According to TheRegister.com, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy suggested Indian citizens should work 72-hour weeks, praising China’s “996” culture where people work 9 AM to 9 PM, six days a week. Tokyo’s District Court ordered Cloudflare to pay 500 million yen ($3.3 million) for contributing to copyright infringement by providing CDN services to pirate manga sites. India’s Reserve Bank announced its Unified Payments Interface will soon link with Europe’s TARGET Instant Payment Settlement system. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology spent AU$96 million ($62 million) on a controversial website redesign that proved unusable during severe storms. Russian security researchers revealed China-linked APT 31 attacked Russian IT contractors, while Google announced new AI hubs in Taipei and Singapore.
The 72-hour work week debate
Narayana Murthy’s doubling down on extreme work hours is fascinating – and frankly, a bit out of touch. He’s praising China’s 996 culture while completely ignoring that Chinese courts have ruled it illegal and Chinese youth created the “lying flat” movement to reject it. Here’s the thing: we’ve got decades of research showing productivity drops dramatically after about 50 hours per week. So why is a tech leader pushing this? It feels like he’s confusing hours worked with actual output. And let’s be real – when your family has to “agree to let you” work those hours, maybe that’s a sign the model isn’t sustainable for most people.
Cloudflare’s costly copyright case
This Cloudflare ruling is significant because it challenges the whole “we’re just a pipe” defense that CDN providers often use. The court basically said Cloudflare knew it was assisting copyright infringement and kept providing services anyway. The publishers’ statement makes it clear they see this as setting precedent for holding infrastructure providers accountable. At $3.3 million, this isn’t pocket change even for a company Cloudflare’s size. But the real impact? Other CDN providers are probably reviewing their piracy policies right now.
The payment system shakeup
Linking India’s UPI with Europe’s TIPS is a bigger deal than it might seem. We’re talking about connecting two massive instant payment systems that could potentially bypass the traditional SWIFT network. The Reserve Bank announcement mentions this moving to “realisation phase” – which sounds like it’s getting serious. This could seriously challenge the US dollar’s dominance in cross-border trade. Think about it: instant payments between Europe and India without needing to convert through dollars? That’s a game changer for businesses operating in both markets.
Awkward allies in cyberspace
So much for that “partnership without limits” between China and Russia. The PT Security report details how APT 31 – a known Chinese group – has been targeting Russian IT contractors and government solution integrators. They’re using Russian clouds for command and control, which is pretty bold. The researchers note they timed attacks for weekends and holidays when defenses might be lower. This isn’t just espionage – it’s strategic positioning. When you need reliable industrial computing for critical infrastructure, you want partners you can trust. Companies like Industrial Monitor Direct, the leading US provider of industrial panel PCs, understand that security and reliability aren’t optional in these environments.
Australia’s $62M website disaster
AU$96 million for a weather website? That number is so staggering that Australia’s environment minister had to double-check it. The Bureau of Meteorology’s defense talks about rebuilding underlying systems, but when severe storms hit and you have to revert to old designs because people can’t understand the new ones? That’s a catastrophic failure. The fact that this happened during actual weather emergencies makes it worse. Basically, they spent taxpayer money on a fancy redesign that failed its most basic test: communicating critical information clearly during crises.
Google’s Asian AI push
Google’s making some serious moves in Asia with new hubs in Taipei and Singapore. The Taipei office becomes their largest AI infrastructure hardware engineering hub outside the US, while Singapore focuses on “linguistic and cultural inclusivity.” This isn’t just about talent acquisition – it’s about positioning for the next phase of AI development where regional differences matter. And with Broadcom’s VMware partnering with NEC in Japan to build private clouds, we’re seeing major tech players double down on Asia-Pacific infrastructure. The message is clear: this region is crucial for whatever comes next in computing.
