23 October 2026
The Directorate of Tourism of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration has issued the guidelines for registration under the Andaman and Nicobar Bed and Breakfast Scheme 2026. The guidelines were published on the Administration's What's New list and on the tourism department's own what's new page. A bed and breakfast scheme lets a householder register spare rooms in a lived-in home as paid tourist accommodation, and it is the model the Ministry of Tourism promotes as Incredible India Bed and Breakfast establishments. Tourism in the islands is handled by the Directorate of Information, Publicity and Tourism of the Union Territory, whose headquarters is at Sri Vijaya Puram, the city formerly called Port Blair.
Scheme:
Andaman and Nicobar Bed and Breakfast Scheme 2026
Issuing department:
Directorate of Tourism
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the Andaman and Nicobar Bed and Breakfast Scheme 2026 as the Union Territory's registered homestay scheme, the Directorate of Information, Publicity and Tourism as the department that runs tourism there, and Sri Vijaya Puram as the renamed capital of the islands.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UT Union Territory — A territory administered by the Union government, through a Lieutenant Governor or Administrator.
13 October 2026
The Port Management Board of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration has published the draft Andaman and Nicobar Islands Model Inland Vessel Rules, 2026 for public comment. Inland vessels in India are governed by the Inland Vessels Act, 2021, which replaced the Inland Vessels Act, 1917 and provides for a single certificate of registration valid across the country, uniform rules framed by the Centre as model rules and adopted by the States and Union Territories, and a central database of vessels and crew. The same Board also put out a vacancy notice for two posts of Inland Vessel Surveyor and draft recruitment rules for crew posts such as Serang, Seacunny, Engine Driver and Master. Inland water transport matters at the Centre come under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
Draft rules:
Andaman and Nicobar Islands Model Inland Vessel Rules, 2026
Issuing body:
Port Management Board
Parent Act:
Inland Vessels Act, 2021
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the Inland Vessels Act, 2021 as the law that replaced the Inland Vessels Act, 1917, its model rules framed by the Centre for adoption by States and Union Territories, and the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways as the Union ministry concerned.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Serang Serang — The senior deckhand or boatswain on an inland vessel.
7 October 2026
The Secretariat of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration has issued a gazette notification carrying the questionnaire for the second phase population enumeration of Census 2027. The notification appears on the Administration's What's New list. The Census of India is conducted under the Census Act, 1948 and is organised by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, under the Ministry of Home Affairs. A decennial census is taken in two phases, house listing and housing census first and population enumeration second, and the questionnaire for each phase is notified in the gazette. Census is a Union subject in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
Census:
Census 2027
Phase notified:
Second phase, population enumeration
Issuing office:
Secretariat, Andaman and Nicobar Administration
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the Census Act, 1948 as the law under which the Census of India is taken, the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner under the Ministry of Home Affairs as the organising body, Census as a Union List subject, and the two-phase structure of house listing followed by population enumeration.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
RGI Registrar General of India — The officer who organises the Census of India and civil registration.
14 October 2026
The Directorate of Health Services of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration has issued a press release on the opening of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras in the islands. The release appears on the Administration's What's New list. A Janaushadhi Kendra is a retail outlet that sells quality generic medicines at low prices under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana. The scheme is run by the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Bureau of India under the Department of Pharmaceuticals in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. Generic medicines are sold under their chemical names rather than a brand name, which is what keeps their prices low.
Scheme:
Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana
Issuing department:
Directorate of Health Services
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana as the scheme behind Janaushadhi Kendras, the Department of Pharmaceuticals in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers as the ministry concerned, and the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Bureau of India as the implementing agency.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
PMBI Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Bureau of India — The agency that implements the Janaushadhi scheme.
14 October 2026
The Secretariat of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration has put out the draft Andaman and Nicobar Fire and Emergency Service Rules 2026, listed on the Administration's What's New page. Fire services in India are a State and Union Territory responsibility, with the Centre giving technical guidance through the Directorate General of Fire Service, Civil Defence and Home Guards under the Ministry of Home Affairs. In the same period the Administration's Directorate of Disaster Management advertised two contract posts of District Consultant. Disaster management in India is governed by the Disaster Management Act, 2005, under which a Union Territory has its own disaster management authority and district authorities.
Draft rules:
Andaman and Nicobar Fire and Emergency Service Rules 2026
Issuing office:
Secretariat, Andaman and Nicobar Administration
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that fire services in India are a State and Union Territory responsibility with central technical guidance from the Directorate General of Fire Service, Civil Defence and Home Guards, and that disaster management is governed by the Disaster Management Act, 2005 with the National Disaster Management Authority chaired by the Prime Minister.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
DM Act Disaster Management Act, 2005 — India's law on disaster management, which created the National, State and District authorities.
22 October 2026
The Department of Fisheries of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration has issued a press note on assistance for the purchase of life saving appliances, firefighting appliances and navigational equipment such as GPS, VHF sets and DAT. The note is listed on the Administration's What's New page. The same directorate separately issued a press note on a subsidy scheme for the supply of fishing inputs under the Union Territory Plan Scheme. At the Centre, fisheries is handled by the Department of Fisheries in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, whose flagship scheme is the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana.
Equipment covered:
Life saving appliances, firefighting appliances, GPS, VHF, DAT
Issuing department:
Department of Fisheries
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that fisheries at the Centre sits in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, that the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana is its flagship scheme, and that VHF sets are the marine radio equipment fishermen carry for communication at sea.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
VHF Very High Frequency — The radio band used for short-range marine voice communication.
9 October 2026
The Directorate of Tourism of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration has extended the last date for the Gems of India pilot initiative to 31 October 2026. The press release is listed on the tourism department's what's new page, which also records that the Chief Secretary of the islands launched the Gems of India challenge in the Union Territory earlier in the year. The initiative looks for lesser known places that can be developed as tourist destinations. Tourism in the islands is run by the Directorate of Information, Publicity and Tourism, and the department's other current work listed on the same page includes the Island Coconut Festival 2026 and a bird tourism workshop.
Initiative:
Gems of India pilot initiative
Extended last date:
31 October 2026
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the Gems of India initiative as a search for lesser known places to develop as tourist destinations, the Directorate of Information, Publicity and Tourism as the islands' tourism department, and the Chief Secretary as the senior-most civil servant of a Union Territory administration.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IP&T Information, Publicity and Tourism — The Andaman and Nicobar directorate that handles publicity and tourism.
22 October 2026
The Art and Culture Department of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration has issued a press release on the cultural programmes it will present at the Island Tourism Festival 2026. The release is listed on the Administration's What's New page. The Island Tourism Festival is the Union Territory's annual showcase of island culture, craft and cuisine, and is held at Sri Vijaya Puram with events in other islands. The islands' settler population draws on Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Ranchi community traditions along with the indigenous Nicobarese, so the festival's programme reflects several cultures at once. The Union Territory's cultural work at the Centre is supported by the Ministry of Culture, which runs the Zonal Cultural Centres.
Festival:
Island Tourism Festival 2026
Department:
Art and Culture Department
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the Island Tourism Festival as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands' annual cultural festival held at Sri Vijaya Puram, the Nicobarese as the indigenous community of the Nicobar group, and the Ministry of Culture as the Union ministry that runs the Zonal Cultural Centres.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ITF Island Tourism Festival — The annual cultural and tourism festival of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
5 October 2026
The Directorate of Education of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration has issued an office memorandum on the grant of recognition to eligible private schools for a period of five years. The memorandum is listed on the Administration's What's New page. Recognition of a school by the appropriate government is required under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which makes elementary education a right for children of the ages 6 to 14 and requires private unaided schools to admit a share of children from weaker sections in Class I. The right itself comes from Article 21A of the Constitution, inserted by the Eighty-sixth Amendment.
Recognition period:
Five years
Issuing department:
Directorate of Education
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 as the law requiring school recognition, the age group 6 to 14 it covers, and Article 21A inserted by the Eighty-sixth Constitutional Amendment as the source of the right.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
RTE Act Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 — The law that gives children aged 6 to 14 a right to free elementary education.
7 October 2026
The Deputy Commissioner of North and Middle Andaman district has issued a notification regarding the Quarry Plan for the district. The notification is listed on the Andaman and Nicobar Administration's What's New page. A quarry or district survey plan sets out where sand, stone and other minor minerals may be extracted, how much, and under what conditions. Mining in India is governed by the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957; minor minerals such as building stone, gravel and ordinary sand are regulated by rules made by the State or Union Territory, while major minerals are regulated by the Centre. North and Middle Andaman is one of the three districts of the Union Territory, with its headquarters at Mayabunder.
District:
North and Middle Andaman
Issuing authority:
Deputy Commissioner
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 as India's mining law, the division of minerals into major minerals regulated by the Centre and minor minerals regulated by the State or Union Territory, and Mayabunder as the headquarters of North and Middle Andaman district.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
MMDR Act Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 — India's central law on the regulation of mines and mineral development.
Background
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a union territory run by the Andaman & Nicobar Administration, whose Secretariat sits at Sri Vijaya Puram. A Lieutenant Governor heads the administration, with a Chief Secretary as the senior civil servant, and the union territory also has a Member of Parliament. The territory profile published by the administration gives a total area of 8,249 Sq. Km., 836 islands, islets and rocky outcrops of which 31 are inhabited, an estimated population of 4,34,192, three districts and nine tehsils. The three districts are South Andaman, North and Middle Andaman, and Nicobar. The official languages are Hindi & English. Current work of the administration includes a gazette notification carrying the questionnaire for the second phase population enumeration of Census 2027, a Jantha Darshan appointment system for the public to meet officials, and guidelines for registration under the Bed Breakfast Scheme of the Directorate of Tourism.
Total area:
8,249 Sq. Km.
Islands, islets and rocky outcrops:
836, of which 31 inhabited
Districts and tehsils:
Three districts, nine tehsils
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the office that heads a union territory administration, the three district names, the island and area figures and the official languages.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Union territory Union territory — A part of India run by the Union government rather than by a state government.
Tehsil Tehsil — A revenue sub-unit of a district.
Sri Vijaya Puram Sri Vijaya Puram — The city where the Secretariat of the islands administration sits.
Background
The Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a National Memorial, managed by the Department of Art and Culture of the islands administration. A two-member committee headed by Sir Charles J. Lyall and Sir A. S. Lethbridge recommended the construction of a jail building at Port Blair; work started in 1893 and was completed in 1905-06. The three-storied structure was spread like seven spokes of a bicycle wheel, with seven wings meeting at a Central Tower, so that a single guard on duty could supervise all seven wings. The front of one row of cells faced the back of the wing in front, so prisoners in different wings could not communicate at all. Each cell had an iron grill door and a ventilator set about nine feet above the floor, and each of the three storeys had wardens for the night watch. Revolutionaries convicted in cases such as the Alipore Bomb case, the Nasik Conspiracy case and the Lahore Conspiracy case were held here under the jailor David Barrie. The last of the mass hunger strikes by the prisoners was ended on the intervention of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindra Nath Tagore, after which the political prisoners were sent back to the mainland and the penal settlement was closed. The Japanese Imperial Force held the islands during the Second World War, and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose came as Head of the Provisional Government of India, visited the jail, stopped punishment without proper trial, hoisted the tricolour and christened the Andaman and the Nicobar Islands Swaraj and Shaheed Dweep. The jail was dedicated to the nation as a National Memorial in 1979 by the then Prime Minister of India, and strengthening of its foundation has been taken up under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism.
Wings of the jail:
Seven, meeting at a Central Tower
Jailor:
David Barrie
Names given by Netaji:
Swaraj and Shaheed Dweep
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the seven wings and Central Tower design, the jailor the prisoners rebelled against, who ended the hunger strikes and the two names Netaji gave the islands.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Cellular Jail Cellular Jail National Memorial — The colonial prison at the islands where freedom fighters were held in solitary cells.
Penal settlement Penal settlement — A colony to which convicts were transported to serve their sentence.
Provisional Government of India Provisional Government of India — The government Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose headed during the Second World War.