The two huts stand near the Heritage Museum at Ambalavayal in Wayanad and are being opened to visitors. They are what is left of a military complex of nine such structures built during British rule. The huts went up under the supervision of an officer named Nisan and served as military barracks. Modelled on Japanese architecture, each has a stone foundation about a metre high and a semi-circular roof of thin metal sheets. The huts gave accommodation to soldiers and storage space for ammunition during both World Wars. Two of the nine survived; the state archaeology department took them over in 2005 and they were restored at a cost of around Rs 8 lakh. They also served as a place to treat patients with infectious diseases, then as a hospital, an anganwadi and a primary school. They are considered to be among the largest complexes of Nisan Huts in South India.
Restoration cost:Rs 8 lakhYear the state archaeology department took over:2005Plot:six-cent
Why it matters for exams: Protected monuments and the department that keeps them are standing questions in State examinations.
The station at Thiruvananthapuram marked its 95th anniversary with an event called Station Mahotsav. A ceremonial flag march by the Railway Protection Force opened the celebrations. The Madras - Quilon line was first extended to Chackai, a trading centre of the capital of the princely state of Travancore, and opened on January 4, 1918. Dewan of Travancore M E Watts later took the line into the heart of the city, and the terminus moved to its present place. The building came up in the reign of the maharani of Travancore, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, and the station was inaugurated on November 4, 1931. It was built with rock masonry and no bricks were used in it. Thiruvananthapuram began as a branch-line station with one platform and two departures a day, though the maharani built it on a par with stations in the major cities of India.
Station inaugurated:November 4, 1931Line to Chackai opened:January 4, 1918Anniversary marked:95th
Why it matters for exams: Travancore rulers, their Dewans and the coming of the railway are standard State examination ground.
The Kurumbas live in the hilly forest regions of Attappady in Palakkad district. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, has placed them in the class of a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). They are one of the five PVTGs in Keralam, with a population of only 2,719 as of 2024. The community speaks Kurumba, an oral language with no script, and that is the primary language of communication among its members. The community members have to learn Malayalam or other languages to converse with outsiders, who mostly do not use Kurumba. The Census classifies languages with fewer than 10,000 speakers as others, and against that the future of the language appears bleak.
Population:2,719PVTGs in Keralam:fiveSpeaker count below which a language is grouped as others:10,000
Why it matters for exams: PVTGs, the ministry that lists them and where each lives are repeatedly asked.
The Fisheries Marine Enforcement Task Force seized a fishing boat off the Chettuva estuary for violating the Kerala Marine Fishing Regulation Act. Under that Act it is an offence to catch any of 58 species of edible marine fish below the prescribed minimum size. The boat was carrying around 5,000 kg of kilimeen that measured less than the prescribed minimum size of 12 cm. The team also seized fishing nets with mesh sizes below the legally permitted limit. The seizure was part of Operation Paithal, a drive of the State Fisheries department against the catching of juvenile fish. The Thrissur Deputy Director of Fisheries imposed a fine of 2.5 lakh rupees, and the undersized fish were released into the sea. Special task force teams have been inspecting deep-sea and coastal waters, estuaries, fishing harbours and fish landing centres.
Species covered by the minimum size rule:58Minimum size for kilimeen:12 cmFish seized:5,000 kg
Why it matters for exams: The State fisheries law and the minimum size rule are asked in both State and national papers.
The Jeevadhara conservation project has been launched in Kannur district to conserve 100 rare and threatened tree species of the Western Ghats. The M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) leads the three-year initiative, which has the support of TCS Foundation. The aim is the restoration of 250 acres of land of ecological importance at five locations in north Keralam. The programme is centred on the M.S. Swaminathan Botanical Garden and will work through a hub-and-spoke model. The restoration plan covers Wayanad, Malappuram and Kannur districts: 80 acres each of forest land and of sacred groves, 60 acres in coffee farms and 30 acres of gardens at institutions. An important target of the project is to lift the conservation status of 50 red-listed species. The Iritty block panchayat has launched a water conservation campaign called Neeralam alongside it.
Tree species to be conserved:100Area to be restored:250 acresRed-listed species targeted:50
Why it matters for exams: The Western Ghats, threatened species and the institutions working on them are examination staples.
The Government College of Fine Arts, Thrissur, runs the only BFA programme in Art History in the State. The BFA in Art History and Visual Studies was introduced in 2019 and has an annual intake of seven students. It has a total strength of 24 at present. Students on the course are trained to read artworks and visual images in their wider cultural and historical setting. The college has no separate Art History department, and the lone teacher is posted under the Painting Department. The lone teacher handles all subjects for the Art History students and also teaches art history papers to those specialising in sculpture, painting and applied art. The college authorities have asked the government for the land where the museum and zoo at Chembukkavu stand, so that the institution can move there. The proposal could also help turn that area into a cultural hub for Thrissur.
The Nair Service Society (NSS) has its headquarters at Perunna in Kottayam. The founder Mannathu Padmanabhan is remembered every year on January 1 and 2, the days kept as Mannam Jayanthi. The NSS represents the influential Nair community in Keralam. The Chief Minister of Keralam will inaugurate the Mannam Jayanthi celebrations at the headquarters in January. It will be his first visit to the headquarters of the organisation after assuming office. The general secretary of the NSS said the invitation was made over the phone and that a formal letter was also sent. The organisation says arrangements will be made if he wishes to visit the samadhi of Mannathu Padmanabhan.
Headquarters:PerunnaFounder:Mannathu PadmanabhanDays kept as Mannam Jayanthi:January 1 and 2
Why it matters for exams: Community organisations of Keralam, their founders and headquarters are standing State examination questions.
The number of people in Pakistan who trace their roots to Keralam is estimated at 10,000, a sizeable number of them in Karachi. The Malabar Muslim Jamaat, established in 1921, has been central to holding these families together and keeping alive their links with the land of their forefathers. A number of families moved to the port city in search of livelihood, while others arrived as part of their military service during the British era. For many of the migrants the start was a small tea shop, and over the decades these grew into restaurants. The community now has a sizeable presence in the food and hospitality sector of the city, with hundreds of eateries serving Keralam cuisine. Until the 1980s families travelled to their ancestral villages almost every year, and changing government policies made such journeys less frequent. The older generations spoke Malayalam at home, while Urdu has increasingly become the preferred language among younger members born in Pakistan.
People of Keralam origin in Pakistan:10,000Jamaat established:1921City of the community:Karachi
Why it matters for exams: Migration from Keralam and the bodies that hold such communities together are asked in State papers.
The 23rd International Congress of Arachnology (ICA 2026) is being held at Kochi. Bharata Mata College (BMC) (Autonomous), Thrikkakara, hosts it together with Devamatha College, Kuravilangad, for the International Society of Arachnology (ISA). The meet draws more than 200 delegates from around 50 countries. They discuss developments in the study of spiders and other arachnids. The organisers say the congress has come to India for the first time, and that this is only the second occasion it has been hosted in Asia. The president of the ISA chairs the inaugural meet. The seven-day programme carries 170 presentations, among them plenary lectures, international symposia, workshops and poster presentations. Higher Education Minister Roji M. John is to inaugurate it at the Gokulam Park Hotel and Convention Centre, Kaloor.
The Kerala Police has discontinued its 25-year-old Communication Backbone (COB) system. All official communication will now take place through the Internal Administrative Processing System (IAPS) of the Home Department. The platform was designed by the IT Mission for the department. Under the older system the Telecommunications Wing printed out confidential messages passing between offices and heads of offices and then sent them on. Officers log in to the new platform using a username, a password and the employee's Permanent Employee Number (PEN). Each officer has an individual account for sending and receiving official messages, and information on VVIP visits must also go through it. The practice of delivering messages to offices through police personnel from Armed Reserve (AR) camps will also be discontinued. The messengers will now carry only documents and files that require physical transfer, including service books and case diaries.
System discontinued:Communication BackboneAge of the old system:25-year-oldLogin identifier:Permanent Employee Number
Why it matters for exams: Departmental platforms, their abbreviations and the employee number used across the State service are asked in State papers.
The Navy is running its fifth Sea Vigil coastal defence exercise along India's coast this week, and Kerala's own older answer to coastal defence still stands at Kasargod.
Bekal Fort is described by the Ministry of Tourism as Kerala's largest and best-preserved seventeenth-century sea fort.
It overlooks the Arabian Sea.
Its key structures face the sea, which points to a coastal defence role.
The fort is in Kasargod district, the same district where Kanayi Kunhiraman's endosulfan memorial has just been unveiled.
The Ministry of Tourism page puts Kasargod Railway Station on the Konkan Railway route, and National Highway 66 runs through the district.
Century:17th centurySea it overlooks:Arabian SeaRailway route:Konkan RailwayHighway:National Highway 66
Why it matters for exams: Bekal as Kerala's largest sea fort, the sea it faces and the Konkan Railway route are repeat Kerala PSC facts.
The Navy's Sea Vigil awareness campaign was held at a harbour in Kochi, a port city whose old quarter was fought over by three European powers.
Fort Kochi was a trading hub occupied in turn by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British.
St Francis Church there was built by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century and is described as one of the oldest European churches in India.
It holds the tomb of the explorer Vasco da Gama.
Mattancherry Palace, also called the Dutch Palace, stands nearby and keeps murals of Hindu mythology.
The quarter carries Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Jewish influences together.
Church:St Francis Church, built in the 16th centuryTomb:Vasco da GamaPalace:Mattancherry Palace, also called the Dutch PalaceColonial powers:Portuguese, Dutch, British
Why it matters for exams: St Francis Church as India's oldest European church and the burial place of Vasco da Gama is a repeat Kerala history question.