The number of vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz fell ⁠to the lowest in more than two months after attacks on tankers in the key waterway reached their highest last week since the start of the US-Israeli war with ‌Iran, shipping data showed.

Seven commodity vessels passed through the strait on Tuesday (October 6, 2026), for the lowest figure since July 23, data from analytics ‌firm Kpler showed.

“Crude crossing the strait fell 27% from a wartime ‌high ⁠the week before, to at least 10.1 million barrels a ⁠day,” Kpler analysts Emmanuel Belostrino and Yui Torikata wrote in a note on October 6.

“That is back to its September average, but 74% of its pre-war level.”

Most of the fall was in ​ship-to-ship (STS) transfers in the Gulf of ‌Oman, where cargoes move between tankers, they added.

However, exports from the Gulf of Oman coast and the Red Sea rose to 6.7 million bpd, more than twice pre-war levels, analysts said, making up for lost supply ‌from Hormuz.

This helped keep overall exports of Middle East crude ​at the pre-war level, they said.

The number of vessels transiting the strait edged up to 10 on Wednesday (October 7, 2026), but was well ⁠short of the daily tally of more than 20 on Sunday (October 4, 2026) and Monday (Octobr 5, 2026), the data showed.

More vessels entered the strait than exited in the past two days.

The ‌figures exclude vessels crossing with their Automatic Identification System transponders turned off to avoid detection.

LSEG data of all vessels crossing the strait showed eight on Tuesday (October 6, 2026), evenly divided between entries and exits, down from the previous day’s 14.

These included five oil tankers and the liquefied natural gas tanker Al Mafyar which loaded at Ras Laffan in Qatar and was set to head for Port ‌Qasim in Pakistan, LSEG added.

Attacks on tankers sailing through Hormuz hit their highest last week ​of any week since the Iran war began, maritime security sources tracking incidents said, as Gulf producers made a bigger export ⁠push.

In the latest incident, projectiles struck a tanker 51 nautical miles north of Qatar’s ⁠Madinat ash Shamal, with casualties reported, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said on Wednesday.

Before the February 28 start of the Iran ‌war, about 125 large commercial vessels went through the strait each per day, comprising tankers, gas carriers, bulkers and container vessels.

Their cargoes accounted for ​a fifth of global supplies of crude oil and liquefied natural gas.

The Delhi Police Special Cell arrested two government officials for allegedly seeking illegal gratification from an association in return for facilitating its pending registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday (September 29, 2026).

The two officials apprehended on Monday (September 28, 2026) include one working as a Senior Accountant and the other as an Accountant within the department. The arrests were made based on specific information received by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the statement said.

All organisations and NGOs receiving foreign funding have to mandatorily register under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) and their activities are closely monitored by the Ministry of Home Affairs acting as nodal authority to ensure that such funds do not adversely affect the country’s internal security.

As on June 22 this year, there are 14,456 FCRA-registered NGOs active in the country. MHA has said the FCRA registered NGOs receive approximately ₹22,000 crore annually.

“In accordance with church management rules, entry into the church for worship is restricted to Christians. Others who enter voluntarily do so at their own risk” — reads a noticeboard in Hindi outside the 116-year-old Sunderganj Mennonite Church in Dhamtari, Chhattisgarh.

A similar board outside the Church of God in the city states: “Worship here is exclusively for Christians; if you are not legally a Christian, you will be held personally responsible.”

It has been nearly a month since such boards have come up outside churches in the city. “They have been put up primarily as a precautionary measure to avoid action under the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act, 2026,” said Diamond Philus, general secretary of the Dhamtari District Christian Forum.

The law, which was notified in August, is aimed at curbing religious conversions, according to Ministers in the BJP government.

‘Draconian provisions’

Mr. Philus said the law mandates that anyone seeking to change their religion must inform the district administration 60 days in advance. Terming the law’s provisions “draconian”, he alleged that it leaves room for anyone to be framed under it.

The forum claimed that more than 1,000 people have submitted self-declaration forms at the District Collectorate stating that they were attending religious meetings at churches or prayer halls “voluntarily and at their own risk”.

Mr. Philus shared a copy of the declaration form, which seeks details of the applicant and the church or prayer venue. It states that attendance is voluntary and based on personal faith and freedom of conscience. It requires the applicant to confirm that there has been no force, threat, undue influence, inducement, fraud or deception, and no known instance of such means being used for conversion has come to their notice.

He said another reason for putting up the boards was disruption of prayer meetings by members of right-wing groups. He said he hoped the boards would make the environment secure for the Christian community.

Such disruptions, as well as disputes over the last rites of the deceased, have often been reported in Dhamtari and other parts of the State, he said.

“We are not restricting anyone, but if people want to come, they should come at their own risk,” he said.

Citing an instance after the notices were put up that reaffirmed the need for them, Mr. Philus said, “A meeting was called at the District Collectorate on September 15. The forum was not informed that right-wing groups would be present. When they said we should not allow people inside the church till they have converted, the government officials supported their stand.”

Rains lashed parts of Hyderabad in the evening rush hours on Tuesday (September 22, 2026), catching people off guard. The weather was sunny till the late afternoon. As it started to rain and thunders echoed, people and motorists rushed to find shelter. 

India Meteorological Department (IMD)-Hyderabad Centre issued a weather update at 5.08 p.m. predicting light to moderate rain or thundershowers with surface wind speed reaching up to 40 kmph as very likely in parts of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation during the next one to two hours. 

In view of the rains in the city, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy directed officials to take measures to prevent water logging on arterial roads, junctions, colonies, and send teams to attend to such situations. They were instructed to focus on low-lying and flood prone areas, ensure water flows in nalas and drainage lines without obstruction and there are no interruptions in electricity supply and flow of traffic.

Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar has sought clarifications from the Tamil Nadu government regarding some of the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Private Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which was recently passed by the Assembly.

Sources told The Hindu that the Bill is still under the consideration of the Governor and he has sought a briefing from the government on some provisions. The sources clarified this amidst reports that Mr. Arlekar has reserved the Bill for consideration by the President of India.

In the recently concluded Budget Session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly, a total of 13 Bills were passed. Of these, the Tamil Nadu Private Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2026, attracted severe criticism from the Opposition. Barring this Bill, the Governor has accorded assent to the 12 other Bills.

What does the Bill say?

The Tamil Nadu Private Universities Act, 2019, mandates that not less than 100 acres of contiguous land is required for the establishment of a private university in the State. The Act also mandates the sponsoring body to establish a permanent endowment fund of at least ₹50 crore.

The amendment Bill sought to reduce the minimum land requirement for establishing a private university to 12 acres in the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) area, 18 acres in other municipal corporations and municipal councils, and 25 acres in other areas. It also proposed to reduce the permanent endowment fund requirement to ₹25 crore.

Some Opposition parties alleged the Bill would lead to the commercialisation of education. However, Minister for Higher Education P. Viswanathan had recently said the objective behind the amendment Bill was to facilitate the establishment of world-class private universities in Tamil Nadu.

Customer facing branch banking services were impacted across Hyderabad on Friday (September 11, 2026) as thousands of employees and officers across public sector banks participated in the one-day nationwide strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).

Most of the branches were shuttered while those that opened were manned by the incharge with illumination at the facility kept to the minimum even as customer footfalls were scarce. Ahead of the strike, the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) urged customers to make use of the digital channels.

Employees of different banks protest near SBI Bank Complex on Bank Street in Koti, Hyderabad, on Friday (September 11 2026)
| Video Credit:
NAGARA GOPAL

Branch banking operations are expected to resume on Tuesday (September 15, 2026), with the strike followed by the weekend and the Ganesh Chaturthi holiday. Employees of some of the old generation private banks and regional rural banks were also part of the strike. Less than 5% of the staff in Telangana Grameena Bank were not part of the protest, a source in the RRB said. Private banks remained open.

The demands

As part of the strike, a large number of bank staff participated in a demonstration programme on Bank Street in Koti and raised slogans in support of their demand for implementation of the five-day week. The unions have been urging the government to implement what bank management and the workforce agreed several years ago — banks will remain closed on all Saturdays. At present, banks are closed, besides Sundays, on the second and fourth Saturdays. To compensate for the loss of working days, it has been agreed that branches will work for an additional 40 minutes every working day.

The strike on Friday (September 11, 2026) was also against implementation of a production linked incentive scheme. Earlier this week, the government said it has decided to keep in abeyance the implementation of the PLI scheme.

Citing reports from various States, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) general secretary C.H. Venkatachalam said in a statement that the strike has been a total success with employees and officers enthusiastically joining the strike. Banking services were affected in a big way, including clearance of cheques.

A branch of State Bank of India in Sangareddy, Telangana, as employees of various banks are on strike on Friday (September 11, 2026)
| Photo Credit:
MOHD ARIF

Besides AIBEA, the UFBU consists of All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC); National Confederation Of Bank Employees (NCBE); All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA); Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI); Indian National Bank Officers Congress (INBOC) and Indian National Bank Employees Federation (INBEF).

The National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) and the National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO) previously used to be part of the UFBU.

Three-day bank strike proposed

The one-day strike is the beginning with UBFU planning a three-day bank strike from September 28-30 that will translate into no branch banking over five days from the preceding weekend (fourth Saturday and Sunday). It also plans to launch an indefinite strike from October 26, 2026.

The Delhi Cabinet has approved the Delhi Ease of Doing Business Bill, 2026 to bring “fundamental changes” to the process of obtaining approvals, registrations, licences and other clearances to set up enterprises in the Capital, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) stated in a release on Wednesday.

The statement quoted Chief Minister Rekha Gupta as saying that the most important feature of the proposed law would be a single-window system to facilitate approvals, registrations, no-objection certificates (NOCs), consents, licences, and other clearances through a simple and user-friendly portal.

Using the single-window clearance system, businesses will also be able to obtain sanctions for building plans, approvals from the fire department, and water, drainage and electricity connections, the CMO added.

Next steps

The Bill will be sent to the Union Home Ministry for approval, a senior official said. The Ministry is expected to seek the opinion of the Legal Affairs Department as several legal issues are involved. Based on the Ministry’s final recommendation, the proposed law may be taken up in Parliament or the Delhi Assembly, the official added.

Sharing more details, the CM said, “Through the Bill, different business-related processes will be brought under a system that is simple, transparent, time-bound, and technology-driven. It seeks to move the relationship between the government and enterprises away from a mechanism based on control and suspicion to one based on trust and ease.”

Once the proposed law comes into effect, trust and convenience will be prioritised between the government and businesses, Ms. Gupta said, adding that the proposed law provides for an inspection system based on trust.

“No routine inspection will be carried out for three years after an enterprise is registered. However, an inspection may be conducted if a serious complaint is received,” the CM said.

Self-declaration will be accepted for businesses considered low risk.

The Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation will be the nodal agency for all business approvals.

Ms. Gupta said enterprises already registered under the Goods and Services Tax Act, the Food Safety and Standards Act, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act or the four Labour Codes will not need to obtain separate registrations for establishments categorised as ‘health-trade’ and ‘eating house’.