Keralam has dropped the short-term power purchase arranged through GNA, an over-the-counter power sales platform.
The earlier offer of power from Himachal Pradesh had already been turned down.
The GNA arrangement covered 1,812 million units at Rs 8.63 per unit, while the Himachal offer was priced at Rs 14.50 per unit for 884 million units.
Chief Minister VD Satheesan has said the Himachal route would have added Rs 2,232 crore to the cost.
Additional Chief Secretary (Power) Puneet Kumar and KSEB chairman N Prasanth advised that there is no immediate power crisis.
Daily use has fallen from 110 to 118 million units in summer to about 90 million units now.
Central generating stations and long and medium term contracts together give about 65 million units a day.
Chief Minister Satheesan had chosen the GNA purchase after overruling the then KSEB chairman MG Rajamanickam, who had argued for the Himachal power, and Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan has asked the Government to name the firm behind the deal.
GNA quantity:1,812 million unitsGNA rate:Rs 8.63 per unitHimachal rate:Rs 14.50 per unitExtra cost avoided:Rs 2,232 crore
Why it matters for exams: Kerala State Electricity Board is the State utility whose advice decided the short-term purchase, and the rates compared were Rs 8.63 and Rs 14.50 a unit.
Keralam has cancelled both the authorisation and the FL-7 licence approval given to Air Lounge, a bar planned for Terminal 3 at Cochin International Airport in Nedumbassery.
R Jayashankar, the Additional Excise Commissioner now holding charge as Excise Commissioner, issued the cancellation order.
The clearance had come earlier from Seeram Sambasiva Rao, then Excise Commissioner, and Excise Minister M Liju was not told of it.
Rao was moved out of that post after the row.
A licence fee of Rs 2 lakh had been paid, and the applicant may claim it back.
After taking legal advice the Government decided that no fresh bar licence, FL-7 included, will be issued before the new liquor policy comes into force.
The establishment is free to apply again under whatever rules are in force once that policy is notified.
The Foreign Liquor Rules make clear that an authorisation order alone does not let a bar open.
Licence class:FL-7 bar licenceLicence fee paid:Rs 2 lakhSite:Terminal 3 second floor
Why it matters for exams: FL-7 is the Kerala licence class for a bar of this kind, and the revoking authority was the Additional Excise Commissioner holding charge as Excise Commissioner.
The Kerala Government told the High Court on 10 November that its Mental Health Centres will be renamed 'Regional Institute for Happiness and Wellness'.
Advocate General K. Jaju Babu said the name was settled after hearing all stakeholders and that a Government Order would follow.
The State had earlier picked the name 'Happiness and Wellness Centres', but the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) objected to it.
There are three such centres, at Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Kozhikode.
The matter is a suo motu public interest case begun in 1996 after the Supreme Court's direction in Sheela Barse v. Union of India.
A Division Bench has asked the State to finish a boundary wall, fill staff posts, ensure a steady supply of medicines and provide vehicles at the centres.
The case will be heard again next week, when the Government Order is to be placed before the court.
New name:Regional Institute for Happiness and WellnessCentres:Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, KozhikodePIL began:1996
Why it matters for exams: The Sheela Barse v. Union of India line of cases and the State's three mental health centres are recurring Polity and Social Justice questions.
The Keralam government has made senior Public Works Department (PWD) officers responsible for supervising the Anakkampoyil-Kalladi-Meppadi tunnel road between Kozhikode and Wayanad.
The Superintending Engineer of PWD (Roads), Kozhikode North Circle, and the Executive Engineers for Kozhikode and Wayanad will monitor the work directly.
They must see that safety rules and the conditions set by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change are followed.
The step answers earlier concern that the project had no dedicated monitoring agency.
Work at all tunnel portals has been on hold since a debris slip at Kalladi in July 2026, and will restart only after an expert committee reports.
The Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) is the main executing agency.
The twin tunnel four-lane road links Thiruvambadi panchayat in Kozhikode with Meppadi panchayat in Wayanad and is to be the longest tunnel in Kerala.
Executing agency:Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL)Links:Thiruvambadi (Kozhikode) – Meppadi (Wayanad)Supervision:PWD (Roads), Kozhikode North Circle
Why it matters for exams: The Kozhikode-Wayanad twin tunnel road, its executing agency KRCL and the two panchayats it links are likely Kerala infrastructure questions.
Public Works Minister P. K. Basheer opened the second bridge across the Kodoor river at Kodimatha in Kottayam on 10 November.
The new bridge runs parallel to the old Kodimatha bridge on National Highway 183, along the Main Central (MC) Road.
It is 128 metres long and 12 metres wide and was built at a cost of ₹15.49 crore.
The narrow old bridge had long choked traffic entering Kottayam from Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Pathanamthitta.
The National Highways Authority will now repair the sunken approach road of the old bridge, and Keltron is to set up traffic signals.
Once both bridges are in use, a one-way system is planned for vehicles entering and leaving the town.
At the same function the minister said the PWD would prepare the estimate for Kottayam's long-pending skywalk project.
Why it matters for exams: Kerala's rivers, the Main Central Road and the office of Public Works Minister are regular Kerala geography and governance questions.
Keralam buys most of the power it uses, and the mix is what the current row turns on.
Central generating stations together with long term and medium term contracts give the State about 65 million units a day.
Hydel stations inside the State were giving 25 to 26 million units a day in September, and that has been cut to 12 to 13 million units.
Daily use, which stood at 110 to 118 million units in summer and in the following months, has fallen to about 90 million units.
Anything short of that is met by short-term purchase, which is where GNA, an over-the-counter sales platform, came in.
Short-term power is costlier, and in this instance the two offers on the table were priced at Rs 8.63 and Rs 14.50 a unit.
The advice of the Additional Chief Secretary for Power and of the KSEB chairman was that no immediate crisis exists.
For a learner the useful point is the ladder: central stations and firm contracts first, hydel next, short-term buying last.
Current daily use:about 90 million unitsFrom central stations and firm contracts:about 65 million unitsHydel generation now:12 to 13 million units
Why it matters for exams: About 65 million units a day of Keralam's supply comes from central generating stations and firm long and medium term contracts, with short-term purchase used only for the gap.
The airport bar case turns on a distinction a learner should hold on to.
Under the Foreign Liquor Rules, an order that authorises a licence is not itself a licence, and a bar cannot start work on the strength of such an order alone.
The licence class involved here was FL-7, the form under which a bar of this kind is licensed in Keralam.
The applicant had paid a licence fee of Rs 2 lakh, and because the authorisation has been revoked the fee can be claimed back.
The officer who issues and withdraws such authorisation is the Excise Commissioner, and in this case the Additional Excise Commissioner held that charge.
The Government has taken legal advice that no new bar licence will be granted until the new liquor policy takes effect.
An applicant may come again, and will then be governed by the rules in force at that time.
So the right of an applicant is to apply, not to a licence.
Licence form:FL-7Fee paid:Rs 2 lakhAuthority:the Excise Commissioner of the state
Why it matters for exams: Under the Foreign Liquor Rules an order authorising a licence is not the licence itself, and FL-7 is the Keralam licence form for a bar of this kind.
The first battery storage project Keralam approved and began was not the one at Mulleria but the larger plant at Mylatti.
That plant is rated at 125 MW and is to supply 5 lakh units during the evening peak once it is working.
Work on it has stopped about halfway, and the delay is put at a cost of more than Rs 30 lakh a day to KSEB.
The State Electricity Regulatory Commission has recorded strong displeasure at the slow progress.
Meanwhile the smaller 15 MW plant at Mulleria was finished first and is already feeding the grid.
The point of both plants is the same: hold cheap power through the day and release it when demand peaks in the evening.
Without storage, the Board has to buy evening power at more than Rs 16 a unit, and market rates have at times reached Rs 22.
Storage therefore works as a tool of tariff control as much as of grid stability.
Mylatti capacity:125 megawattPeak supply planned:5 lakh unitsCost of delay:over Rs 30 lakh a day
Why it matters for exams: The Mylatti plant is Keralam's 125 MW battery storage project, the first to be approved, and the State Electricity Regulatory Commission is the body that reviews it.