IAF develops indigenous ‘Vayulink’ platform for jammer-proof communication with base station

• Vayulink is an ad-hoc data link communication system that would help pilots deal with bad weather and provide jammer-proof uninterrupted communication with the base station.
• It is developed by the Indian Air Force (IAF).
• It uses the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) to send radio communication to the base station when the signals are low.
• Vayulink, when installed in an aircraft, gives the position of other aircraft close by and encrypted traffic data over a secure channel.
• Uses:
  • The platform helps to prevent fratricide or friendly fire, i.e., it helps us to know where the friendly forces are present.
  • It provides better combat teaming.
  • Helps plan real-time basis where multiple teams can get together and go towards the target coming from different areas.
  • It can also give the pilots data on the weather.

Geomagnetic storm hits Earth! Solar wind sparks red auroras in US

• A geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth''s magnetosphere.
• These storms result from variations in the solar wind that produces significant changes in the currents, plasmas, and fields in Earth’s magnetosphere.
• The solar wind conditions that are effective for creating geomagnetic storms are sustained (for several hours) periods of the high-speed solar wind and a southward-directed solar wind magnetic field (opposite the direction of Earth’s field) at the dayside of the magnetosphere.
• The largest such storms are associated with solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs), where a billion tons or so of plasma from the sun, with its embedded magnetic field, arrives at Earth.
• Effects:
  • These storms can heat the ionosphere, causing beautiful auroras on Earth.
  • Because the ionosphere is heated and distorted during storms, long-range radio communication that relies on sub-ionospheric reflection gets affected.
  • Ionospheric expansion due to these storms can increase satellite drag and make their orbits difficult to control.
  • Satellite electronics can be damaged through the build-up and discharge of static-electric charges.
  • It can disrupt global navigation systems.
  • It can create harmful geomagnetic-induced currents (GICs) in the power grid and pipelines.

Solar wind

• It is a stream of energized, charged particles, primarily electrons and protons**, flowing outward from the Sun** through the solar system at speeds as high as 900 km/s and a temperature of 1 million degrees (Celsius).
• It is made of plasma.
• When the solar wind reaches Earth, it sends a flurry of charged particles toward the magnetosphere, along Earth''s magnetic field lines, towards the poles.

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)

• CMEs are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun’s corona that propagates outward into interplanetary space.
• The blast of a CME carries about a billion tons of material out from the Sun at very high speeds of hundreds of kilometers per second.

Union Cabinet approves construction of Shinkun La tunnel to provide all-weather connectivity to Ladakh

• It will be constructed at an altitude of over 16,500 feet on the Nimu-Padam-Darcha road link on the border between Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh.
• The length of the tunnel will be 4.1 km.
• The Border Roads Organization (BRO) will construct the tunnel at a cost of Rs. 1,681.5 crores.
• The traffic movement in the tunnel will not be vulnerable to long-range artillery shelling or missile firings either by China or Pakistan.
• Purpose:
  • To provide all-weather connectivity to the border areas of Ladakh.
  • To enable swift movement of troops and heavy weaponry to forward areas.

Over 1,000 pangolins poached and trafficked in India between 2018 and 2022

• The Indian pangolin, also called thick-tailed pangolin and scaly anteater is native to the Indian subcontinent.
• It is one of the eight species of pangolins found.
• They are one of the most trafficked mammals in the world, despite an international ban on their trade.
• Scientific name: Manis crassicaudata
• Distribution: It lives in India (south of the Himalayas), Bangladesh, Southern Nepal, Sri Lanka, and small parts of Pakistan.
• Habitat: It occurs in tropical forests, open land, grasslands, and degraded habitat, including in close proximity to villages.
• Features:
  • Like other pangolins, it has large, overlapping scales on its body, which act as armor.
  • The Indian pangolin’s armor is amongst the most effective in the mammalian world. It has about 13 rows of moveable sharp scales covering its body, which are shed periodically.
  • The colour of its scales varies depending on the colour of the earth in its surroundings.
  • It can also curl itself into a ball as self-defense against predators.
  • It is an insectivore feeding on ants and termites.
  • It is nocturnal and rests in deep burrows during the day.
• Conservation status:
  • IUCN Red List: Endangered
  • Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
  • CITES: Appendix I