Sunday, Sep 20, 2026

• The Employees' State Insurance Scheme (ESIS), meant to cover roughly 4 crore insured workers and, with dependents, close to 16 crore people, fails many of them in practice: about 63% of injured workers in automation sectors received their Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) registration card only after their accident, not at the start of employment as the law requires, The Wire reports. (The Wire)
• Uttar Pradesh's Panchayat Sahayak Karmachari Union has rejected the state government's offer to raise the monthly honorarium of 57,000 panchayat sahayaks (village-level data-entry and accounts workers) from Rs 6,000 to Rs 9,000, calling it a token gesture, and is holding out for Rs 30,000 a month and permanent Grade C government employee status, The Wire reports. (The Wire)
• Chief Justice of India Surya Kant called it "very, very shocking" that Manipur's government could not adequately explain 25 unnatural deaths among internally displaced people in relief camps flagged by the Supreme Court-appointed Justice Gita Mittal Committee; a separate report cited in the hearing found 640 deaths across relief camps in eight districts, with post-mortems done in only 20 of those cases, The Wire reports. (The Wire)
• Delhi police detained about 30 students and workers for roughly three hours after they protested outside the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) office demanding the commissioner's resignation over the Satya Niketan building collapse that killed at least seven people on September 6; protesters said compensation has still not been paid and the rubble not cleared, The Wire reports. (The Wire)
• The Delhi High Court dismissed the central government's appeal against a ruling that let the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) withdraw Rs 20 lakh from its reserve fund, holding that cancellation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration "merely means that the organisation cannot receive foreign funds" and does not stop it functioning on domestic money, The Wire reports. (The Wire)
• India Development Review argues that Rule 8(3) of the Companies (CSR Policy) Rules, 2014, which requires impact assessments for corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects above Rs 1 crore, costs nonprofits Rs 1-5 lakh a year each and pushes them toward short-term, easily measured projects instead of sustained change; the piece, by Zerodha's Kailash Nadh and Nithin Kamath, argues such assessments should be voluntary rather than mandatory. (India Development Review)
• The Ministry of Rural Development will begin Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) 2.0 training batches in most states and union territories from October 2026: 1,164 batches enrolling 34,920 rural youth to start, against a target of training 357,112 rural youth by December 31, 2027, across 14 states in the first phase, per a ministry statement carried by the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS). (IANSlive)
• India has issued 12.75 lakh appointment letters across 20 editions of the National Rozgar Mela since the scheme's October 2022 launch (against an original target of 10 lakh government jobs), including over 51,000 at the 20th mela on September 20, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed recruits by video conference; selected candidates joined roles across the Railways, Home Affairs, the Postal Department, Health and Family Welfare, Financial Services, and Labour and Employment, per a government factsheet reported by NewsNationTV. (NewsNationTV)
• Deficient monsoon rain has hit ragi (finger millet) sowing in Karnataka's Mandya district, where farmers had planted only 1,213 hectares of a 63,385-hectare target by September 11, after just 130 mm of rain, a 45% shortfall from normal; all seven Mandya taluks were declared drought-affected in August, one of more than 200 of Karnataka's 239 taluks now facing drought, ISignal (IndiaSpend's data journalism site) reports. (ISignal)

• The Election Commission froze the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party name and "Flowers & Grass" symbol on September 17, allotting an interim name and symbol to each rival faction: "Mamata All India Trinamool Congress" (Football Player symbol) to Mamata Banerjee's group and "Democratic Trinamool Congress" (Envelope symbol) to the group led by Ritabrata Banerjee, pending adjudication, with the arrangement applying through the October 6 bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar. Mamata Banerjee filed a Supreme Court petition on September 18 challenging the order. (LiveLaw)
• Milan Pradhan, the Congress candidate for the Nandigram assembly bypoll, was arrested on September 18 in a 2007 murder case, minutes after the TMC's original candidate withdrew and hours after Mamata Banerjee's faction pledged support for him to strengthen the opposition INDIA bloc; Congress MP K.C. Venugopal called it a political tactic using a "dormant 19-year-old case." (Scroll)
• The Election Commission told the Supreme Court that of roughly 27 lakh voters deleted during West Bengal's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, 22.2 lakh (82%) have filed appeals against removal, but only about 3.1% of all 38.2 lakh appeals filed have been decided so far, with 93% of decided appeals resulting in reinstatement. (Scroll)
• In the Shiv Sena name-and-symbol case, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant questioned whether legislative majority should be the primary test for awarding a party's identity, with Justice Joymalya Bagchi noting "the voter actually votes for a party, not for the representative," a principle with direct bearing on the parallel TMC dispute. (Scroll)
• The Centre notified 14 new judicial appointments across four high courts (Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Jharkhand, Karnataka), announced by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on September 19. (LiveLaw)
• The Delhi High Court questioned Delhi Police's blanket denial of permission for a Karni Sena protest against caste-based reservations and University Grants Commission (UGC) equity regulations planned for Jantar Mantar on September 20, with Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma asking why conditions couldn't be imposed instead of an outright ban. (Scroll)
• A Wire analysis column compiled recent corruption allegations against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-run state governments, including a Rs 650 crore medical procurement scam under Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta's government (X-ray machines bought at Rs 33 lakh against a Rs 10 lakh market rate), a Rs 550 crore medicine scam in Chhattisgarh, and a claim that 23 of 25 opposition leaders facing corruption cases got relief after switching to the BJP, naming Suvendu Adhikari and Himanta Biswa Sarma. This is opinion and analysis, not straight reporting. (The Wire)
• Upcoming: the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee next meets October 5-7, 2026, per its FY27 calendar, the next scheduled monetary policy decision. September's retail and wholesale inflation figures are due in mid-October and worth flagging again closer to release.

• Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong asked Assam to stop parallel Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and Census exercises in border villages where Meghalaya had already completed them, saying Assam had been cooperative in resolving such disputes through official channels. Separately, the Garoland State Movement Committee accused Assam Census officials from Goalpara district of entering and trespassing on four West Garo Hills border villages (Saltopgre, Kurung, Pedaldoba, Rongsai) on September 10. (The Shillong Times)
• Meghalaya's Education Department withdrew its August 12 order that would have let State Pay Scale vacancies be filled through the Structured Pay Framework, with Education Commissioner Vijay Kumar Mantri saying the earlier order had caused confusion among teachers over sanctioned posts and the Deficit System. The Voice of the People Party, led by president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, credited its campaign against the move for the reversal. (The Shillong Times)
• United Democratic Party (UDP) general secretary Titosstarwell Chyne said the party could issue show-cause notices after reports that eight of its 12 MLAs, including Khliehriat MLA Kyrmen Shylla, have been in contact with the Bharatiya Janata Party; MLA Ollan Singh Suin has acknowledged the contact, and no UDP legislator has left the party so far. (The Shillong Times)
• Three arson attacks hit Shillong within hours this week, including a petrol bomb thrown at Lumdiengjri police station and a government vehicle torched outside the Directorate of Health Services, prompting Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong to order more patrols and tighter security at government buildings; East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Abhilash Baranwal also ordered stepped-up night patrolling and closed-circuit camera coverage. (The Shillong Times)
• The Meghalaya High Court rejected the state government's plan to convert a Nongstoin prison facility into a detention centre for foreign nationals, calling the proposal an "eyewash" since the building is built as a prison, not a holding facility. The court ordered officials, including Superintendent of Police-cum-Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) Vivek Syiem, to appear on September 21 and identify a detention centre that meets Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines. (The Shillong Times)
• Additional Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Lovish Garg was hit by a scooter and injured while running a checkpoint near Samkhamti Petrol Pump early Friday; two people, suspected to be Khasi Students' Union members, were arrested and remanded on attempt-to-murder charges, with SP (City) Dangsan Khyriem saying the circumstances suggested the act was deliberate. (The Shillong Times)
• Former Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh said Meghalaya's tourism sector has declined from the levels it reached during his tenure and called on government and non-government actors alike to be careful about public statements, warning that social media can damage the state's image within hours. (The Shillong Times)
• Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Textiles Pabitra Margherita said foreign tourist arrivals in Meghalaya are expected to rise, citing the state's biodiversity, landscapes and traditional textiles, and said the central government will keep supporting tourism development projects in the state. (Hub News)

None of the standing searches (Foundation for Responsive Governance, Indus Action, Centre for Policy Research, IDinsight, Inclusion Economics, Rocket Learning, Government Innovation Lab, State Capability Enhancement Project, Sampath Kumar, Human Development Leadership Program, Meghalaya Early Childhood Development Mission/Mission 1000 Days, Meghalaya Programme for Adolescent Wellbeing Empowerment and Resilience, Chief Minister's Safe Motherhood Scheme, Child Care Support Initiative, Nokma Empowerment Research Project, Chief Minister's Headman Fellowship, Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram, Meghalaya Health Insurance Scheme, GREEN Meghalaya) turned up anything published in the last 72 hours this run.

Bangladesh

• Four crude bombs exploded in Dhaka's Jatrabari area around 7:40pm in front of Samad Super Market, injuring one person, and two more went off around 10:30pm near Platform 2 of Kamalapur Railway Station with no casualties, police said. (The Daily Star)
• National Citizen Party convener Nahid Islam, speaking at an 11-party alliance rally in Bogura during their Dhaka-Rangpur long march, said the home minister should resign, citing public insecurity and the case of a Comilla University teacher's missing son. (The Daily Star)
• The finance division issued the Service (Salary and Allowances) Order, 2026, raising government pay by up to 100% for grades 1-10 and up to 142% for grades 11-20, to be phased in from July 2026 through July 2027, based on a committee led by Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani. (Prothom Alo)
• Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) acting secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi called the opposition 11-party alliance's long march a normal democratic exercise, while Prime Minister and BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman questioned the marches' motive and effectiveness given ongoing fuel and electricity shortages. (Prothom Alo)
• Three children of Sarafat Ali, aged 10, 7 and 2, were found dead at a private clinic in Tahirpur upazila, Sunamganj on Saturday morning after an alleged poisoning the previous night; police suspect the father poisoned the children before taking poison himself amid a family dispute, and he is now hospitalised. (Prothom Alo)

Pakistan

• Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will arrive in New York on Sunday ahead of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who addresses the 81st United Nations (UN) General Assembly session on September 25; Pakistan has trimmed its delegation as an austerity move, dropping several federal ministers from the travel roster. (Dawn)
• Security forces concluded a 21-hour clearance operation in Kohat's old Police Lines area, killing 8 militants from the Hafiz Gul Bahadur-led Ittehadul Mujahideen after a vehicle-borne explosion and armed assault that killed at least 21 people, including 15 police officials, and wounded over 100. (Dawn)
• A fifth round of government-Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) talks ended without agreement, with the government asking JI to postpone its planned long march (set to begin September 20 from Karachi) over security threats, while JI insisted it will continue unless the government withdraws its petroleum levy of Rs114/litre on petrol and Rs100/litre on diesel. (Dawn)
• An Indian and a Pakistani naval vessel collided in the Arabian Sea on September 15, days after Pakistan said the Indian guided-missile destroyer INS Kolkata had repeatedly tried to enter a Pakistan Navy exercise area since September 7; India said its ship was conducting routine surveillance when a Pakistani vessel approached unsafely. Retired Pakistan Navy Vice Admiral Ahmad Saeed and Lahore-based security analyst Muhammad Shareh Qazi warned that limited bilateral communication mechanisms raise the risk of unintended escalation. (Al Jazeera)

Sri Lanka

• Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe said he cannot take over leadership of the country now because he does not currently hold a parliamentary seat. (Daily Mirror)
• United Trade Unions convener and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) executive board member Ananda Palitha called for a stronger, coordinated public protest on September 24 and 25 against the proposed 22nd Constitutional Amendment. (Daily Mirror)
• Legal action has been initiated over the destruction of about 110 trees in the buffer zone of Wilpattu National Park, in the Nelum Wewa area of Parana Eluwankulama, Vanathavilluwa. (Daily Mirror)

Nepal

• The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation formed a seven-member expert panel, coordinated by water policy expert Debesh Belbase, to scientifically investigate the August 26 Bhotekoshi-Lhende river disaster in Rasuwa, saying there is not yet enough verified evidence to determine its trigger or sequence. (The Kathmandu Post)
• A Kathmandu Post investigation across Sudurpaschim Province's seven hill districts found that drought, crop failure and landslides have driven mass Dalit migration to India and Nepal's cities; in one survey of 31 settlements, 1,049 of 1,870 households (57%) had migrated, eroding traditional artisan livelihoods and community structures. (The Kathmandu Post)
• At Constitution Day events in Kathmandu, President Ramchandra Paudel called for equitable governance, Vice President Ramsahay Prasad Yadav urged greater inclusion and proportional representation, and Prime Minister Balendra Shah warned the constitution risks becoming "just a piece of paper" without honest implementation, days after the Bhotekoshi floods. (The Kathmandu Post)
• Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle will tour Doha (September 28-29, for an Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank meeting), the United States, and Bangkok (October 12-18, for the Bretton Woods institutions' annual meeting) to seek international support after the Rasuwa floods, which killed 1,403 people, left 6,150 missing, and caused an estimated Rs408 billion in damage. (The Kathmandu Post)

Asia Pacific

• Japan recorded 107,677 people aged 100 or older in 2026, up 7,914 from last year and the 56th consecutive annual increase, while the country's fertility rate fell to a record low of 1.14; Health Minister Kenichiro Ueno marked the milestone even as officials warn a shrinking workforce will strain pensions and elder care spending. (Al Jazeera)
• The Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate a quarter point to 1.25%, a 31-year high, citing rising wages and inflation above its 2% target; Governor Kazuo Ueda and Executive Director Koji Nakamura pointed to a shrinking labour pool as a structural driver. (Al Jazeera)
• The ferry Virgo Transport 8 capsized in the Java Sea en route from Surabaya to Banjarmasin, Indonesia; nine bodies have been confirmed dead, 108 survivors rescued, and 126 people remain missing as divers resumed the search after strong currents halted earlier operations. (Al Jazeera)
• A China Coast Guard vessel rammed the Philippine government ship BRP Datu Magat Salamat off Palawan in the South China Sea, causing severe damage to one side; Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela called it a "dangerous military manoeuvre," while China's foreign ministry said the Philippine vessel altered course into its bow. (Al Jazeera)
• A 16-year-old gunman killed two students and himself and wounded at least eight others at a school in Banga, South Cotabato, in the Philippines' third deadly school shooting since June; provincial governor Reynaldo Tamayo and Banga mayor Albert Palencia responded, and officials noted illegal firearms remain widespread despite tightened gun rules. (Al Jazeera)
• Australia's Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced a crackdown on the roughly 77,000 people overstaying visas, including detention, forced departures, a "No Further Stay" provision, 100 new Border Force compliance officers and 250 new detention beds. (Al Jazeera)
• Amnesty International Philippines urged authorities to protect the right to peaceful assembly ahead of anti-corruption demonstrations planned for September 21, marking one year since mass protests over a flood-control infrastructure corruption scandal; executive director Ritz Lee Santos III said more than 100 protesters from last year's demonstrations still face criminal charges. (Amnesty International, via LiveNews)

Africa

• The Democratic Republic of the Congo began administering the Ervebo Ebola vaccine to about 50,000 health and frontline workers in Ituri and North Kivu provinces, with World Health Organization backing, as the outbreak's death toll reached at least 3,639 since May; Doctors Without Borders disputed the WHO's characterisation that transmission is slowing. (Al Jazeera)
• Police in South Africa's Ekurhuleni municipality are investigating the discovery of nine women's bodies over two months; President Cyril Ramaphosa and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi are among officials who have responded, four victims have been identified, and the National Shelter Movement of South Africa criticised authorities for placing the burden of safety on women rather than perpetrators. (Al Jazeera)
• Nigerian security forces fired shots and tear gas at protesters in Minna, Niger State, over the deaths of 37 men in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps following a raid on suspected illegal miners; Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo suspended the commandant and Governor Umar Bago imposed a 24-hour curfew. (Al Jazeera)
• The Trump administration lifted sanctions imposed on Eritrea's ruling party and military since 2021 over its role in Ethiopia's Tigray conflict, saying the move serves US interests in the Red Sea amid tensions with Iran and the Houthis; Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel welcomed the decision. (Al Jazeera)

Latin America

• Cuba worked to restore power after its sixth major blackout of 2026, which began with a transmission line failure in the country's central region and spread nationwide before authorities restored power to nearly half of Havana's customers by Saturday. (Al Jazeera)
• Bolivia's Congress approved a $1.9 billion International Monetary Fund loan tied to continued fuel subsidy cuts, with President Rodrigo Paz's party relying on centrist and right-wing support after the leftist Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party's collapse to two seats; the Bolivian Workers' Central union federation warned the cuts will raise living costs, and a state of emergency has been extended 90 days. (Al Jazeera)
• Trinidad and Tobago ended a state of emergency that allowed detention without charge, with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar instead seeking a permanent legal framework with judicial oversight; more than 5,800 people were arrested since March, about 2,250 still uncharged, and lawyer Criston Williams described detainees being transported blindfolded and shackled. (Al Jazeera)
• An Argentine court in Tierra del Fuego province ordered a symbolic suspension of the Sea Lion oilfield project near the Falkland Islands, run by Rockhopper Exploration and Navitas Petroleum, after 1982 war veterans and environmental lawyers sued citing United Nations (UN) resolutions on the disputed territory; the ruling has no jurisdiction over British-administered waters. (Al Jazeera)

Middle East

• Israeli President Isaac Herzog pardoned Elor Azaria, the former army medic convicted of manslaughter for shooting an incapacitated Palestinian, Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, in Hebron in 2016; Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir objected that Azaria has never expressed remorse, while Defence Minister Israel Katz welcomed the pardon. (Al Jazeera)
• Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least three Palestinians, including Basir al-Bursh, the eldest son of Gaza Health Ministry director general Dr Munir al-Bursh, in locations including Shujayea, Nuseirat and Jabalia; the ministry says 1,381 people have been killed in Gaza since the October 2025 ceasefire. (Al Jazeera)
• An explosion at a Syrian Arab Army weapons cache in Ayyash, Deir Az Zor province, killed 11 soldiers and wounded nine while they were transporting heavy ammunition; it is the second such blast in two weeks, after one killed 14 soldiers in Idlib on September 9, as authorities work to clear munitions left from the civil war. (Al Jazeera)
• More than 112,000 people have been displaced inside Yemen in the past two weeks and over 2,400 have fled to Djibouti by boat in the past week alone, as Houthi forces advance along the Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait; the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency say nearly half of Yemen's 22 million people need humanitarian aid. (Al Jazeera)
• Turkey's Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency revoked the operating licence of Iran's Bank Mellat in Istanbul, citing risk to depositors and financial stability, days after the United States sanctioned a Turkish investment bank accused of handling transactions for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force. (Al Jazeera)

Europe

• Dutch riot police used baton charges and dogs to break up a roughly 500-strong far-right rally at Malieveld park in The Hague after demonstrators threw fireworks and projectiles and displayed Nazi salutes and antisemitic slogans; Justice Minister David van Weel condemned the violence. (Al Jazeera)
• Russia's Central Election Commission head Ella Pamfilova said Moscow's electronic voting system faced a "very powerful" overnight cyberattack during the State Duma election; turnout stood at 32.58% by Saturday afternoon with most antiwar candidates excluded from the ballot after a Supreme Court ruling against the Yabloko party. (Al Jazeera)
• A British court sentenced Chan Mathok Atak, a 19-year-old asylum seeker from South Sudan, to two years and three months in prison for piloting an overcrowded dinghy carrying 165 migrants, including 31 minors, across the English Channel in July; Judge Sarah Counsell said only immediate custody was justified under a new law targeting boat pilots. (Al Jazeera)
• The European Union urged the United States to lift its renewed visa ban on Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization officials seeking to attend the UN General Assembly in New York, with EU diplomatic service spokesman Anouar El Anouni citing Washington's obligations under its headquarters agreement with the UN; the assembly instead voted to let Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas address it by prerecorded video. (Al Jazeera)
• The US Defense Department is weighing options including withdrawing a third of the roughly 68,000 American troops stationed in Europe, mainly in Germany, Italy and Spain, after European North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies declined to let US forces use their airbases for recent operations; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to decide by November 6, and Republican senators Roger Wicker and Mike Rogers warned a pullback could send the wrong signal to Moscow. (Al Jazeera)

North America

• President Donald Trump said he will create an "AI Force," modelled on the Space Force, and appoint a new "AI czar" to oversee the artificial intelligence industry, replacing David Sacks, who resigned and now chairs Trump's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology; Trump said he would "not in any way hinder or stifle" the industry's growth. (Al Jazeera)
• The 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston upheld a ruling that the Trump administration's policy of rapidly deporting migrants to third countries is unlawful; Circuit Judge Seth Aframe wrote that migrants must get a "meaningful" chance to raise safety concerns before removal, after the US struck deals with at least 29 countries to take in more than 25,000 migrants. (Al Jazeera)
• President Trump barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House access starting Saturday, accusing them of "fake news"; the Knight First Amendment Institute and the Freedom of the Press Foundation raised First Amendment concerns, and CNN's Brian Stelter called it "a direct threat to press freedom." (Al Jazeera)
• Thousands formed a human chain around the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, in a "Hands Around the Kennedy Center" rally organised by the group Hands Off the Arts, after Trump's board of appointees voted to close the venue for repairs lasting up to two years; co-founder Chris Raleigh said he feared the board could move to demolish the building without notifying the court that has blocked attempts to rename it after Trump. (Al Jazeera)
• Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet withdrew from the race to become UN Secretary-General after a third informal Security Council straw poll gave her one encouraging vote against 11 discouraging; Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan now leads with nine encouraging votes, and Bachelet said on Instagram "the time was not right" for her candidacy. (Al Jazeera)
• Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her phone call with President Trump was "very good" and that progress is being made toward a bilateral trade agreement before the US November midterm elections, as Mexico seeks reduced tariffs on steel, aluminum and automotive exports. (Al Jazeera)

• The Gates Foundation committed $1 billion over two years to expand equitable access to artificial intelligence tools in low- and middle-income countries, tied to its 10th annual Goalkeepers Report, "Make This Matter: AI, Equity, and the Choice We Can't Delay"; funding is split across education (40%), healthcare (40%), agriculture (10%) and digital infrastructure (10%). Published September 14, six days old. (Gates Foundation)
• A World Bank Development Impact blog post by Gabriel Englander reviewed a randomised controlled trial (by Hollie Booth and co-authors) on Indonesia's pay-to-release scheme for sharks and rays, finding that overly generous payments for releasing wedgefish pushed fishers to increase overall fishing effort, which raised bycatch of critically endangered hammerhead sharks that do not survive capture; the incentive scheme backfired for the more vulnerable species. Published September 16, four days old. (World Bank)
• The Ford Foundation, together with the MacArthur Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, announced funding to launch Artichoke Credit Union, described as a first-of-its-kind credit union for people with disabilities, built with Michigan State University Federal Credit Union and expected to open for member sign-ups in early 2027. Published September 15, five days old. (Ford Foundation)

• India's non-fossil energy sources now make up 54.18% of installed electricity capacity, beating the 2030 target nine years ahead of schedule, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the National Green Tribunal's two-day international conference "The Future of Environment and Climate Dynamics" in New Delhi, attended by delegates from 17 countries plus the United Nations Environment Programme and the Asian Development Bank. India also ranks third globally in renewable energy capacity, and forest and tree cover has reached 8.27 lakh square kilometres, Yadav said. (LiveLaw)
• Meghalaya has India's highest monsoon rainfall deficit this year at 59% below normal as of September 15, with West Jaintia Hills down 79% and East Khasi Hills down 53%; 10 of the state's 11 districts are affected, and an India Meteorological Department analysis cited in the report found a declining trend in the state's monsoon rainfall between 1989 and 2018. Around 80% of Meghalaya's villages depend on springs for drinking water and irrigation. (Down To Earth)
• Heavy rain on Thursday flooded roads and disrupted transport, electricity and water services across Tunis, home to close to 3 million people in the Greater Tunis region, months after January flooding caused deaths and damage; residents in the Lafayette and La Goulette areas said drainage work that should have been done over the summer was not completed. The government said 29 flood-protection projects are under way nationwide. (Al Jazeera)
• The India Meteorological Department says an upper air cyclonic circulation over north Thailand is expected to move into the north Andaman Sea and intensify, with global models from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the Global Forecast System (GFS) pointing to a possible cyclone, to be named Arnab, forming around September 23-24 and potentially affecting the coasts of south Odisha and north Andhra Pradesh; it would be the first North Indian Ocean cyclone of 2026. This is a forecast, not yet formed. (Down To Earth)
• The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank plans to issue its fourth climate adaptation bond in 2027, after its three previous issuances raised AUD $1.5 billion (US $1.07 billion), including an AUD $500 million issuance in February 2026 that was oversubscribed 4.6 times. The bank's 2025 climate finance totalled US $7.5 billion, 27% of it for adaptation, against an Asia-wide adaptation financing gap the report put at over US $200 billion a year needed versus about US $19 billion currently provided. Published September 17, three days old. (Green Central Banking)