Ratan Tata news: Charminar cigarette, Kingfisher beer, Russian engineer….that’s how Ratan Tata-led Tata Group made supercomputer
Supercomputers are essential tools that every country desires for crucial data calculations and analyses. These computers are massive in size and can perform complex calculations in a matter of seconds. A global race began in the early 2000s among powerful nations to build these supercomputers to stay ahead of competitive countries. Nations like the USA, China, Japan, and many across Europe were pouring vast amounts of money into these developments. In contrast, India lagged far behind in this race, and by 2007, no Indian supercomputer was ranked among the world’s top 10 most powerful supercomputers. Upon realizing this reality, S. Ramadorai, who held the position of Managing Director and Vice Chairman at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), recognized that India was falling behind. This discovery stirred his nationalistic spirit. Determined, he decided to undertake the monumental task of creating a supercomputer that could match those in more advanced nations.
How It Started
TATA’s TCS started working on it and initiated a manhunt for scientists passionate about these high-tech machines. Dr Sunil Sherlekar, an alumnus of IIT Bombay, Sherlekar and, Dr. Narendra Karmakar were the scientists and were the ones for the massive project. Dr. Sherlekar once met S. Ramadorai and during their conversation he expressed his desire to build a supercomputer, asking if Tata Group could help.
Ratan Tata And The Story Of The Letter
Understanding the importance of the project for India, Ramadorai took quick action. He immediately contacted Ratan Tata, who was then the Chairman of Tata Sons, to underline how crucial supercomputers were, the global competition in the field, and India’s position in this market. He stressed on the importance of seizing this opportunity. Ratan Tata, acknowledging the importance, quickly gave the go-ahead for the project.
A Big Pause And The Project
In his engaging narrative, ‘Tata Stories’, Harish Bhat provides an intriguing tale about a key incident in Tata Sons’ history. With Ratan Tata’s go-ahead, the project received green light from the board in March 2006. Pune became the birthplace of a new venture bent on propelling India into the world of supercomputing. The TCS team was eager and set a daring deadline of barely a year and a half, ending on October 1, 2007. A curveball came their way when Dr. Narendra Karmakar left, ironically casting a shadow of doubt around the project. Yet, despite this hurdle, Dr. Sherlekar and his team showed true grit and persevered.
How Cigarettes And Beer Rescued The Project
During the work, another halt arose for the team. For Tata’s supercomputer, which they named EKA, has to achieve a minimum speed of 100 teraflops to rank among the top 10 supercomputers globally. Despite solving every hurdle and massive effort EKA remained stuck at 97 teraflops. After putting all efforts, one TCS engineer called one of his Russian friends who was an expert in the field. While working on the project the Russian engineer loved India’s Charminar cigarettes and Kingfisher beer. The TCS engineer called him and said, “Help me, and I’ll give you an entire crate of Charminar and Kingfisher…” The Russian engineer agreed.
India’s Supercomputer
Harish Bhatt applauds TCS’s flagship supercomputer, ‘Eka’, for attaining an impressive speed of 118 teraflops, just under the wire ahead of the October 31 deadline. Fast forward to November 6, when the world supercomputer rankings were made public, and lo and behold – India’s very own ‘Eka’ proudly held the global fourth place. None of this would have been possible without Ratan Tata’s foresight, the unwavering dedication of Ramadorai, and the indispensable input of scientific minds like Dr. Sherlekar.