian Center for Advanced Computer
Research is a unique organization of its kind for promoting
international economic cooperation. He said that he
was confident that scientific and technical cooperation
between Russia and India not only helps maintain a high
level of our scientific and academic links, but that
it also offers a great potential for the economic benefit
of both of our countries.
Academician Oleg BELOTSERKOVSKY,
Director, RAS Institute of Automation
and Design Engineering
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