23-Apr-2018: Foreigners can travel to Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur unrestricted
Foreign tourists, except those from Pakistan, China and Afghanistan, would now be allowed to visit some of the most pristine locations of the country which, so far, were out of bounds for them without a special permit.
The Home Ministry has decided to relax the six-decade-old Protected Area Permit regime from Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur for five years with effect from April 1.
Under the Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order, 1958, all areas falling between the Inner line and the International Border of some states were declared as protected areas.
The protected areas currently include whole of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim, besides parts of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir. Some parts of Sikkim fall under the protected area regime while others under the restricted area.
Citizens from Pakistan, China and Afghanistan, however, continue to be banned from all PAP areas, including Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur.
As per a December 30, 2010 circular of the ministry, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland were excluded from the protected area regime initially for a period of one year from January 1, 2011, subject to some conditions.
As per the guidelines, a foreign national is not normally allowed to visit a protected or restricted area unless the government is satisfied that there are extraordinary reasons to justify his or her visit.
Every foreigner, except a citizen of Bhutan, who desires to enter and stay in a protected or restricted area, is required to obtain a special permit from a competent authority having the power to issue such permits.
In cases, where the power to issue such permits has not been delegated to a subordinate authority by the Union government, the application for the special permit has to be referred to the Home Affairs Ministry for prior approval, at least eight weeks before the date of the expected visit.
With an aim to promote tourism, the government, time to time by notification, exempts some of such restricted or protected areas from the need of special permission for foreigners to visit them.
Necessary powers have been delegated to various authorities to issue such special permits without the prior approval of the Home Ministry to facilitate foreign tourists subject to the certain exceptions.
In cases of foreign diplomats, including the members of the United Nations and international organisations holding diplomatic or official passports, the special permits to visit such protected or restricted areas are issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.
In cases of the citizens of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan and foreign nationals of Pakistani origin, no permit, however, can be issued without the prior approval of the Union Home Ministry.
23-Mar-2018: First National Conference on Drug Law Enforcement
Narco-terrorism and its funding is a serious problem for the world, especially for India. The two-day first National Conference on Drug Law Enforcement has begun. The challenge for law enforcement agencies and the society is to prevent drug abuse among youth. The problem of drug trafficking assumes importance for India as it lies in the “Golden Crescent” and “Golden Triangle” as a transit route for drug mafia. India’s nodal drug law enforcement agency, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has been sharing intelligence information with other agencies of the world in tackling drug trafficking.
New challenges emerge in the form of Pharmaceutical drugs, precursors and synthetic drugs and the law enforcement agencies need to adopt new methods and technologies to curb this menace. The agencies must also take strong legal measures as the conviction rate in narcotics-related cases is very low. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment gives 90 percent financial aid to NGOs and other social organizations for creating awareness among youth against drug abuse and for rehabilitation of drug victims and training centres.
The conference is being organised by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Ministry of Home Affairs. More than 50 State and Central law enforcement agencies involved in combating drug trafficking are participating in this Conference. They include State Police organizations, State Excise departments, Border Guarding Forces, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), CBI and other Central agencies involved in drug enforcement work.
Conference working sessions are focused on various topics such as ‘Wider context of drug trafficking in India’, ‘Financial Investigations’ and ‘Foreign & Cyber Investigations’. During these sessions various agencies would give presentations while UN and other foreign law enforcement agencies would share their experiences.
9-Mar-2018: First ever 'crime-free zone' along international border launched
In a first for both countries, the director generals of the Border Security Force(BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) declared an 8.3 km stretch of the Indo-Bangladesh border
as a 'crime-free zone'. Both border guarding forces with the help of the civil administrations of the two countries, NGOs and the local populace will help in ensuring that no crime takes place along the stretch that covers the Gunarmath and Kalyani Border Out Posts (BOPs) in India and the Puthkhali and Daulatpur BOPs across the border.
This will add a new dimension to border management with all countries in the world concerned about terrorism and crimes such as smuggling of drugs and human trafficking. Both the forces will work together to ensure that no crime or anti-social activity occurs along this stretch. The border populations on both sides have relatives across the border. They will certainly want peace and security along the border and we seek their help.
This decision was taken during the DG level talks in New Delhi in October 2017. While the BSF has brought in more manpower and equipment to secure this stretch, we shall also expect help from people's representatives, NGOs, the local administration and the local people.
This stretch is one of the most vulnerable with cattle smuggling and other criminal activities prevalent. The idea is to target the more difficult areas along the 913 km of Indo-Bangladesh border under the BSF's South Bengal Frontier. This is a pilot project that will be reviewed after 5-6 months. The stretch will be extended to other trouble-prone areas in the future. For the first time, two border liaising posts have been set up smack on the border. These will be manned round-the-clock and if there is any emergency, both forces will move together. From around 100 troops we have increased the strength to 250. BSF have also brought in more speedboats, motorcycles and equipment like thermal imagers and night vision goggles.