7 November 2026
Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A. of the Kerala High Court has permitted the Chief Editor of the Malayalam digital news outlet NoCap to operate its Facebook page again. The petition, Hyder Ali K. v. Union of India, is numbered WP(C) 36632/2026. The editor told the court that on 28 September the page received a notice saying its content in India was restricted under Section 79(3) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and that no blocking order was ever shown to him. The court had asked the Centre and the State whether either had told Meta Platforms to block the page. The government pleader replied that Meta had only been asked to take down certain harmful comments on some posts, not to block the page itself. The court then said the editor may run the page after deleting the comments flagged by the State Police Chief and Director General of Police or officers under him. The fifth respondent was directed to take the steps needed to restore access.
Case number:
WP(C) 36632/2026
Provision cited in the notice:
Section 79(3), Information Technology Act, 2000
Why it matters for exams: Section 79(3) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 is the safe-harbour provision through which content is restricted in India, and it is a standing Polity and Law question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IT Act Information Technology Act, 2000 — India's main law on electronic records, cybercrime and the liability of online intermediaries.
Background
Government notices in the State increasingly carry the spelling Keralam, and the legal step behind it is not finished: the Bill has not yet been introduced in Parliament. The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, cleared a proposal to change the name of the State of Kerala to Keralam. The instrument is the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026. The power used is Article 3 of the Constitution, which lets Parliament alter the name of an existing State by law. The proviso to that Article says no such Bill may be introduced in either House except on the recommendation of the President, who must first refer it to the legislature of the State concerned for its views. The President will therefore send the Bill to the Kerala Legislative Assembly, and the Union Government will act after the Assembly gives its views, with the President's recommendation sought before introduction. The Assembly had itself passed a resolution on 24 June 2024 asking the Centre to make the change. The proposal was considered in the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Law and Justice agreed with it.
Bill:
The Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026
Constitutional provision:
Article 3
Assembly resolution:
24.06.2024
Why it matters for exams: Article 3 of the Constitution and the requirement that the President refer such a Bill to the State legislature is one of the most asked Polity provisions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Article 3 Article 3 of the Constitution of India — It lets Parliament form new States and alter the areas, boundaries or names of existing States.
Background
Vizhinjam keeps appearing in Kerala's trade numbers, and the reason is the expansion now under way. Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the capacity augmentation works of the Vizhinjam International Seaport at Thiruvananthapuram, with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan present. Work has started on Phases II, III and IV together. Total investment in the port is put at about Rs 16,000 crore, of which about Rs 7,398 crore is for the expansion phases. Phase I was built for 1 million TEUs but has already moved more than 1.43 million TEUs, which is over 130 per cent of what it was designed for. Once the new phases are done, yearly throughput is expected to reach up to 5.7 million TEUs, and the port will be able to take container vessels of up to 28,000 TEUs. The container berth is to run about 2 km and the breakwater is being extended to 3.88 km, letting five mother vessels berth at a time. Completion is targeted for December 2028, and the concessionaire is Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited.
Total investment:
about ₹16,000 crore
Expansion phases:
about ₹7,398 crore
Capacity after augmentation:
up to 5.7 million TEUs a year
Target completion:
December 2028
Why it matters for exams: Vizhinjam is India's first deep water container transhipment port and its capacity figures and operator are standard Economy and Infrastructure questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
TEU Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit — The standard unit for counting container traffic at a port.
Background
Feasibility studies on urban water transport at Alappuzha and Kollam are being run by the Inland Waterways Authority of India through Kochi Water Metro Ltd, and they sit on a network the Centre has set out. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said Kerala has three declared National Waterways, numbered NW-3, NW-8 and NW-9. Nine terminal-cum-godown facilities for cargo stand at Kottapuram, Aluva, Maradu, Vaikom, Thaneermukam, Alappuzha, Thrikunnapuzha, Kayamkulam and Kollam. Two roll-on roll-off terminals work at Bolgatty and Willington Island, both on NW-3, served by two vessels built by Cochin Shipyard Limited and run by the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation. For safe navigation there are 312 buoys on NW-3, 15 on NW-8 and 25 on NW-9. Four HDPE floating jetties are planned at Vaikom, Thaneermukam, Alappuzha and Kayamkulam for river cruise tourism. Viability Gap Funding of Rs 817.80 crore from the Union Government for the Vizhinjam project has been spent in full.
National Waterways in Kerala:
NW-3, NW-8 and NW-9
IWT terminals with godowns:
Nine
Buoys on NW-3:
312
Viability Gap Funding for Vizhinjam:
₹817.80 crore
Why it matters for exams: The numbers of the National Waterways that pass through Kerala, NW-3, NW-8 and NW-9, are a direct Kerala PSC geography question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Ro-Ro Roll-on Roll-off — A vessel service on which vehicles are driven on board and driven off at the other end.
IWAI Inland Waterways Authority of India — The statutory body that develops and maintains India's National Waterways.
Background
Rebuilt station buildings are showing up across Kerala, and the scheme behind them is the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. Replying in the Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that of the 1,337 stations identified for development across the country under the scheme, 35 are in Kerala. Eleven of these are finished: Chalakudi, Changanassery, Chirayinkeezh, Ferok, Angamali for Kaladi, Kuttippuram, Nilambur Road, Shoranur Junction, Tripunithura, Vadakara and Wadakancheri. Work continues at Angadippuram, Guruvayur, Parappanangadi, Payyanur and Tirur. Kerala's railway budget for 2026-27 is Rs 3,795 crore, against Rs 3,042 crore in 2025-26 and an annual average of Rs 372 crore in the years 2009 to 2014. Six sanctioned projects, two new lines and four doubling works covering 266 km, were in hand at a cost of Rs 9,415 crore as of 1 April 2025. Of the 476 hectares of land needed, 65 hectares or 14 per cent has been acquired, and the Railways has deposited Rs 1,975 crore with the State Government for land acquisition.
Stations in Kerala under the scheme:
35 of 1,337
Kerala railway budget 2026-27:
₹3,795 crore
Sanctioned projects:
266 km at ₹9,415 crore
Why it matters for exams: The Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, the ministry that runs it and the number of stations it covers nationally are a standing scheme question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
Faster rail corridors are being argued over in Kerala, and one formal step has already been taken. Replying in the Rajya Sabha, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Detailed Project Report surveys have been sanctioned to examine a speed potential of 160 kmph on seven routes connected to Kerala. They are the Shoranur to Mangalore third and fourth line of 307 km, the Coimbatore to Shoranur third and fourth line of 99 km, the Shoranur to Ernakulam third line of 106 km, the Ernakulam to Kayankulam third line via Kottayam of 115 km, the Kayankulam to Thiruvananthapuram third line of 105 km, the Thiruvananthapuram to Nagercoil third line of 71 km and the Turavur to Ambalappuzha doubling of 46 km. The Ministry said any sanction will depend on the reports being finalised, on talks with State Governments and on clearances from bodies such as NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Finance, so no timeline can be fixed yet.
Speed potential studied:
160 kmph
Routes surveyed:
Seven
Longest of them:
Shoranur-Mangalore 3rd & 4th Line, 307 Km
Why it matters for exams: The 160 kmph speed benchmark and the named rail sections of Kerala, along with the role of NITI Aayog in clearing projects, are directly askable.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
DPR Detailed Project Report — The full technical and financial study prepared before a project is sanctioned.
Background
Thiruvananthapuram's two best known central research institutions are both growing. At CSIR-NIIST, the foundation stone of a new Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship Hub was laid by the Prime Minister; the hub is for work on life sciences, the bio-economy, sustainable packaging and green hydrogen. A Radiosurgery Centre, for minimally invasive treatment of complex brain disorders, had its foundation stone laid the same day at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology. The new Poojappura Head Post Office was opened too. Four train services were flagged off: one passenger train and three Amrit Bharat Express services, running Nagercoil-Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram-Tambaram and Thiruvananthapuram-Charlapalli. NIIST stands for the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, and it is a laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.
Hub at:
CSIR-NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram
New centre at:
Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology
Why it matters for exams: What CSIR-NIIST stands for, that it is a CSIR laboratory at Thiruvananthapuram, and that the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology is where the Radiosurgery Centre is coming up are standing Science and Institutions facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CSIR Council of Scientific and Industrial Research — India's largest chain of publicly funded research laboratories.
NIIST National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology — The CSIR laboratory at Thiruvananthapuram working across chemistry, materials and biotechnology.
Background
River revival drives are being taken up district by district in Kerala, so it helps to know which of the State's water bodies already carry international protection. India now has 103 Ramsar Sites, the figure having reached 103 on 15 October 2026. Three of them are in Kerala: the Ashtamudi Wetland, estuarine backwaters with fisheries and mangroves; Sasthamkotta Lake, a spring-fed freshwater lake used for drinking water; and the Vembanad-Kol Wetland, the largest brackish wetland on the southwest coast. The listing comes from the Convention on Wetlands, adopted at Ramsar in Iran on 2 February 1971 and in force from 1975. In India the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change coordinates approval of a site and forwards the proposal to the Ramsar Secretariat. Amrit Dharohar promotes the conservation values of the country's Ramsar Sites. The National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems merged the separate national programmes for lake and wetland conservation into a single scheme.
Ramsar Sites in India:
103
Ramsar Sites in Kerala:
Ashtamudi Wetland, Sasthamkotta Lake, Vembanad-Kol Wetland
Convention adopted:
2 February 1971, at Ramsar, Iran
Why it matters for exams: The three Ramsar sites of Kerala, and the year and place of the Ramsar Convention, are among the most repeated Environment and Geography questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Ramsar Convention Convention on Wetlands — An international treaty under which countries commit to the wise use of listed wetlands.
Background
While expansion work goes on at Vizhinjam, Kerala's older sea gateway at Kochi keeps its own calendar. Cochin Port is run by the Cochin Port Authority, known as CoPA, and its North End area lies on Willingdon Island. The port observes Port Day every year on 26 May, and the 2026 observance was its 98th. The day marks the arrival of the ship SS Padma in the inner harbour of Cochin Port on 26 May 1928, the milestone from which Kochi grew into a key maritime hub in India. The function is held at Samudrika Hall, North End, Willingdon Island, and is presided over by the Chairperson of the Cochin Port Authority. For the public programme a passenger ship is berthed at the BTP Berth at North End and opened for free visits, with viewing from 9 am to 2.30 pm and a government-recognised ID card needed for entry. Outstanding employees of the port and achievers from the port community are honoured at the function.
Port Day:
26 May
Event it marks:
Arrival of SS Padma in the inner harbour on 26 May 1928
Managing body:
Cochin Port Authority (CoPA)
Why it matters for exams: That Cochin Port is managed by the Cochin Port Authority (CoPA), that its North End lies on Willingdon Island, and that Port Day on 26 May marks the SS Padma's arrival in the inner harbour are standing Kerala geography facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CoPA Cochin Port Authority — The statutory authority that manages the Cochin Port, one of India's major ports.
Background
The roll-on roll-off vessels that work the Kochi waterways were built at one yard, and that yard is now in a long term foreign tie-up. Cochin Shipyard Limited, or CSL, is a shipbuilding company under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. It signed a memorandum of understanding with HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering, a company of the Republic of Korea, for long term strategic collaboration in shipbuilding. The large vessels are to be built at CSL's new dry dock of 310 metres, which can take up to six vessels a year, and the types named are Suezmax tankers, container ships and Capesize bulk carriers. CSL is also planning a Block Fabrication Facility at Kochi on about 80 acres, with an annual capacity of 1,20,000 MT and an investment of about Rs 3,700 crore. It is expected to create about 2,000 direct jobs, with indirect employment put at two to five times that number. The Government links the partnership to Maritime India Vision 2030 and the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047.
Dry dock length:
310 metres
Block Fabrication Facility:
about 80 acres, 1,20,000 MT a year, about ₹3,700 crore
Partner company:
HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering
Why it matters for exams: That Cochin Shipyard Limited works under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, and the 310 metre dry dock at Kochi, are standing Economy and Infrastructure facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CSL Cochin Shipyard Limited — A public sector shipbuilding and ship repair company at Kochi under the shipping ministry.
MoU Memorandum of Understanding — A written understanding between two parties on how they will work together.