SILCHAR, March 11 � At a time when the Government of India has the aim to produce the fastest supercomputer by 2017, the National Institute of Technology Silchar will certainly have the privilege to become the first among the NITs in the country to have a centre for high performance supercomputer (HPC).
In the words of Prof NV Deshpande, Director of NIT Silchar, the centre will be inaugurated on April 5. Speaking to the media, he said the Financial Advisor of MHRD, Yogendra Tripathi will inaugurate the centre at the NIT campus.
�This would be the first centre of supercomputing among all the NITs in the country and would add fillip to the efforts taking the study of computer science in the superlative stage,� claimed Prof Deshpande. He said that this is a project of Rs 4 crore.
He also narrated how NIT Silchar has grown from strength to strength in the last two years and said, �as a director of the institute which is situated at a remote corner of the country infested with manifold geo-political hurdles, I am happy to see it grow. The institute now is treading onto subjects like management and civil services which is necessary for overall development.� But the director was concerned over the fact that despite all the positive aspects the institute has not been able to get students for its postgraduate programmes.
Meanwhile, reacting on the issue of opening an extension campus for the postgraduate courses in computer science and research activities outside Barak Valley, which created an apprehension among the people here that NIT Silchar might become a �skeletal institute�, if the courses are shifted after the news was reported in the local dailies recently, Prof Deshpande clarified that there was no intention of such an initiative.
He said that the thought was to expand the institute outside Silchar so that better facilities could be availed and everything was at the preparatory stage. However, realising the popular sentiment, he has withdrawn the plan of extension campus and has made his mind clear to the concerned authorities as well.
�With the aim to improve the quality of education, I took the decision to seek opinion from the faculty. I was not aware of the intricacies of the social engineering in the state and not to hurt the sentiments of the local population. On behalf of the institute, I regret for contemplating the idea that created a commotion and make it clear that the plan has been withdrawn,� he said.
