Which of the following was Asia's first supercomputer?

Correct option is A

The Correct Answer is: (a) PARAM

Explanation:
PARAM (Parallel Machine) was the first supercomputer developed in Asia, specifically PARAM 8000, which was launched in 1991 by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), India. This was a significant milestone in India’s technological development and a direct response to the refusal by the US to export Cray supercomputers to India due to strategic concerns.

PARAM marked India's entry into high-performance computing (HPC) and placed the country on the global map for supercomputer development. PARAM 8000 had a peak performance of 1 GigaFLOP, and over the years, the PARAM series evolved into more powerful models.

Information Booster:
• PARAM was developed under the leadership of Dr. Vijay Bhatkar.
• It was funded and developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India.
• The success of PARAM led to the formation of India’s National Supercomputing Mission.
• PARAM series includes PARAM 8000, PARAM 8600, PARAM 10000, etc.
• PARAM 8000 was exported to countries like Russia, Singapore, and Germany.
• India was among the few countries globally to have developed an indigenous supercomputer by the early 1990s.

Additional Information:
• CRAY-3 –  A US-developed supercomputer by Cray Inc., not Asian.
•  HITAC S-300 –  Developed in Japan, but after PARAM 8000 and not the first in Asia.
• EKA –  A later Indian supercomputer developed by Tata (CRL) in 2007, after PARAM.