India destroyed more than 12,000 kilograms of narcotics estimated to be worth $77 million on Wednesday as part of a nationwide campaign to fight drugs in the 75th year of the country’s independence.
Interior Minister Amit Shah, a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pressed the incinerator button remotely to destroy the cache in western Gujarat state.
It was part of an event on drugs, trafficking and national security, organised by the Narcotics Control Bureau, the federal drug law enforcement agency. It said the drugs were estimated to be worth 6.3 billion rupees on the international market.
“Narcotics is like a termite which is trying to consume our youth … also the money generated from drug trafficking feeds terrorism … it is a two-pronged weapon that is destroying our youth and funding terrorism and it is our responsibility to fight it,” Mr Shah said.
“At this delicate point, we have to make a resolution to clean the country of this termite.”
More than 2,300 people died of drug overdoses from 2017 to 2019, according to the data by the National Crime Records Bureau in 2021.
The anti-drugs agency has launched a campaign to destroy at least 75,000kg of confiscated drugs in 75 days, to mark India’s 75th year of independence.
Mr Shah started the campaign in July by destroying more than 31,000kg of drugs in northern Chandigarh city, followed by incineration of 40,000kg in north-eastern Guwahati city.
India has a widespread menace of drug trafficking. The northern state of Punjab is plagued by drug abuse, while the ports in Gujarat have been increasingly used by traffickers and smugglers for shipping contraband.
Police had seized 3,000kg of heroin worth more than 3.5 billion rupees ($44m) in a container near the country's largest commercial port of Mundra in July.
Gujarat, the home state of Mr Modi, is scheduled to go to polls this year and has hosted a number of visits by politicians, including the prime minister, in recent days.
T10 Cricket League
Sharjah Cricket Stadium
December 14- 17
6pm, Opening ceremony, followed by:
Bengal Tigers v Kerala Kings
Maratha Arabians v Pakhtoons
Tickets available online at q-tickets.com/t10
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
ODI FIXTURE SCHEDULE
First ODI, October 22
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Second ODI, October 25
Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
Third ODI, October 29
Venue TBC
Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
