9 November 2026
Kerala's fisheries university has tied up with an American institution. KUFOS, the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, and Old Dominion University at Norfolk in Virginia will now work together. Registrar K. Dinesh put his name to the document for KUFOS, and Luanne Bowman did so for the American side. What the two sides have agreed covers joint research, the sharing of academic material, visits by teachers and an exchange of students. They will also run Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), under which classes in the two countries study together online. Kochi and Norfolk are already linked: the two cities signed a sister-city agreement in 2010, which made Kochi the eighth sister city of Norfolk. KUFOS is the State university for fisheries and ocean studies and has its headquarters at Panangad in Kochi.
Why it matters for exams: Questions on Kerala universities and sister-city links come up in Kerala PSC general knowledge.
Background
An employee of a co-operative society in Kerala may go to the Labour Court without first filing a departmental appeal, the High Court has held. The appeal in question is provided by Rule 198(4), which sits in the Kerala Co-operative Societies Rules, 1969. Rule 198(3) names the authorities competent to punish different classes of employees, and in this matter that was the President of the society. Rule 198(4) then gives an appeal to the Executive Committee, or Board of Management, against that punishment. That committee acts as the appellate authority and not as the original disciplinary authority. The route to the Labour Court is section 2A(2), which is in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. Section 28 was cited for the point that the management of a society vests in its committee. The Labour Court at Kozhikode had rejected a preliminary objection raised by the Chokkad Service Co-operative Bank, and that order led to this appeal.
Appeal provision:
rule 198(4) for an appeal to the committee
Route to the Labour Court:
section 2A(2) of a 1947 Act
Why it matters for exams: Rule 198 of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Rules and section 2A of the Industrial Disputes Act are both service law staples.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
Labour Court Labour Court — The forum that decides industrial disputes, including the dismissal of a workman.
appellate authority appellate authority — The body that hears an appeal against a decision, as against the one that took the decision first.
Background
This connects to the Shigella infection confirmed in Malappuram.
Malappuram district came into being on the 16th of June 1969. It covers 3,550 sq km, which is 9.13% of the State, and ranks third in area.
The Nilgiri hills lie to its east and the Arabian Sea to its west.
Four of Kerala's important rivers pass through it: the Chaliyar, the Kadalundippuzha, the Bharathapuzha and the Tirurpuzha.
The Chaliyar, 169 km long, starts in the Illambaleri hills and reaches the sea at Beypore. The Bharathapuzha, Kerala's second longest river, drains into the sea at Ponnani.
The district has three natural zones: lowland, midland and highland.
Why it matters for exams: District facts are staple Kerala PSC general knowledge.
Background
This connects to the Mandalam season preparations at Sabarimala and the new police arrangements at Nilakkal.
Pathanamthitta is the thirteenth revenue district of Kerala, with its headquarters at Pathanamthitta.
It was formed with effect from 1 November 1982, under a Government Order dated 29 October 1982.
The district rises from the Western Ghats in the east and runs down to low-lying paddy fields close to Alappuzha.
Tamil Nadu lies to its east. Kottayam and Idukki districts are on the north, Kollam is on the south and Alappuzha is on the west.
The official page describes undulating hills, thick forests, wildlife and valleys.
Why it matters for exams: District facts are staple Kerala PSC general knowledge.
Background
This connects to the Shigella infection reported first in Kozhikode and then in Malappuram.
Kozhikode, also called Calicut, lies on Kerala's northern Malabar coast.
It was the capital of the Zamorin kingdom and became a major centre of Indian Ocean trade, known for spices.
The district site links Kappad with Vasco da Gama's arrival on the Malabar coast in 1498.
Beypore is noted as an old port with traditional wooden shipbuilding.
Calicut International Airport is at Karipur, about 25 to 30 km from the city.
Why it matters for exams: District facts are staple Kerala PSC general knowledge.
Background
This connects to the AI drone surveillance pilot at Viyyur Central Prison, which stands in Thrissur.
Thrissur is called Kerala's cultural capital and is the land of the Poorams.
It lies in the central part of the State and covers about 3,032 sq km.
More than 10% of Kerala's people live here. The 2011 Census counted 3,110,327 residents.
To its north are the districts of Palakkad and Malappuram, and to its south Ernakulam and Idukki; the Arabian Sea is on the west and the Western Ghats on the east.
The district page gives a literacy rate of 95.32%.
Why it matters for exams: District facts are staple Kerala PSC general knowledge.
Background
Green groups in the district have just given their backing to the proposed high speed rail corridor from Kozhikode to Sulthan Bathery, so the district itself is worth placing. Wayanad was set up as the twelfth district of Kerala, and the three taluks it began with were Mananthavady, Sulthanbathery and Vythiri. Its name comes from Vayal Nadu, which means the land of paddy fields. It is a plateau in the Western Ghats, lying between 700 and 2,100 metres above mean sea level, in the eastern part of north Kerala and against the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka borders. The district was taken out of what were then the Kozhikode and Kannur districts, and about 885.92 sq km of it is forest. Its culture is largely tribal, and its pepper, cardamom, coffee, tea and spices make it one of the State's bigger earners of foreign exchange.
Forest area:
885.92 sq.km
Altitude:
700 metres to 2100 metres above mean sea level
Why it matters for exams: Wayanad's rank as Kerala's twelfth district, its three founding taluks, the Vayal Nadu origin of its name and its plateau altitude range are standard Kerala geography questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Vayal Nadu land of paddy fields — The phrase the district's name is derived from.
Background
Green groups in the district have backed the proposed Kozhikode to Sulthan Bathery rail corridor, and roads from Kozhikode and Thalassery are how the plateau was first opened up. The district administration puts Wayanad's area at 2,132 sq km and holds that organised human life existed here at least ten centuries before Christ, with New Stone Age evidence on its hills. Two caves at Ampukuthimala, between Sulthan Bathery and Ambalavayal, carry wall pictures and pictorial writing. Recorded history begins only in the eighteenth century. The land was ruled by Rajas of the Veda tribe and later by the Pazhassi Rajahs of the Kottayam royal dynasty. Hyder Ali of Mysore invaded and took it; under Tipu it went back to the Kottayam line, and after the Sreerangapattanam truce Tipu handed all Malabar to the British. Kerala Varma Pazhassi Rajah then fought them from the Wayanad forests, organising Kurichiya tribals into a people's militia, and the British obtained only his body. They opened the plateau to tea and other cash crops.
Area:
2,132 sq. kilometres
Rock art caves:
Two caves of Ampukuthimala, between Sulthan Bathery and Ambalavayal
Why it matters for exams: Pazhassi Raja's guerrilla war with the Kurichiya militia, the Sreerangapattanam truce that gave Malabar to the British, and the Ampukuthimala rock art are standard Kerala history questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Kurichiya a tribal community of Wayanad — The community Pazhassi Rajah organised into a people's militia against the British.