23 October 2026
The Kerala Health Department released the State's first epidemic calendar on 23 October 2026. Health Minister K Muraleedharan released it at the PR Chamber of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram. The calendar sets out, month by month, the diseases relevant to Kerala, their symptoms, how they spread and the steps individuals and communities should take. It was prepared by health experts under a high-power advisory committee whose chairperson is S S Lal. Principal Secretary Sharmila Mary Joseph was present. The calendar will be made available across the State and published on the Health Department website, and will be revised as new scientific information emerges.
Released by:
Health Minister K Muraleedharan
Advisory committee chairperson:
S S Lal
Why it matters for exams: A first-of-its-kind State public health instrument, with a named minister, committee chairperson and release date that an examiner can pin a question to.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Epidemic calendar Epidemic calendar — A month-by-month guide naming the diseases expected in a place and the precautions against them.
23 October 2026
The Kerala Information and Public Relations Department published a fishermen's alert based on a Central Weather Department warning. Fishing was prohibited off the Kerala, Karnataka and Lakshadweep coasts on 22 and 23 October 2026, with winds of 35 to 45 kmph expected and gusts reaching 55 kmph along with rough weather. Over the southwest Arabian Sea on 20 and 21 October, winds of 40 to 50 kmph were expected, gusting to 60 kmph. Over the Andaman Sea on 23 and 24 October, winds of 35 to 45 kmph were expected, gusting to 55 kmph, and people there were advised not to go fishing on those dates.
Kerala, Karnataka, Lakshadweep coasts:
35 to 45 kmph, gusting 55 kmph on 22 and 23 October
Southwest Arabian Sea:
40 to 50 kmph, gusting 60 kmph on 20 and 21 October
Why it matters for exams: Wind-speed thresholds and the sea areas named in fishing bans are standard questions in Kerala PSC general awareness and disaster management papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Fishermen's alert Fishermen's alert — A warning published for fishing communities when wind and sea conditions make going out unsafe.
23 October 2026
The Kerala Legislative Assembly has published the SARAL (Simplified and Accelerated Regulatory Approvals and Licensing) Keralam Bill, 2026 as Bill No. 19 of the Sixteenth Kerala Legislative Assembly. The Assembly's record of published bills gives 14 October 2026 and 15 October 2026 as the dates of publication for the two language versions. Publication of a bill on the Assembly's rolls is the stage at which its text becomes available to members and the public before it is taken up. The bill sits alongside Bill No. 18, the Keralam Maritime Board (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and Bill No. 17, the Kerala Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, in the same list.
Bill number:
19
Dates of publication:
14-10-2026 / 15-10-2026
Why it matters for exams: Bill numbers and exact titles of bills before the current Assembly are directly examinable, and the SARAL name is new.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
SARAL Simplified and Accelerated Regulatory Approvals and Licensing — The expansion used in the title of the Keralam bill on regulatory approvals and licensing.
23 October 2026
The Kerala Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, 2026 has been published as Bill No. 17 of the Sixteenth Kerala Legislative Assembly, with 12 October 2026 recorded as the date of publication in the Assembly's list of published bills. The parent law it amends is the Kerala Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, which governs the tax levied by the State on motor vehicles. In the same list, Bill No. 15 is the Keralam Senior Citizens' (Care and Protection of Rights) Bill, 2026 and Bill No. 13 is a repeal and exemption bill of the same year.
Bill number:
17
Date of publication:
12-10-2026
Why it matters for exams: State taxation statutes and the bill numbers amending them are routinely asked in Kerala PSC polity and economy sections.
Kerala PSCSSC
In plain words
Amendment bill Amendment bill — A bill that changes an existing Act instead of creating a new law.
23 October 2026
The Kerala Sports Bill, 2026 proposes to merge the Directorate of Sports with the Kerala Sports Council to create a Sports Authority of Kerala. The Sports Minister would chair the authority, the department secretary would be vice-chairperson and the Director of Sports would be its chief executive officer, with no political representatives at its helm and no elections to its governing body. The bill provides fines ranging from five lakh rupees to twenty-five lakh rupees for irregularities in sports quota recruitment and for violations of sportspersons' rights, along with compensation for affected sportspersons. District-level sports councils would cease to exist. The draft was returned by the Law Department after vetting and had not been placed before the Cabinet as of 23 October 2026.
Proposed new body:
Sports Authority of Kerala
Penalty range:
Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh
Why it matters for exams: A proposed restructuring of a State sports body, with named office-bearers and a stated penalty range, is standard Kerala PSC material.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Kerala Sports Council Kerala Sports Council — The existing State body for sports promotion that the bill would merge into a new authority.
23 October 2026
Sections 16(1)(b) and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act have been invoked against Ebin Paul, the prime accused in the arson outside the historic Kadavumbhagam Synagogue in Ernakulam, Kochi. Section 16(1)(b) covers a terrorist act that does not result in death, and Section 18 covers conspiracy, attempt, abetment and preparatory acts connected with a terrorist act. The fire occurred in the early hours of 12 October 2026 and the accused, aged 32 and from Puthencruz, was arrested the same afternoon. A special investigation team headed by Ernakulam Central Assistant Commissioner of Police Sibi Tom is handling the case, and Ernakulam Central Police filed the report before the Ernakulam Judicial First Class Magistrate Court. Kochi City Police Commissioner Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar confirmed the decision to invoke the Act.
Sections invoked:
UAPA Sections 16(1)(b) and 18
Date of the fire:
12 October 2026
Why it matters for exams: The specific UAPA sections and what each covers are frequently asked in Kerala PSC and UPSC internal security questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UAPA Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act — The central law on unlawful associations and terrorist acts in India.
23 October 2026
In Remadevi T.L. v. Reserve Bank of India, reported as 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 591, Justice Harisankar V Menon of the Kerala High Court directed the State Bank of India to restore Rs 3.73 lakh lost by a customer in an unauthorised electronic transaction, within four weeks. The petitioner relied on clause 6(ii) of the Reserve Bank of India's Master Circular on customer liability for unauthorised electronic banking transactions, which gives a customer zero liability if the bank is notified within three working days. The bank had relied on clause 7(i), which deals with loss arising from a customer's negligence in sharing payment credentials. The Court found that the bank had not shown the petitioner was privy to the fraud and that she had reported it promptly to the bank and the police, so her case fell under clause 6(ii). It set aside the order of the Banking Ombudsman.
Amount ordered restored:
Rs 3.73 lakh
Time allowed:
Four weeks
Why it matters for exams: Zero liability under the RBI Master Circular is a standard banking awareness topic, and the clause numbers make it precisely examinable.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
Zero liability Zero liability — A rule under which a bank customer bears no loss from an unauthorised transaction reported in time.
Background
The Kerala Women's Commission Act, 1995 is listed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly among its landmark social welfare legislation.
The Act provided for the constitution of a Commission to improve the status of women in the State.
The Commission's work, as the Assembly's record sets it out, is to enquire into the unfair practices affecting women and to facilitate the redressal of their grievances.
The same record singles out for special mention The Kerala State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993 and The Kerala Women's Commission Act, 1995.
Both are Acts of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, passed under the State's own legislative power, and not Central laws.
The Assembly places this body of law under the head Social Welfare, alongside measures such as The Kerala Money Lenders Act,1958 and The Kerala Children Act, 1972.
Act:
The Kerala Women's Commission Act, 1995
Purpose:
A Commission to improve the status of women in the State
Head of legislation:
Social Welfare
Why it matters for exams: Kerala's statutory machinery for women comes up whenever the High Court rules on a woman's complaint or the Assembly debates a welfare Bill, and examiners ask which Act created the Women's Commission and what it is empowered to do.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Redressal of grievances — The process by which a complaint is examined and a remedy provided.
Background
The Kerala State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993 is listed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly among its landmark social welfare legislation.
The Act provided for the Constitution of a State Commission for Backward Classes other than the SCs and STs.
The Assembly's record states: "The main functions of the Commission were to examine requests for inclusion of any class of citizens as a backward class and hear complaints of over inclusion or under inclusion of any backward class and to tender advice to Government in these matter."
So the Commission both classifies and advises: it tests claims for backward-class status and reports its advice to the State Government.
The same record singles this Act out for special mention together with The Kerala Women's Commission Act, 1995.
The Assembly files both under the head Social Welfare, a head that also carries The Kerala Habitual Offenders Act, 1960 and The Kerala Land Development Act,1963.
Act:
The Kerala State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993
Classes covered:
Backward Classes other than the SCs and STs
Head of legislation:
Social Welfare
Why it matters for exams: Backward-class classification and reservation claims are a standing subject in Kerala administration and before the courts, and the Assembly also runs a Committee on Welfare of Backward Class Communities, so the statutory basis of the State Commission is regularly asked.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
The Kerala Legislative Assembly's record of landmark social welfare legislation includes a group of Acts built on reformation rather than punishment alone.
A Kerala Act of 1960 made provisions for the detention of adolescent offenders in Borstal Schools for the purpose of giving instructions and training as are necessary for their reformation.
A Borstal School is therefore a place of detention defined by the age of the inmate and by a training purpose, not an ordinary prison.
The Kerala Habitual Offenders Act, 1960 envisaged the registration of habitual offenders and contained provisions for imparting corrective training to them.
Under The Kerala Children Act, 1972 provisions were made for the development of delinquent children and to give necessary training for their reformation.
The same record lists many other measures under the head Social Welfare, among them The Kerala Gaming Act,1960 and The Kerala Money Lenders Act,1958.
Borstal School inmates:
Adolescent offenders
Purpose of detention:
Instructions and training as are necessary for their reformation
Companion Acts:
The Kerala Habitual Offenders Act, 1960; The Kerala Children Act, 1972
Why it matters for exams: Where an under-age accused is held is argued in Kerala's magistrate courts, and a question on what a Borstal School is and which category of offender it holds follows directly from that; the companion Acts on habitual offenders and delinquent children are asked beside it.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Borstal School — An institution for the detention of adolescent offenders, where instruction and training are given for their reformation.
Background
The Kerala Legislative Assembly lists resource mobilisation among the fields in which it has legislated, and The Kerala Building Tax Act, 1975 is one of the measures it names.
By that Act provisions were made for collecting a non-recurring tax on buildings constructed and completed on or after April 1, 1973 the capital value of which exceeds the amount specified in the Act.
The levy is therefore a one-time charge on a building, keyed to capital value, and not an annual property tax.
The Act's test turns on the completion date of the building together with a capital value above the figure the Act specifies.
The Assembly places it beside earlier revenue measures. The Kerala Surcharge on Taxes Act,1957 provides for a surcharge on the agricultural income tax or sales tax as the case may be, payable by an assessee.
The Kerala Plantation Tax Act,1960 had provisions for levying tax in respect of the lands comprised in a plantation in addition to the basic tax.
Act:
The Kerala Building Tax Act, 1975
Nature of the tax:
Non-recurring
Buildings covered:
Constructed and completed on or after April 1, 1973
Head of legislation:
Resource Mobilisation
Why it matters for exams: Kerala's own tax revenue and the State's resource-mobilisation statutes come up every Budget session, and the building tax is the one levy an aspirant is most often asked to distinguish from the annual property tax collected by local bodies.
Kerala PSCUPSC