This day holds great significance in Indian history. On this very day, March 12, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi initiated the Salt Satyagraha from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi in Gujarat, which is why it is also sometimes referred to as the Dandi March. The march was based on Gandhi's ideas of non-violence and it was only the first domino that later intensified into the larger Civil Disobedience Movement. The 24-day march from March 12 to April 5 was a tax resistance campaign against the British salt monopoly.
At the time, it was the most organised movement against the British Raj after the Non-Cooperation Movement of the early 1920s. This event received a great deal of global media attention at the time and continues to hold a place in the classrooms of world history. The significance of this event can be attested by the fact that, in 1997, a Rs 500 note was issued with the Mahatma on the front and on the other side, an image that represented the Dandi March was featured.
This, of course, was erased by demonetisation and the new Rs 500 note now holds an image that depicts the Red Fort on one side and Mahatma Gandhi on the other.
Another significant event that changed the world happened on this day. In November 2002, the first case of atypical pneumonia was reported in the Guangdong province of Southern China. Soon, in February 2003, this unusual pneumonia was reported in Vietnam. This is when the World Health Organization (WHO) examined the case of this unknown form of pneumonia.
WHO officer Carlo Urbani reported an unusual outbreak of the illness on March 10, 2003, he called it Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). On March 11, 2003, a similar outbreak of this respiratory disease was reported amongst healthcare workers in Hong Kong.
Finally, on March 12, 2003, WHO issued a global alert about this newfound disease in both Vietnam and Hong Kong. The timeline of these events has similarities to the SARS-CoV-2 virus — that causes the Coronavirus disease. It was on March 11, 2020, that the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
