President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday inaugurated a supercomputer facility at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati and launched several other projects during her maiden visit to Assam since assuming office.
Called Param-Kamrupa, the facility will be able to conduct advanced research in various scientific fields. She also inaugurated a high power active and passive component laboratory called SAMEER at the institute.
“I am glad that IIT Guwahati has made the region and the nation proud as seen from its achievements in the national and international sphere, in a short duration of its existence,” said Murmu, who is on a two-day visit to the state.
“Since it is the only IIT in the [northeast] region, it has the responsibility of nurturing other institutions in the region, work with the state government and defence forces, provide technological solutions to the region to prevent natural calamities from recurring,” she added.
Param-Kamrupa is a state-of-the-art supercomputer set up under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM). With this facility, IIT Guwahati will be able to carry out research on weather and climate, bioinformatics, computational chemistry, molecular dynamics, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, data science, etc.
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{{/usCountry}}The SAMEER laboratory will be used design and development of high-power microwave passive and active components. This facility will provide a platform for scientists to carry out research and development activities in different areas of high-power microwave engineering.
“I am confident that Param-Kamrupa facility will be put to use in the best possible manner to broaden our understanding and knowledge about various technological topics. The SAMEER laboratory will enable R&D assisted critical applications in defence sector and other industries,” Murmu said.
The President was accompanied by Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union minister of state for health and family welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar and Assam health minister Keshab Mahanta.
Mukhi congratulated the state government for its role in improving the healthcare sector and asked doctors from medical colleges of Assam and IIT Guwahati to play a leading role in resolving broad community healthcare problems.
“As a unique initiative, the Assam government in collaboration with IIT Guwahati is setting up a multispeciality hospital at the [institute] campus, which will be a hub for advanced training and capacity building for human resource in health care,” Sarma said.
President Murmu also virtually inaugurated a new medical college and hospital at Dhubri and laid the foundation stones for two zonal institutes of National Institute of Virology to be set up in Dibrugarh in Assam and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.
Earlier in the day, the President flagged off the inaugural service of two trains by the Northeast Frontier Railway at an event in Agartala in Tripura.