21 October 2026
The Kerala Public Service Commission's extraordinary gazette dated 30/09/2026 carries category numbers CAT.NO.151/2026 TO CAT.NO.161/2026, with 04-11-2026 as the last date. Among the posts notified is Draftsman Grade-II in the Kerala Ports service, Hydrographic Survey Wing, as Cat.No.151/2026. The gazette also notifies Draftsman Grade-II or Town Planning Surveyor Grade-II in the LSG Department Group IV Planning Wing as Cat.No.156/2026. Three of the entries are for Peon or Watchman in KSFE Ltd., drawn from among the part-time employees of the company. Forest Boat Driver appears twice, as Cat.No.153/2026 for Part-I and Cat.No.154/2026 for the by-transfer Part II stream.
Gazette date:
30/09/2026
Category numbers:
CAT.NO.151/2026 TO CAT.NO.161/2026
Last date:
04-11-2026
Why it matters for exams: Live Kerala PSC category numbers and closing dates are asked directly in Kerala PSC general knowledge papers.
Kerala PSCSSC
In plain words
KSFE Kerala State Financial Enterprises Limited — A state-owned non-banking financial company in Kerala.
15 October 2026
Justice G. Girish of the Kerala High Court held that the amended requirements under Rules 83 and 86 of the Explosives Rules, 2008 cannot be insisted upon while deciding applications for temporary fireworks shop licences. Amended Rule 83 requires a shop to be on the ground floor of a standalone single-storey building with an independent entrance, outward-opening doors and fire extinguishers, while amended Rule 86 adds fire detection and alarm systems, sprinklers and backup power. The Court held that Rule 84, not Rules 83 and 86, sets the requirements and eligibility conditions for temporary licences. It relied on sub-rule 7 of Rule 86, which refers to an existing fireworks shop, to conclude that the amendments target permanent shops. The authorities were directed to decide the petitioner's temporary licence application without applying the Rule 86 amendment requirements. The case is Prasanth K. v. District Collector, WP(C) 31093/2026, reported as 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 584.
Rule for temporary licences:
Rule 84
Amended rules held inapplicable:
Rules 83 and 86
Why it matters for exams: Rule numbers under the Explosives Rules, 2008 and the temporary-versus-permanent licence distinction are examinable.
Kerala PSC
Background
The Makkekadavu–Nerekadavu bridge across the Vembanad Lake, inaugurated on 18 October, carries traffic from Thycattusserry panchayat in Alappuzha to Nerekadavu in Kottayam's Udayanapuram panchayat — so it is worth knowing the district on the eastern bank.
Kottayam is bordered by the Western Ghats on the east and by the Vembanad Lake and the paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west, which is why the district administration calls it the land of letters, legends, latex and lakes.
Kottayam Town is the first town in India to have achieved 100% literacy, a feat recorded in 1989.
Most of the natural rubber produced in India originates from the plantations of Kottayam, which is also home to the Rubber Board.
The town is called Akshara Nagari, the city of letters, for its contribution to print media and literature.
English education in South India began at the Old Seminary at Kottayam in 1813; the first printing press in Kerala, the CMS Press, was established here in 1821 by Benjamin Baily; and the first college in the State, CMS College, was started here in 1840.
The first printed Malayalam-English and English-Malayalam dictionaries were published from Kottayam in 1846 and 1847 respectively, and the first cooperative society of writers, authors and publishers was set up here in 1945.
Kottayam is the first town in India selected by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to be transformed as an Eco City, and the former President K R Narayanan hails from the district.
Year full literacy was achieved:
1989
Sobriquet:
Akshara Nagari
First printing press in Kerala:
CMS Press
Year that press was established:
1821
First college in the State:
CMS College
Commodity board based here:
Rubber Board
Why it matters for exams: Kottayam's firsts in literacy, printing and English education are among the most frequently asked district facts in Kerala PSC papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Akshara Nagari City of letters — The name given to Kottayam for its contribution to print media and literature.
Eco City Eco City transformation programme — Kottayam was the first town in India picked by the Ministry of Environment and Forests for this transformation.
Background
Erattupetta, the town whose girls' higher secondary school was before the Kerala High Court this week in a dispute over a co-education scheme, sits on the river system that drains Kottayam district.
The important rivers of Kottayam district are the Meenachil River, the Muvattupuzha River and the Manimala River.
The Meenachil River is 78 km long, has a catchment area of 1272 square kilometres and a utilizable water resource of 1110 mm3, and flows through the taluks of Meenachil, Vaikom and Kottayam.
It is formed by several streams originating from the Western Ghats in Idukki district; at Erattupetta the Poonjar River joins it and the river takes a sharp turn westward; at Kondur it is joined by the Chittar and at Lalam it receives the Payapparathodu.
The important towns in the Meenachil basin are Pala, Poonjar, Ettumanoor and Kottayam, and the river branches into several streams before emptying into the Vembanad Lake.
The Muvattupuzha River originates in Idukki district, flows through Vaikom taluk and also empties into the Vembanad Lake; the most important town in its basin is Vaikom.
The Manimala River flows through Kanjirappally and Changanassery taluks, is joined by the Chittar further down, and flows on into Alappuzha district; the important town in its basin is Mundakkayam.
Kottayam district has a total area of 2208 square kilometres, is divided into high land, midland and lowland with the bulk in the midland, and has no coastal area at all.
Length of the Meenachil River:
78 km
Catchment area of the Meenachil:
1272
Total area of Kottayam district:
2208
Lake the three rivers drain into:
Vembanad Lake
Coastal area in the district:
none
Why it matters for exams: River courses, catchments and the towns on each basin are standard map questions, and the Meenachil figures are the kind an examiner can set exactly.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Catchment area Drainage basin of a river — The land from which rainfall drains into a single river, given as 1272 square kilometres for the Meenachil.
Ayacut Area served by an irrigation project — The Meenachil Medium Irrigation project has a net ayacut of 9960 hectares.
Background
The Kerala Legislature has published the Madras Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Bill, 2026, so temple administration is live business in the House; the struggle over the denial of access to a Travancore temple's roads was fought at Vaikom, in Kottayam district.
The famous Vaikom Satyagraha of 1924-25 was an epic struggle for the eradication of untouchability.
Scheduled castes and other backward classes in Travancore were denied not only entry into temples but also access to temple roads, and Vaikom, the seat of a celebrated Siva Temple, was the venue of the symbolic satyagraha.
National leaders associated with the struggle included Mahatma Gandhi, C. Rajagopalachari, Acharya Vinoba Bhave and E.V. Ramswami Naykar.
Kottayam had already produced the Malayali Memorial agitation, which sought better representation for educated Travancoreans in the Travancore civil service against persons from outside; the Memorial, presented to Maharaja Sri Moolam Thirunal in 1891, was drafted at a public meeting in the Kottayam Public Library and marked the beginning of the modern political movement in the State.
The Nivarthana agitation of the early thirties, to secure adequate representation for non-caste Hindus, Christians and Muslims in the State Legislature, also drew considerable support from the district.
The district was a centre of the State Congress agitation for responsible government in Travancore, which ended with the overthrow of Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer, then Dewan of Travancore.
Kottayam itself means the interior of a fort, from Kotta and Akam, and the district came into being in July 1949 when the revenue divisions of Travancore were renamed districts on the integration of Travancore and Cochin.
Years of the Vaikom Satyagraha:
1924-25
Temple at the centre of it:
Siva Temple
Year of the Malayali Memorial:
1891
Where the Memorial was drafted:
Kottayam Public Library
Birth of Kottayam district:
July 1949
Why it matters for exams: The Vaikom Satyagraha, the Malayali Memorial and the Nivarthana agitation are the three Travancore movements asked most often, and examiners pair them with the leaders associated with each.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Satyagraha Non-violent insistence on truth — The method of the Vaikom struggle, described as a symbolic satyagraha against untouchability.
Diwan Peshkar Revenue division head in old Travancore — The officer who headed each Travancore revenue division before District Collectors replaced them in 1949.
Background
The Kerala Legislature has published the Keralam Maritime Board (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which proposes to restructure the board's powers as part of the government's Mission Samudra push, so the board itself is worth knowing.
The Kerala Maritime Board was constituted under the Kerala Maritime Board Act, 2017 and came into existence in 2018.
It is responsible for the State's 17 minor ports: Valiyathura, Vizhinjam, Kollam, Neendakara, Kayamkulam, Alappuzha, Kodungallur, Ponnani, Beypore, Kozhikode, Vadakara, Thalassery, Kannur, Azhikkal, Kasaragod, Manjeswaram and Nileshwaram.
The government allocated Rs 453.97 crore to the board for the development of minor ports from its formation onwards, a figure obtained through a reply under the Right to Information Act.
Section 90 of the Kerala Maritime Board Act, 2017 is the provision under which the board's administrative committee can be dissolved, and the government invoked it by gazette notification.
The Comptroller and Auditor General had pointed to financial and administrative irregularities including failure to recover revenue arrears, expenditure outside approved budgets and diversion of funds.
At present the board can lease land for a period of up to 30 years; the amending Bill would allow transfer of land for public-private partnership projects and would create a port development authority under the board for each port.
The amendment would also make the Chief Minister the board's chairman, a post until now filled from among serving or retired IAS officers and persons who had been chairperson or managing director of a public sector undertaking.
Governing Act:
Kerala Maritime Board Act, 2017
Minor ports in its charge:
17
Year the board came into existence:
2018
Funds allocated for minor port development:
Rs 453.97 crore
Maximum lease period at present:
30 years
Why it matters for exams: The count and the names of Kerala's minor ports are classic one-mark questions, and the statute and section that govern the board are the sort of detail an examiner uses to separate candidates.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Minor port Non-major port administered by a State — Kerala's 17 minor ports are administered by the State through the Kerala Maritime Board.
PPP Public-private partnership — The amending Bill would let the board transfer land for such projects, which it cannot do now.
CAG Comptroller and Auditor General — The constitutional auditor that flagged the board's financial and administrative irregularities.
Background
The Kerala High Court has directed the State Government to appoint Special Public Prosecutors exclusively for cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act within six weeks, striking down a government order that had let POCSO prosecutors also conduct non-POCSO cases under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 is administered by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and seeks to protect children from offences such as sexual assault, sexual harassment, and pornography.
In In Re Alarming Rise in the Number of Reported Child Rape Incidents the Supreme Court directed States to appoint exclusive Public Prosecutors in courts established exclusively for POCSO cases.
That direction also called for specialised training for such prosecutors, including training in law, child psychology, child behaviour and health issues, because their responsibilities extend beyond legal knowledge to the psychological and health-related needs of child victims.
The Director General of Prosecution had argued that the definition of "Children's Court" in Section 2(20) of the Juvenile Justice Act supported letting POCSO prosecutors take Juvenile Justice Act cases as well; the Court held the government order could not be sustained.
Under the parent Act, a person commits penetrative sexual assault by acts set out in the statute, and the punishment was imprisonment between seven years to life, and a fine.
The amending Bill of 2019 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of State for Women and Child Development on January 8, 2019; it raised the minimum punishment from seven years to ten years and provided imprisonment between 20 years to life where the child is below the age of 16 years.
That Bill also added assault resulting in the death of a child and assault committed during a natural calamity to the definition of aggravated penetrative sexual assault.
Parent statute:
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012
Ministry in charge:
Women and Child Development
Time allowed for the Kerala appointments:
six weeks
Juvenile Justice Act provision argued:
Section 2(20)
Minimum punishment after the 2019 Bill:
ten years
Why it matters for exams: The special machinery the POCSO Act needs - exclusive courts, exclusive prosecutors and trained personnel - is examined as often as the offences themselves.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
POCSO Protection of Children from Sexual Offences — The 2012 Act under the Ministry of Women and Child Development that covers sexual offences against children.
SPP Special Public Prosecutor — A prosecutor appointed for a particular class of cases, to be exclusive to POCSO under the Supreme Court direction.
Children's Court Court designated under the Juvenile Justice Act — Its definition in Section 2(20) of the Juvenile Justice Act was the ground urged for mixing the two kinds of case.
Background
The Keralam Senior Citizens' (Care and Protection of Rights) Bill, 2026 has been introduced in the second session of the Sixteenth Kerala Legislative Assembly, and it is built on top of a central statute every aspirant should know.
The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 was enacted to provide financial security, welfare and protection for senior citizens.
It requires children to provide maintenance for their parents, and the government to provide old age homes and ensure medical care for senior citizens.
It sets up Administrative Tribunals and Appellate Tribunals to ensure maintenance, and those Maintenance Tribunals are presided over by administrative officers.
Under the Act, Maintenance Tribunals may direct children to pay a maximum of Rs 10,000 per month as maintenance to their parents, and children and relatives must pay the amount within 30 days of the order of the Tribunal.
Under the Act, children refers to children and grandchildren excluding minors, parents include biological, adoptive and step-parents, and maintenance includes food, clothing, residence, medical attendance and treatment.
An amending Bill introduced in Lok Sabha on Dec 11, 2019 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment proposed to remove the upper limit on the maintenance amount, to bring step-children, adoptive children, children-in-law and legal guardians of minor children within the definition of children, and to regulate private care-homes and home-care services.
As per the 2011 Census, citizens over the age of 60 years comprise 8.6% of India's population, and their share is projected to grow to 21% by 2050 - the demographic fact on which all this legislation rests.
Parent statute:
Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007
Maximum maintenance under the Act:
Rs 10,000 per month
Time to pay after the order:
30 days
Share of population over 60:
8.6%
Projected share by 2050:
21%
Why it matters for exams: The maintenance ceiling, the thirty-day limit and the tribunal structure are the exact points asked on this Act, and the 8.6 per cent figure is standard in population questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Maintenance Tribunal Tribunal constituted under the 2007 Act — Presided over by an administrative officer, it decides the monthly maintenance payable to a parent or senior citizen.
Maintenance What a child must provide a parent — Under the Act it covers food, clothing, residence, medical attendance and treatment.
Background
The office that keeps every electoral roll in Kerala, and that carries out the Special Summary Revision in which newly eligible voters are added and duplicate and deceased voters removed, is the State's Election Department - so the department itself is worth knowing.
The Election Department is headed by the Chief Electoral Officer appointed by the Election Commission of India; subject to the superintendence, direction and control of the Commission, that officer supervises the preparation, revision and correction of all Electoral Rolls and the conduct of all elections to the Parliament and State Legislature in the state.
The statutory basis is given as s13 A(2) of the 1950 Act and s20 of the 1951 Act.
The Chief Electoral Officer is backed by an Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Joint Chief Electoral Officers, an Assistant Chief Electoral Officer and other members from the State Secretariat service.
The department's own state profile counts 140 legislative assembly constituencies, 20 House of the People constituencies, 9 Rajya Sabha seats and 25409 polling stations.
The same profile records a total electorate of 27810942, made up of 13441490 male electors, 14369092 female electors and 360 third gender electors.
It also sets out the administrative frame within which the roll is kept: 14 districts, 21 revenue divisions, 75 taluks, 1018 villages, 941 panchayats, 86 municipalities, 6 corporations and 152 development blocks.
The office works from the Election Department, Kerala Legislative Complex, Vikas Bhavan P.O., Thiruvananthapuram, and 1950 is its toll free contact number.
Who appoints the Chief Electoral Officer:
Election Commission of India
Legislative assembly constituencies:
140
House of the People constituencies:
20
Rajya Sabha seats:
9
Polling stations:
25409
Toll free contact number:
1950
Why it matters for exams: Who appoints the Chief Electoral Officer, the two statutes behind the post and Kerala's counts of constituencies, taluks and panchayats are all standing one-mark questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
LAC Legislative Assembly Constituency — Kerala's state profile counts 140 of them.
HPC House of the People Constituency — The same profile counts 20 of them in Kerala.
CEO Chief Electoral Officer — The officer appointed by the Election Commission of India who heads the Election Department of Kerala.
Background
The Kerala government declared 19 October a public holiday across the State for Durgashtami as part of the Navaratri celebrations, by an order of the General Administration Department, and those days close with Vijayadasami - the holy day on which children are taken to be initiated into learning.
The best known place for that initiation is Thunchan Parambu, located 32 kms from Malappuram at Tirur.
It is the birth place of Thunchath Ezhuthachan, described as the father of the Malayalam language.
The stretch of ground has been carefully preserved, with items such as the iron stylus used by the scholar kept on display.
The holy day of Vijayadasami witnesses children being brought here to be initiated into the world of education and knowledge.
The ancient kanjira tree, the Nux vomica under which he is supposed to have imparted knowledge to his disciples and composed his poems, is one of the treasured exhibits.
The memorial also houses a granite Saraswathi Mandapam along with a library of rare manuscripts.
Thunchan Parambu stands 2 KM from Tirur railway station and about 35 Km from Calicut International Airport.
Place:
Thunchan Parambu
Distance from Malappuram:
32 kms
Person commemorated:
Thunchath Ezhuthachan
Tree preserved on the site:
kanjira tree
Structure within the memorial:
Saraswathi Mandapam
Why it matters for exams: Thunchath Ezhuthachan as the father of Malayalam, his birthplace at Tirur and the Vijayadasami initiation are among the most frequently asked Kerala culture facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Vidyarambham Initiation into learning — The rite performed on Vijayadasami, when children are brought to be initiated into the world of education and knowledge.
Nux vomica Botanical name of the kanjira tree — The ancient kanjira tree at Thunchan Parambu is one of the memorial's treasured exhibits.
Background
The new Makkekadavu–Nerekadavu bridge across the Vembanad Lake has just removed the long detour via the Thanneermukkom Bund for traffic between the two shores, which makes the land it crosses worth knowing.
Kuttanad is the rice bowl of Kerala, with an unending stretch of paddy fields, small streams and canals, and it was well known even from the early periods of the Sangam age.
The Kuttanad area lies below sea level.
Alappuzha, the district it lies in, is the smallest district of Kerala, and it is the only district in Kerala where there is no high land and forest area.
There are neither mountains nor hills in the district except some scattered hillocks between Bharanikkavu and Chengannur blocks in the east; Cherthala, Ambalappuzha, Kuttanad and Karthikappally taluks lie fully in the low land region.
80% of the district lies in the coastal region and the rest in the midland, water bodies constitute 13% of the district, and it has a contiguous coastline of 82 Km.
The alluvial soil of Kuttanad, the north eastern portions of Karthikappally, the western portions of Chengannur, the north western sector of Mavelikkara and the delta formed by the Pamba, Manimala and Achenkovil rivers near their confluence with the Vembanad lake carry paddy and sugar cane; the peaty and kari soils of eastern Cherthala and Ambalapuzha and western Kuttanad are of poor fertility and low yields.
The average rainfall in the district is 2763 mm, delivered by the south-west monsoon or Edavappathi from June to September and the north-east monsoon or Thulavarsham from October to November, and Lord Curzon's visit gave Alleppey the name Venice of the East.
Position of the Kuttanad area:
below sea level
Share of the district in the coastal region:
80%
Share of the district under water bodies:
13%
Length of coastline:
82 Km
Average rainfall:
2763 mm
Why it matters for exams: That Kuttanad lies below sea level, and that its district alone in Kerala has no high land or forest, are two of the most reliably asked geography facts about the State.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Thulavarsham North-east monsoon in Kerala — It runs from October to November, after the south-west monsoon or Edavappathi.
Kari soil Black, acidic coastal soil — Found with peaty soil in eastern Cherthala and Ambalapuzha and western Kuttanad, of poor fertility and low yields.
Background
The Sixteenth Kerala Legislative Assembly is sitting in its second session, and the bills published for it this month make it the right moment to read the institution's own account of how it grew.
The Kerala Legislature traces its evolution from the parallel but heterogeneous courses of development in the erstwhile Princely States of Travancore and Cochin and in Malabar, to uniform progress in the integrated State of Kerala.
The Princely States of Travancore and Cochin were unified and the Part B State of Travancore Cochin was formed on July 1, 1949.
The State of Travancore Cochin and the Malabar district of the State of Madras, excluding certain areas, constituted the State of Kerala as per the States reorganization in November 1956.
The legislature classifies the transition from a small advisory Council to the constitutionally sanctioned law making body of Kerala into three phases: 1888-1947, 1947-1956 and Since 1956.
The First Kerala Legislative Assembly was constituted on 1-4-1957, first met on 27-4-1957 and was dissolved on 31-7-1959, after 7 sessions and 175 sittings.
The Fifteenth Kerala Legislative Assembly was constituted on 03-05-2021, first met on 24-05-2021 and was dissolved on 06-05-2026, after 16 sessions and 204 sittings.
The Sixteenth Kerala Legislative Assembly was constituted on 05-05-2026 and first met on 21-05-2026.
Travancore Cochin formed:
July 1, 1949
State of Kerala constituted:
November 1956
First phase of the legislature's evolution:
1888-1947
Second phase:
1947-1956
First meeting of the First Assembly:
27-4-1957
First meeting of the Sixteenth Assembly:
21-05-2026
Why it matters for exams: The 1949 formation of Travancore-Cochin, the 1956 reorganisation and the counting of the Assemblies are among the most examined facts in Kerala polity.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Part B State Class of State under the Constitution as first enacted — Travancore Cochin was formed as a Part B State on July 1, 1949.
Sitting One day's meeting of the House — The First Assembly held 175 sittings across 7 sessions.