Current affairs — 24 September 2026

On 23 September 2026, a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court — Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma — delivered a split verdict on the Union government's plea to refer the challenge to the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 to a larger bench. Despite disagreeing, the judges passed a joint order placing the matter before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to consider constituting a Constitution Bench directly, holding that an intermediate three-judge bench would be “of little worth” and would only delay the decision.

On 23 September 2026, Germany's new Ambassador to India, Jasper Wieck, said Germany is ready to sign a “forward leaning” deal with India for six submarines worth about $8 billion, being negotiated between Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL). “From the German side, we should sign tomorrow,” he said, adding that the German government has agreed to all the negotiated documents, in particular the government-to-government (G2G) / inter-governmental agreement, and has eased barriers that had hampered defence cooperation with India.

On 23 September 2026, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the BRICS Heads of Tax Authorities Meeting in New Delhi. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) hosted it as the final event of India’s 2026 BRICS Chairship of the tax cooperation track.

On 23 September 2026 the National Statistics Office (NSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the results of the Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey (DTES), fielded from July 2025 to June 2026 — India’s first household survey of domestic travel since 2014-15. It estimates about 10 crore overnight trips in the 365 days before households were interviewed — and finds that, among trips measured over a full year, pilgrimage far outranks holidaying.

On 23 September 2026, touring the drought-prone districts of Latur, Dharashiv and Solapur, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the State is heading for a severe drought “likely to be worse than that of 1972”, attributed it to a “Super El Niño”, and said a notification would follow shortly. Yet a formal kharif drought declaration cannot be made immediately: the assessment under the Central norms can begin only once the monsoon starts withdrawing, which the State expects after 5 October 2026.

On 23 September 2026, the Arunachal Pradesh Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Pema Khandu adopted a resolution constituting an empowered high-level committee “to guide and coordinate” the pre-feasibility report (PFR) survey for the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), as villagers along the Siang continue to resist the survey. The Cabinet recalled that the Union government had declared SUMP a national project in 2008, and local authorities held school exhibitions on the project for 640 students from four schools in Siang district.

On 23 September 2026, the eighth anniversary of the launch of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the scheme now gives more than 60 crore beneficiaries an annual health cover of ₹5 lakh, calling it “the largest healthcare scheme in the world”. Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda marked the day with updated scheme data released by the Health Ministry on 22 September 2026.

On 23 September 2026, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its Economic Outlook, Interim Report September 2026. It raised India’s growth forecast for FY 2026-27 to 7.1%, from 6.3% in June, and credited resilient domestic demand and government policies that shielded households and firms from higher energy prices.

On 22 September 2026, officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), acting on specific intelligence about an illegal wildlife trade deal, intercepted two persons at Bandar Chalia Gaon Ground, Mariani, Assam, and seized 86 live Tokay geckos. The Ministry of Finance announced the seizure on 23 September 2026; the two persons and the geckos were handed over to the Mariani Range Forest Office for action under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Addressing the General Debate of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York on 22 September 2026, President David Ranibok Adeang announced that his country has reclaimed its name and pronunciation — Naoero — in place of Nauru. Its three-letter international code changes from NRU to NRO, and its people will be known as dei-Naoero instead of Nauruans; he closed with three words: “Say our name.”