• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• Business Line
• The Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

TAKING NO CHANCES: Police personnel deployed in and around Tidel Park (which houses IT companies) in Chennai on Thursday. After Wednesday's attack on the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, security has been tightened at key scientific, nuclear centres, IT parks and sensitive government establishments all over the country. — M. Karunakaran

Bangalore , Dec. 29

AFTER Wednesday's terror attacks on the Indian Institute of Science, IT companies in the country's tech capital have begun beefing up security procedures.

Multinationals and domestic companies like Infosys Technologies and Wipro Ltd said that they have tightened security processes within their campuses.

In addition, these companies have also implemented certain additional security controls to protect themselves. "We have taken all necessary precautions," said Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor of Infosys. The company has intensified patrolling within its campus.

A Wipro spokesperson said that the company has implemented additional security controls in view of the recent incidents, but did not specify the kind of measures.

"Wipro has well-established security processes and our security system is always geared to meet any untoward incident," the spokesperson said.

Currently, there are over 1,500 IT companies in the city. Sources at Information Technology Park Ltd (ITPL) in Whitefield, an eastern suburb, said that "security measures have been enhanced within the Park."

Close to 110 companies, including IBM Global, TCS and Infineon, operate in this technology hub. ITPL recently witnessed a bomb scare that later turned to be a hoax.

Smaller IT firms in the city are feeling more vulnerable as they are soft targets. Senior officials, who refused to identified, said: "We are sitting ducks and entirely reliant on the State security apparatus for protection."

Any attack on IT or IT-related firms here attracts immediate international attention because Bangalore IT firms account for a sizeable chunk of the country's software exports (estimated at Rs 38,000 crore ($8 billion) or 35 per cent of the total exports for the current year).

As a result, such firms are treated as high-value targets for terror outfits whose current focus is on creating economic disruption by targeting the high-value targets.

However, forewarnings of such strikes have been issued by the Central intelligence agencies over the last three years. But the State Government did not appear to have reacted to such warnings seriously.

In fact, the vulnerability factor has increased after the recent spat between the Government and the technocrats over the city's infrastructure.

This reflected the disconnect between the Government and industry, officials from IT firms said.

Our Delhi Bureau reports:

Software association Nasscom has decried the "shocking act" where suspected militants opened indiscriminate fire in the IISc premises, killing a retired IIT Delhi professor and injuring three others. Nasscom said the incident emphasised the need to review and upgrade the security measures in the IT industry.

"Nasscom and the IT industry will work, in collaboration with the police and the Government, towards tightening security measures to create a safer working environment for the industry... Sadly, such attacks have been taking place in cities around the world, and it has become necessary to take precautions irrespective of where one is," Nasscom said.

NIIT's Executive Vice-President, Mr Sanjiv Kataria, said the company had taken note of the enhanced threat perception and is talking to its offices across the country.

More Stories on : Terrorism | Security

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Fog means all-clear to rabi farmers even as pilots fret

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line