Alappuzha has been placed second in the Swachh Coastal Town category of the Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025-26, the tenth edition of the urban cleanliness survey. The category is new this year and covers towns of 50,000 to 3 lakh people. Puri in Odisha came first and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra third. Mattannur in Kannur district was named Keralam's State First Swachh City. President Droupadi Murmu gave away the awards at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, and Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal spoke at the ceremony. The survey covered 4,751 cities and drew 2.70 crore citizen feedback responses, with more than 3,000 assessors checking 43 indicators. Sixty national awards were announced. The survey began in 2016 with 73 cities.
Why it matters for exams: Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 is the tenth edition and introduced a Swachh Coastal Town category, in which Puri ranked first and Alappuzha second.
Scientists of the Zoological Survey of India and the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute have described a new deep-sea shark from the Indian Ocean. It is named Echinorhinus roinee and is called the Indian Bramble Shark. For decades the fish was taken to be the Atlantic bramble shark, Echinorhinus brucus. The specimens came from Sakthikulangara Fishing Harbour in Kollam district, landed as bycatch by deep-sea shrimp trawlers. The shark lives on continental slope waters at depths of 350 to 450 metres and grows up to three metres, with thorn-like dermal denticles over a dark brown to blackish body. Mitochondrial DNA barcode genes showed it to be a distinct Indian Ocean lineage, separate from the Atlantic species and from the Pacific prickly shark Echinorhinus cookei. The description is published in Records of the Zoological Survey of India. ZSI Director Dr Dhriti Banerjee said measurements and DNA evidence settled the question.
Scientific name:Echinorhinus roineeDepth range:350 to 450 metresMaximum length:Three metres
Why it matters for exams: The new species is Echinorhinus roinee, the Indian Bramble Shark, described by the Zoological Survey of India with ICAR-CMFRI from specimens landed at Sakthikulangara in Kollam district.
A welding system built end to end within India was put on show for the first time at Kalamassery. Cochin Shipyard Limited assembled it along with SFO Technologies Pvt. Ltd., the flagship company of the NeST Group, and it is a Hybrid Laser Arc Welding system, the first of its kind both designed and made in the country. The showing came as the Advanced Laser Engineering Centre and the Hybrid Laser Arc Welding R&D Facility were opened at NeST Hitek Park. Jose V. J., Chairman and Managing Director of Cochin Shipyard Limited, and Dr N. Jehangir, Chairman and Managing Director of SFO Technologies, did the opening. In one machine it brings together laser welding, ordinary arc welding, robotics and automation, and its power comes from a high-power fibre laser source that SFO Technologies developed in-house. Welds should be quicker, run deeper and leave less distortion, which matters in shipbuilding, defence, heavy engineering, railways and energy work. Platforms of this sort have until now been bought from abroad, and the two partners want that dependence reduced.
Facility:Advanced Laser Engineering Centre, NeST Hitek Park, KalamasseryCochin Shipyard CMD:Jose V. J.
Why it matters for exams: India's first indigenous Hybrid Laser Arc Welding system was developed jointly by Cochin Shipyard Limited and SFO Technologies, the flagship company of the NeST Group.
A winter school on integrated Black Soldier Fly based feed technology has begun at the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Kochi. Dr Devika Pillai, Assistant Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, opened it. Waste thrown out by households and markets, she said, can serve as another protein source in fish feed and take some pressure off the wild stocks caught for fishmeal. Larvae of the Black Soldier Fly feed on biodegradable organic waste and build it into protein-rich biomass. Each day the country throws up something of the order of 171,000 to 190,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste. Between 50 and 60 per cent of that is biodegradable organic matter. Turning it into protein would tie waste handling to food production in a circular bioeconomy. The course also went into feed ingredients drawn from insects, microalgae, seaweeds and aquatic plants.
Municipal solid waste a day:171,000 to 190,000 tonnesShare that is biodegradable:50 to 60 per cent
Why it matters for exams: Black Soldier Fly larvae convert biodegradable organic waste into protein for fish feed; India generates 171,000 to 190,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste a day, 50 to 60 per cent of it biodegradable.
Kerala is to get a campus of a university built around yoga education and research. At the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Prashanti Kutiram in Bengaluru, the Prime Minister will launch the S-VYASA Off-Campus at Thiruvananthapuram. S-VYASA is short for Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, which received Deemed-to-be University status in 2002. Its residential headquarters campus, Prashanti Kutiram, dates from 1975 and houses the university. The foundation stone of a Golden Jubilee Administrative Block is to be laid at the same function. 'Towards Viksit Bharat 2047' is the theme of the jubilee programme, which is spread over eleven days, 13-23 November 2026. The occasion also marks the birth centenary of H.V. Sheshadri, one of the figures behind the institution.
New off-campus:Thiruvananthapuram, KeralaDeemed University status:2002Prashanti Kutiram established:1975Golden Jubilee celebration:13 to 23 November 2026
Why it matters for exams: S-VYASA expands to Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, a Deemed-to-be University since 2002 with its headquarters at Prashanti Kutiram, Bengaluru, and a new off-campus at Thiruvananthapuram.
S-VYASASwami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana — A Bengaluru-based institution for yoga education and research, declared a Deemed-to-be University in 2002.
Deemed-to-be UniversityDeemed-to-be University — Status granted to a high-performing institution, letting it work like a university without a separate Act.
Beypore on the Malabar coast was one of the key ports on the old trade route between southwest India and the Arab world. The place is most famous for its Uru, a big wooden trading dhow shaped by hand, which is still being made there. Pilgrims embarked from this port for several centuries, through the Portuguese period and after it. The British ran the Malabar port as a part of the Madras Presidency. After plague reached Bombay the Hajj was suspended in India under the 1897 Epidemic Diseases Act, a law that gave the government special powers against dangerous diseases. A quarantine camp was later opened for pilgrims bound for the Hejaz, and the period of the quarantine was 10 days. The district magistrate of Malabar, Pinhey, reported that an observation camp stood at Beypore (Chaliyam) for the Hedjaz pilgrims.
Craft built there:UruLaw used:Epidemic Diseases ActYear of the Act:1897Period of quarantine:10 daysGoverned as part of:Madras PresidencySite of the camp:Chaliyam
Why it matters for exams: The Epidemic Diseases Act and the Madras Presidency are standard Polity and History answers, and the Uru of Beypore is a standard Kerala question.
Thattekad Bird Sanctuary carries the name of the ornithologist Dr. Salim Ali, who called the place a potential birding paradise. It sits on the northern bank of the Periyar River, over an area of approximately 25 square kilometres. Dense tropical evergreen and deciduous forests, with streams and marshy areas, give it a wide range of habitats. Over 300 species of birds are estimated to live there. The list includes the Malabar grey hornbill, the Indian pitta, the Oriental dwarf kingfisher, the white-bellied treepie and the Sri Lanka frogmouth. The Indian elephant and the Indian giant squirrel are among the mammals seen inside. The Kerala Forest Department manages the sanctuary and runs its conservation work.
Named after:Salim AliRiver:PeriyarArea:25 square kilometresBird species:over 300Managed by:Kerala Forest Department
Why it matters for exams: The ornithologist the sanctuary is named after, and the river it stands on, are both standard Kerala questions.
Marayoor Jaggery is entered on the Geographical Indications register as Marayoor Jaggery (Marayoor Sharkara), and its status is Registered. The application number is 613. The applicant is the Anchunadu Karimbu Ulpadhana Vipanana Sangham, with its address at Marayoor town, Post: Marayoor, District: Idukki, Kerala. The goods are entered as Food Stuff and the registration falls in Class 30. The Geographical Area shown is Kerala and the Priority Country is India. The certificate number is 341. Authorised users on the register include the Marayoor Agriculture Producer Company Limited and the Marayoor Hills Agricultural Development Society.
Attappady Aattukombu Avara is entered on the Geographical Indications register with the status Registered. Its application number is 686. The applicant is the Attappady Aattukombu Avara Uthpathaka Sangham, with its address C/o Pudur Krishi Bhavan, Post: Pudur, District: Palakkad, Kerala. The goods are entered as Agriculture and the registration falls in Class 31. The Geographical Area shown is Kerala and the Priority Country is India. The journal number is 159 and the certificate number is 425.
Thirunavaya in Malappuram district lies south of Tirur, on the banks of the Bharathapuzha river. The district administration calls it the land of ancient Mamankam, and a place that matters in the history of Kerala. Mamankam, a grand assembly of rulers, was held here once in 12 years in olden days. It is a place of worship too: three temples of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva stand on either side of the river. The Nava Mukunda temple here is an important Vishnu temple, and tradition holds that it was built by Nava yogis. The bank beside the temple is held to be holy, and rituals for forefathers, bali tarpana or sradha puja, are offered there.
River:BharathapuzhaDistrict:MalappuramMamankam held once in:12 yearsVishnu temple:Nava Mukunda templeNearest town:Tirur
Why it matters for exams: Mamankam, the river it was held beside and the interval between two Mamankams are standard Kerala history questions.
KIRTADS is a department of the Government of Kerala, and the Directorate of KIRTADS is at Chevayur, Kozhikode. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Development Department has administrative control over it, and KIRTADS takes up research, training, development and evaluation studies for those communities across the State. Work began in April 1970 under the name Tribal Research and Training Centre, as a part of the Girijan Welfare Department, with financial assistance from the Central Government. From 23rd October 1979 it was reorganized as a separate department and renamed KIRTADS, and studies on Scheduled Castes were added to its field of work. The anthropologist Dr. A. Ayyappan led it from 1970 to 1973, as a Special Officer of TR & TC. One objective of the department is to prepare anthropological investigation reports as per Act 11 of 1996. It has no regional or district level offices, and the work runs through four main sections, the Administration Wing, the Research Wing, the Training Wing and the Development Studies Wing.
Work started:1970Renamed as KIRTADS:1979Earlier name:Tribal Research and Training CentreMain sections:fourDirectorate:ChevayurFirst head:Dr. A. Ayyappan
Why it matters for exams: Kerala PSC asks what KIRTADS stands for, which department it comes under and where its directorate sits.
KIRTADSKerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes — A Kerala government research and training department for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Karumadikkuttan is a Buddhist pilgrim centre at Karumady in Ambalapuzha, in Alappuzha district. It stands about 20 Km towards south east of the district head quarters, on the Ambalapuzha-Thiruvalla Road. The figure is a Buddha statue cut from solid black granite, and it belongs to the 11th century. Kerala Archaeology Department protects the site today. Visitors come from across the nation and from abroad to pay homage, drawn by stories of healing that have spread far and wide. Ambalapuzha Railway Station is about 4 Km away and Ambalapuzha Bus Station about 4.5 Km. The nearest airport is Kochi International Airport, about 108 Km from the spot.
Material:Solid black graniteCentury:11th centuryProtected by:Kerala Archaeology DepartmentDistrict:AlappuzhaRoad:Ambalapuzha-Thiruvalla Road
Why it matters for exams: The material of the statue, the century it belongs to and the department that protects it are the durable facts an examiner asks.