Gandhis Salt March

Gandhi's Salt March On March 12, 1930, a group of Indian independence protesters began to march from Ahmedabad, India to the sea coast at Dandi some 390 kilometers (240 miles) away. They were led by Mohandas Gandhi, also known as the Mahatma, and intended to illegally produce their own salt from the seawater.  This was Gandhis Salt March, a peaceful salvo in the fight for Indian independence. Satyagraha, an Act of Peaceful Disobedience The Salt March was an act of peaceful civil disobedience or satyagraha, because, under the law of the British Raj in India, salt-making was banned. In accordance with the 1882 British Salt Act, the colonial government required all Indians to buy salt from the British and to pay a salt tax, rather than producing their own. Coming on the heels of the Indian National Congresss January 26, 1930, declaration of Indian independence, Gandhis 23-day-long Salt March inspired millions of Indians to join in his campaign of civil disobedience. Before he set out, Gandhi wrote a letter to the British Viceroy of India, Lord E.F.L. Wood, Earl of Halifax, in which he offered to halt the march in return for concessions including the abolition of the salt tax, reduction of land taxes, cuts to military spending, and higher tariffs on imported textiles. The Viceroy did not deign to answer Gandhis letter, however. Gandhi told his supporters, On bended knees, I asked for bread and I have received stone instead- and the march went on. On April 6, Gandhi and his followers reached Dandi and dried seawater to make salt. They then moved south down the coast, producing more salt and rallying supporters. Gandhi is Arrested On May 5, the British colonial authorities decided that they could no longer stand by while Gandhi flouted the law. They arrested him and severely beat many of the salt marchers. The beatings were televised around the world; hundreds of unarmed protesters stood still with their arms at their sides while British troops smashed batons down on their heads. These powerful images stoked international sympathy and support for the Indian independence cause. The Mahatmas choice of the salt tax as the first target of his non-violent satyagraha movement initially sparked surprise and even derision from the British, and also from his own allies such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel. However, Gandhi realized that a simple, key commodity like salt was the perfect symbol around which ordinary Indians could rally. He understood that the salt tax impacted every person in India directly, whether they were Hindu, Muslim or Sikh, and was more easily understood than complex questions of constitutional law or land tenure. Following the Salt Satyagraha, Gandhi spent nearly a year in prison. He was one of more than 80,000 Indians jailed in the aftermath of the protest; literally millions turned out to make their own salt. Inspired by the Salt March, people across India boycotted all kinds of British goods, including paper and textiles. Peasants refused to pay land taxes. The Government Attempts to Quell the Movement The colonial government imposed even harsher laws in an attempt to quell the movement. It outlawed the Indian National Congress, and imposed strict censorship on Indian media and even private correspondence, but to no avail. Individual British military officers and civil service employees anguished over how to respond to non-violent protest, proving the effectiveness of Gandhis strategy. Although India would not gain its independence from Britain for another 17 years, the Salt March raised international awareness of British injustices in India. Although not many Muslims joined Gandhis movement, it did unify many Hindu and Sikh Indians against British rule. It also made Mohandas Gandhi into a famous figure around the world, renowned for his wisdom and love of peace.

Environmental regulation and economic productivity Essay

Environmental regulation and economic productivity - Essay Example Although these arguments have risen among several organizations, the fact remains that yet to be defined. Most of their research shows that environmental regulation are bas most of the impacts on economic growth. Additionally, they show that tight regulations such as emission of gases could be expensive to tackle and reduce their effects to the living organisms. Most of the industries use the fuel to that is harmful to the ozone layer. Impacts of state environmental policies on average annual growth 1990-1992 Economic indicators Coefficient probability No Relationship Odds of a negative Relationship Gross rate Non-farm employment Manufacturing employment Business failure rate -.36 0.32 -0.13 0.58 -0.14 0.66 -13.59 0.22 3.2:1 1:2:1 1:2:1 1:142 The research shows that among the surviving companies in the world, the rate of pollution will depend on the production processes that are involved. The studies shows have shown that the economists know that regulations are seldom good for the e conomy unless the mutual benefits are spend on outweighing the cost of production. Hence, most of them end up spending a lot of time evaluating the cost and the significances of proposed regulations and productivity. It has also been suggested that economists that regulations could be a good business opportunity for some other innovators even though high costs are imposed on them. For instance, producer/manufacturers that are the origins of discovering good ways of doing away with the environmental pollution play a big role to maintain the prices low through profit analysis. Additionally, the economists may tend to exploited profit from the sellers because of technology. But, some business ideas can makes others to...This essay describes the basic regulations that have been set by the international body to regulate environmental pollution. The paper also analyze both positive and negative effects of environmental regulations on the production. Environmental regulations have been widely discussed in the U.S. according to the economic cost. This activism began some years back with an aim of reducing and restricting pollution and emission for a duration of time regarding that through four decades clean water and air were inadequate. Regulations imposed on the environment are said to reduce productivity. Regulation has continued to rise progressively across the world since 1970s as environmental value has implicit growing significance on both the political and civic agenda. In the United States, total Pollution abatement management overheads are about 1.5-2.5% of GDP per year. Environmental regulation and economic productivity has been analyzed as a basic tool through which the plants are generally force to reduce the emission. Although this has happened to be so much speculating, environmental regulations must be eligible of to handle many cases such as reduced production in agricultural sector. The essay has clarified the similarities between environment and production activities whereby in most cases the plants are being accused as the biggest and the core causes of environmental pollution through emission of gases. The gases are considered to cause hazardous effects to the ozone layer.