India, New Delhi, November 15, 1990.
"Prime Minister, here are the documents you asked for."
Hitesh brought a red file and placed it on Aryan's desk.
The file was labeled PARAM.
"Thank you, Hitesh. You can take it easy now."
Aryan opened the file.
It took a while to read all the details.
Aryan calmed himself down and called out to Hitesh, "Hitesh~!"
Hitesh, who was standing outside, immediately entered the room and asked, "Sir, was there anything else I can do?"
"Hmm."
"Hitesh, please call all the cabinet ministers." Aryan politely informed Hitesh.
"Okay!" Hitesh responded politely.
. . . . . .
After an unknown time.
There was a round table in a cabinet room, and all the ministers were sitting there, including Aryan.
Ramesh asked, "Sir, is there anything special?"
Ministry of Science Arjun Singh asked, "Sir, is this about your visit to PARAM?"
Since Arjun Singh is the Minister of Science and is in charge of PARAM, he must be aware of Aryan's visit to C-DAC.
Arjun Singh's question made everyone's eyes widen. They all know this is a sensitive issue.
Aryan admitted after hearing Arjun's question, "Hmm."
"I want to use my Prime Ministerial powers to upgrade the PARAM project to a national level project, like the nuclear weapon."
All the ministers fell silent and stared into Aryan's eyes.
"Sir, what is your plan?" Arjun asked.
Since he is the Science Minister and as promised, he handles this office. According to the documents, he is in charge of this project.
"I plan to make our first supercomputer powerful," Aryan said and explained, "I don't want to keep the PARAM project under the control of the Science Minister alone. I want PMO, DRDO, IB, and RAW to participate in this project together and make our first supercomputer even stronger."
Rabindra asked, "Sir, please explain clearly." He has to put his head down no matter what the change is. Who told him to become the Finance Minister at a time when India's economy is very tight?
Aryan smiled and explained, "Hmm!"
"I want to remove all license controls from this project, except for some major license requirements."
No minister has any objections. Agree. They also know how many projectors take years to advance due to the licensing system.
Snigdha was impressed, and there was a slight hint of pride in her voice, "Excellent, Aryan. We can integrate it with the institute. Let's let IITs and IISs help design software applications, simulations, and hardware testing. This step will be very beneficial for the future Indian education system."
"Yes, I am planning to involve all IIT gold medalists directly in this project and the academies indirectly." Aryan smiled and replied. He was surprised that his mother was speaking her mind.
Rabindra said with a headache, "Sir, this will cost at least ₹80 crore (about $47 million) per year..."
(Notes: In 1990s, the Indian Rupee was ₹17.1, equivalent to $1 Doller; so ₹80,00,00,000 / ₹17.1 = $46,783,625.73)
"Haha~ Minister Rabindra, we only need a budget for one year, so you don't have to worry. I have already planned where I will get the funds to build the next-generation supercomputer." Aryan smiled.
"That's good, that's good." Rabindra breathed a sigh of relief.
Defence Minister Col. Prithvi Rao asked, "Can it simulate war?"
Home Minister Lt. Gen. Vikas Karnik asked, "Can it simulate weather or public security? What about national security?"
"Current supercomputers can be used for civilian and commercial purposes. National security or simulation function research requires a lot of money. The Cold War is ending. The next war will be a cyber war and a data war. India cannot remain poor anymore."
Aryan said in a firm voice.
"DRDO will focus its attention on this project."
"ISRO's satellite system will help us add weather prediction functionality to our supercomputers."
"RAW will use its sources to secretly invite all Indian scientists working abroad who know supercomputers to participate in this project."
"..."
The discussion went on for some time.
"Okay, then, this is the decision." Aryan's voice echoed throughout the room.
"You all get down to your work. We don't have much time. I want to announce our supercomputer in mid-1991."
. . . . . .
After everyone left, Aryan sat alone in the room and mumbled, "I currently have two tasks, and both tasks will take time to complete..."
"Hey, broken system, can you give me a simple task that I can complete by the deadline and get a quick reward?"
[Ding! In your dreams.]
"Hack you..." Aryan growled angrily.
"Crack~!"
There was a sound of the door opening, and Hitesh entered the room.
"Sir, Assam's police chief, DGP Ajay Bordoloi, wants to discuss something with me...he wants to discuss Assam's problems with you."
"Assam..." Aryan suddenly remembered this was the time when the militant groups in Assam were at their peak.
He immediately said, "Please, bring him."
Hitesh nodded and left.
"Crack~!"
The door opened again, and the two entered the room.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Prime Minister." DGP Ajay entered the room and greeted Aryan.
"Please, sit down, DGP Ajay..."
"Thank you." DGP Ajay nodded politely.
Aryan thought that since there was no Punjab problem in this world, there might not be any Assam problem either, which is why he did not pay attention to this issue. Now, the story tells a different story.
"Prime Minister, ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom) is attacking security forces, politicians, and civilians."
"They have established their authority in Tinsukia and Sivasagar districts and are openly charging high taxes from the public."
"The state government is unable to control the situation, and it may get worse very soon."
Aryan nodded and listened to DGP Ajay's statement. He became serious and said to Hitesh, "Hitesh, you call the Defense Minister, Col. Prithvi Rao, the Home Minister, Lt. Gen. Vikas Karnik, and the Education Minister, Snigdha Sen Gupta."
After giving the order to Hitesh, he consoled the DGP, "DGP Ajay, please don't worry."
"Hmm, thank you, Prime Minister." DGP Ajay thanked Aryan from the bottom of his heart.
He looked at Aryan in surprise after seeing his decisive move. He thought the government might take time to discuss this.
[Ding! Task triggered.]
[Task: Destroy 100% of the militants from Nagaland and Assam before 1991 to secure the future.]
[Reward: Indigenous UVA Technology.]
'100%, that's problematic...but not impossible.' Aryan hummed. He closed his eyes, meditated, and began to make a plan.
. . . . .
In the cabinet, a few hours later.
Apart from Aryan, the room also contained DGP Ajay Bordoloi, Col. Prithvi Rao, Lt. Gen. Vikas Karnik, and Aryan's mother, Snigdha Sen Gupta.
"DGP Ajay, please explain again to everyone."
"Yes, Sir."
"In the two districts of Assam..." DGP Ajay explained to everyone again.
"Everyone, not only ULFA but also NSCN (National Socialist Council of Nagaland), has become a danger to us." After DGP Ajay finished speaking, Aryan spoke.
Home Minister Lt. Gen. Vikas Karnik agreed, "Yes, even the police are afraid to patrol in rural areas of Assam..."
Defense Minister Col. Prithvi Rao said, "Sir, we have already started mobilizing the Eastern Command. We are waiting for your orders."
Aryan shook his head, "We can't take action like this."
"If we attack like this, they will still be able to hide and do the same thing again in the future."
"I want to uproot both groups."
Col. Prithvi Rao could not understand Aryan's plan, so he asked, "Sir, please explain."
Aryan explained seriously:
"Col. Rao, I am tasking you to form an elite force, codenamed 'Trinetra' by combining the Army, RAW, IB (Intelligence Bureau), and Assam Rifles, who will answer directly to the Prime Minister."
"I want to destroy their leadership, logistics, and hideouts, which is why I named the operation Trinetra.
Create a task for DRDO to develop a device that can track radio signals. And ask them if it is possible to develop a device that can control and analyze electronic signals and communications."
"Launch Dark Night Operation. Target lone Naga Caps. Extract information from those who surrender, where they are getting their arms supplies from, and which countries or organizations are donating to them."
"And once we can track where they're getting their funding and where they're buying their arms supplies...we can ban them for human rights violations."
"Finally, before the last attack lunch, we will seal the Bangladesh, Myanmar, and China borders and attack all the camps in one night."
"The big thing is that we will do everything silently to avoid public panic, and when the operation is complete, we will reveal it to the country."
"But after the mission is successful, we have to stabilize the states of the Northeast. We will start a project called Prakash there in a few days. With the protection of the Army, we will start the education system there. Then we will bring one project after another, like for farming, military education, roads, etc."
"If we give them the same opportunities that we give to the rest of the state, they will never have the feeling of being separate again."
. . . . . .