Background
Gauhati University was established on 26 January, 1948, and is the oldest public university in Assam. It describes itself as the oldest and the largest university in the entire Northeast, on which other academic institutions of Northeast India built their own beginnings. Krishna Kanta Handique was its founder Vice-Chancellor and Phanidhar Dutta its first Registrar; the first convocation was held on 3 February 1951. At founding in 1948 the university had 18 affiliated colleges and 8 Post-Graduate Departments. Its motto is Vidyaya Sadhayeta, rendered as achievement through learning, and its anthem, Jilikaba Luitare Par, was composed by Bhupen Hazarika. The demand that produced it was old: the first public demand for a university in Assam was made at the annual session of the Assam Association held at Sivasagar in 1917. Dibrugarh University, the easternmost University in India, was established in 1965 consequent upon the provisions of the Dibrugarh University Act, 1965, enacted by the Assam Legislative Assembly.
Gauhati University established:
26 January 1948
Founder Vice-Chancellor:
Krishna Kanta Handique
First convocation:
3 February 1951
At founding:
18 affiliated colleges, 8 Post-Graduate Departments
Dibrugarh University established:
1965, under the Dibrugarh University Act, 1965
Why it matters for exams: Founding years of state universities, the Act that creates them and the superlatives attached to them (oldest in the Northeast, easternmost in India) are exactly the details objective papers pick on.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Convocation — The formal ceremony at which a university confers its degrees.
Affiliated college — A college that teaches to a university's syllabus and whose students take that university's degrees.
Background
Arunachal Pradesh does not have a High Court of its own; it is served by a Permanent Bench of the Gauhati High Court. The President of India, by order dated July 18, 2000, notified the establishment of a Permanent Bench of the Gauhati High Court at Itanagar, and provided that such Judges of the Gauhati High Court, being not less than one in number, as the Chief Justice of that High Court may from time to time nominate shall sit there. The same order has a proviso: the Chief Justice may, in his discretion, order that any case or class of cases arising in the State of Arunachal Pradesh shall be heard at Guwahati. The Gauhati High Court (Establishment of a Permanent Bench at Itanagar) order, 2000 came into force on the 12th day of August, 2000, and the Bench was inaugurated at Naharlagun, some distance from the capital town of Itanagar. The first sitting on a working day was held at 10:30 A.M. on August 14, 2000. Entry into the state is regulated through the Inner Line Permit. The Government of Arunachal Pradesh records that the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system is an offshoot of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation by which an Inner Line was prescribed for the tribal areas, and that an ILP is an official document issued by the government allowing travel into a protected or restricted area for a certain period of time. The same record places the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation in 1873 and notes the Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order, 1958 alongside it.
High Court serving the state:
Gauhati High Court, Itanagar Permanent Bench
Seat of the Bench:
Naharlagun
Order came into force:
12th day of August, 2000
Basis of the Inner Line Permit:
Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation 1873
Why it matters for exams: Candidates are often asked which High Court has jurisdiction over which north-eastern state, and the proviso allowing cases from Arunachal Pradesh to be heard at Guwahati is the detail that separates a bench from a separate High Court.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Permanent Bench — A standing seat of a High Court outside its principal seat, not a separate High Court.
Proviso — A clause in a law or order that carves out an exception to what the main provision says.
ILP Inner Line Permit — A document issued by the government allowing travel into a protected or restricted area for a fixed period.
Background
Before the Constitution of India was promulgated, the area was called the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) and was administered under the Government of India Act 1935. On 26 January 1950 the Ministry of External Affairs took over the administration of NEFA from the Government of Assam, the Governor of Assam acting as the representative of the President. The area was divided into five Frontier Divisions, the first of which was the Kameng Frontier Division, and administrative control passed to the Ministry of Home Affairs with effect from 1 August 1965. On 21 January 1972 the territory was reconstituted as the Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh under Section 7 of the North Eastern Area Re-Organisation Act 1971. On 15 August 1975 the Union Territory Act 1963 was applied to it, the former Pradesh Council became the Provisional Legislative Assembly, and the Administrator became the Lt. Governor. On 20 February 1987 the Union Territory was reconstituted as the State of Arunachal Pradesh. The State's own Public Service Commission followed on 4 April 1988, set up under Article 315 of the Constitution.
Earlier name:
North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA)
Union Territory from:
21 January 1972
Reconstituted as a State:
20 February 1987
State Public Service Commission:
4 April 1988
Why it matters for exams: Examiners regularly ask which state was earlier the North-East Frontier Agency, and the three dates of 1972, 1975 and 1987 separate the Union Territory stage from statehood in a way objective papers like to test.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
NEFA North-East Frontier Agency — The name the region carried before it became a Union Territory.
Pradesh Council — The advisory body that preceded the territory's Provisional Legislative Assembly.
Article 315 — The constitutional provision under which a Public Service Commission exists for the Union and for each State.
Background
An ambitious Gorkha King named Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered the kingdoms of the Kathmandu Valley by 1769 and moved his capital to Kathmandu. The Shah dynasty he established ruled unified Nepal from 1769 to 2008. During the mid-19th century Jung Bahadur Rana became Nepal's first prime minister to wield absolute power, starting a hereditary reign of the Rana Prime Ministers that lasted for 104 years. The Ranas were overthrown in a democracy movement of the early 1950s, and King Tribhuvan was reinstated as the Head of the State. An independent Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established in 1951, in place of the older Munshi Khana. A Constituent Assembly election was held on April 10, 2008. The new constitution of Nepal was promulgated by a vote of the Constituent Assembly on September 20, 2015.
Unification under the Gorkha king:
1769
Shah dynasty rule over unified Nepal:
1769 to 2008
Hereditary Rana premiership:
104 years
Constituent Assembly election:
April 10, 2008
Constitution promulgated:
September 20, 2015
Why it matters for exams: Examiners ask who unified Nepal, how long the Rana premiership lasted and which body adopted the present Constitution, and the three together make one clean chronology question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Gorkha — The hill kingdom whose ruling house went on to unify Nepal and give the country its royal dynasty.
Munshi Khana — The office that handled Nepal's foreign correspondence before a separate foreign ministry was created.
Constituent Assembly — An elected body whose task is to write a constitution.
Background
Nepal became a member of the United Nations through the adoption of Resolution A/Res/995(X) by the United Nations General Assembly on 14 December 1955. Nepal has held a non-permanent membership of the Security Council during the years 1969-70 and 1988-89. It has taken part in UN-mandated peacekeeping operations since 1958. Nepal became the 147th WTO member on 23 April 2004, and is the first LDC to join the WTO through the full working party negotiation process. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation was established on 8 December 1985 and comprises eight members; Nepal is a founding member. The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987. BIMSTEC was established on 6 June 1997 through the adoption of the Bangkok Declaration, and Nepal and Bhutan entered it on 8 February 2004.
United Nations membership:
14 December 1955
Admitting resolution:
A/Res/995(X)
WTO membership:
23 April 2004
SAARC Secretariat:
Kathmandu
Entry into BIMSTEC:
8 February 2004
Why it matters for exams: The year of UN entry, the seat of the SAARC Secretariat and the BIMSTEC founding declaration are recurring one-mark facts, and Nepal's WTO accession is the standard example of an LDC accession.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation — The eight-member regional grouping of South Asia, with its Secretariat in Kathmandu.
BIMSTEC Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation — A grouping of countries around the Bay of Bengal drawn from South and Southeast Asia.
LDC Least Developed Country — A United Nations category of countries facing the severest structural obstacles to development.
Working party — The WTO committee of existing members that negotiates the terms on which an applicant joins.
Background
The present Constitution restructured Nepal from a unitary state under a monarchy into a federal democratic republic. It introduced a three-tiered system of public administration comprising a federal government, seven provincial governments, and 753 local governments. Nepal has a bicameral federal parliament. The House of Representatives, the lower house, is 275-strong. The country has been divided into 165 electoral constituencies, each electing one member under the first-past-the-post system, and the remaining 110 seats are allotted to parties under proportional representation. The National Assembly is the 59-member upper house. It is a permanent body, with a third of its members elected every two years after completing a six-year tenure.
Form of the state:
federal democratic republic
House of Representatives:
275
National Assembly:
59
Local governments:
753
Why it matters for exams: Comparative polity questions set Nepal's two Houses against India's Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and the three-tier federal structure is a standard match-the-following item.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Bicameral — A legislature made of two chambers that both take part in law-making.
FPTP First-past-the-post — A method in which the candidate with the most votes in a constituency is elected.
Proportional representation — A method in which seats are shared among parties in proportion to the votes each receives.
Background
The United Nations list of Member States records China (the People's Republic of) with a date of admission of 24-10-1945, the year the Organization itself came into being.
The Security Council is composed of 15 Members.
Its five permanent members are China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States; the ten non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.
China became the 143rd WTO Member in December 2001, at the end of a long accession negotiation.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a multilateral development bank, began operations in Beijing in 2016 with 57 founding Members.
UN date of admission:
24-10-1945
Security Council:
15 Members, five of them permanent
WTO accession:
the 143rd Member, December 2001
AIIB:
began operations in Beijing in 2016 with 57 founding Members
Why it matters for exams: Membership and seniority in the big multilateral bodies is asked directly, and the serial number of a WTO accession is the kind of detail that separates candidates.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Permanent member — One of the five states that hold a seat on the UN Security Council without being elected to it.
Accession — The process by which a state that did not help found an organisation negotiates its entry.
AIIB Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank — A multilateral development bank for infrastructure, with its headquarters in Beijing.
Background
The systems and policies of a special administrative region rest on Article 31 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China.
The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was adopted at the Third Session of the Seventh National People's Congress on 4 April 1990 and was put into effect as of 1 July 1997.
Under it the National People's Congress authorizes the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to exercise a high degree of autonomy and to enjoy executive, legislative and independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication.
The Basic Law provides that the socialist system and policies shall not be practised in the Region and that the previous capitalist system and way of life shall remain unchanged for 50 years.
In addition to the Chinese language, English may also be used as an official language by the executive authorities, the legislature and the judiciary of the Region.
Apart from the national flag and national emblem, the Region may use a regional flag and regional emblem; the regional flag is a red flag with a bauhinia highlighted by five star-tipped stamens.
Annex I sets the method for the selection of the Chief Executive, Annex II the method for the formation of the Legislative Council and its voting procedures, and Annex III the national laws to be applied in the Region.
Constitutional basis:
Article 31 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China
Basic Law adopted:
4 April 1990, Third Session of the Seventh National People's Congress
In effect from:
1 July 1997
Previous capitalist system unchanged for:
50 years
Why it matters for exams: Examiners ask how one country can hold a region with its own legal system, and the answer lies in a named constitutional article and an authorisation by the national legislature.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Basic Law — The law enacted by the National People's Congress prescribing the systems to be practised in a special administrative region.
Final adjudication — The power to decide a case last, with no appeal to a court outside the system that holds it.
National People's Congress — China's national legislature, which enacted the Basic Law and authorises the Region's autonomy.
Background
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was commended by the General Assembly in resolution 2373 (XXII), adopted at New York, 12 June 1968. The United Nations records that the Treaty was opened for signature on 1 July 1968 and entered into force on 5 March 1970. It aims to avert the danger of nuclear war through the prevention of the wider dissemination of nuclear weapons and other measures. The Treaty contains 11 articles that apply to both nuclear-weapon States parties and non-nuclear weapon States parties. Its obligations cover preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and of general and complete disarmament. Twenty-five years after its entry into force, at the 1995 Review and Extension Conference, the States parties unanimously agreed that the Treaty should continue in force indefinitely.
Commended by resolution:
resolution 2373 (XXII)
Adopted at:
New York, 12 June 1968
Opened for signature:
1 July 1968
Entered into force:
5 March 1970
Number of articles:
11 articles
Why it matters for exams: The indefinite extension and the split between nuclear-weapon and non-nuclear-weapon States parties are the points most often tested on this treaty.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Non-proliferation — Stopping nuclear weapons and the technology to build them from spreading to more States.
Review conference — A periodic meeting of the parties to examine how a treaty is working.
Background
The International Law Commission is a subsidiary organ of the United Nations General Assembly, whose object is the promotion of the progressive development of international law and its codification. The Commission is governed by a Statute concluded at New York, 21 November 1947, and annexed to General Assembly resolution 174 (II) of that date. The Commission began with fifteen members; the number rose to twenty-one in 1956, twenty-five in 1961 and thirty-four in 1981. The term of office of members, initially envisaged as three, was extended to five years as early as 1950. The Statute originally provided that the Commission should sit in New York, but this was changed to Geneva in 1955, and after its first session the Commission has almost always met there. Members are to be persons of recognized competence in international law, and while the Statute leaves the point implicit, it is clear from the negotiating history and from subsequent practice that they serve in their individual capacity, not as representatives of States.
Statute concluded at:
New York, 21 November 1947
Statute annexed to resolution:
174 (II)
Members at the start:
fifteen members
Members since 1981:
thirty-four
Term of office:
five years
Why it matters for exams: The Commission is the body behind most codification treaties, and the distinction between its members and State representatives is a standard question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Subsidiary organ — A body created by a principal organ of the United Nations to carry out part of its work.
Progressive development — Drafting new rules on subjects international law has not yet settled.
Background
The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties was concluded at Vienna, 23 May 1969, and the United Nations records that it is in force since 27 January 1980. The International Law Commission had placed the customary law of treaties among the topics suitable for codification at its first session, in 1949. By resolution 2166 (XXI) of 5 December 1966 the General Assembly endorsed the Commission's recommendation to convene an international conference, which met in two sessions at Vienna. Article 1 restricts the application of the Convention to written treaties between States, excluding treaties concluded by international organizations. Following an Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, the Convention prohibits reservations which are incompatible with the object and purpose of the treaty to which they relate, under article 19 (c). The rule of interpretation in article 31 makes the object and purpose of a treaty, and its context, guidelines of interpretation. The Convention also addresses treaties that conflict with a peremptory norm of international law, known as jus cogens.
Concluded at:
Vienna, 23 May 1969
In force since:
27 January 1980
Conference endorsed by:
resolution 2166 (XXI)
Reservations provision:
article 19 (c)
Rule of interpretation:
article 31
Why it matters for exams: Every question on reservations, interpretation or invalidity of treaties runs through this Convention, and its exclusion of treaties made by international organizations is a favourite trap.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Reservation — A statement by which a State excludes or modifies the effect of certain provisions of a treaty for itself.
Jus cogens — A peremptory norm of general international law from which no treaty may depart.
Codification — Writing existing customary rules down in a treaty text.
Background
There are three Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, two of which were adopted in 1977 and the third in 2005. Protocol I and Protocol II were adopted by States on 8 June 1977 at Geneva and entered into force on 7 December 1978. Protocol I regulates conflicts of an international nature, while Protocol II applies to non-international armed conflicts. The third instrument, adopted at Geneva, 8 December 2005, relates to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem. The Protocols develop and supplement the four 1949 Geneva Conventions and are only open to those States that are also party to these Conventions. Together these instruments are the best known of the treaty documents of international humanitarian law.
Number of Additional Protocols:
three
Protocols I and II adopted:
Geneva, 8 June 1977
Protocols I and II entered into force:
7 December 1978
Third Protocol adopted:
Geneva, 8 December 2005
Subject of the third Protocol:
Additional Distinctive Emblem
Why it matters for exams: Candidates are regularly asked which Protocol covers international and which covers non-international armed conflict.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
International humanitarian law — The body of law limiting how wars may be fought and protecting those who are not fighting.
Distinctive emblem — A protective sign that marks medical and relief personnel and objects in armed conflict.
Background
The Convention relating to the Status of Refugees was adopted at Geneva, 28 July 1951, and the United Nations records that it entered into force in 1954. It has one amending and updating instrument, the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, adopted at New York, 31 January 1967. The Convention is by far the most widely ratified refugee treaty and remains central to the protection work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. That Office was set up by General Assembly resolution 428 (V) of 14 December 1950 with effect from 1 January 1951. Initially set up for three years, its mandate was renewed repeatedly until the Assembly decided to continue the Office until the refugee problem is solved. The regime is reactive: it is triggered by a cross-border movement, so neither prevention nor the protection of internally displaced persons falls within its range. Earlier, article 14, paragraph 1, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights had recognised the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
Convention adopted at:
Geneva, 28 July 1951
Convention entered into force:
entered into force in 1954
Protocol adopted at:
New York, 31 January 1967
UNHCR created by:
428 (V)
Office took effect from:
1 January 1951
Why it matters for exams: The pairing of the Geneva Convention with its New York Protocol, and the fact that internally displaced persons fall outside it, are the two points examiners test.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Protocol — A separate instrument that adds to or updates an existing treaty.
Internally displaced persons — People forced from their homes who have not crossed an international border.
Background
United Nations Peacekeeping describes peacekeeping as one among a range of activities the Organization undertakes to maintain international peace and security. The other activities are conflict prevention and mediation, peacemaking, peace enforcement and peacebuilding. Conflict prevention involves diplomatic measures to keep intra-state or inter-state tensions and disputes from escalating into violent conflict, and includes early warning and analysis of the factors driving the conflict. Peacemaking generally means diplomatic action to bring hostile parties to a negotiated agreement, and may draw on the Secretary-General's good offices. Peace enforcement involves a range of coercive measures, including the use of military force, and requires the explicit authorization of the Security Council where it has decided to act in the face of a threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression. Peacebuilding aims to reduce the risk of lapsing or relapsing into conflict by strengthening national capacities for conflict management. The United Nations notes that these activities rarely occur in a linear or sequential way and should be seen as mutually reinforcing.
Diplomatic measures before violence begins:
conflict prevention and mediation
Bringing hostile parties to a negotiated agreement:
peacemaking
Coercive measures including military force:
peace enforcement
Strengthening national capacities after conflict:
peacebuilding
Peace enforcement requires:
explicit authorization of the Security Council
Why it matters for exams: Examiners regularly ask candidates to match peacemaking, peacekeeping, peace enforcement and peacebuilding to their definitions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Good offices — The use of a third party's standing, often the Secretary-General's, to help disputing sides talk.
Peacebuilding — Long-term work to build the national capacities that keep a country from sliding back into conflict.
Background
United Nations Peacekeeping states that three basic principles continue to set its operations apart as a tool for maintaining international peace and security. They are consent of the parties, impartiality, and non-use of force except in self-defence and defence of the mandate. Operations are deployed with the consent of the main parties to the conflict; in the absence of such consent an operation risks becoming a party to the conflict. Impartiality should not be confused with neutrality or inactivity: peacekeepers are to be impartial in their dealings with the parties but not neutral in executing their mandate. A peacekeeping operation is not an enforcement tool, but it may use force at the tactical level, with the authorization of the Security Council, in self-defence and defence of the mandate. Robust peacekeeping is not the same as peace enforcement, which is envisaged under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.
First principle:
Consent of the parties
Second principle:
Impartiality
Third principle:
Non-use of force except in self-defence and defence of the mandate
Force at the tactical level needs:
the authorization of the Security Council
Why it matters for exams: The three principles are the standard frame for any question on how a peacekeeping operation differs from enforcement action under Chapter VII.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Mandate — The set of tasks a peacekeeping operation is authorised to carry out.
Peace enforcement — Coercive action, including military force, that does not depend on the consent of the main parties.
Chapter VII — The part of the UN Charter dealing with action in respect of threats to the peace and acts of aggression.
Background
A Union government biotechnology institute in Thiruvananthapuram began life as a small charitable society and came under the State government only later. The Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) is located in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala. RGCB began in 1990 amongst humble surroundings as a small charitable society called C-DEST. In 1991 C-DEST was made a Grant-in-Aid institute of the Government of Kerala and renamed RGC-DEST, becoming the first institute in the country to be named after Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India. On April 18, 1994 the State government restructured it into a comprehensive biotechnology center, and thus was created the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology. It was managed first by a State committee for science and technology and environment and subsequently by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment. The Ministry of Science and Technology decided to accord the status of an autonomous National Institute to the Centre, and the Union Council of Ministers approved the take over from April 1, 2007. Its research programmes are now designed as clusters of investigations on the central theme of Disease Biology, covering human, animal and plant disease.
Began as:
C-DEST, 1990
Renamed Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology:
April 18, 1994
Union government take over:
April 1, 2007
Central research theme:
Disease Biology
Why it matters for exams: Kerala PSC asks which research institutions in the State are Union bodies and which are State bodies; this Centre has been both, and the question usually turns on the date of transfer.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
C-DEST Centre for Development of Education, Science and Technology — The small State society out of which the biotechnology centre grew.
Grant-in-Aid institute — A body outside government that is funded mainly by a recurring government grant.
Disease Biology — The study of how disease arises and progresses, taken here across human, animal and plant hosts.
Background
The Kerala Legislative Assembly, the House the Governor summons for each session, has not sat without interruption: the Legislature's own record of President's Rule in Kerala lists seven spells. They are 23-3-1956 to 5-4-1957, 31-7-1959 to 22-2-1960, 10-9-1964 to 6-3-1967, 4-8-1970 to 3-10-1970, 5-12-1979 to 25-1-1980, 21-10-1981 to 28-12-1981 and 17-3-1982 to 23-5-1982. The longest of them ran for about two and a half years, from 10-9-1964 to 6-3-1967. The shortest ran for about two months, from 4-8-1970 to 3-10-1970. Three of the seven fall within a span of three years at the start of the nineteen-eighties. The record shows no further spell after 23-5-1982.
Spells listed in the record:
7
First spell begins:
23-3-1956
First spell ends:
5-4-1957
Longest spell begins:
10-9-1964
Longest spell ends:
6-3-1967
Last spell ends:
23-5-1982
Why it matters for exams: The number of spells of President's Rule in Kerala and the longest of them are asked in both State and national polity papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
President's Rule — The arrangement under which a State is administered by the Union when its government cannot be carried on under the Constitution.
Background
A warning issued for a Kerala district is acted on at the Collectorate, where the district's Emergency Control Room works. A district control room is reached on the toll free number 1077, while the State Control Room is 1070. The same directory lists the State Emergency Operation Centre separately from the State Control Room, and gives it no toll free number of its own. For the deployment of outside help, district directories list the Ernakulam Collectorate as the room contacted for providing NDRF/ NAVY service. A district directory also lists the offices the control room works through, among them the District Collector, the District Police Chief, the District Medical Officer, the Coastal Police station and the Deputy Director of Fisheries. Knowing which number belongs to the State and which to the district is the practical part of the system.
District control room:
1077
State Control Room:
1070
State-level centre:
State Emergency Operation Centre
Room listed for NDRF and Navy help:
Ernakulam Collectorate
Why it matters for exams: Helpline numbers and the district-versus-State split of disaster machinery are asked directly in Kerala PSC general awareness papers.
Kerala PSC
In plain words
NDRF National Disaster Response Force — The central force called in for rescue work when a State asks for it.
Collectorate — The District Collector's office, the hub of district administration.
Background
Kasaragod, the district at the northern end of Kerala that hosts the Central University of Kerala, was formed in 1984. It was created on the basis of the order of 19.05.1984 of GO (MS) number 520/84 / RD, comprising the Hosdurg and Kasaragod taluks, which were part of the undivided Kannur District. The district has Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts of Karnataka to its east and the Arabian Sea in the west. Its administrative frame today is four taluks and 129 villages, with two revenue subdivisions. On the local government side it has six blocks and 38 panchayats, and it holds five Assembly Constituencies. The district headquarters town also gives its name to the Kasaragod tiles made from the local hard red clay.
Formed:
24th May, 1984
Order number:
GO (MS) number 520/84 / RD
Date of the order:
19.05.1984
Parent district:
undivided Kannur District
Taluks and villages:
Taluk (4) and Villages (129)
Blocks and panchayats:
Blocks (6) and Panchayats (38)
Assembly constituencies:
Assembly Constituencies (5)
Why it matters for exams: District formation questions ask the date, the parent district and the taluks, and Kasaragod is the State's youngest district by this route.
Kerala PSC
In plain words
Taluk — The revenue unit between the district and the village in Kerala's administration.
GO (MS) Government Order (Manuscript series) — The numbered written order through which the State government takes a formal decision.
Background
Much of the scrutiny work of the Kerala Legislative Assembly is done away from the floor, by standing committees that are constituted afresh for each Assembly and that meet in the conference halls of the Legislative Assembly complex. The financial side includes the Committee on Estimates and the Committee on Local Fund Accounts, the second of them named for local funds rather than for the accounts of State departments. Other committees cover Subordinate Legislation, Government Assurances, Papers Laid on Table and Privileges and Ethics. The Rules Committee and the House Committee sit alongside them, as does a committee on Official Languages. A further group of welfare committees covers the Welfare of Fishermen and Allied Workers, the Welfare of Non-Resident Keralites and the Welfare of Senior Citizens, among others. Committee reports are published through the Legislature, and the Committee on Local Fund Accounts of the present Assembly was constituted for the term 2026-29.
Committee for local body accounts:
Committee on Local Fund Accounts
Term of the present committee:
2026-29
Other financial committee named:
Committee on Estimates
Why it matters for exams: Questions regularly ask which Assembly committee handles a given subject, and local fund accounts is the one candidates most often miss.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Subordinate Legislation — Rules and orders made by the government under powers a law has given it.
Government Assurances — Promises ministers make on the floor of the House, which a committee then tracks.