17 October 2026
The Kudumbashree State Poverty Eradication Mission has invited applications on deputation for District Mission Coordinator and District Mission Assistant Coordinator posts.
About 14 District Mission Coordinator and 52 District Mission Assistant Coordinator vacancies are expected.
Serving government employees whose pay scale matches the post are eligible to apply.
Applications must be in the prescribed form and must carry a No Objection Certificate from the parent department.
They are to be sent to the Executive Director, Kudumbashree State Poverty Eradication Mission, Thiruvananthapuram 695011.
The last date to apply is 31 October. Details are on www.kudumbashree.org.
District Mission Coordinator posts:
14
Assistant Coordinator posts:
52
Last date:
31 October
Why it matters for exams: Kudumbashree's administrative structure and its deputation-based district staffing pattern are standard Kerala PSC questions on local self-government and poverty eradication.
Kerala PSC
In plain words
Deputation Deputation appointment — A serving government employee is posted temporarily to another department or agency without losing the parent post.
NOC No Objection Certificate — Written consent from the parent department allowing the employee to take up the new posting.
17 October 2026
The Kerala General Administration Department has declared Monday, 19 October a public holiday across the State for Durgashtami, observed during Navaratri.
The order was issued on Friday, 16 October and was signed by Additional Secretary Anil Johney for and on behalf of the Governor.
The holiday covers government and semi-government offices and public sector undertakings.
It also covers establishments that follow the Negotiable Instruments Act list, and all educational institutions including professional colleges.
Durgashtami falls on the eighth day of the Navaratri cycle, which is followed in Kerala by Vijayadashami and the Vidyarambham ceremony.
Holiday date:
Monday, 19 October
Order issued on:
16 October
Issuing department:
General Administration Department
Why it matters for exams: Questions on which department declares Kerala's public holidays, and on the Negotiable Instruments Act list of holidays, recur in PSC general knowledge papers.
Kerala PSC
In plain words
GAD General Administration Department — The Kerala secretariat department that handles public holidays, protocol and general service matters.
NI Act holiday Negotiable Instruments Act holiday — A holiday notified under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, on which banks and similar establishments close.
17 October 2026
The Kerala government has reconstituted the Kerala State Waqf Board through a government order, naming M.C. Mayin Haji as chairman of a nine-member board.
Mayin Haji, who has served 18 consecutive years as an elected member in the mutawalli category, is a state vice-president of the Indian Union Muslim League and a member of the Samastha Kerala Islam Matha Vidyabhyasa Board.
MLA Kurukkoli Moideen has been nominated as the representative of MLAs; the other members are Mustafal Faisy, Thodiyoor Mohammed Kunju Maulavi of Dakshina Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, Abdul Majeed Swalahi of Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen, Jaseem Sabah, Siraz D Kapasi, Sajna Firoz and Madeena Beegum.
The order refers to cases pending before the Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court and to a High Court direction on the board's composition; the previous board was dissolved over eligibility of some members, and its chairman K.S. Hamsa, appointed in March, has challenged the move in the High Court.
No non-Muslim members have been included yet, and their nomination is expected to follow the Supreme Court's ruling in the matter.
Board strength:
Nine, including the chairman
Chairman:
M.C. Mayin Haji
Years as elected mutawalli member:
18
Why it matters for exams: The composition of a State Waqf Board, the mutawalli category and the categories of nominated members are directly examinable Kerala administration topics.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Waqf Waqf — Property permanently dedicated for a religious or charitable purpose under Muslim law.
Mutawalli Mutawalli — The manager or caretaker of a waqf property.
17 October 2026
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. disposed of WP(PIL) 75/2026, District Court Bar Association v. State of Kerala, directing the State to appoint Special Public Prosecutors exclusively for POCSO cases within six weeks.
The petition had challenged a government order that let Special Public Prosecutors appointed for POCSO cases also conduct non-POCSO cases under the Juvenile Justice Act; the Court found that order could not be sustained as it conflicted with the Supreme Court's directions in In Re Alarming Rise in the Number of Reported Child Rape Incidents.
The Director General of Prosecution had relied on the definition of Children's Court in Section 2(20) of the Juvenile Justice Act, which the Court did not accept.
The State must also consider setting up 13 permanent exclusive POCSO Special Courts, one in each district other than Ernakulam, and inform the High Court Administration of its decision within four weeks.
The Registrar (District Judiciary) must ensure all POCSO courts meet the Act's requirements, and the State must provide the financial and other assistance needed for the changes.
Time to appoint prosecutors:
Six weeks
Exclusive POCSO courts to be considered:
13
Time to inform High Court Administration:
Four weeks
Why it matters for exams: POCSO Special Courts, Special Public Prosecutors and the Children's Court definition in the Juvenile Justice Act are standard questions on child protection law.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
POCSO Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 — The central law for offences against children, which requires dedicated special courts.
SPP Special Public Prosecutor — A prosecutor appointed for a particular class of cases or a particular court.
17 October 2026
A Division Bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V. and Justice K.V. Jayakumar, hearing a suo motu writ petition on road safety along with WP(C) 35016/2026, asked the authorities for urgent practical solutions and said its earlier directions must be carried out without delay.
The Bench said it wanted practical suggestions rather than a formal counter-affidavit, and indicated it may modify its earlier order, which it described as a skeleton; it offered to speak to the Transport Commissioner and said respondent officers who wish to appear may do so in person or virtually.
It suggested an expert management team to find alternatives to fixed bus timings, saying timings will not work, and noted that while AI cameras detect violations there is no adequate follow-up, so incidents spotted on camera should be communicated and stopped.
The Court referred to the recent Mini Cooper accident at Nedumbassery, Kochi, in which three people died, noting that an AI camera had recorded the car being driven at very high speed and that there should be a way to stop such driving.
KSRTC, NHAI, NATPAC and Keltron were represented by counsel, the amicus curiae is Prem Kamath D., and the next hearing is on 3 November at 1.45 pm. The earlier directions include a State-wide, GIS-enabled Integrated Road Safety Monitoring Platform.
Next hearing:
3 November, 1.45 pm
Why it matters for exams: The suo motu jurisdiction of a High Court, the role of an amicus curiae and Kerala's AI camera enforcement system are all directly examinable.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Suo motu Suo motu — A court taking up a matter on its own motion, without a petition from a party.
Amicus curiae Amicus curiae — A lawyer appointed to assist the court rather than to represent a party.
NATPAC National Transportation Planning and Research Centre — A Kerala government research institution on transport planning.
17 October 2026
Justice G. Girish allowed W.P.(Crl.) No. 639/2024, filed by the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch, Palakkad, against the Union Government and the Deputy Director of the Unique Identification Authority of India, and directed that fingerprints collected from a crime scene be compared with fingerprints in the Aadhaar database.
The Court held that the disclosure restrictions in Sections 28 and 29 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 do not apply where information is sought under an order of a court not inferior to a High Court judge.
On Section 33 it held that the hearing requirement in the first proviso was satisfied in substance because the persons were unidentified, and that the second proviso barring disclosure of core biometric information did not apply, as no transmission of fingerprint or iris data was sought and only the whereabouts of matching individuals would be shared.
Six sample fingerprints had been lifted from the scene of a 2016 double murder at Sreekrishnapuram in Palakkad and compared against more than 1,200 people without success; the investigating officer's request to UIDAI to match them against the Aadhaar database for Coimbatore had been rejected.
The Court stressed that the order rests on the exceptional facts of the case and should not be cited as a precedent. It is reported as 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 579.
Fingerprints lifted from the scene:
Six
People already compared:
More than 1,200
Sections held inapplicable:
Sections 28 and 29, Aadhaar Act, 2016
Why it matters for exams: Sections 28, 29 and 33 of the Aadhaar Act, core biometric information and the Puttaswamy privacy judgment are high-value polity and law topics.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UIDAI Unique Identification Authority of India — The statutory authority that issues Aadhaar numbers and holds the Aadhaar database.
Core biometric information Core biometric information — Fingerprint, iris scan and such data, whose sharing the Aadhaar Act bars.
Background
The headline figures published by the Department of Economics and Statistics are the ones to fix in mind for Kerala's state income.
The department puts Kerala's Gross State Domestic Product for 2024-25 at constant prices at Rs 685283 Cr.
It records the GSDP growth rate for 2024-25 at constant prices as 6.19 per cent.
Per capita income for 2024-25 at constant prices is given as Rs 190149.
The same dashboard reports the Index of Industrial Production for manufacturing in December 2025 at 125.3 and cropping intensity for the 2023-24 agriculture year at 128.57.
GSDP, 2024-25, constant prices:
₹ 685283 Cr
GSDP growth rate, 2024-25:
6.19 %
Per capita income, 2024-25:
₹ 190149
Why it matters for exams: GSDP, per capita income and the Index of Industrial Production for Kerala are asked almost every year, and the figures must come from the State's own statistics department.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
GSDP Gross State Domestic Product — The total value of goods and services produced within a State in a year.
Constant prices Constant prices — Values measured against a base year so that price rise is stripped out.
Background
Kerala's vital rates are published by the Department of Economics and Statistics, whose field machinery is set out on its own site.
The department works through 14 District Statistical Offices and 61 Taluk Statistical Offices, with statistical cells in 41 state government departments.
It publishes the Consumer Price Index for rural, urban and combined series, the July 2026 issue being among its listed publications, and the Index of Industrial Production report for Quarter 1 of 2026-27.
Among the vital statistics it records are a birth rate of 11.06 and a death rate of 8.56 for 2023.
It gives life expectancy at birth as 72.2 for men and 77.9 for women, and a maternal mortality ratio of 25.
District Statistical Offices:
14
Taluk Statistical Offices:
61
Life expectancy at birth:
72.2 male, 77.9 female
Why it matters for exams: The number of district and taluk statistical offices, and Kerala's birth rate, death rate and life expectancy, are standard Kerala PSC facts.
Kerala PSC
In plain words
CPI Consumer Price Index — An index of the change in retail prices of a basket of goods and services.
MMR Maternal Mortality Ratio — Maternal deaths per one lakh live births.
Background
Kerala's maritime industry is built around one public sector yard, and its best-known product is the standard exam answer. INS Vikrant, India's first indigenous aircraft carrier, was designed by the Indian Navy's in-house Warship Design Bureau and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, a public sector shipyard under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. It was commissioned at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi and is the largest ship ever built in the maritime history of India. The 262-metre-long carrier has a full displacement of close to 45,000 tonnes, and with it India became the sixth country to make a warship bigger than 40,000 tonnes. The ship has 14 decks with 2,300 compartments, carries about 1,500 personnel and a mix of about 30 aircraft, and is powered by four gas turbines totalling 88 MW for a maximum speed of 28 knots. It was built at an overall cost of close to Rs 20,000 crores, with over 100 MSMEs supplying into the project. The ship is named after India's first aircraft carrier, which played a role in the 1971 war.
Length:
262 metres
Full displacement:
close to 45,000 tonnes
Propulsion:
four gas turbines totalling 88 MW, 28 knots
Overall cost:
close to Rs 20,000 crores
Why it matters for exams: Defence and infrastructure papers ask who built what and where; this one was built in Kerala, by a yard under the shipping ministry.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Displacement — The weight of water a ship pushes aside, used as the measure of a warship's size.
Warship Design Bureau — The Indian Navy's own design organisation for warships.
Background
Kerala's primary health network is being strengthened again, and the programme it carries is a standing exam topic. The State's non-communicable diseases prevention and control programme was designed by the State health mission and described by it as the first of its kind in the country. It was pilot tested in 2008-09 in Neyyattinkara taluk of Thiruvananthapuram district and in the whole of Wayanad district. Under Amrutham Arogyam clinics the population above 30 years of age is screened irrespective of disease condition, with free supply of medicines for all detected with NCDs. The programme covers district and general hospitals, taluk hospitals, community health centres, primary health centres and 5400 sub centres, each sub centre serving about five thousand people. Kerala also runs SWAAS for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, with the Chest Disease Hospital at Pulayanarkottah, Thiruvananthapuram designated as the State COPD Centre. The India Hypertension Control Initiative, a collaboration of ICMR, the Union Health Ministry, the Government of Kerala, WHO and Resolve to Save Lives, runs in Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Kannur and Wayanad.
Screening age:
above 30 years
Sub centres covered:
5400
Pilot districts:
Neyyattinkara taluk and Wayanad district
State COPD Centre:
Chest Disease Hospital, Pulayanarkottah
Why it matters for exams: Kerala's health model is asked as specifics - which clinic, which age cut-off, which districts - not as praise.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
NCD non-communicable disease — A disease not passed from person to person, such as diabetes, hypertension or cancer.
COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — A long-term lung disease that blocks airflow and makes breathing difficult.
SWAAS Kerala's COPD prevention and control programme — The State programme that diagnoses and treats COPD from family health centres upwards.