Editorial 1: It’s time for Africa
Context:
- India is continuously raising the voice of global south at multiple international platforms. Therefore, With the resurgence in India’s support for the priorities of the Global South, there is an expectation of a revival of institutional arrangements with regional fora.
- The visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Papua New Guinea in conjunction with his visit to Australia revived the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has revived consultations with the 15-member Caribbean community and the eight-member SICA of Central America. He has recently been to South Africa and Namibia and last month to Uganda, Ethiopia and Mozambique.
India and Africa’s engagement:
- The most visible aspect of India’s cooperation with the Global South is its engagement with Africa. After three India Africa Forum Summits in 2008, 2011 and 2015, the fourth has been considerably delayed due to the pandemic.
- This upset the scheduling of summits that the African Union had envisaged. Now that the AU is holding summits with its partners, it is time for India to hold IAFS IV during its G20 presidency in 2023. Holding IAFS IV before the G20 summit may sound hurried, but it is perhaps the best way to enhance the G20 presidency.
Holding the India and Africa summit to strengthen its relation
- First, it is Africa’s turn to host IAFS.
- As the first and third summits were in India, while the second was in Addis Ababa, the seat of the AU Commission.
- Three years ago, the AU had recommended holding the IAFS IV in Mauritania. But, Mauritania does not have the facilities for a large summit. Discussions have shifted now to find a viable host location next meeting
- Second, the size of the fourth summit.
- The first two summits were held under the Banjul formula with 15 African countries and the AU Commission participating.
- At IAFS III a massive event for all 54 African countries was held. The IAFS has a three-tier platform of the AU, the eight regional economic communities of Africa and important bilateral participants.
- The options are whether to invite all African countries or return to the Banjul formula. A large summit is time-consuming and is best used when inviting leaders to India.
- When holding the summit in Africa, the Banjul formula of engaging 15 countries is more manageable. It abides by the AU principles and would serve the purpose of handling IAFS IV efficiently and quickly.
- Third, who will attend the summit.
- The Banjul format has permanent and rotational members. The five permanent members are the founders of the New Economic Partnership for African Development. South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal, Algeria and Egypt are important countries, but lack adequate regional representation from all parts of Africa; the Regional Economic Communities (REC) provide that balance.
- Africa has more than 40 such communities with overlapping memberships. When the AU emerged in 2002, it recognised eight RECs. The countries which chair these eight are invited.
The participates in IAFS IV if held this year?
- The five permanent invitees should be there. The South African president is having a rough political ride. Nigeria has a new president.
- Senegal has an established president in Mackey Sall, who chaired the AU effectively in 2022, but faces internal turmoil presently.
- Algeria and Egypt have steady leaders, though their record in participating at IAFS is inconsistent. The AU Chair Comoros and Senegal as the past chair are part of the format.
- The AUC is represented by Moussa Faki Mahamat, the second-term chairperson from Chad. He and the president of Comoros are also the African nominees to represent the AU at the G20 summit in September. Egypt and Nigeria are invited as guests to G20 by India.
- There are eight other representatives who would be invited. The seven-member East African Community is currently chaired by Burundi.
- The 19-member COMESA is chaired by Madagascar. The Democratic Republic of Congo is the current chair of the Economic Community for Central African States and the 15-member Economic Commission for West African States (ECOWAS) is chaired by Guinea-Bissau.
- The largest REC is the 29-member CENSAD. It was dormant and is being revived. The chair is Niger. The eight-member Inter-Governmental Authority on Development for the Horn of Africa is chaired by Sudan, which is currently in the throes of civil war. A separate stable country from its fold, like Kenya or Uganda, should be invited.
Conclusion:
- Therefore, timely holding the fourth Indian-Africa summit will further strengthen social culture, economic, political and people to people contact which will be beneficial for both nations and its people.
- Along with it, it will also increase the role of India in raising the voice of global south and emergence of India as global leader.
Editorial 2: Odisha train accident: What is the ‘interlocking’ system, a change in which led to the crash?
Recent Context:
- Recently, Railway Minister said that “configuration” of the track had led to the Coromandel Express smashing into the stationary goods train from behind, triggering the three-way train accident in Odisha
- Minister said that such a change was done on the point machine, the configuration of the track based on which everything runs. The electric “point machine” is a vital device for railway signalling for quick operation and “locking” of point switches.
- It plays the key role in the safe running of trains. Failure of these machines will severely affect train movement, and any deficiencies created or left unaddressed at the time of installation of the system can result in unsafe conditions.
What is meant by ‘interlocking’ in railways?
- Interlocking in railway signalling systems is a crucial safety mechanism used in the operation of train movements on railway tracks. It ensures that train movements continue without any conflicts with each other, preventing accidents.
- There are three main components that comprise an interlocking system: the point, the track occupancy sensing devices, and the signal. The Interlocking system coordinates the functions of these three components to control train movements
What is the function of each of these three main components?
- Signals (which are lights of green, red, and yellow colour) are installed along the tracks to indicate the status of the track ahead.
- Track circuits are electrical circuits (also known as track-occupancy sensing devices) that detect the presence of trains.
- Points allow trains to change tracks.
How do the points work?
- The points are movable rails that guide the wheels of a train towards either a straight or a diverging track.
- They are typically placed at the point of divergence of two tracks going to different directions. Once a direction of a train is determined, the point gets locked at a particular position. This means that once a direction is set, the point cannot budge until the train has passed.
- The digital interface of this system is a computer screen (or multiple screens) that shows the full view of the station layout and the live (real-time) movement of trains on tracks, the signals, and the position of the points. This is the configuration that runs all trains everywhere. This computer interface is called a data logger.
How does the system sense whether a track is occupied?
- There are various kinds of track-occupancy sensing devices. Generally, sensors are installed on the tracks that detect the passage of wheels on the rails.
- These are also called axle counters. They count how many sets of wheels or axles have passed over them in order to determine whether the entire train has passed through.
How is this whole system configured?
- A ‘sound logic’ of what is safe train operation is fed into the interlocking system, that is controlled remotely from the station.
- In earlier days, when technology was more basic, this job would be done manually, wherein a pointsman would physically operate the point to change its direction for an incoming train, and to lock it. Someone would then physically flag a green signal for the train after checking that the track is clear of any obstacle. The driver would watch the flag and proceed.
- Today, out of the 7,000-odd stations in the Indian Railways network, only around 100 small stations still have manual levers to control these points. The rest operate electronically, even though the basic principles of the logic are taken from the old and time-tested standard operating procedure for safety
- In the case of the Coromandel Express, the logic in the computer would be that if the Up line (on which the Coromandel was) is vacant, and if the point is directed to the Up line and is locked for the Coromandel, then the signal to the train should be green.
How safe is this system?
- If any of the three components (signals, points, and track occupancy sensors) does not correspond to the overall ‘safe’ logic fed into the computer, the system will work to stop the oncoming train.
- This means if the point is not locked, or not set to the desired direction, and/ or if the sensing device detects that the track is not clear, the signal will automatically turn red — indicating to the oncoming train that something is wrong and that it should stop.
- This is called a “fail safe” system — one that errs on the side of safety.
And who operates and monitors the interlocking signalling system?
- The interlocking system is usually operated and monitored by trained personnel from the signalling and telecommunications department in Railways, often known as ‘signallers’ or signal operators.
- They are responsible for setting the signals, monitoring track circuits, and ensuring the safe movement of trains.
- Interlocking systems are used in railway networks worldwide. Countries may have variations in their signalling practices and technologies, but the underlying principle of preventing conflicting train movements remains the same.
Can this system be tampered with?
- As Railway Board Member (Operations and Business Development) Jaya Varma Sinha said on Sunday, any machine is “prone to failure even if it runs smoothly 99.9% of the time but digging work may snap cables, wear and tear and short circuit etc can cause failures. “Generally, these things don’t happen. But that .1% possibility of failure due to any reason is always there in any kind of system.
Conclusion:
- There is further need for technological modernisation of railway by implementing the recommendation of past railway committee such as Kakodkar Committee (2012) To improve safety, the committee suggested that tracks and signalling systems be modernised , Bibek Debroy Committee (2015) which will lead to reduction of such incident in the upcoming time.
- Along with it continuous programme and mock experiments for skill development , awareness and are need to be carried out for the railway workers so that chances of human errors are minimized to zero.