28 October 2026
The Keralam Legislative Assembly has passed the Maritime Board (Amendment) Bill, 2026. It restructures the State Maritime Board, creates a Maritime Land Bank and gives the Board an enforcement wing. The amendment also revises the contracts of 17 port projects. The stated aim is to give the Board more autonomy and faster decision-making for Mission Samudra, the State's port-city development push. The Chief Minister, who had presented the Bill in the House the previous week, told members that the State has 18 ports and cannot develop all of them on its own. He said the Land Bank will cover only land that lies within port limits. The LDF stayed out of the House when the Bill was taken up, arguing that coastal land should not pass to private hands. The Bill becomes law once the Governor gives assent.
Bill:
Maritime Board (Amendment) Bill, 2026
Port projects with revised contracts:
17
Ports in the State:
18
Why it matters for exams: The Maritime Board (Amendment) Bill, 2026 creates Keralam's Maritime Land Bank and an enforcement wing for the Board, and is tied to Mission Samudra.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Mission Samudra Mission Samudra — Keralam's programme to develop port cities and the economy around its ports.
Maritime Land Bank Maritime Land Bank — A pool of land lying inside port limits, held for port and allied development.
28 October 2026
The Keralam Cabinet has raised the house-construction assistance it pays to three groups of families. For Scheduled Caste families and for fisherfolk the amount goes up from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 6 lakh. For Scheduled Tribe families it goes up from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh. The same Cabinet sitting also changed the male-female ratio for appointment to Police Constable posts from 9:1 to 7:3, raising the share of women in constable recruitment from 10 per cent to 30 per cent. It cleared a Bill to revise the salaries and allowances of Ministers and Members of the Legislative Assembly as well. The housing assistance is paid to beneficiaries sanctioned under the State's special housing scheme for these groups.
SC families and fisherfolk:
Rs 4 lakh to Rs 6 lakh
ST families:
Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh
Why it matters for exams: Keralam's house-construction assistance now stands at Rs 6 lakh for Scheduled Caste families and fisherfolk and Rs 8 lakh for Scheduled Tribe families.
Kerala PSCUPSC
28 October 2026
The Keralam Cabinet has cleared the handling of 86 Sub-Inspector posts that were redistributed inside the police department. Of these, 48 will be reported to the Kerala Public Service Commission as permanent vacancies. Reporting a vacancy to the Commission is the step that lets it be filled from a ranked list, because direct recruitment to State services runs through the Commission. The decision therefore converts an internal departmental rearrangement into openings that candidates can compete for. The Commission advertises such posts by category number in its gazette notifications. The same Cabinet sitting also changed the male-female ratio for Police Constable appointments. Sub-Inspector is the rank that heads a police station in the Keralam force.
Posts redistributed:
86
Reported as permanent vacancies:
48
Why it matters for exams: Of 86 redistributed Sub-Inspector posts, 48 will go to the Kerala Public Service Commission as permanent vacancies.
Kerala PSC
28 October 2026
The Keralam Cabinet has approved a government job for the shooter Vidarsa K Vinod. She won two silver medals in shooting at the 2026 Asian Games. The decision was taken on the recommendation of the Sports Department and was cleared at the Cabinet sitting that also revised housing assistance for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and fishing families and changed the male-female ratio in police constable recruitment. Vinod is the first woman shooter from Keralam to win a medal at the Asian Games. The Asian Games are held every four years and are organised by the Olympic Council of Asia.
Sport:
Shooting
Medals:
Two silver
Event:
2026 Asian Games
Why it matters for exams: Vidarsa K Vinod of Keralam won two silver medals in shooting at the 2026 Asian Games and has now been given a State government job.
Kerala PSC
Background
The Kerala Legislature dates its own evolution from three phases - 1888-1947, 1947-1956 and since 1956 - and the starting point of the formation of a legislative body in Travancore is traced to January 1888, when the Dewan T. Rama Rao proposed to the Maharaja the organisation of a Legislative Council so that "the Dewan would gain the benefit of discussing with and taking the opinion of responsible officers associated with him in matters of legislation, one of the most important functions of Government". Sri Mulam Thirunal Maharaja readily approved the proposal, and a regulation passed on 30th March, 1888 created a Legislative Council of three year tenure composed of 8 members, of whom 6 were to be officials and 2 non-officials nominated by the Maharaja. The Dewan was to preside over the meetings. The inaugural meeting was held in the Dewan's room; the First Council had 32 sittings, and although the bills passed were recommendatory in nature, they came to 9. The Select Committee constituted to study and report on the bills introduced marked the origin of the Committee System. Later, to widen the association of the people with administration, the Sri Mulam Popular Assembly was formed on the 1st of October 1904 as a body of the representatives of the landholders and merchants; its members were to be selected by the Division Peishcars, the District Heads, with two representatives for each taluk. A regulation of 1905 granted the people the privilege of electing members, and of the 100 members 77 were to be elected and 23 nominated for a tenure of 1 year, with General as well as Special Constituencies. The Legislature records that the Princely States of Travancore and Cochin were unified as the Part B State of Travancore-Cochin on July 1, 1949.
First Council's strength:
8 members
First Council's sittings:
32 sittings
Phases of evolution:
1888-1947, 1947-1956 and since 1956
Why it matters for exams: Kerala PSC asks who proposed Travancore's Legislative Council, which Maharaja approved it, and what the Sri Mulam Popular Assembly was.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Division Peishcars Division Peishcars — The District Heads who were to select the members of the Sri Mulam Popular Assembly.
Background
The Kerala Water Authority was established on 1st April 1984 under the Kerala water and waste water ordinance, 1984 by converting the erstwhile Public Health Engineering Department, to provide for the development and regulation of water supply and waste water collection and disposal in the State and for matters connected therewith. The Kerala Water Supply and Sewerage Act 1986 (Act 14 of 1986) replaced the ordinance, and the Authority was established by vesting in it the properties and assets of the erstwhile Public Health Engineering Department, together with the assets, rights and liabilities of the local bodies and the Kerala State Rural Development Board so far as they pertain to water supply and sewerage schemes. The Authority calls itself Kerala's nodal agency for drinking water supply and sewerage services. Its main functions include the preparation, execution, promotion, operation, maintenance and financing of such schemes; rendering necessary services to the Government and, on request, to private institutions or individuals; preparing state plans on the direction of the Government; the fixation and revision of tariffs, taxes and charges; and establishing state standards for water supply and waste water services. Its history runs back further: in the erstwhile Travancore a maramath department was formed in 1833 as a branch of the Huzur Cutchery or the Secretariat; the water supply scheme to Thiruvananthapuram was inaugurated on 11-12-1933 by Lord Willingdon, the then Viceroy and Governor General of India; the PWD continued to be in charge of water supply till 1935, when a Water Works and Drainage Engineering Department was constituted; and after the Government of India announced the National Water Supply Programme in 1954, the Public Health Engineering Department was formed in Kerala in 1956. The head office is at Jalabhavan, Vellayambalam, Thiruvananthapuram.
Converted from:
the erstwhile Public Health Engineering Department
Governing Act:
Kerala Water Supply and Sewerage Act 1986 (Act 14 of 1986)
Head office:
Jalabhavan, Vellayambalam Thiruvananthapuram
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the department that was converted to make the Kerala Water Authority, the Act that replaced the founding ordinance, and the Authority's nodal role.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
KWA Kerala Water Authority — Kerala's nodal agency for drinking water supply and sewerage services.
Background
National Institute of Technology Calicut (NITC) describes itself as one of the 31 institutions of national importance set up by an Act of Parliament and fully funded by the Government of India. The mandate of the Institute is to provide higher technical education and conduct research in the various branches of Engineering, Science, Technology and Management, and it offers bachelors, masters and doctoral degree programs in those fields. It was originally established in 1961 as a Regional Engineering College (REC) and was transformed into a National Institute of Technology in 2002; the Institute's own account says the enactment of the NIT Act in 2007 fuelled the growth of this line of institutions, which were built to improve social equity in high quality education in science, technology, engineering and management, keeping the national integration purpose envisaged for the RECs while adding a new focus on research. Set in a landscape at the foothills of the Western Ghats, NIT Calicut is located about 22 kilometres north-east of Calicut city, stretches about 1.5 kilometres along the Calicut-Mukkam road and extends over an area of approximately 120 hectares.
Status:
one of the 31 institutions of national importance
Originally established as:
Regional Engineering College (REC)
Campus area:
approximately 120 hectares
Why it matters for exams: The examinable facts are that NIT Calicut is one of 31 institutions of national importance under the NIT Act, that it began as a Regional Engineering College and that it is fully funded by the Government of India.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
NITC National Institute of Technology Calicut — A centrally funded institution of national importance located near Calicut in Kerala.
Background
The Cochin Port Authority's own history treats the port's formation in AD 1341 as a belief rather than a record, and attributes it to the heavy floods in the river Periyar: the then harbour Muziris got silted up during the floods and a new opening formed at Cochin, after which Cochin was developed as a trading hub and visited by several international travellers. The transformation of Cochin from a mere roadstead into a modern harbour is credited to Sir Robert Bristow, the harbour engineer who implemented the decision of the then rulers by creating a proper shipping channel by cutting the sand bar at the mouth of the harbour, during his two decades at Cochin. The first ship entered the Cochin harbour on 26th May 1928, after which road-rail networks were introduced to Cochin, connecting important inland trading points. The Port's timeline records the administration of Cochin Harbour being taken over by the Government of India under the Major Port Trusts Act; President Tyler, the first container vessel to enter any Indian Port, berthing in Ernakulam Wharf; the commissioning of the dedicated container handling facility named Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal; the commencement of the first phase of the International Container Transshipment Terminal, Vallarpadam with 1 million TEU capacity, with a four lane NH and a new link rail to the national rail grid created from the Terminal; an LNG Regasification Terminal; and Samudrika, the cruise passenger facilitation centre. The Authority's address is Willingdon Island, Kochi, and its stated mission is to provide dependable, cost-effective Port services through modern and efficient infrastructure coupled with high quality, customer friendly services.
Believed to be formed in:
AD 1341
Harbour engineer credited:
Sir Robert Bristow
Address:
Willingdon Island, Kochi, Kerala 682009
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the silting of Muziris and the flood on the Periyar, Sir Robert Bristow's channel, and that President Tyler was the first container vessel to enter any Indian Port.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
TEU TEU — The unit in which the Vallarpadam terminal's first phase capacity is stated, at 1 million TEU.
Background
Alappuzha is the smallest district in Kerala. Lord Curzon called it the Venice of the East, and the district's own Kuttanad is called the rice bowl of Kerala. The taluks of Cherthala, Ambalapuzha, Kuttanad and Karthikappally lie wholly in the low-land region. The Pamba, the Manimala and the Achenkovil form a delta near their confluence with Vembanad Lake, and canals run through the district. The town owes its existence to Diwan Rajakesavadas, in the second half of the eighteenth century.
Rank by size among Kerala districts:
Smallest
Rivers forming the delta:
Pamba, Manimala and Achenkovil
Why it matters for exams: Kerala PSC asks which district is the smallest, which region is the rice bowl of Kerala and which rivers make the Alappuzha delta; all three are single-fact answers.
Kerala PSCSSC
Background
Kottayam is described as the land of letters, legends, latex and lakes, and is called Akshara Nagari, the city of letters. Kottayam Town was the first town in India to achieve one hundred per cent literacy. The first English education in South India began at the Old Seminary here, the first printing press in Kerala was the CMS Press, and the first college in the State was CMS College. The first Malayalam-English and English-Malayalam dictionaries were published from Kottayam, and the first cooperative society of writers, authors and publishers, the SPCS, was set up here. Kottayam was also the first town in India selected as an Eco City by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The city of Kottayam is the district's administrative capital, and the district takes in Vembanad Lake and the backwaters.
Nickname:
Akshara Nagari, the city of letters
Literacy first:
First town in India to achieve one hundred per cent literacy
Why it matters for exams: 'Firsts' are the commonest Kerala PSC question shape, and Kottayam holds several of them: the first town in India with full literacy, the first printing press in Kerala and the first college in the State.
Kerala PSCSSC
In plain words
SPCS Sahitya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society — The cooperative society of writers, authors and publishers founded at Kottayam.