RAS question
C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) was established primarily to:
Correct answer: (D) Develop indigenous supercomputers after US denied Cray export.
C-DAC was established in 1988 primarily to develop indigenous supercomputers after the United States denied India the import of supercomputers, including the Cray XMP.
Explanation
C-DAC's origin was tied to India's need for high-performance computing capability after the United States denied the import of supercomputers. The official C-DAC About page states that its setting up in 1988 was for building supercomputers in the context of the US denial of supercomputer imports, and that C-DAC went on to build multiple generations of supercomputers starting from PARAM. This matches the explanation: after the Cray XMP denial, C-DAC, under Dr Vijay Bhatkar's leadership, developed PARAM 8000 in 1991, showing that India could build its own supercomputers rather than depend on foreign supply. C-DAC is now the MeitY's premier R&D organisation for IT, electronics and associated areas.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Building websites is too narrow and does not match C-DAC's stated 1988 purpose of building supercomputers after the US denial of imports.
- (B) Training software engineers became part of C-DAC's education and training activity later, but it was not the primary reason for setting up C-DAC in 1988.
- (C) Manufacturing smartphones is unrelated to the cited purpose, which concerns indigenous supercomputing capability, not consumer mobile devices.
Concept
This tests India's technology self-reliance in Science and Technology, especially the link between strategic denial regimes and indigenous capability-building. It recurs in RAS because institutions such as C-DAC show how policy, R&D and national technological capacity intersect.