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News/Current Events News Keywords: Y2K , INDIA , POWER Source: Y2Knews.com///Times of India Published: Monday, August 16, 1999 Author: Staff // N/A Posted on 08/16/1999 02:51:06 PDT by Dec31,1999

Crossword Java Version Image Monday 16 August 1999 Asia to grind to a halt for Y2K bug TOKYO: Large swathes of Asia will pull the plug seconds before the dawn of 2000 -- stopping planes, trains, and even weapons systems --to combat the computer-crippling millennium bug.

Attempts to deprogramme the glitch vary across the region, but many countries will go back to basics and simply switch off critical systems as clocks tick towards midnight on December 31.

Fingers crossed, they will turn everything back on minutes into the new millennium. And if things do not work, Asia should be prepared, just.

In India, for example, power suppliers have failed to properly address the computer problem, officials said, so lights could go out in a domino effect. "For example, if Haryana state suffered a Y2K-related outage, it could shut down the whole grid for the entire northern region," said Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) senior director Dilip Chenoy.

In Malaysia, transport bureaucrats have already been equipped with a contingency plan recovery kit, containing a candle and old- fashioned rubber stamps for counter staff.

No-one is sure what might go wrong if computers mistake the year 2000 for 1900, a glitch known as the year 2000, or Y2K, bug. The fear is that many systems will simply shut down.

In South Korea, officials are sweating over the possibility of an accidental launch by North Korea's aging Soviet-built weapons systems. They have asked Russia for clarification.

Thailand will shut down its missile computers to avoid such a possibility. "This will make it impossible to have an accidental firing of missiles which are controlled by computer," major general Kharavuth Khemayodhin said.

Japanese tourists are not entirely reassured. Japan Travel Bureau Inc, one of the world's biggest tour agencies, has said it will not book any planes to be in the air at the critical moment.

Singapore Airlines Ltd has said its own planes are fine, but is ready to suspend some routes if it cannot guarantee smooth ground control.

Because Vietnamese computers will not be ready in time, the two national airlines have been ordered to train pilots to fly without radar by November 30.

Meanwhile, East Japan Railway, the biggest railway company in the world, will grind all the trains to a halt just before midnight and keep them there for 10 minutes "just in case", said a spokesman.

China will not say how it is coping. "There will definitely be precautions," was all one official from the country's leading bug-fighting group would tell.

Japan, the world's second-biggest economy, admits preparations are sketchy, with hospitals a major headache and lingering concerns over even water and power. Central banks around the region are also stashing away large reserves of cash -- $ 330 billion for the Bank of Japan alone -- in case of a systems break-down or a public run on reserves.

The biggest stock exchanges have also said they will be ready. But some of Asia's poorest countries are hoping that, for once, lack of money might be pay off. In Bangladesh, import duties on computers were only lifted last year, so most are new models, already prepared for Y2K, and they expected to survive the new millennium intact.

Myanmar's ace computer systems chief Thein U said: "Since we do not as yet have a nationwide network of any kind, Y2K will have little or no effect here." (AFP)

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-- helium (heliumavid@yahoo.com), August 16, 1999

Answers

I think they will have a big surprise when they turn them back ON!

KABOOM!

-- FLAME AWAY (BLehman202@aol.com), August 16, 1999.

To polly's --

I guess these nations are full of it. If nothing will happen, then why panic? It's only a "people problem." Let's not do anything. Relax. Don't worry. These nations must be prophets of doom and gloom. They spread bad news. We don't want to hear bad news.

-- Larry (cob ol.programmer@usa.net), August 16, 1999.

"with a contingency plan recovery kit, containing a candle and old- fashioned rubber stamps..."

Wow! who'da thunkit..

-- Perry Arnett (pjarnett@pdqnet.net), August 16, 1999.

The bad news is we will be able to watch them pull the plug before it happens here. Remember, utility companies clocks are set for GMT (Greenich Mean Time).

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), August 16, 1999.

Before we start looking at Asia, this might happen right here in North America. I know in Ontario the water systems are going to be turned of and restarted in the same manner. The things they don't tell you.

Industry Canada Testimony

 INDYEV80-e

Mr. George Terry:

Our plan is to make sure that every water tower and reservoir is full as of 10 a.m. on that Friday night. Every sewage lift station's pump well will have been pumped down to zero. So if we have an event that takes place, we'll be ready for it.

Now, our plants will go off the grid at 10 a.m. on December 31. They will be slowly phased out. We will go to manual operations on full generator backup. I really believe that Ontario Hydro is going to be in a place to actually provide power to all of our municipalities. We're just safeguarding our instrumentation in this regard.

As we come to January 1, we're going to start to phase back our instrumentation in steps. That's all part of our contingency plan. Then we'll bring our plants back on into service.

-- Brian (imager@home.com), August 16, 1999.