Context: 

Recently, Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) has collaborated with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for live tracking to help Railways run trains efficiently.

Integration of NavIC, Bhuvan, Quantum Encryption, and AI in Indian Railways.:

• ISRO has developed two technologies: 
  • Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC), a regional navigation satellite system, and
  • Bhuvan, a web-based utility. 
    • Bhuvan allows users to explore a set of map-based content that is being used for tracking.
• Indian Railways have taken bandwidth from ISRO and integrated their systems with NavIC and Bhuvan. 
• Every locomotive is fitted with a device and a SIM, which communicates the train’s real position to the satellite and feedback is received. 
• The movement is updated every three seconds. Real­time tracking of trains is useful during accidents, floods and landslides.
• A pilot project between Sanchar Bhavan and Rail Bhavan aimed to use quantum key encryption to securely exchange information.
• The Railways is tapping into data analytics to improve passenger experience, help chart out empty seats, and enable more passengers to receive confirmed tickets.
• CRIS has identified 90 cases where AI can be used for improving Railways services, including seat allocation, prediction analysis on when freight trains will be emptied, and balancing stocks of medicines across the Railways health infrastructure.

About Navigation in Indian Constellation (NavIC)

• It is an Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
• Its main objective is to provide reliable position, navigation and timing services over India and its neighbourhood.
• IRNSS consists of eight satellites, three satellites in geostationary orbit and five satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
• It works just like the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) but within a 1,500-km radius over the sub-continent.
• It has been certified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a global body for coordinating mobile telephony standards.

Potential Uses:

• Terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation;
• Disaster management;
• Vehicle tracking and fleet management (especially for mining and transportation sector);
• Integration with mobile phones;
• Precise timing (as for ATMs and power grids);
• Mapping and geodetic data capture.

BHUVAN – Geoportal Developed by ISRO

• BHUVAN, also called the Indian version of Google Maps, is a multi-purpose end-user satellite application platform.  
• It is powered by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). 
• This software application allows the users to explore a 2D/3D representation of the surface of the Earth. 
• The browser is specifically tailored to view India, offering the highest resolution in the region. 
• All the assets created under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in each gram panchayat are to be geo-tagged with the help of BHUVAN.

New Source: The Hindu