Beware of hackers
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 20 — The most common security threats to any computer system are interception of e-mail, theft or alteration of corporate information, macro viruses from e-mail attachments, corporate network intrusion and disruption of network devices and services .

These were the views of Mr Alok Sinha, Manager Internet Services of IBM Global Services. He was speaking on the last day of the two-day national seminar on computer safety and security, organised by the Loss Prevention Association of India at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) auditorium in Sector 31 here today.

He was speaking on computer hackers. In Mr Sinha's opinion hackers exploit weakness in hotmail, send mail VSNL password changer, ICQ , IRC ( both chat lines), gaming services, news forecast and mailing lists. Speaking on physical safety and security in computer installations and contingency planning, Mr Navneet Kukreja said that the idea was to protect building sites and equipment from theft, vandalism, natural disaster, man-made catastrophes and accidental damage.

Mr Kukreja , who is Technical Director, National Informatics Centre, Punjab state unit, Chandigarh, said fire and smoke alarm systems should be checked periodically. Besides this fire resistant material must be used. Care should be taken that no water pipes are laid within the computer room and the room is above ground level . Besides this, flood prone and low lying areas must be avoided while setting up a computer centre.

He also suggested various steps that must be taken to prevent theft, vandalism by humans and responses to an an intrusion from outsiders. He also suggested guidelines for contingency planning to safeguard contact information besides saying that the contingency plan must be tested regularly.

Discussing about computer viruses, Mr Fayaz Ahmed said that among the major damage a virus can be slow and gradual , hence backups were affected. Gradual progressive changes occur. There is no way of knowing if the data is correct or not.

Bias for male child 'alarming'
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 20—A medicine company raked in millions by selling an 'ayurvedic' medicine, which it claimed, when taken during pregnancy, would be able to change female foetus into male.

A homoeopath doctor performs some three cases of medically terminated pregnancies (MTP) from her single-room set, where sheets, injections and gloves are not sterilized properly.

A medical practioner, who possesses only a B.Sc degree in chemistry, runs a 'Detect sex of child in two minutes' clinic, for which he charges Rs 250 per test.It includes a simple blood test, after which the mother-to-be is sent to the nearby abortion clinic. This clinic is obviously run in collaboration with the 'two-minute' clinic.

Such hair-raising stories were discussed at the one-day seminar on 'Towards prevention of female foeticide' held today at the ICSSR Complex, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

The seminar was organised by the Voluntary Health Association of Punjab (VHAP), in collaboration with the National Foundation of India and VHAI, New Delhi.

The first topic of the day was 'The son preference' in which various speakers spoke on the issue of changing the patriarchal mind-set of society, while also understanding the role of effective technology that has not only be able to limit family size but has also been able to decide the sex composition of society.

On the new reproductive technologies, Dr Sunil Khanna, a speaker from New Delhi, said these have been more than effective in carrying out the preference for son. He said traditional mind-sets did play an important role in preferring sons over daughters, but so did the factors of urbanisation and family planning schemes.

Dr Reena Singh from Chandigarh said this trend existed not only in rural areas but was vastly prevalent even in urban areas. Based on her studies on female foeticide, Dr Singh said it was alarming to note that most "so-called educated" women also wanted to only have sons.

Speaking on the issue of 'The status of female foeticide', Mrs Charu Singh, a journalist with a national daily, who had earlier done some work with the UNICEF on this subject, said the practice of female foeticide was not only being carried out by trained and legal doctors but also by quacks. Mrs Charu also bemoaned the fact that though everybody knew about the existence of the MTP Act, but little was being done about implementing it.

Dr Rajesh Kumar, Additional Professor of Community Medicine, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, talked on the 'Epidemiology of female foeticide' and said that the sample registration scheme of Registrar General of India reports only crude birth rate at national and state level. However, birth rate is not presented by sex of the newborn and the figures for sex ratio at birth are also not available, he added.

A population scientist, Mr Deepak Grover, said that the family welfare programme encourages female foeticide. when we talk about the economic role of women, what do we expect when only about 8 per cent of the women have been educated up to matriculation level, Mr Grover asked.

social activist Dr Mira Shiva, VHAI, New Delhi, said she was ashamed to be part of medical profession since it had made no significant contributions to the family planning programmes. "There has been trivialization on the issue of abortion, which has led to female foeticide", she said.

Dr Shiva added that even violence against women is not documented in medical profession. She stressed on carrying out need-based action-oriented studies.

MsVeena Kumar, an advocate, talked on the state of legal provisions of the issue. Other speakers included Dr Sabu Geroge, a well-known activist from Kerala and Dr Mira Shiva.The seminar also deliberated on the issue of 'The state of technology available'.

It was inaugurated by Mrs Vineeta Rai, Advisor to the Administra-tor.The welcome address was given by Mr Man Mohan Sharma, VHAP, Chandigarh.