Hyenas

Species in News

Context

A new study has found that in spotted hyenas, females dominate males not because they are bigger or stronger but because they have larger networks of social alliances.

Hyenas

Family: Hyaenidae; dog-like carnivorous mammals native to Africa and parts of Asia.
Species: 4 — Striped Hyena, Brown Hyena, Spotted Hyena & Aardwolf.
India: Mainly Striped Hyena (Hyaena hyaena).
Habitat: Arid/semi-arid grasslands, scrublands, deserts and open forests.
Adaptations: Excellent night vision and hearing; largely nocturnal.
Ecological role: Scavenges carcasses → nutrient recycling & disease regulation.
IUCN: Striped & Brown Hyena — Near Threatened; Spotted Hyena & Aardwolf — Least Concern.

International

Context

India and Vietnam recently agreed to deepen defence and security cooperation, including co-production of Indian defence equipment, amid China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.

India–Vietnam Relations

Diplomatic ties: Established in 1972; upgraded to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) in 2016.
Political: Strong convergence under Act East Policy and Indo-Pacific vision; Vietnam is important to India’s engagement with ASEAN.
Defence & Security: Defence partnership includes military exchanges, training, capacity building, maritime security and defence industry cooperation.
Maritime: Cooperation in the South China Sea, including respect for UNCLOS and freedom of navigation.
Economic: Bilateral trade is around $15 billion, with cooperation in pharmaceuticals, IT, agriculture, textiles and energy.
Connectivity: ASEAN–India connectivity initiatives strengthen physical, digital and maritime links.
Energy: Indian companies have interests in Vietnam’s oil & gas sector; cooperation also extends to renewable energy.
Cultural: Shared Buddhist and civilisational links; India supports conservation/restoration of Cham monuments in Vietnam.
Challenges: South China Sea tensions, trade imbalance, limited connectivity and competition from other major powers.

Polity

Context

Hindi Diwas: 14 September — marks the Constituent Assembly’s adoption of Hindi in Devanagari script as the Union’s official language in 1949.

About

Munshi–Ayyangar Formula: Balanced Hindi promotion with India’s linguistic diversity.
Article 343: Hindi (Devanagari) as official language of the Union; English continued for 15 years initially.
Article 344: Commission & Parliamentary Committee on progressive use of Hindi.
Article 345: States can adopt one or more languages as their official language.
Article 351: Directive for development and promotion of Hindi.

GS3/Economy

News

ICAR–Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), Jodhpur’s Moth Bean Varieties demonstrated remarkable resilience during the El Niño Year.

Moth Bean (Vigna aconitifolia)

Family: Fabaceae; also called mat bean/dew bean.
Origin: South Asia; mainly grown in hot, dry & semi-arid regions.
Major area: Thar Desert of western Rajasthan; also Gujarat, Haryana & Punjab.
Climate-resilient: Tolerates drought and other abiotic/biotic stresses, making it suitable for rain-fed farming.
Nutrition: Protein-rich pulse; used as food and fodder.
Area: Cultivated over about 10 lakh hectares, mainly in western Rajasthan.
Significance: Supports food & nutritional security in arid regions; CAZRI varieties showed resilience during El Niño conditions.

Environment

In News

Gucchi Marmik, a traditional dish featuring rare Himalayan morel mushrooms, was served at the BRICS Summit 2026 dinner.

Gucchi mushrooms (Morchella esculenta)

Scientific name: Morchella esculenta; commonly called morel mushroom.
Distribution: Himalayan regions of J&K, Himachal Pradesh & Uttarakhand.
Habitat: Mountainous coniferous forests; needs specific soil, moisture, temperature fluctuations & snowmelt.
Nature: Rare, wild mushroom; difficult to cultivate commercially.
Collection: Short season + labour-intensive harvesting in rugged terrain → high price.
Nutrition: Rich in protein, fibre & antioxidants; vitamin D varies with conditions/processing.
Economics: Quality dried varieties can fetch ₹15,000–40,000/kg.

Miscellaneous

News

National Engineers’ Day is celebrated to honor the birth anniversary of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya every year on September 15.

National Engineer’s day

Celebrated on – 15th September
Objective – To recognise and honour the achievements of the great engineer Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya.
Note – It is different from the World Engineers’ Day celebrated annually by UNESCO on 4th March.

Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya

Born in – Karnataka in 1861
Education – He studied Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of Mysore and then studied civil engineering from the College of Science in Pune and went on to become one of the most eminent engineers in the country.
Service – He served as the Chief Engineer of Mysore State in 1909 and as the Diwan of the princely state of Mysore in 1912, a position he held for seven years.
Death – He died in 1962 in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Contributions

Planner of Indian Economy – He was an Engineer who emphasised on development ‘Planned Economy’ in India (1934).
Krishna Raja Sagara Dam – He was the chief engineer responsible for the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagara Dam in Mysore.
Khadakwasla reservoir – He was instrumental in designing and patenting a system of automatic weir floodgates in Khadakwasla reservoir in Pune in 1903.
Drainage system – After the devastating floods (Musi River) in Hyderabad in 1908, he designed a drainage system to protect the city from these floods in the future.
Road plan – He is the one who designed a plan for road construction between Tirumala & Tirupati.
Railway lines – He also commissioned several new Railway lines in Mysore state.
Waterworks – He had designed and carried out the waterworks for the Municipality of Sukkur in 1895.
Block System -He is also credited with the development of the Block System which would prevent the wasteful flow of water in dams.
Founded – He was responsible for founding the Mysore soap factory, the Mysore Iron & steel works (Bhadravathi), Sri Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic Institute, The Bangalore Agricultural University, and the State Bank of Mysore.

Honours

Knight Commander – He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the British Indian Empire by King George V for his contributions to the public good in 1915.
He was awarded an Honorary Membership of London Institution of Civil Engineers for an unbroken 50 years.
He was conferred India’s highest honour, the Bharat Ratna in 1955.

Books written by him