The world experienced a massive IT outage this week, possibly the largest in history, caused by a “defect found in a single content update” for Microsoft Windows hosts. The issue, which began on Thursday, affected Windows users running the CrowdStrike Falcon cybersecurity software, leading to widespread disruptions in aviation, finance, stock exchanges, and other services. In India, IndiGo airlines cancelled over 200 flights due to the outage. Cybersecurity researcher Troy Hunt called it the largest IT outage ever, and while airline systems across Indian airports started working normally by 3 AM on Saturday, a backlog due to disruptions remained.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka government triggered a row with its proposed bill mandating 100% reservation for Kannadigas in the private sector for Group C and D posts. The bill also sought to reserve 50% of management jobs and 75% of non-management jobs for locals. Facing objections from industry leaders who deemed it discriminatory, the Karnataka government put the bill on hold “temporarily”.
In a major development, the Supreme Court directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to release NEET-UG 2024 results for all students by Saturday. The court’s order came after concerns about alleged paper leaks and aimed to ascertain whether candidates appearing at allegedly tainted centres scored more marks than those elsewhere. The results were to be declared city and centre-wise, masking the identities of the students.
Violent protests gripped parts of Bangladesh this week driven by demands for reform in the country’s quota system for civil service jobs. The protests led to a national curfew and the authorities disabled mobile internet services nationwide. Amidst the unrest, 40 Indian students were evacuated from Dhaka and safely crossed the Sonamura border in Tripura.
US President Joe Biden, facing pressure to step aside from the presidential race, has resisted calls to do so. Democrats remain divided on whether Biden can beat Trump in November, and several Democratic lawmakers and donors have urged him to resign. Biden, however, has said he might drop his reelection bid if doctors found he had a medical condition.
On the entertainment front, Netflix Inc. saw significant subscriber growth in India during the April-June quarter. The platform also recorded the third-highest revenue growth in percentage terms in India for the second quarter.
In the financial sector, gold prices dropped over 2% on Friday, driven by a strengthening dollar and profit booking following the bullion’s record high earlier in the week. Gold reached an all-time high of $2,483.60 on Wednesday but fell to $2,401.49 per ounce by Friday. Investors took profits amid increasing expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts in September.
