A Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. told the Kerala government to accept and carry out the recommendations of the Transplantation Advisory Committee. The State had placed the Committee's meeting report of 19 November 2025 before the court. The recommendations include a digital platform for altruistic organ donation operated through the Kerala State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation, known as KSOTTO. They also ask for a swap kidney donation programme run in line with Section 9(3A) of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act. A single-window, time-bound clearance route for transplant approvals is part of the package. Transplant centres must also publish upper ceilings on transplant charges and disclose their own rates.
Nodal body:KSOTTOProvision for swap donation:Section 9(3A)
Why it matters for exams: KSOTTO is Kerala's organ transplant registry body, and Section 9(3A) of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act is the provision that permits swap donation.
The Keralam government has released ₹20.52 crore to pay off pending dues under the CM Kids Scholarship. The scheme took the place of the lower secondary scholarship (LSS) and upper secondary scholarship (USS). The money was cleared after the Chief Minister directed the Finance Additional Chief Secretary, after the General Education department asked for it. The department had received a number of complaints about payments pending since 2018. The amount for the 2026-27 academic year is to be paid out by March 31. In 2025-26, 36,253 students became eligible for the lower primary scholarship and 9,330 for the upper primary one. The government described the release as a Children’s Day gift.
Why it matters for exams: The CM Kids Scholarship is the renamed LSS/USS scheme of Keralam's General Education department — a likely Kerala PSC question on State schemes.
Students with Type-1 diabetes who write the KEAM entrance examination will now get an additional 20 minutes for each hour of the test. KEAM is the common entrance of Kerala for Engineering, Architecture and Medical courses. Higher Education Minister Roji M John approved the order, and a medical certificate from a doctor will be required. Such candidates may, once checked by security, bring glucose tablets, water, insulin pens or pumps, CGMS devices, fruit and light snacks into the hall. The same 20-minute concession was already in force for exams of higher education institutions and professional colleges. The Commissioner for Entrance Examinations reported on the proposal, and the change will be written into the 2027 KEAM prospectus.
Extra time per hour:20 minutesTo be included in:2027 KEAM prospectus
Why it matters for exams: KEAM (Kerala Engineering, Architecture and Medical) and the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations who conducts it are standard Kerala PSC facts.
The Public Works department (PWD) has finished upgrading the 4.5-km Chalakkayam-Pampa road, a key approach for Sabarimala pilgrims, in 30 days at a cost of ₹14.14 crore. Work began on October 13 and ended on November 13, although a nine-month construction period had been allowed. Signboards, road markings and crash barriers were fixed at risky stretches. The road is maintained by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB); the PWD did the job with government funds without taking over the road. The work was decided at a Sabarimala review meeting chaired by Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan. The 41-day Mandalam pilgrimage season begins on November 17.
Cost:₹14.14 croreRoad length:4.5-kmMandalam season begins:November 17
Why it matters for exams: Sabarimala is run by the Travancore Devaswom Board and its Mandalam season lasts 41 days — both recurring Kerala PSC facts.
Keralam has given S. Karthikeyan full additional charge of Excise Commissioner, days after Seeram Sambasiva Rao was moved out of the post. Karthikeyan, back from leave, is posted as Special Secretary, Water Resources, and will also handle the Housing department as Special Secretary. Devidas N. becomes Director, Local Self Government Department (Rural), and will hold the posts of chief executive officer of LIFE Mission and managing director of IMPACT Kerala. Sharmila Mary Joseph, Principal Secretary, Transport, takes extra charge of the Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation. M G Rajamanickam will be executive director of Information Kerala Mission (IKM). Mithun Premraj gets additional charge of the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC).
Excise Commissioner (additional charge):KarthikeyanCEO, LIFE Mission (additional charge):Devidas N
Why it matters for exams: State bodies such as KSIDC, IKM, KTDFC and LIFE Mission, and who heads them, are regular Kerala PSC material.
The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) wants inquiry reports from the Director of Health Services (DHS) and the Director of Medical Education (DME) on the deaths of infants in the tribal colonies of Attappady. The Commission acted on a case it registered suo motu after media reports. SHRC chairperson Alexander Thomas gave the two officers five weeks to file the reports with all annexures. The DHS must also report on hospitals and health centres in Attappady and Agali and what they need to protect mothers and children. A Deputy DHS and a Deputy DME, or more senior officers, must appear before the Commission on January 5 2027.
Time given for reports:five weeksHearing before the Commission:January 5 2027
Why it matters for exams: Human rights commissions are set up under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, and Attappady is a tribal block of Palakkad — both are common Polity and Kerala questions.
The Kerala High Court has conferred the Senior Advocate designation on PS Sreedharan Pillai on its own, without an application from him. The decision was taken at a full court meeting held on November 11. Seventeen other lawyers, who had applied for the title, were also designated Senior Advocates at the same meeting. Pillai, an expert in criminal law, has earlier served as the Governor in Mizoram and Goa. The court relied on the High Court of Kerala (Designation of Senior Advocates) Rules, 2026, using Rule 3(2). The rule lets the full court, by consensus, confer the gown on an advocate it considers a person of exceptional quality and eminence with special expertise in a field of law.
Why it matters for exams: Senior Advocate designation rests on Section 16 of the Advocates Act, 1961 and is conferred by a High Court's full court — a recurring Polity and Kerala PSC point.
While the Kerala High Court pushes the State on speed cameras and black spots, an earlier ruling of the same court settled how far one challan rule can reach back. In T.N. Arun Kumar v. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, reported as 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 614, Justice Murali Purushothaman dealt with Rule 167(7) of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. That rule bars the processing of certain applications when challans remain unpaid beyond 90 days. The court held the rule operates prospectively only. It therefore cannot be used against challans issued before October 1, 2020. The ruling matters for anyone whose licence or registration work is held up over old pending challans.
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is Rule 167(7) of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 and the 90-day pending challan condition it carries.
Silent Valley National Park in Palakkad is part of the Western Ghats and the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, with habitats that run from evergreen forests to shola grasslands. Its management plan for 2022-2032 lists 205 butterfly species. A three-day butterfly survey, run jointly by the Malabar Natural History Society (MNHS) and the Kerala Forests and Wildlife department, began on Friday at 14 locations, among them Sairandhri, Mukkali and Sispara. Butterflies are watched because their numbers mirror the health of a forest. In the park, blue tiger butterflies gather on plants to draw chemical-rich fluids, a habit called pharmacophagy.
Butterfly species in management plan:205Survey locations:14 locationsManagement plan period:2022-2032
Why it matters for exams: Silent Valley's district, its place in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and the Western Ghats are stock Kerala PSC and UPSC geography facts.