Typhon Weapons System
Why in News: The Philippine Army has confirmed that the “deadly” Typhon Weapons System, deployed by the United States for joint military exercises, will soon be withdrawn from the country.
About Typhon Weapons System:
Description:
- Also known as the Strategic Mid-Range Fires (SMRF) System, it is an integrated weapons system being developed by the United States Navy.
- Capable of firing the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), a ballistic missile defense munition that can also target ships at sea with a range of 370 kilometers (230 miles).
- Can also fire the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, a maneuverable cruise missile.
Components:
- A full Typhon Weapon System battery includes four launchers, a command post, and reload and support vehicles, all on trailers.
- Offboard sources supply the targeting information.
- Typhon launchers are derived from the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) used on various U.S. Navy and foreign warships, capable of firing a wide array of containerized missiles, with potential for integrating other types in the future.
Key Facts about Tomahawk Missile:
- A US-made long-range cruise missile used for deep-land attack warfare.
- Can be launched from a ship or submarine and deliver its warhead precisely to a target at long range.
- Flies at low altitudes to strike fixed targets, such as communication and air-defense sites, in high-risk environments where manned aircraft may be vulnerable to surface-to-air missiles.
Features:
- Designed to fly at subsonic speed while maintaining a low altitude, making it difficult to detect on radar.
- Uses tailored guidance systems to maneuver at low elevations.
- The missile is 6 meters (18.4 feet) long with a range of up to 2,400 km (1,500 miles).
Propulsion:
- Powered by a solid propellant during its launch phase, and thereafter by a turbofan engine that emits minimal heat, making infrared detection difficult.
- Uses satellite-assisted navigation and TERCOM (Terrain Contour Matching) radar to guide it to a target.
- Capable of twisting and turning like a radar-evading fighter plane, skimming the landscape at an altitude of only 30–90 meters (100–300 feet).
- Can carry either conventional or nuclear payloads.
Palm Trees
Why in News: Odisha has imposed restrictions on cutting existing palm trees and plans to plant approximately 1.9 million new trees to reduce lightning strike casualties.
About Palm Trees:
- Palms belong to the Arecaceae or Palmae family, a single family of monocotyledonous flowering plants within the order Arecales.
- These evergreen plants can take the form of shrubs, trees, or long, woody vines known as lianas.
Distribution:
- Major centers of palm distribution are in America and Asia, extending from India to Japan and south to Australia and the islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans. Africa and Madagascar also host palms, though they are less significant regions.
Characteristics:
- Palms are characterized by tall, unbranched stems or, in rare cases, dichotomous branching stems (as in Hyphaene), maintaining the same diameter from base to top.
- At the apex, they feature a rosette of coriaceous leaves, which can be either palmate (hand-like) or pinnate (feather-like), growing up to several meters long.
Leaf Types:
- Palmate leaves grow in a cluster at the end of a stem.
- Pinnate leaves grow along either side of a stem.
Conservation:
- Despite many species being sturdy and plentiful, around 100 species are endangered due to deforestation and unsustainable cultivation practices, such as harvesting for the heart of palm, which cannot regrow once removed.
Economic Importance:
- The most commercially important palms are the coconut and the African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), both key sources of vegetable oil and fat.
Rarest Palm:
- The rarest palm tree is the Hyophorbe amaricaulis, with the only known specimen residing at the Botanic Gardens of Curepipe in Mauritius.
Li-Fi Technology
Why in News: Telecom startup Velmenni has been awarded a grant by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) through the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative for its innovative Li-Fi (Light Fidelity) technology.
About Li-Fi Technology:
- Li-Fi, short for Light Fidelity, is a mobile wireless communications technology that uses light instead of radio frequencies to transmit data.
- Developed by Professor Harald Haas.
- Utilizes special LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs for data transmission.
Features:
- High-speed, bidirectional, and fully networked wireless communication using light.
- Requires only a light source equipped with a chip to transmit internet signals via light waves.
- Data transmission can occur through visible, infrared, or ultraviolet light.
Advantages:
- Offers internet connections over 100 times faster than Wi-Fi due to light’s broader bandwidth.
- Speeds can reach up to 224 gigabytes per second.
- Applicable in various scenarios such as internet access, phone-to-phone or phone-to-TV communication, and emerging technologies like extended reality.
Security and Applications:
- Provides enhanced data security as signals do not pass through walls.
- Suitable for environments where radio frequency use is restricted, such as hospitals, airplanes, or underwater.
Key Facts about Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX):
- Flagship initiative of the Union Ministry of Defence.
- Aims to achieve self-reliance and promote innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace sectors by engaging industries, including MSMEs, startups, innovators, R&D institutes, and academia.
Partnerships and Support:
- Collaborates with leading incubators in India to provide guidance, technical support, and handholding to winners of iDEX challenges.
- Managed by the Defence Innovation Organization (DIO), a not-for-profit company formed under the Companies Act 2013 by Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) like HAL and BEL.
Funding and Management:
- Financial support provided under iDEX to startups, MSMEs, individual innovators, and partner incubators through DIO.
- DIO serves as the executive arm, carrying out operational activities under the high-level policy guidance of iDEX.
Common Grass Yellow
Why in News: During a recent three-day butterfly survey concluded at the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), a significant migration of Common Grass Yellow butterflies was observed for the first time at a large scale.
About Common Grass Yellow
A small and attractive butterfly species found across Asia, North America, Africa, and Australia.
- Scientific Name: Eurema hecabe
Habitat:
- Prefers flying swiftly near the ground and inhabits open grassy or bushy terrain, hence its name.
Features:
- Displays vibrant yellow wings ranging from sultry sulfur to lush lemon yellow, which change with seasons and location (seasonal polyphenism).
- Forewings feature a broad, irregular black outer marking, while the underside has various black marks with a yellow center.
- Often found in large groups; females typically fly alone to seek nectar from diverse plant species.
- Exhibits migratory behavior, with large-scale migrations observed across Africa and most of Asia south of the Himalayas.
Conservation Status:
- IUCN Red List: Least Concern.
- Not legally protected in India under any schedules of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.