Rapid Fire Current Affairs | 12 Apr 2023

National Party

The Election Commission of India has recognized the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a national party. The decision was made based on a review of the parties’ poll performances, including the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and 21 state assembly polls since 2014. With this recognition, AAP joins the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), CPI(M), and National People’s Party (NPP) as the sixth national party in the country. This status ensures that the party’s symbol is reserved for its candidates across the country, and it gets land for an office in the national capital.

In contrast, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Communist Party of India (CPI) have lost their national party status. The EC's decision was based on the criteria stipulated in the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, of 1968. Among other conditions, a national party must get at least a 6% vote share in four or more states in the last Lok Sabha or Assembly elections and have at least four MPs in Lok Sabha. In its review, the EC found that the TMC did not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, while the NCP lost its state party status in Goa, Manipur, and Meghalaya. The CPI had its status as a state party withdrawn in West Bengal and Odisha.

Read more: National and State Parties

Guru Tegh Bahadur Parkash Purab

Guru Tegh Bahadur Parkash Purab 2023 is celebrated to mark the birth of the Ninth Guru of Sikhism, Guru Tegh Bahadur, and to remember his life and teachings. This year it is being observed on April 11, 2023. Tegh Bahadur was born on the 21st of April 1621 in Amritsar. He was raised under the guidance of his father, Guru Hargobind, who was known for raising an army against the Mughals and promoting the concept of warrior saints. Tegh Bahadur's contribution to Sikhism is immense. His poetic hymns are housed in the sacred text of Sikhism, 'Guru Granth Sahib.' He founded the town of Chak-Nanki in Punjab during one of his missions, which later became a part of Punjab's Anandpur Sahib.

Unfortunately, Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed in Delhi in 1675 under the orders of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. He is remembered as a saint and martyr who sacrificed his life to uphold the principles of freedom of religion and justice.

Read more: Guru Tegh Bahadur, Sikhism

Mahatma Jyotiba Phule

The Prime Minister has paid tribute to the great social reformer, philosopher, and writer Mahatma Jyotirao Phule on his birth anniversary. Jyotirao Phule was born on 11th April 1827 in Maharashtra, India. He belonged to the Mali caste of gardeners and vegetable farmers. Phule was greatly influenced by Thomas Paine’s book ‘The Rights of Man’, which led him to advocate for liberty, egalitarianism, and socialism. He believed in the enlightenment of women and lower-caste members as the only solution to combat social evils. Phule was a prolific writer, and his major publications include ‘Tritiya Ratna,’ ‘Gulamgiri,’ and ‘Shetkarayacha Aasud.’

Phule established the Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873, which meant ‘Seekers of Truth’ and aimed to attain equal social and economic benefits for lower castes in Maharashtra. In 1848, Phule and his wife Savitribai opened the first indigenously run school for girls in Pune, where they both taught. Phule was a believer in gender equality and involved his wife in all his social reform activities. He established an ashram for young widows and became an advocate for the idea of Widow Remarriage. He worked towards abolishing untouchability and the caste system in Maharashtra. Phule’s activism inspired the likes of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi. He passed away on 28th November 1890, and his memorial is built in Phule Wada, Pune, Maharashtra. It is believed that he was the first person to use the term ‘Dalit’ for the depiction of oppressed masses often placed outside the ‘varna system’.

Read more: Jyotirao Phule

Unified Licensing Portal

The Central Bureau of Narcotics has launched a unified portal aimed at streamlining the licensing and authorization process for the pharma and chemical industry in India. The portal has been developed with the goal of instilling efficiency, transparency, and accountability in the department's operations while boosting the economy for "Aatma Nirbhar Bharat" and ensuring the availability of essential narcotic drugs and medicines to patients and their families.

The portal will benefit drug exporters, importers, and manufacturers with easy and secure transactions, simplified processes, and contactless operations. The portal is designed to be integrated with other government services, including Bharat Kosh, GST, PAN-NSDL validation, e-Sanchit, and UIDAI, providing single-point services for obtaining licenses from the Central Bureau of Narcotics. The portal is an effective tool for striking a balance between the availability of these substances for medicinal, scientific, and industrial use while ensuring compliance with the law and preventing their diversion for illicit use.

Central Bureau of Narcotics is a central government organization dealing with the international trade of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances, and Precursor Chemicals under the ambit of various United Nations Conventions and the provisions of NDPS Act, 1985.

Read more: Narcotics Control Bureau