Foreign Journalists In Kashmir Now Need Government Permission | Latest Burning Issues

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WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

•The central government has written to foreign journalists stationed in India advising them to obtain prior permission for visiting Jammu and Kashmir
•The Ministry of External Affairs has ‘reminded’ the journalists of a rule that states that foreign nationals require permission to travel to areas protected under the Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order, 1958

FOREIGNERS (PROTECTED AREAS) ORDER 1958

• Under Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order, 1958, all areas falling between Inner line and International Border of some states have been declared as protected areas.
•The protected areas currently include whole of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Sikkim, besides parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir.

GUIDELINES

• Under Protected areas Regime, foreign nationals are not normally allowed to visit protected or restricted area unless Government is satisfied that there are extra-ordinary reasons to justify their visit.
• Every foreigner, except citizen of Bhutan, who desires to enter and stay in protected or restricted area, is required to obtain special permit (PAP) from competent authority having power to issue such permits to foreigner, seeking it.

Citizens of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan and foreign nationals of Pakistani origin are exception and are not allowed to enter such areas.

OFFICIAL DOCUMENT CUT OUT

IPS OFFICER WHO LED TO VEERAPPAN’S END TO ADVISE GOVERNOR

K Vijay Kumar, a former IPS officer and an antiMaoist expert, has been named advisor to Governor Vohra. Kumar’s experience ranges from jungle warfare and security detail to counterinsurgency. Also, Chhattisgarh cadre IAS officer B V R Subrahmanyam has been appointed the Chief Secretary of the state in place of B B Vyas.