Polar Sundial

Context: A Polar sundial has been designed by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and is put on for a public display in the ‘Rocket Garden’ of its Space Museum at Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

About the Analemma-Corrected Polar Sundial

• The polar sundial with analemmatic correction designed by the VSSC accurately gives the Indian Standard Time (IST) along with the local solar time, as well as the date.
  • ‘Analemma’ is the figure-eight pattern made by the sun in the sky over the course of a year, generated by a combination of the Earth’s tilt and its elliptical orbit.
• The ‘Style’: The upright section which casts the shadow on the sundial is a 1.6 ft tall, 3D-printed miniature of the Rohini series RH200 sounding rocket.
• Polar Configuration: The  sundial adopts a polar configuration where the sundial plate is affixed to a wedge-shaped structure, whose angle is determined by the latitude of the location.
  • The plate is parallel to the Earth’s polar axis, with the style parallel to the Earth’s equatorial plane.
• Analemmatic Correction: There is a built in ‘analemmatic correction’ whereby the straight hour lines are replaced with inverted analemma curves in the sundial. 
  • It automatically converts local solar time to mean solar time throughout the year. 
• Indian Standard Time: To obtain IST, an additional longitude correction is applied, based on the longitude of Thumba

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About Sundial

• Sundials are a device that uses the position of the sun in the sky to indicate the time of day. 
• Components: 
• • Dial: A sundial has a flat plate (dial) with hour-lines marked on it
  • Gnomon: It may be a rod, wire, or metal casting which casts a shadow onto the dial. 
  • The Style: It is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, though a single point or nodus may be used. 
• Mechanism: As the sun moves across the sky, the shadow of the gnomon moves and aligns with the hour-lines, indicating the time. 
  • The gnomon casts a broad shadow; the shadow of the style shows the time
• History: Sundials can be seen in many cultures all throughout history and date back about 4,000 years. The earliest known sundial is an Egyptian shadow clock made of green schist. 
• Limitations: Sundials only work when there is direct sunlight, so they don’t work at night or on cloudy days

The Yuga Yugeen Bharat National Museum

Context: India and France has recently signed an agreement towards the “adaptive reuse” of the North and South blocks for the ambitious The Yuga Yugeen Bharat National Museum.

• The Ministry of Culture has partnered with France Museums Développement (FMD) to develop the Yuga Yugeen Bharat National Museum as a world-class cultural institution

About The Yuga Yugeen Bharat National Museum

• It is a part of the Central Vista Redevelopment Project
• Announcement: The museum was first announced by the Prime Minister at the International Museum Expo in May 2023
• Objective: To ensure the preservation of its  architectural heritage by adaptive reuse of the historic North and South Blocks while also creating a vibrant and efficient cultural space.
• Approach: The Yuga Yugeen Bharat National Museum will be developed through the Adaptive Reuse approach of France.
  • The Adaptive Reuse approach mirrors France’s “Grands Projets” initiative, which saw the transformation of government buildings into iconic cultural spaces, most notable example being ‘The Louvre Museum, Paris”.
• Area: The museum will come up in an area spanning approximately 1.55 lakh square metre across the iconic North and South Blocks in New Delhi 
  • The museum once built will overtake The Louvre in Paris, (presently the world’s biggest).
• Implementation Phases: 
  • First: It comprises the retrofitting of North Block (currently housing the offices of Ministries of Finance and Home Affairs)  into a museum space by June 2026.
  • The South Block, which houses the Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of External Affairs offices, will be vacated

First Large Carnivore Pollinator

Context: Recently the Ethiopian Wolf was documented consuming nectar, this is first ever large carnivorous predator documented contributing to pollination.

About Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis)

• The Ethiopian wolf is Africa’s most endangered carnivore, with fewer than 500 individuals.
• Habitation: They are endemic to Ethiopian highlands. They live  in Ethiopia’s high-altitude “sky islands” above tropical forests.
• Unique Pollination Behavior: Observed feeding on nectar from Ethiopian red hot poker flowers (Kniphofia species).
  • Transfers pollen as its muzzle gets dusted while moving between flowers.
• Significance of Nectar Feeding: Typically a rodent hunter, the wolf seeks nectar as an energy supplement.
• Ecological Impact:  It challenges conventional views of plant-pollinator interactions.
  • Highlights potential for apex predators to contribute to pollination.
• Conservation status: Listed as Endangered species under IUCN Red list.
• Conservation Implications: Protecting the Ethiopian wolf helps sustain the fragile Afroalpine ecosystem.
  • Emphasizes the need to preserve unique species interactions critical for biodiversity.

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IRIS² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity, and Security by Satellite)

Context: Recently the European Space Agency (ESA) in partnership with the SpaceRISE consortium developed  IRIS², the European Union’s flagship internet satellite constellation.

About IRIS²

• IRIS² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity, and Security by Satellite) is a satellite internet constellation which aims to secure connectivity for Europe.
• Specifications: Comprises 290 satellites: 264 in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and 18 in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO).
• Unlike SpaceX Starlink’s global approach with 7,000+ satellites, IRIS² prioritizes efficient interlinked satellite systems.
• Objectives
  • Enhance European digital sovereignty and secure communications.
  • Support critical infrastructure and defense capabilities.
  • Strengthen connectivity in member states without relying on global competitors.
• Features
  • Offers secure, high-speed broadband in areas with low or no connectivity.
  • Provides connectivity for government, private, and civilian use.
  • Focus on maritime, railway, aviation, and rural connectivity.
  • Enables applications like border surveillance, crisis management, remote healthcare, and smart energy grids.
• Other Examples of internet satellite constellation: OneWeb (UK) and Kuiper (USA)

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