16 October 2026
The India Meteorological Department announced the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon and the onset of the northeast monsoon.
Northeast monsoon activity already prevailed over Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal, coastal Andhra Pradesh, south interior Karnataka and Rayalaseema.
An orange alert, meaning very heavy rain of 12 to 20 cm in 24 hours, was issued for Idukki, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Pathanamthitta.
A yellow alert, meaning 7 to 11 cm in 24 hours, covered the remaining ten districts.
Kerala was told to expect heavy to very heavy rain until 21 October.
Thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds of 40 to 50 kmph were forecast at isolated places in Kerala and Lakshadweep.
Orange alert districts:
Idukki, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta
Orange alert rainfall:
12-20 cm in 24 hours
Yellow alert rainfall:
7-11 cm in 24 hours
Heavy rain forecast until:
21 October
Why it matters for exams: The onset of the northeast monsoon and the colour codes of rain alerts are standard questions in geography and current affairs papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Northeast monsoon Retreating monsoon — The winds that bring Kerala and Tamil Nadu rain between October and December as the monsoon retreats.
Orange alert Very heavy rain warning — The India Meteorological Department uses it for rainfall of 12 to 20 cm in 24 hours.
16 October 2026
The trial in the murder of Abhimanyu began before Principal Sessions Judge K K Balakrishnan at the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court.
All 16 accused appeared in matching clothing, caps, hairstyles and face coverings, and the judge ordered them to remove the masks, saying they could not appear before the court with their faces covered.
The judge warned that strict action would follow any attempt to alter their appearance at future hearings or during cross-examination.
Abhimanyu, a second-year BSc Chemistry student of Maharaja's College and a Students' Federation of India leader, was fatally stabbed on the campus on 2 July 2018.
Special Public Prosecutor G Mohanraj examined the first eyewitness, Subin, who identified several of the accused but said he could not identify three of them.
The trial follows a Kerala High Court direction in July to complete the proceedings within four months, given on a petition by Abhimanyu's mother Bhoopathy.
Witness examination is to continue on consecutive working days until 12 November.
Court:
Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court
Accused:
16
Date of the killing:
2 July 2018
Witness examination until:
12 November
Why it matters for exams: Campus political violence cases and the High Court's power to set a time limit for a trial are both examinable points.
Kerala PSC
In plain words
Special Public Prosecutor SPP — A lawyer appointed by the State to conduct the prosecution in a particular case.
16 October 2026
The Kerala Legal Metrology Department received seven new Bolero Neo vehicles.
Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Legal Metrology Minister Anoop Jacob flagged them off.
The event was held on the grounds of Kanakakunnu Palace in Thiruvananthapuram.
The vehicles are meant to strengthen the department's inspection and enforcement work and its consumer protection activity.
Controller Rajesh Sam, Additional Controller K. Sheelan and Joint Controller P. Srinivasa were among the officials present.
The department enforces the law on weights and measures used in trade in the State.
Vehicles handed over:
Seven Bolero Neo
Minister:
Anoop Jacob
Venue:
Kanakakunnu Palace grounds, Thiruvananthapuram
Why it matters for exams: The Legal Metrology Department's place under the Food and Civil Supplies portfolio, and its consumer protection role, are standard State administration questions.
Kerala PSC
In plain words
Legal metrology Law of weights and measures — The branch of law that governs the accuracy of weights, measures and packaged goods in trade.
Background
The Niyamasabha is in session this week, taking an adjournment motion and fresh Bills, which makes the House's own beginnings worth revisiting.
An integrated State of Kerala emerged from a fusion on linguistic grounds, and the first general elections were held in February-March 1957.
The First Kerala Legislative Assembly commenced on 1 March 1957 with a strength of 127, including the lone nominated member.
Sankaranarayanan Thampi was its Speaker and K. O. Aysha Bai its Deputy Speaker.
On 5 April 1957 the first Communist Ministry, with E. M. Sankaran Namboodirippad as Chief Minister, assumed office.
That Ministry was dismissed on 31 July 1959 and the Assembly was dissolved the same day, after 7 sessions and 175 sittings in which 88 Bills were passed.
The Kerala University Bill, the Kerala Education Bill and the Kerala Agrarian Relations Bill were among them, and the Business Advisory Committee was formed in the same year.
From the Fifth Assembly onward the strength of the House continued to be 141, including one nominated member.
Strength of the First Assembly:
127, including the lone nominated member
Commenced:
1 March 1957
First Ministry assumed office:
5 April 1957
Sittings and Bills passed:
175 sittings, 88 Bills
Strength from the Fifth Assembly:
141, including one nominated member
Why it matters for exams: The first Assembly, its presiding officers and the first Ministry are among the most frequently asked facts in Kerala PSC general knowledge.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Niyamasabha Kerala Legislative Assembly — The Malayalam name of the State's law-making House.
Background
The Assembly has just sent a new Bill to one of its subject committees, and the committee habit itself is older than the State.
Dewan T. Rama Rao proposed a Legislative Council to the Maharaja in January 1888, and a regulation creating it was passed on 30 March 1888.
The Council had a three-year tenure and 8 members, of whom 6 were officials and 2 non-officials nominated by the Maharaja, with the Dewan presiding.
Its inaugural meeting was held at noon on 23 August 1888 in the Dewan's room, and the First Council of 1888-1891 had 32 sittings and passed 9 recommendatory Bills.
The Select Committee constituted to study and report on Bills marked the origin of the committee system, and the Malayali Memorial was signed in 1891 seeking wider representation.
The Sri Mulam Popular Assembly of Travancore was formed on 1 October 1904 as a body of representatives of landholders and merchants, meeting first on 22 October 1904 at the Victoria Jubilee Town Hall in Trivandrum.
A regulation of 1 May 1905 gave the people the privilege of electing members: of 100 members, 77 were to be elected and 23 nominated, for a tenure of one year.
The franchise was tied to property - annual land revenue of not less than Rs. 50 or a net income of not less than Rs. 2000 - and to graduates of a recognised university of not less than ten years standing.
Regulation creating the Legislative Council:
30 March 1888
Inaugural meeting of the Council:
23 August 1888, in the Dewan's room
Sri Mulam Popular Assembly formed:
1 October 1904
First meeting of the Popular Assembly:
22 October 1904, Victoria Jubilee Town Hall, Trivandrum
Composition after the elective regulation:
100 members - 77 elected, 23 nominated
Why it matters for exams: Kerala PSC repeatedly asks which body came first, who presided over it and when the elective principle entered Travancore's legislature.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Dewan Chief minister of a princely state — In Travancore the Dewan headed the administration under the Maharaja and presided over the early Legislative Council.
Malayali Memorial Petition of 1891 for wider representation — A popular petition seeking greater representation for Travancore's own people in the administration.
Background
Kerala has redrawn its ecologically sensitive area map for the Ghats, cutting the proposed extent to 8,590.69 square kilometres and largely excluding 33 of 123 villages, so the property those hills form is worth knowing.
UNESCO inscribed the Western Ghats on the World Heritage List in 2012 as a natural property.
It is inscribed under criteria (ix) and (x), the criteria for ecological processes and for biodiversity.
It is a serial property of 39 component parts grouped into 7 sub-clusters.
UNESCO records that the Ghats traverse the States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat, while the 39 components of the inscribed property itself are spread across four States.
Kerala submitted its revised documents to the Centre on 24 September, following the Union Environment Ministry's seventh draft notification, and the map is on the State Environment Department's website.
Year of inscription:
2012
Criteria:
(ix)(x)
Component parts:
39, in 7 sub-clusters
States the Ghats traverse:
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat
Kerala's proposed ESA extent:
8,590.69 square kilometres
Why it matters for exams: Serial World Heritage properties, their criteria and the States they cover are a repeated UPSC environment question, and the Ghats are Kerala's own.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
ESA Ecologically Sensitive Area — An area notified for restrictions on polluting and land-altering activity.
Serial property A World Heritage site made of several separate parts — One inscription covering many physically separate component sites.
Background
Work on the Kalladi-Anakkampoyil tunnel road that would open this district towards Kozhikode has stayed suspended for three months after a landslide at Kalladi, so the district it serves is worth knowing.
Wayanad came into existence on 1 November 1980 as the 12th District of Kerala, made up of the Mananthavady, Sulthanbathery and Vythiri taluks.
It was carved out from the then Kozhikode and Kannur districts.
The name Wayanad is derived from Vayal Nadu, which means the land of paddy fields.
It is a plateau between 700 and 2100 metres above mean sea level, in the Western Ghats on the eastern portion of north Kerala, bordering Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
About 885.92 square kilometres of the district is under forest, and its culture is mainly tribal oriented.
The district administration calls it perhaps one of the biggest foreign exchange earners of the State, with its production of cash crops like pepper, cardamom, coffee, tea, spices and other condiments.
Formed:
1 November 1980, as the 12th District of Kerala
Taluks at formation:
Mananthavady, Sulthanbathery and Vythiri
Carved out from:
The then Kozhikode and Kannur districts
Elevation:
700 to 2100 metres above mean sea level
Area under forest:
About 885.92 sq km
Why it matters for exams: District formation order, parent districts and taluks are among the most reliably asked Kerala PSC facts.
Kerala PSCSSC
In plain words
Taluk Revenue subdivision of a district — The administrative unit between a district and a village in Kerala's revenue system.
Background
Kerala's redrawn eco-sensitive map has fully excluded the residential areas of Kuttampuzha in this district, a village of 519.28 square kilometres of which 476.19 square kilometres falls inside the published boundaries.
Ernakulam District came into being on 1 April 1958 by incorporating the Kanayannoor, Kochi, Kunnathunadu, Aluva and Paroor taluks.
A long deliberation at the Kerala Fine Arts Hall, attended by political, social and media figures, was instrumental in the district's formation.
In 1405 AD the provincial king of Perumbadappu shifted his capital from Mahodayapuram to Kochi and came to be recognised as the King of Kochi.
With Dutch support the king succeeded in driving the Portuguese out of Kochi in 1663, and by 1800 the British had taken over the administration.
Sakthan Thampuran, who ruled from 1790 to 1805, was the mightiest of the kings of Kochi, and the Paliathachans of Chennamangalam were chief ministers to those kings for almost 150 years.
The district administration's history page puts the district's mangrove forests at around 465 square kilometres; Thattekkad and Mangalavanam are its two bird sanctuaries, and Ernakulam is Kerala's biggest pineapple producing district.
Formed:
1 April 1958
Taluks incorporated:
Kanayannoor, Kochi, Kunnathunadu, Aluva and Paroor
Portuguese driven out of Kochi:
1663, with Dutch support
Mangrove forests:
Around 465 square kilometres, as the district history page records
Bird sanctuaries:
Thattekkad and Mangalavanam
Why it matters for exams: Kochi's colonial sequence and Ernakulam's formation details are asked in both the history and the Kerala geography sections.
Kerala PSCSSC
In plain words
Paliathachan Hereditary chief minister of Kochi — The title of the Paliath family of Chennamangalam, chief ministers to the kings of Kochi.
Background
Kerala is now giving its people's health centres their own buildings and a fixed list of free medicines, and the framework behind those centres is the Aardram Mission.
Aardram is one of the four missions under the Nava Kerala Mission of the Government of Kerala.
It was launched in February 2017 with the objective of completely transforming the public health sector, against the backdrop of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
Its primary focus is Sustainable Development Goal 3, Good Health and Well-being, with short-term goals set for 2020 and long-term goals for 2030.
Its main objectives are people-friendly outpatient services, re-engineering primary health centres into family health centres, access to comprehensive health services for marginalised and vulnerable groups, and standardisation of services from primary to tertiary settings.
The transformation covers preventive, promotive, curative, palliative and rehabilitative services, with record management through the e-Health system.
The Panchayat Raj Act of 1994, which transferred institutions such as primary health centres to local self-governing bodies, made the transformation easier by allowing convergence with other departments and with national, State and panchayat programmes.
Community participation is built in through forums such as the Arogyasena.
Launched:
February 2017
Parent programme:
One of the four missions under the Nava Kerala Mission
Primary focus:
SDG 3, Good Health and Well-being
Core transformation:
Re-engineering PHCs into FHCs
Community forum:
Arogyasena
Why it matters for exams: Kerala PSC asks which mission sits under Nava Keralam, what FHC stands for and which SDG the health mission targets.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
FHC Family Health Centre — A primary health centre re-engineered under Aardram for comprehensive, people-friendly care.
Nava Kerala Mission Kerala's four-mission development programme — The umbrella programme of which Aardram is the health mission.
Background
Amid a power shortage, the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission has allowed the Kerala State Electricity Board to keep buying 177 MW from two NTPC thermal plants, and the order shows where tariff-setting power actually sits.
The clearance covers 80 MW from Barh Stage-I and 97 MW from Barh Stage-II, and runs until 30 April 2029.
The tariffs of those NTPC stations are determined by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, not by the State Commission or by the State board.
Each such tariff has two components: a fixed charge and an energy charge.
For Barh Stage-II the average tariff works out to Rs 4.67 per unit, made up of a fixed charge of Rs 1.97 and an energy charge of Rs 2.89.
Because it cannot reset a central station's tariff itself, the State Commission directed the board to take an active part in the central Commission's tariff hearings and to work to bring the determined tariffs down.
The State Commission compared the rates with round-the-clock power discovered through the DEEP portal and the short-term market before clearing the purchase.
Quantity cleared:
177 MW
Barh Stage-I:
80 MW
Barh Stage-II:
97 MW
Barh Stage-II average tariff:
Rs 4.67 per unit (fixed Rs 1.97, energy Rs 2.89)
Valid until:
30 April 2029
Tariff-setting authority for the stations:
Central Electricity Regulatory Commission
Why it matters for exams: The split between the central and State electricity regulators, and the two-part structure of a generation tariff, are asked in both polity and economy sections.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
CERC Central Electricity Regulatory Commission — The regulator that fixes the tariff of a central generating station such as an NTPC plant.
KSERC Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission — The State regulator that approves the State board's power purchases and retail tariffs.
Fixed charge Capacity component of a generation tariff — The part of the tariff payable for keeping capacity available, apart from the energy actually drawn.