PIB Analysis : 30th January

PIB Analysis for UPSC Civil Services Exam

Topics Covered

  1. National Salt Satyagraha Memorial
  2. The Future of Rail – IEA Report
  3. Carnot Prize

1 . National Salt Satyagraha Memorial

Context : Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated the National Salt Satyagraha Memorial at Dandi in Navsari district, Gujarat to the nation today on Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary.

About the Memorial

  • The ‘National Salt Satyagraha Memorial’, Dandi, Gujarat, India is conceived as an experiential journey recreating the spirit and the energy of the 1930 Dandi March led by Mahatma Gandhi and 80 of his fellow Satyagrahis, taking the visitors to the Monument step-by-step in order to visualise and understand the history of the historic Salt March and the methodology of Satyagraha, which finally led to India’s Independence from the British colonial rule.
  • This project, endorsed by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India is advised by a High Level Dandi Memorial Committee (HLDMC) with IIT Bombay as a Design Coordination Agency.

Background

  • The Salt Tax was first, was imposed in the form of ‘land rent’ and ‘transit charges’, and in 1762, it was consolidated into ‘duty’.
  • Then India, in particular Bengal and its surrounding provinces were, in turn, rendered dependent upon imported salt from Liverpool and elsewhere.
  • Oppressed with the burden of extravagant charges, the indigenous industry soon found itself unable to compete with its English rival which was making determined efforts to capture the market.
  • With passage of time, a duty upto 3 rupees or even more per maund, or 4 to 6 times the basic price of salt manufacture, was levied on salt manufactured in Bengal, and also on salt obtained from other Indian states.
  • Salt was a basic necessity of common people. The tax/duties on the annual requirement of a family amounted at one time up to nearly two months’ wages of a labourer. Organised opposition to it was voiced from the very inception of the Indian National Congress in 1885. Nationalist leaders such as Dadabhai Naoroji and GK Gokhale had particularly raised their voice against it.
  • Gandhiji had started expressing his strong opposition to such oppressive duties on common salt right from his student days in London. No wonder, he selected Satyagraha against salt taxes as the key issue in 1930 while leading the civil disobedience movement for India’s freedom from the British colonial rule.

Objectives’ of Gandhiji’s Salt Satyagraha

  • Immediate: Removal of Salt Acts. . . . Revenue realised from the Salt Tax amounted at this time to $25,000,000 out of a total revenue of about $800,000,000. These laws were held to work a hardship on the people, especially the poor, and to constitute the taxation of a necessity.
  • Long Range: The Salt Acts were chosen by Gandhi for contravention in a general civil disobedience movement because they not only appeared to be basically unjust in themselves, but also because they symbolised an unpopular, unrepresentative, and alien government. The ultimate objective of the civil disobedience was complete independence

About the Salt March

  • The Salt March began on March 12, 1930 and continued till April 6, 1930. It was a 24-day non-violent march led by Mahatma Gandhi.
  • During that time, the British had prohibited Indians from collecting or selling salt. Indians were also forced to buy the staple diet ingredient from the British, who, not only exercised monopoly over its manufacture and sale but also levied a heavy salt tax. The Salt March was a collective beginning of a mass resistance movement against the British tyranny.
  • The Salt March began with around 80 people, but as more and more people joined in for the 390 km-long journey, it grew into a strong force of 50,000 people.
  • Upon reaching the seashore in Dandi, Mahatma Gandhi broke the law by producing illegal salt. This later turned into a mass civil disobedience movement throughout India as millions broke salt laws by either making salt or buying illegal salt.
  • Many leaders including Mahatma Gandhi was arrested during this time. Gandhi was released from custody in January 1931 and began negotiations with Lord Irwin aimed at ending the satyagraha campaign. A truce subsequently was declared, which was formalized in the Gandhi-Irwin Pact that was signed on March 5.

2 . Future of Rail – IEA Report

Context : Minister of Railways & Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal launched the report “The Future of Rail” of International Energy Agency (IEA) at an event here today.

About the Report

  • The Future of Rail” the first-of-a-kind report analyses the current and future importance of rail around the world through the perspective of its energy and environmental implications.
  • The report reviews the impact of existing plans and regulations on the future of rail, and explores the key policies that could help to realise an enhanced future rail.
  • This first ever global report has a focus on India, elaborating on the unique social and economic role of rail in India, together with its great enduring potential, to show how India can extend and update its networks to harness rail at a scope and scale that is unparalleled.

About IEA

  • The IEA is an inter-governmental organisation that works to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its 30 member countries and 8 association countries.
  • Its mission is guided by four main areas of focus: energy security, economic development, environmental awareness and engagement worldwide.
  • India and the International Energy Agency (IEA) have benefited from a long, on-going bilateral relationship and cooperation in a broad range of area including energy security, statistics, energy efficiency, market analysis for oil, gas, electricity, renewables, system integration and implementation agreements for enhanced technologies.
  • India has been the focus of many recent IEA analyses and reports for instance through the special focus chapter on the Indian Power sector of the Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP) publication and the World Energy Outlook (WEO).

3 . Carnot Prize

Context : The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design formally presented the fourth annual Carnot Prize to Union Minister Shri Piyush Goyal

About the Release

  • Carnot Prize is the Kleinman Center’s annual recognition of distinguished contributions to energy policy through scholarship or practice 
  • Carnot Prize is the most prestigious award in the energy sector
  • It is an acknowledgement of India’s climate conscious, and development driven energy governance that is fuelling the aspirations of 125 crore people 
  • Award money received will be donated to the International Solar Alliance to institute the Diwakar Award 
  • Diwakar award will recognise, every year, an outstanding organisation that has been working for special children and maximising the use of solar energ
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