Background
Background to the yellow alerts now in force across seven Kerala districts.
The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority publishes the rainfall thresholds that go with each colour of warning issued for the State.
A yellow alert means isolated heavy rainfall is forecast, defined as 64.5 mm to 115.5 mm of rain within 24 hours.
The colours are a graded scale: a yellow alert asks the public and agencies to stay watchful, while higher colours signal heavier rain and a greater need for preparedness.
The alerts are issued district by district, which is why the list of districts under warning changes from day to day during a rain spell.
The Authority is the State's nodal body for disaster management, and its rainfall page carries the daily district warnings.
Yellow alert threshold:
64.5 mm to 115.5 mm in 24 hours
Issuing authority for the State page:
Kerala State Disaster Management Authority
Unit of issue:
District
Why it matters for exams: The exact millimetre band for a yellow alert is a single-fact question that recurs whenever Kerala is under a rain warning.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
KSDMA Kerala State Disaster Management Authority — The State's nodal authority for disaster management, which publishes rainfall warnings district by district.
4 October 2026
Kochi Water Metro has carried 77,70,326 passengers since it began service on 26 April 2023, according to figures up to 2 October 2026. Ridership was 18,44,375 in 2023-24, 21,08,148 in 2024-25 and 24,64,559 in 2025-26. The service has recorded 13,53,244 passengers so far in 2026-27. Revenue in 2025-26 was Rs 10,89,86,929, against Rs 8,13,54,933 in 2024-25. The reports were published on 3 and 4 October 2026.
Total passengers:
77,70,326
Service began:
26 April 2023
Revenue 2025-26:
₹10,89,86,929
Why it matters for exams: Kochi Water Metro is India's first water metro, a frequent Kerala PSC and UPSC infrastructure topic.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
The Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) was established in 1975 and is located at Peechi in Thrissur district.
It became a constituent institution of the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) in 2002.
It is structured into 17 Research Departments grouped under nine Programme Divisions.
It is the Secretariat for the international network TEAKNET, funded by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations.
Its field surveys showed that over 75 per cent of the State's wood requirement is of non-forestry origin, disproving the notion that forests are the major source of wood.
With the Kerala Forest Department it set up the Kerala Forest Seed Centre, which supplies quality seeds of teak and other plantation species.
Location:
Peechi, Thrissur district
Research Departments:
17 under nine Programme Divisions
Secretariat of:
TEAKNET
Why it matters for exams: Kerala PSC asks about Kerala's research institutions, where they are located and what they study.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
Myristica swamps are freshwater swamps of the Southern Western Ghats dominated by Myristica, a genus of primitive evergreen trees (wild nutmeg).
The botanist and forest officer Krishnamurthy first documented them in the 1960s at Kulathupuzha, Shendurney and Anchal in the Travancore forests; Champion and Seth classified them as "wild swamps" in 1968.
They lie in low-lying evergreen forest that stays waterlogged all year, and the trees have stilt roots and pneumatophores (breathing roots).
They cover just 0.004% of Kerala's land area yet harbour 16.3% of the endemic species of the Western Ghats.
Notable areas include Kulathupuzha, Shendurney, Arippa, Madathara, Palode and Anchal.
Share of Kerala's land area:
0.004%
Share of Western Ghats endemics:
16.3%
Tree genus:
Myristica (wild nutmeg)
Why it matters for exams: Kerala PSC and UPSC ask about Kerala's special ecosystems: swamps, grasslands, mangroves and sacred groves.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
The Indian Antarctic programme began in 1981 and has built three permanent research base stations: Dakshin Gangotri (1983), Maitri (1988) and Bharati (2012).
Dakshin Gangotri was set up over the ice shelf in the Central Dronning Maud Land region and was abandoned in 1990 as it got buried under snow.
Maitri stands in the Schirmacher Oasis of East Antarctica and has operated since 1988.
Bharati, operational since March 2012, is located in the Larsemann Hills.
The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa, an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, manages the entire Indian Antarctic programme.
Dakshin Gangotri:
1983, abandoned in 1990
Maitri:
1988, Schirmacher Oasis
Bharati:
2012, Larsemann Hills
Managing body:
NCPOR, Goa
Why it matters for exams: The names, order and locations of India's Antarctic stations are a standard science and geography question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
NCPOR National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research — The Goa-based institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences that runs India's polar programme.
Background
The Kerala Forest Department records that 33.5% of the State's 3800 flowering plants are endemic, which is 22.6% of all such plants in India.
The origins of this flora are traced to Gondwanaland, the ancient supercontinent, and the Nilgiri, Palani and Cardamom ranges show plant similarities with Adam's Peak in Sri Lanka.
Three areas stand out for endemic plants: Agasthyamala, the Anamalai-High Ranges and Silent Valley-Wayanad.
Agasthyamala has nearly 190 endemic plant species, and the Anamalai-High Ranges have three genera found nowhere else.
Silent Valley-Wayanad has five endemic genera, including Silentvalleya.
Flowering plants:
3800
Endemic share:
33.5%
Share of India's endemics:
22.6%
Why it matters for exams: Endemism, Gondwana links and the Western Ghats flora are core Kerala PSC and UPSC environment topics.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Endemic Found only in a particular region — An endemic species occurs naturally nowhere else on Earth.
Background
César Milstein was born on 8 October 1927 in Bahia Blanca, Argentina.
He shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1984 with Niels K. Jerne and Georges J.F. Köhler, receiving one third of the prize.
The citation was for theories concerning the specificity in development and control of the immune system and the discovery of the principle for production of monoclonal antibodies.
He worked at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, United Kingdom, and died there in 2002.
With Köhler he developed a method for fusing tumour cells with antigen-immune cells to produce antibodies of a single type.
Born:
8 October 1927, Bahia Blanca, Argentina
Prize:
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1984
Prize share:
1/3
Co-laureates:
Niels K. Jerne, Georges J.F. Köhler
Why it matters for exams: Nobel laureates by country and the discoveries behind each prize are regular questions in awards and science sections.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Monoclonal antibodies — Identical antibodies, all of one type, made by a single line of cells.
Background
The European Southern Observatory runs its observing facilities in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Paranal Observatory stands at 2635 metres above sea level and is the home of the Very Large Telescope. The Very Large Telescope has four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, named Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which can work together as the Very Large Telescope Interferometer. The Extremely Large Telescope is being built at Cerro Armazones, Atacama Desert, Chile, at an altitude of 3046 m, with a main mirror diameter of 39 metres made up of 798 segments. ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, sits on the Chajnantor plateau at 5000 meters above sea level and comprises 66 high-precision antennas spread over distances of up to 16 kilometres. Signals at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths are heavily absorbed by water vapour in the Earth's atmosphere, so telescopes for this kind of astronomy must be built on high, dry sites. NOIRLab separately operates the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory at an altitude of 2200 meters, with the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope, while the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, whose 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope stands on Cerro Pachón, is operated by NOIRLab and SLAC together.
Paranal Observatory altitude:
2635 metres
Very Large Telescope unit mirrors:
8.2m
Extremely Large Telescope site:
Cerro Armazones, Atacama Desert, Chile
Extremely Large Telescope main mirror diameter:
39 metres
ALMA antennas:
66 high-precision antennas
Chajnantor plateau altitude:
5000 meters above sea level
Why it matters for exams: Chile's Atacama observatories are the most frequently asked science fact about the country, and the telescope names with their exact sites and altitudes are what examiners test.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ESO European Southern Observatory — An intergovernmental astronomy organisation whose ground-based observing facilities are located in Chile.
ALMA Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array — An array of 66 antennas on the Chajnantor plateau that observes light at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths.
ELT Extremely Large Telescope — An optical and near-infrared telescope under construction at Cerro Armazones with a 39-metre segmented main mirror.
Background
LVM3 is configured as a three stage vehicle with two solid strap-on motors (S200), one liquid core stage (L110) and a high thrust cryogenic upper stage (C25).
Each S200 strap-on booster is a 3.2 m diameter motor loaded with 205 tonnes of HTPB based propellant, and the S200 was developed at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
The liquid L110 stage uses a twin liquid engine configuration with 115 tonnes of liquid propellant and is powered by two Vikas engines, developed at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre.
The C25 cryogenic upper stage carries 28 tonnes of LOX + LH2 and is powered by CE-20, India's largest cryogenic engine.
The overall length of the vehicle is 43.5 m with a gross lift-off weight of 640 tonnes and a 5m-diameter payload fairing.
Its stated capability is 4,000 kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit and 8,000 kg to Low Earth Orbit.
The vehicle takes off with the simultaneous ignition of the two S200 boosters; the core L110 stage is ignited at about 113s through the flight and the C25 at 313s.
The payload fairing is separated at an altitude of 115 km.
Stage configuration:
2S200 + L110 + C25
Overall length:
43.5 m
Lift-off weight:
640 tonnes
Payload to GTO:
4,000 kg
Payload to Low Earth Orbit:
8,000 kg
Cryogenic engine:
CE-20
Why it matters for exams: Stage names, propellant loads and payload capacity of LVM3 are the standard comparison asked against India's other launch vehicles.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
GTO Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit — The elliptical orbit from which a satellite raises itself to a geosynchronous orbit using its own motor.
HTPB Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene — The solid propellant binder used in the S200 boosters.
3 October 2026
The Chief Minister performed the groundbreaking of HiLITE Cyber Tower, a Rs 600-crore Grade A IT hub at Cyberpark in Kozhikode.
The tower, built by the HiLITE Group, covers 2.5 acres with a built-up area of nine lakh square feet.
It is expected to create more than 10,000 direct IT jobs and strengthen Kozhikode as an IT destination.
It is meant for multinational corporations, high-growth start-ups and research and development centres.
The project is scheduled for completion within two years.
Investment:
Rs 600-crore
Built-up area:
Nine lakh square feet
Direct IT jobs:
More than 10,000
Why it matters for exams: Large IT projects at Cyberpark Kozhikode and their job targets are common Kerala PSC economy and geography questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
3 October 2026
The State government has renamed the Electronics and Information Technology department as the Department of Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Future Technologies.
The Cabinet took the decision at its meeting on September 30, and the order was issued on Saturday, October 3.
The change follows the Governor's policy address for 2026, which announced a repositioning of the department.
The new name widens the mandate beyond IT and electronics to AI, deep-tech and start-ups.
Reforms under way include the Kerala State Digital Technology Mission, The Future Corporation and Semicon Keralam.
Old name:
Electronics and Information Technology department
Cabinet meeting:
September 30, 2026
Order issued:
October 3, 2026
Why it matters for exams: Renaming of a State department after a Cabinet decision and a Governor's address is a clean governance fact for Kerala PSC.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Policy address Governor's policy address — The Governor's speech to the Assembly that sets out the government's policies for the year.
Background
Hook: KSEB is drawing peak-hour power from outside the State, which puts its own Idukki dam in focus.
The Idukki arch dam is built on the Periyar River.
It stands between two mountains, Kuravanmala (839 m) and Kurathimala (925 m).
It is described as 168.91 m (554 ft) tall and as one of the highest arch dams in Asia.
Technically it is a concrete double curvature parabolic thin arch dam.
The dam was constructed by and is owned by the Kerala State Electricity Board and supports a 780 MW hydroelectric power station.
River:
Periyar
Height:
168.91 m (554 ft)
Hills either side:
Kuravanmala (839 m) and Kurathimala (925 m)
Power station:
780 MW
Why it matters for exams: Dam height, river and ownership are common Kerala PSC and UPSC geography facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Arch dam — A curved dam that carries water pressure into the valley walls.
3 October 2026
A Nature paper dated 30 September 2026 reports live-cell microscopy of two Asgard archaeal organisms, from the Lokiarchaea and Hodarchaea lineages, under anaerobic conditions.
The cells change shape rapidly and crawl using dynamic protrusions.
Protrusions extended at speeds of 1.5-4.8 micrometres per minute.
The movement depends on an actin-based cytoskeleton (Lokiactin), confirmed with actin inhibitors.
The authors say cellular innovations in the archaeal ancestor of eukaryotes may have helped early eukaryotic evolution.
Lineages studied:
Lokiarchaea and Hodarchaea
Protrusion speed:
1.5-4.8 micrometres per minute
Actin protein:
Lokiactin
Why it matters for exams: Asgard archaea are the closest known prokaryotic relatives of eukaryotes, a favourite evolution and biology topic.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Asgard archaea A group of archaea — Prokaryotes considered close relatives of eukaryotes.
Cytoskeleton Internal cell scaffold — Here built on actin filaments.
3 October 2026
A Nature paper dated 30 September 2026 models where mangroves can establish on open coasts worldwide.
It uses 20 years of wave data from 400 coastal sites.
The model rests on the idea of windows of opportunity, periods when waves are low enough for seedlings to establish.
It predicts mangrove presence or absence with 78.2% accuracy.
Modest increases or decreases in wave forcing affect the suitability of mangrove sites, with implications for future shifts under climate change.
Sonneratia species were the most predictable by wave conditions.
Coastal sites analysed:
400
Wave data span:
20 years
Prediction accuracy:
78.2%
Why it matters for exams: Mangroves and climate change adaptation are core environment topics, especially for coastal Kerala.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Windows of opportunity Periods of low wave energy — Spells calm enough for mangrove seedlings to take root.
3 October 2026
A paper in Nature on 30 September 2026 tracked 9,419 meals eaten by 173 hospitalised patients undergoing blood cancer treatment.
It paired them with 1,009 stool microbiome samples.
Intake of sweets and sugars during antibiotic exposure predicted lowered alpha-diversity and greater expansion of the pathobiont Enterococcus.
Among patients with above-median sugar intake, longer antibiotic duration was linked to higher mortality risk.
In mice, sucrose with antibiotics increased Enterococcus expansion 16.3-fold on day 3 and 33.4-fold on day 6.
Meals tracked:
9,419
Patients:
173
Stool samples:
1,009
Enterococcus expansion in mice, day 6:
33.4-fold
Why it matters for exams: Links diet, antibiotics and the microbiome, a growing health-science theme.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Enterococcus A gut bacterial genus — Here a pathobiont that expands when the microbiome is disrupted.
Dysbiosis Imbalance of gut microbes — Loss of microbial diversity.
3 October 2026
QNu Labs, with BISAG-N and IIT Gandhinagar, has demonstrated India's first free-space Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) link at a scale of 5.56 km. The field trial on the night of 27-28 September linked BISAG-N and IIT Gandhinagar. It achieved a Quantum Bit Error Rate below 5% and secure key generation at 230-260 bps. The keys were integrated with BISAG-N's post-quantum cryptography platform, Vedic Kavach, for end-to-end encryption of test messages. The release was issued by the Ministry of Electronics and IT.
Link length:
5.56 km
Secure key rate:
230-260 bps
Error rate:
below 5%
Why it matters for exams: Quantum communication is a favourite science-and-technology topic, and 'India's first' milestones are asked often.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
QKD Quantum Key Distribution — A method of sharing encryption keys using quantum properties of light.
BISAG-N Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics — An autonomous scientific society under MeitY.
Background
The European Space Agency (ESA) was created as an intergovernmental organisation in 1975. Its purpose, under Article II of its establishing Convention, is to promote for exclusively peaceful purposes cooperation among European States in space research and technology and their space applications. ESA's headquarters are in Paris, where policies and programmes are decided. Its sites include ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, ESOC in Darmstadt, Germany, ESRIN in Frascati near Rome, Italy, the European Astronauts Centre in Cologne, Germany, and ESAC near Madrid, Spain, plus a launch base in French Guiana. Mandatory activities are funded by member contributions calculated according to each country's gross national product, while optional programmes are chosen by each member. Under geographical return, ESA invests in each member state, through industrial contracts, an amount roughly equal to that country's contribution.
Headquarters:
Paris
Earth observation centre:
ESRIN, Frascati
Space operations centre:
ESOC, Darmstadt
Mandatory funding basis:
Gross national product
Why it matters for exams: ESA's headquarters, centres and funding model are common questions on space agencies.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Geographical return ESA industrial policy — ESA invests in each member state, through contracts, roughly what that state contributes.
Optional programmes ESA funding — Programmes each member chooses whether to join and how much to contribute.
Background
WMO traces its roots to 1873, when the Vienna International Meteorological Congress tasked a committee with drafting rules for an international body to exchange weather information across borders. The resulting International Meteorological Organization (IMO) came into being at a congress in Rome and was a non-governmental organization. By the mid-1930s that status was seen as incompatible with the importance of meteorology, and the IMO Secretariat was moved to neutral Switzerland in 1939. The IMO became the World Meteorological Organization in March 1950, when its Convention entered into force. In 1951 WMO was designated a specialized agency of the United Nations, with a remit covering meteorology, hydrology and related geophysical sciences.
Predecessor:
International Meteorological Organization
Origin congress:
Vienna
UN status:
Specialized agency
Why it matters for exams: UN specialised agencies, their origins and mandates are a regular static-GK block in civil-service and PSC papers.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
IMO International Meteorological Organization — The non-governmental forerunner of WMO, not to be confused with the International Maritime Organization.
Hydrology Study of water resources — The study, measurement and forecasting of water resources, part of WMO's mandate.
Background
CERN's origins lie in the 1940s, when scientists in Europe and North America saw the need for a world-class European physics facility, to stop the brain drain to America and to unite post-war Europe. At an intergovernmental meeting of UNESCO in Paris in December 1951, the first resolution on a European Council for Nuclear Research (in French, Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) was adopted. Two months later an agreement was signed establishing the provisional Council, and the acronym CERN was born. The CERN Convention was agreed in June 1953 and signed by 12 States. It states that the Organization shall have no concern with work for military requirements and that its results shall be published or otherwise made generally available. CERN began in 1954, is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and its main area of research is particle physics.
Based in:
Geneva, Switzerland
Convention signed by:
12 States
Main research area:
Particle physics
Resolution adopted at:
UNESCO meeting in Paris
Why it matters for exams: CERN, the Large Hadron Collider and 'science for peace' are recurring science-and-technology questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
CERN Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire — The acronym comes from the French name of the provisional council set up in the early 1950s.
Brain drain Emigration of scientists — The loss of skilled scientists to another country; one reason CERN was proposed.
Background
SDSC SHAR at Sriharikota is called the Spaceport of India and provides launch base infrastructure for the Indian space programme.
Its facilities cover solid propellant processing, static testing of solid motors, launch vehicle integration, launch operations and range operations, including telemetry, tracking and command and a mission control centre.
Two launch pads host the launches of PSLV and GSLV, and a separate pad serves sounding rockets.
Its mandate has three parts: producing solid propellant boosters for ISRO launch vehicles, providing infrastructure to qualify subsystems and solid rocket motors, and providing launch base infrastructure for satellites and launch vehicles.
Role:
Launch base infrastructure for the Indian space programme
Launch pads for PSLV and GSLV:
Two
Known as:
Spaceport of India
Why it matters for exams: Questions often ask what SHAR does and where India's launches originate, set against ISRO's other centres.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
SHAR Sriharikota High Altitude Range — The launch range at Sriharikota that gives SDSC SHAR its name.
Sounding rocket Sounding rocket — A small research rocket that makes brief flights into the upper atmosphere.