Tussle Within
As the war drags on, the US discovers the perils of allying with a dictator who wants to appear a statesman abroad and a politician at home.

Battle Weary Wasteland
An exclusive photo feature captures images of Afghan life during unending conflict.

Down and Out
An account of sebi's undoing under D.R. Mehta and the tasks for a new team that will be at the helm in the regulatory body early next year.

NEWSNOTES

	ILLICIT HIGH: Afghanistan is the largest producer of opium

Afghanistan: The US' Operation Enduring Freedom may not yet have had any impact on Osama bin Laden's liberty, but it has restricted Afghanistan's role in the drugs trade. The international narcotics market has witnessed a sharp drop in supplies from the war zone-both because of the close aerial surveillance and the intensive bombing.

Afghanistan accounts for 79 per cent of the global heroin supply. The war has meant that this has dwindled to a trickle and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Delhi believes its price will shoot up in the coming weeks.

At the moment, the price of heroin varies from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh for a kg, depending on the purity of the drug. Although the Taliban had officially banned opium cultivation in July 2000, the militia had taken no action to curtail drug trade. In 1999, Afghanistan produced 4,500 tonnes of opium and followed it up with another 3,600 tonnes the following year. Currently, the bulk of opium cultivation is done in areas controlled by the Northern Alliance.

But it is no secret that narco funds are a major source of finance for both the Taliban and bin Laden's Al Qaida. The Taliban has stockpiled more than 450 tonnes of high-grade heroin that is ready to be shipped out to the US and the West through either the Iran-Turkey-Balkans route or the Central Asian Republics-Moscow-US one.

The heroin travails do not end at the Afghan border. The golden triangle of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar is all set to take over. The opium harvest had been affected by two consecutive droughts, but is staging a comeback with this year's bountiful monsoon.

For India, the implications include not only increase in trafficking but also higher opium cultivation in Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

—Shishir Gupta

SPOTLIGHT
Stumbling at the Last Hurdle
The charming Indian habit of losing cricket finals

India's ninth straight defeat in one-day international finals has set off lamentations of "why us" and "not again". Perhaps it was unreasonable to expect the streak to end at eight losing finals. On that day, the Indians were not good enough to beat the South Africans as they won't be on any eight days out of 10. The reason there was optimism at all was because the two firestarters-Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar-had scored blazing hundreds in the league match against Kenya, and broken many records on the way. A more measured study of their performance in the finals would have warned against too much celebration because neither Ganguly nor Tendulkar have really fired in recent finals. Tendulkar has played only five of the nine finals, scored one 50, two ducks and averages 18. Ganguly, does better, averaging 30 in the nine finals. But he has crossed double figures only once in the past four finals. In truth only one statistic really matters: the team's win percentage in big games. It's not looking good and the big boys know why.

-Sharda Ugra

Black Prince

The only son of Nepal's King Gyanendra, Paras Bir Bikram Shah, 30, was proclaimed the crown prince, nearly five months after his father's coronation. In a departure from tradition, King Gyanendra did not name Paras as his successor in June, much to popular relief. The notorious prince, known to love fast cars and fast life, is perhaps the most reviled man in Nepal. Things came to a head in October 2000 when singer Praveen Gurung fell victim to Paras' callous driving. He escaped prosecution by invoking royal privileges.

MetroScape

Banglore: Pub

Delhi: Furniture Store

Kolkata: Restaurant