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Narcotics: Crime, Terrorism and Control
Both types are consumed by people from all walks of life and some of these, called designer drugs, are popular among the elite, especially sports stars, show-biz celebrities and rave party goers. Various studies have shown how drug abuse ruins lives, destroys families and debilitates societies. In fact countries have been known to ‘push’ drugs across international borders to destroy the youth of the countries considered hostile — the effect of such a phenomenon can be seen in Punjab, the northeastern states and in metros like Mumbai and Delhi. Drug trafficking goes hand in hand with gunrunning, thus giving birth to the menace of narco-terrorism, which has assumed geo-political dimensions. Drug abuse in sports is well known. Whatever sport or its level of competition be, the illicit use of performance-enhancing drugs by sportspersons has become worrisome enough for IOC and other international sports bodies to initiate concerted campaigns against it. The author, a retired IPS officer, has relied on personal observations as well as empirical data to come up with this thought-provoking tome, which gives us an idea of the extent of drug menace in our country and what is being done to stem the rot.
During the closing years of the last millennium the late Swami Rama had hit the media headlines when he helped in setting up a hospital and medical college in Uttarakhand. Already noted for his Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy in the USA, he had little difficulty in having friends among the political and intellectual elite of India. Duggal is obviously one of them. He has painted a positive picture of the Swami and his contribution to India’s healthcare scenario. He has also mentioned Swami Rama’s yogic accomplishments and his love for Sikhism. However, in the chapter on his visit to M.S Gill’s house, the Swami brags about having played the Davis Cup up to the semi-finals stage, but conveniently forgets to mention the country he had represented and the year and venue of the feat. Similarly, in his encounter with Arun Shourie it is the latter who emerges taller as man of principles, and the Swami appears to be a man too eager to please him.
The Indo-US nuclear deal is now more or less a part of history unless the Obama administration decides to have a relook at it. The media in India, the US and in other parts of the world has thoroughly scrutinised various aspects of the deal and has generally come to the conclusion that it is good for the energy-starved India and hence for the world economy. There are geo-strategic issues too, but these have remained on the backburner as India has avowedly pursued this deal for reasons other than military. Sharma, a retired engineer, has dealt with various aspects of the deal in small and readable chapters. You may not agree with everything he says. However, where is the need for all those shlokas and jingoistic verbiage in what is purportedly an objective analysis?
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Multi-Splendoured Sage
Indo-US
Nuclear Deal