News Wrap

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Under the amended rules, notified on 31 May 2021, no government servant who has worked in intelligence or security, can publish anything related to these organizations after retirement without permission. They will now have to sign an undertaking on retirement. Failure to comply can lead to pension being withheld or withdrawn. The amendment is likely to impact retired police chiefs and officials of security related organizations, who regularly write columns for newspapers or news portals, pen their memoirs, or write books on their former organizations. The rules have been amended only to control the narrative, and any expression of dissent. Retired officials of security officials have access to “sensitive information”, that imperil the “sovereignty and integrity of India”. The revised rules widen the scope of restrictions. The amendment could create a sense of fear among retired officials from security organizations.

Loss Of Heritage
While the Supreme Court has upheld the legality of the Central Vista Project in New Delhi, the National Archives of India (NAI) is the largest repository of historical documents for the last 130 years. Its cartography section houses more than one lac maps, including rare and confidential maps related to various parts of India, and 30 other countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Tibet, and China, from early 1600 AD. The NAI has post-1947 period as well. The demolition of the NAI building would put innumerable precious documents at the risk of getting lost or damaged, because of mishandling.

Belarus Forces Plane From Greece To Lithuania To Land In Minsk
A Ryanair jetliner, flying from Greece to Vilnius in Lithuania, was forced by Belarusian authorities to land in Minsk, on 23 May 2021. Belarussian authorities scrampled a Mig 29 jet fighter to force the plane from Athens to Lithuania, to land in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. The Belarussian authorities claimed a bomb threat, from the Islamist militant group Hamas, who have denied any knowledge or connection to any bomb threat. Ever since he won a disputed election in Aug 2020, president Lukashenko, aged 66 years, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, has cracked down on dissenting forces. Many opposition figures have been arrested, while others have fled into exile. Journalist Roman Protasevich and his girl friend were arrested when the plane landed in Minsk.

The journalist was living in exile in Lithuania since 2019 and was assisting an independents news outlet, disseminating news about Belarus that authorities in Minsk clearly deemed offensive, the activist journalist. fears the death penalty, because Belarus is the only European country that executes prisoners. The European nations plan for sanctions that could target Belarus’s lucrative potassium industry.

North Korea Socialism
As he tries to forty his power amid pandemic related difficulties, and United States led economic sanctions, North Koreaean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed an uncompromising struggle against anti-socialist elements at home. Kim is the third member of his family to rule the impoverished nuclear armed country. Doubts are increasing about North Korea’s economy, and whether it will engage in serious disarmament talks with Washington. United States will not relax sanctions, a step North Korea badly wants, until North Korea takes de-Nucleaization steps. Kim views his nuclear weapons as his government’s only guarantee of survival. He opposes anti-socialist and non-socialist practices. Citizens pursuing capitalism and perceived selfishness are viewed by Kin, as a running counter to socialism and collectivism, and posing a threat to his family’s rule.

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Frontier
Vol. 54, No. 19, Nov 7 - 13, 2021