Letters To The Editor

Off-limits8226; I DO not understand why the three youngsters who drove through the fist gate at 7 Race Course Road were held up by the poli...

Off-limits

8226; I DO not understand why the three youngsters who drove through the fist gate at 7 Race Course Road were held up by the police as if they committed a criminal act. Did they enter the PM8217;s house? Were they carrying weapons? Was there any criminal intent? All they wanted was to meet the PM, which is the right of a citizen in a democracy. Once they were told they could not meet him, they merrily went away. In recent years public spaces have been increasingly converted into closed areas. The entire length of Race Course Road and the roads in front and on the sides of Rashtrapati Bhavan are closed. Recently even India Gate was closed to the public after a perceived security threat. Access to public buildings like the Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament House is already barred. Can this happen in America? Anyone can drive, cycle or jog in front of the White House. After 9/11, when security agencies proposed that Capitol Hill be closed to the public, there was an uproar. The proposal was rejected, since the building belongs to the American people and not the senators and Congressmen who sit there. But we say we are the world8217;s largest democracy.

8212; Maj Gen V.K. Singh retd, Gurgaon

Drugs decontrol

8226; IT is hardly good news that over-the-counter drugs 8216;Soon your grocer may sell OTC drugs8217;, IE, July 28 would soon be available at the grocer8217;s and department stores, as is the practice in developed countries. In our country it is a matter of greater concern that even dangerous prescription drugs are available over the counter without a prescription. In my practice of medicine I have observed that self-medication is on the rise. Often patients on their first visit carry a packet of medicines including prescription drugs, which they have already tried to get well. The proposed measure may have a rationale with regard to small villages, where you won8217;t find a chemist8217;s shop, not beyond that. I wish to draw the attention of Dr Ashwani Kumar, Drug Controller-General of India, that a stricter control on the distribution of prescription drugs is urgent to avoid dangerous adverse reactions, which at times go unrecorded, as a system for adverse drug reaction ADR monitoring is almost non-existent in our country, even in a hospital situation.

8212; F.S.K. Barar Jodhpur

Nooks of deal

8226; I SMELL a rat in the 8220;rat8221;ifying of the Indo-US nuclear deal. The fact that the bill authored by Mr Hyde which explains the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the bill was 8216;ayed8217; by 219 Republicans and 140 Democrats shows that they have a selfish motive to get the bill pushed through. At least fringe benefits would definitely accrue to the US by its passage. The treaty appears to be full of constraints and checks on the Indian nuclear regime. One of the caveats states that the US will seek to halt the increase of nuclear weapons arsenal in South Asia and to promote their reduction and total elimination. Another states that the President has to annually report the steps he is taking to encourage India to declare a date by which India would be willing to stop production of fissile material. The bill also requires the President to submit every year a report providing inner secrets about India8217;s nuclear programme. Here the US and not the IAEA will become a watchdog and monitor our nuclear ambitions. And what are the benefits for us? A guarantee of supply of nuclear fuel from America. But in the event we breach the deal then not only would the US stop supplying fuel to India but also stop other Nuclear Supply Group countries from doing so!

8212; Hemant Hemmady Virar