A college in Keralam no longer needs the government's prior nod to open a new course. Under the eased rule an autonomous aided college or a self-financing college can begin a programme once its affiliated university clears it, with no government no objection certificate. This softens a circular of September 11, which had asked for prior sanction both for new courses and for extra seats in government, aided and autonomous colleges. Higher Education Minister Roji M John said the no objection certificate was holding up new programmes for long stretches, and that autonomous status goes only to colleges that have shown academic merit. He also said many seats in the State's colleges are lying vacant. Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan has asked the government to take the decision back.
Circular relaxed:Circular dated September 11Approval still needed from:The affiliated universityMinister:Roji M John
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is the Keralam Higher Education Department's September 11 circular and the no objection certificate rule it imposed: after the relaxation, an autonomous aided or self-financing college needs only its affiliated university's approval to start a new course.
No objection certificateNo Objection Certificate (NOC) — A written clearance from a government or authority saying it has no objection to a proposed step.
Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram hosts Huddle Global 2026 from 12 to 14 November, the eighth time the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) is holding the summit. "Where the World Comes to Huddle" is this year's theme. KSUM expects a footfall above 10,000, with more than 4,000 startups, over 300 mentors and over 150 investors taking part, besides 200 corporate companies and 150 exhibitors. Six named zones carry the programme - a Deep Tech Zone and an SDG Zone, along with Light House, Beyond Borders, Funding Mania and Marketing Madness - and they hold talks, panel discussions, technology presentations and meetups for entrepreneurs. The sessions are built around artificial intelligence, digital public infrastructure, quantum computing, entry into global markets and investment. Delegates are expected from about fifteen countries, Germany, France, Italy, Singapore, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States among them.
Edition:8thDates:November 12-14Venue:Kovalam, ThiruvananthapuramTheme:Where the World Comes to HuddleStartups expected:4,000+
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that Huddle Global is the startup summit run by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), that the 2026 edition is the eighth, that it is held at Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram, and that its theme is "Where the World Comes to Huddle".
Keralam has opened applications for the Ibrahim Sulaiman Sait Urdu Scholarship. A student who took Urdu as the first language in 2025-26 and came out with A plus in every subject of the SSLC examination may apply. So may a student who took Urdu as the second language and got A plus in every subject at the Higher Secondary examination. The applicant has to be a permanent resident of Kerala and has to be studying in Kerala at present. Holding another scholarship is no bar to applying. The amount is one thousand rupees. The form is filled online at mwdscholarship.kerala.gov.in with the papers uploaded there, after which a printout and the supporting papers go to the head of the institution the student last studied in. December 10 is the closing date.
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the name of the scheme, the Ibrahim Sulaiman Sait Urdu Scholarship, its amount of one thousand rupees, and its condition of A plus in every subject with Urdu as the first language in SSLC or the second language in Higher Secondary.
A free online seminar on epilepsy, on its treatment and the facts people ought to know, has been held. The National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH) put it together with the State Social Justice Department. The webinar belongs to the NIDAS series the two run together, NIDAS being the NISH Interactive Disability Awareness Seminar. It ran on November 9 from 10:30 in the morning to 12:30. It went out on Google Meet and on NISH's own YouTube channel, with registration through an online form. The notice gives www.nidas.nish.ac.in and the numbers 0471 2944678 and 8848683261 for anyone who wants more.
Series:NIDAS (NISH Interactive Disability Awareness Seminar)Run by:NISH with the Social Justice DepartmentTopic:Epilepsy, treatment and factsTiming:November 9, 10.30 am to 12.30 pm
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is that NIDAS expands to NISH Interactive Disability Awareness Seminar, a webinar series run by the National Institute of Speech and Hearing together with the Social Justice Department.
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday set aside police notices that stopped Radisson Blu, Kochi, an FL-3 licensed bar hotel, from operating after midnight and holding DJ parties after 11 p.m. Justice Murali Purushothaman held that the hotel may stay open till 3 a.m., three hours past the normal closing time, under the amended Foreign Liquor Rules, 1953. The hotel had permission from the Deputy Excise Commissioner and had paid Rs. 5 lakhs for the extended hours. Citing public order and drug use, the police had invoked Sections 77, 78 and 79 of the Kerala Police Act, 2011. The court said a mere possibility of crime does not justify cutting hours that the Rules allow, until the government frames rules making an exception. It added that a notification under Section 79 can stay in force for no more than 15 days and cannot be permanent. Police may still act under the law if they suspect drug use at such parties.
Extended closing time:3 a.mFee paid for extended hours:Rs. 5 lakhsMaximum life of a Section 79 notification:15 days
Why it matters for exams: The ruling sets out the limit of police powers under the Kerala Police Act, 2011 against hours allowed by the Foreign Liquor Rules, 1953, and touches Article 19(1)(g).
The State government has relaxed the e-tender requirement for permission to quarry on government land. District Collectors can now issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) without a tender when the land is surrounded by private property and has no road access, provided the applicant arranges a way in. If more than one person applies for the same land, the NOC must still go through an e-tender. The NOC is needed to get a mining licence from the Department of Mining and Geology. The lessee pays a lease rent and a security deposit linked to the area, and government land is leased for seven to 12 years. Under guidelines framed in 2021, NOCs could be given only through e-tender, which was completed only in Thiruvananthapuram district. The change aims to raise local output of quarry products after Tamil Nadu restricted their movement to other States.
Tender waived when land has:no other road accessLease period for government land:seven to 12 years
Why it matters for exams: Who grants quarry NOCs, the Department of Mining and Geology's licensing role and the mineral supply link with Tamil Nadu are useful Kerala administration facts.
N Badusha, president of the Wayanad Prakruthi Samrakshana Samithi (WPSS), has been chosen for the seventh environmental award of the Dr. Kamarudeen Foundation for Biodiversity Conservation (KFBC). The award remembers Kamarudeen, an environmentalist who was a Reader in the Department of Botany at the University of Kerala. It carries ₹25,000, a citation and a plaque. This year the foundation wanted to honour activists who protect biodiversity through their own effort, without government support. Badusha is known for his long work to protect the ecology of Wayanad. He was selected unanimously for the 2026 award. It will be presented at Kariavattom in Thiruvananthapuram on November 13.
Edition:seventhPrize money:₹25,000
Why it matters for exams: Kerala PSC papers ask about environmental awards, their winners and the conservation groups behind them.
On Monday, P K Kunhalikutty, who holds Industries, IT, AI and Future Technologies in the State government, released the COKPIT 2027 logo and website. It is a global aviation GCC leadership summit that Infopark will organise to promote Kochi as a base for global capability centres of aviation companies. Entry is by invitation, and the two-day meet is set for January 28 and 29, 2027, at the Grand Hyatt in Kochi. Senior leaders of more than 25 airlines across the Gulf, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Americas and India are expected. The pitch to these carriers is Kochi as a place for AI, data, product management and digital operations centres. Keralam aims to attract 150 GCCs by 2031 as companies look beyond the big metros to Tier-II cities. The curtain-raiser was held in the presence of Infopark CEO Susanth Kurunthil.
Summit dates:January 28 and 29, 2027Airlines expected:more than 25GCC target:150 GCCs by 2031
Why it matters for exams: Global Capability Centres, Kerala's GCC target and Infopark Kochi are current economy and IT-policy topics for PSC and bank exams.
Keralam's electricity board is surrendering surplus units every day because supply is running ahead of need, which puts the spotlight on who may buy and sell power. Under the Electricity Act, 2003 the regulator and the utility are different bodies: a State Electricity Regulatory Commission, the SERC, settles tariff while a distribution licensee supplies. The Act already allows more than one distribution licensee in the same area of supply, but asks each to distribute through a network of its own. The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022 would drop that condition and oblige a discom to open its wires to the others in the area on a non-discriminatory basis, against charges. Where several licensees serve one area, the Bill makes the State government create a Cross-subsidy Balancing Fund. A surplus that a licensee holds on account of cross-subsidy goes into it, and the fund then meets cross-subsidy deficits of other discoms in that area or elsewhere. The Bill also tells a SERC to fix a minimum tariff for such areas, not only the maximum ceiling it already fixes, and says tariff should recover all prudent costs of supply. It was brought in Lok Sabha and sent to the Standing Committee on Energy to be examined.
Law that separates regulator from utility:Electricity Act, 2003Fund the Bill would create:a Cross-subsidy Balancing Fund set up by the State governmentCommittee examining the Bill:the Standing Committee on Energy
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the split the Electricity Act, 2003 makes between a State regulator and a distribution licensee, the meaning of open access to a distribution network, and the Cross-subsidy Balancing Fund a State government would set up where several licensees share one area.
Keralam's port news this fortnight runs on Vizhinjam, so the start of its import trade is worth placing. The first import container has come ashore at the Vizhinjam International Seaport in Thiruvananthapuram district, which opens import work there now that full export-import handling is in place. It arrived on the vessel MSC Sabrina 111, out of Ningbo in China, and held engineered building boards, a construction material used in place of ordinary plywood. Depth is the port's advantage: about 18 to 20 metres of it occurs naturally, so very large container ships can berth without a dredged channel. Cargo is worked with 8 quay cranes and 24 fully automated yard cranes, listed as RMGC. Customs brokers, freight forwarders, transporters and warehouse operators make up the chain that carries such a container out of the port gate.
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that Vizhinjam International Seaport is in Thiruvananthapuram district, that its natural depth is about 18 to 20 metres, and that it works with 8 quay cranes and 24 fully automated yard cranes.
Course approvals and campus safety are filling Keralam's higher education news, so the State's own student welfare app is worth knowing by name. The app is called Siddharthan, after a student the State lost in February 2024, and a safe campus is its stated aim. It was built for the government by the Kerala State Higher Education Council, with technical support from the Kerala Digital University. A student may send a message without giving a name, or lodge a ragging or harassment complaint in text or by voice, for himself or for a classmate. The app also reaches the Thoofan squads that handle drug use and supply, offers counselling through the institution's own counsellor, and carries an SOS button to the campus response team. A confidential PIN lets a student follow a complaint, and one left unsettled past its time limit moves up to the university, then the district, then the State. A draft Siddharth Anti-Ragging Act is under the government's consideration, and it would create a State Anti-Ragging Commission.
App:SiddharthanBuilt by:Kerala State Higher Education CouncilTechnical partner:Kerala Digital UniversityDraft law:Siddharth Anti-Ragging Act
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that the Siddharthan student welfare app was built by the Kerala State Higher Education Council with the Kerala Digital University, and that the draft Siddharth Anti-Ragging Act would create a State Anti-Ragging Commission.
Scholarship notices are going out one after another in Keralam this week, and one of them belongs to a central scheme worth knowing by name. The Post-Matric Scholarship for Persons with Disabilities is a scheme of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and the College Education Department delivers it in Kerala. Fresh applications and renewals are both being taken. Students now have until November 30 to apply, the date having been extended. Institutions then have to finish the online verification of those applications by December 15. The application goes on the national scholarship portal, scholarships.gov.in, not on a State portal. A helpline number and an email address are given in the notice for questions about the scheme. The pairing is the point to carry: a central social justice ministry scheme, delivered in Kerala through the College Education Department.
Central ministry:Ministry of Social JusticeImplementing department in Kerala:College Education DepartmentApplication portal:scholarships.gov.inExtended last date:November 30
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is that the Post-Matric Scholarship for Persons with Disabilities is a central scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice, applied for on scholarships.gov.in and implemented in Kerala by the College Education Department.
Scholarship notices are coming one after another in Keralam this week, and one of them belongs to a corporation aspirants often miss. Vidyasamunnathi is a merit scholarship of the State Welfare Corporation for Forward Communities, which also runs a coaching assistance scheme. Students from economically backward families in Kerala's forward, that is non-reserved, communities are the people it is for. The corporation has pushed the last date for applying online to November 20. The application is made on the corporation's own website, kswcfc.org, and not on the general State scholarship portals. The pairing is what to carry: Vidyasamunnathi is not run by a department but by this corporation, which is why its application route is separate.
Scholarship:VidyasamunnathiRun by:State Upper Caste Community Welfare CorporationExtended last date:November 20Portal:kswcfc.org
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is that Vidyasamunnathi is the merit scholarship of the State Upper Caste Community Welfare Corporation in Kerala, for economically backward students of the forward communities, applied for on kswcfc.org.
Keralam's cultural calendar is crowded this month, and the people who perform at these programmes have a statutory welfare body of their own. The Cultural Workers' Welfare Fund Board has told two sets of members to clear what they owe. One set is members who were granted membership but have never paid a contribution. The other is members who paid some contributions and left the rest unpaid. Arrears can be cleared up to 31 March 2027. Payment can be made on the Board's website, at an Akshaya or Janasevana Kendra centre, at the Board's office in Thiruvananthapuram, or through a Google Pay handle the notice lists; anyone paying that way has to send the registration number, the name and the other required details to the Board on WhatsApp. Two office telephone numbers are given for enquiries. What is worth carrying is that Kerala's cultural workers have a welfare fund board of their own, into which members pay contributions to stay eligible.
Board:Cultural Workers' Welfare Fund BoardLast date for dues:31 March 2027Office:Thiruvananthapuram
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is that cultural workers in Kerala are covered by the Cultural Workers' Welfare Fund Board, a contributory welfare fund board with its office in Thiruvananthapuram, whose members must pay contributions to remain eligible.