[India] Old embedded chips pose serious threat

["Irfan Khan" <KhanIA@super.net.pk>]

Old embedded chips pose serious threat

New Delhi 30 JULY

OLD computer chips and systems used in factories pose serious year 2000
problems (Y2K) and India lags behind in assessment of such threats, a
senior department of electronics (DoE) official said. "Though late to start
to deal with Y2K problem, we have done well to address it in telecom,
railways, banking and finance sectors. Threat posed by the chips used in
systems are serious where systematic assessment problems is yet to take
place," S Ramakrishnan, senior director and national Y2K co-ordinator in
DoE said on Friday. "Time is running out, yet it would be beneficial to
understand gravity of difficulties arising from embedded systems that
control the manufacturing processes," he told PTI on the sidelines of the
workshop on Y2K compliance organised by Standing Conference of Public
Enterprises (SCOPE). "Problems from old automated systems are not
unmanageable, but we have to make a survey to get a clear understanding of
the gravity and complexity of issues," he added. "Worst affected are the
ones used in process plants where we are lagging behind in assessment of
Y2K troubles," chairman and managing director of CMC, S S Ghosh said. When
asked about steps taken by the infrastructure sector to deal with the Y2K
problem, Mr Ramakrishnan said: "Telecom and Railways were better prepared
but power and surface transport services like ports have to do a lot more."
SCOPE, which is an umbrella organisation of over 200 state-owned
organisations including power utilities and other public services, should
conduct survey of its members for Y2K preparedness and inform the public
about the steps taken to address problem till date, Lalit Sawhney, head of
information systems, Hindustan Lever Ltd said. —PTI

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