DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

14 March 2022

No.	Topic Name	Prelims/Mains
1.	DANDI MARCH	Prelims & Mains
2.	MOST FAVOURED NATION STATUS	Prelims & Mains
3.	ABOUT THE MANUAL SCAVENGING	Prelims & Mains
4.	DETAILS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION CENTRE IN HYDERABAD	Prelims Specific Topic

 

1 – DANDI MARCH: 

GS I

Topic – Modern Indian History

• Context:
• The Salt March, which took place between March and April 1930, was a civil disobedience movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi to protest British rule in India.
• Dandi March’s bio:
• On March 12, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi and 78 others from his Sabarmati Ashram went on the Dandi Yatra to defy a legislation that imposed a salt tax.
• They arrived in Dandi on April 5 after trekking for 21 days and breaking the law.
• After manufacturing salt at Dandi, Gandhi traveled 40 kilometers south to the Dharasana Salt Works, where he was arrested on May 5.
• Facts about the Salt Satyagraha include:
• The Purna Swaraj resolution was passed by the Congress Party in the Lahore session in December 1929. On January 26, 1930, it was declared, and it was agreed that civil disobedience would be the best method to achieve it.
• To overthrow the British government’s salt tariff, Mahatma Gandhi chose the road of nonviolence.
• What is the purpose of salt:
• Salt was a product used by everyone in every community, but the poor were disproportionately affected by the salt tax.
• Indians were creating salt from saltwater for free until the 1882 Salt Act was passed.
• The Salt Act, on the other hand, provided the British a monopoly on salt production and the power to levy a salt tax. The violation of the Salt Act constituted a felony.
• With the Salt Satyagraha, Mahatma Gandhi attempted to bring Hindus and Muslims together in a similar cause.
• Salt March or Salt Satyagraha Results:
• A large number of people gathered, including ladies and those from the lower socioeconomic class.
• The movement demonstrated the power of nonviolence in the battle against colonialism and for liberation.
• After his release in 1931, Mahatma Gandhi visited Lord Irwin, who intended to put a stop to the civil disobedience movement.
• As a result, the Gandhi-Irwin deal was signed, the civil disobedience movement was put to rest, and Indians were given permission to produce salt for domestic consumption.
• Source – The PIB

2 – MOST FAVOURED NATION STATUS:

GS III

Topic – Economy related issues

• Context:
• The US, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan are working together to rescind Russia’s “most favoured country” (MFN) status in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
• What does it mean to have MFN status:
• Most Favoured Nation treatment is given to a trade partner in order to ensure that trade between two countries is not discriminatory.
• A member country cannot discriminate between its trade partners under WTO regulations. If a trade partner is given preferential treatment, it must be offered to other WTO members.
• Is MFN synonymous with special treatment:
• MFN does not imply preferential treatment in the literal sense. Instead, it refers to nondiscriminatory trade, which assures that the country granted MFN status is not at a disadvantage relative to the granter’s other trading partners.
• When a country is granted MFN status, it is expected to reduce trade obstacles and taxes.
• It is also intended to open up the market to more commodity commerce and free movement of goods.
• MFN status is no longer valid:
• There is no formal system in place for suspending MFN treatment, and it is unclear whether members must notify the WTO if they do so.
• In 2019, India revoked Pakistan’s MFN designation following a suicide bombing by a Pakistani Islamist organization killed 40 police officers. Pakistan has never granted India MFN status.
• What are the advantages of using MFN:
• Developing countries benefit greatly from MFN status.
• Gives a country access to a larger market for your trade goods.
• Export costs are lower as a result of lower tariffs and trade obstacles.
• As a result, trade becomes more competitive.
• Reduces bureaucratic barriers, and all tariffs are set at the same level for all imports.
• Increases consumer demand for goods, boosting the economy and export industry.
• Heals the harmful effects of trade protectionism on the economy.
• What are the MFN’s drawbacks:
• The biggest disadvantage is that the country must handle all other trade partners who are WTO members in the same way.
• As a result, there will be a pricing war, putting the home industry at risk.
• The country is not able to protect domestic industry from the cheaper imports and in this price war, some domestic players have to face heavy losses or growth restrictions.
• Source – The Hindu

3 – ABOUT THE MANUAL SCAVENGING:

GS II

Topic – Social issues

• Context:
• Three laborers in Mumbai died recently after inhaling hazardous vapors in a sewage tank. They were purportedly recruited for manual scavenging.
• Despite the fact that manual scavenging is illegal in India, it is nevertheless practiced in many regions of the country.
• What is the definition of manual scavenging:
• The activity of manually collecting human excreta from sewers or septic tanks is known as manual scavenging.
• The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, in India outlawed the practice (PEMSR).
• The Act identifies manual scavenging as a “dehumanizing activity” and calls for “correcting the historical injustice and indignity endured by manual scavengers.”
• Why is scavenging by hand still practiced in India:
• The Act’s lack of enforcement.
• Unskilled laborers are exploited.
• Caste, class, and economic divisions all play a role in the practice.
• Guaranteed by the Constitution:
• Article 21 of the Constitution ensures the ‘Right to Life,’ as well as the dignity that comes with it. Both citizens and non-citizens have access to this privilege. As a result, the ban on manual scavenging should be followed to the letter.
• Other actions taken include:
• The Prevention of Atrocities Act was enacted in 1989 as an integrated safeguard for sanitation workers, with the Scheduled Caste accounting for more than 90% of those engaged as manual scavengers.
• This was a watershed moment in the fight to release manual scavengers from their assigned customary jobs.
• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs started the Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge on World Toilet Day (19 November) in 2020.
• The ‘Swachhta Abhiyan App’ was created to identify and geotag data on insanitary latrines and manual scavengers so that insanitary latrines can be replaced with sanitary latrines and all manual scavengers can be rehabilitated so that they can live with dignity.
• A Supreme Court judgment issued in 2014 mandated that the government identify all people who died in sewage work since 1993 and compensate their families with Rs. 10 lakh each.

• Source – The Hindu

4 – DETAILS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION CENTRE IN HYDERABAD:

Prelims Specific Topic

• The Chief Justice of India sets the groundwork for an International Arbitration Centre in Hyderabad.
• The International Arbitration and Mediation Centre Trust proposed it.
• IAMC-Hyderabad is India’s first alternative dispute resolution arbitration center.
• What is the definition of arbitration:
• Arbitration is an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) technique in which a dispute is submitted to one or more arbitrators who issue a binding judgement on the dispute based on the parties’ agreement. Instead of going to court, the parties choose arbitration as a private dispute settlement mechanism.
• What is the definition of conciliation:
• Conciliation is an alternate dispute resolution tool in which parties work together to obtain an agreeable conclusion with the help of a neutral third party, the conciliator. is a voluntary process in which the parties concerned have the freedom to agree and try to resolve their disagreement through conciliation.

• Source – The PIB