Tobacco.org

ITC hikes prices of premium cigarettes 

Tobacco and FMCG major ITC on Wednesday hiked prices of its premium cigarettes -- India Kings and Benson & Hedges -- in the range of 5-10%. While India Kings, priced at Rs 100, will now cost Rs 110, a pack of Benson & Hedges will come for Rs 105 against Rs 100 earlier.

An ITC spokesperson confirmed the hike but declined to give details.

Anand Shah, an analyst with Angel Broking, said the hike was partly to compensate for various regulatory issues and also because the company has seen earlier price hikes being absorbed without a dip in sales.

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Fire triggered by cigarette envelopes sleeping couple; man dies, wife hurt  

CHENNAI: A 36-year-old man died and his wife suffered severe burn injuries in a fire that broke out in their house in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar on Monday night. The couple were sleeping when the mishap occurred. The police said the incident could have been triggered by the man carelessly throwing away a burning cigarette end after a few drinks before going to sleep.

According to the police, Krishnan, a carpenter who hails from Tiruvannamalai, and his wife Lakshmi (30) have two children. While their son was living at one a relative's house in Tiruvannamalai, their daughter stayed with them.

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• Mumbai's women face secondhand smoke risks: Smokefree Mumbai  

Not unlike their contemporaries in other Asian cities, woman in metroes of India, including those in Mumbai run a significant risk of developing peripheral arterial disease (PAD) from secondhand smoke (SHS), an NGO Smokefree Mumbai has said in its report.

Presenting the report on Chinese women and SHS, published in the American Heart Association's Circulation (AHAC), today Smokefree Mumbai said the report found that SHS had a significant, negative impact on the health of Chinese women, who had never smoked, the risk which would, without doubt, equate to Indian women too.

The first of its kind report by the AHAC had revealed a link between exposure to SHS and an increased chance of suffering from coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease (PAD). . . .

''While 97 per cent Mumbaites have voted in favour of smoke-free environment, the ramification of the ban on smoking in public on the women population, largely non-smokers, may be found as reason for contemplation,'' observed the report.

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Railways cold to smoking ban  

NAGPUR: The train ticket examiners (TTEs), who have been authorised to take action against those found smoking in trains and on railway platforms under the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules 2008, issued by the health ministry notification have failed to enforce the ban.

The Union ministry of health and family welfare notification issued on September 15, 2009, authorises TTEs and Railway Protection Force (RPF) assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) to take action against smokers at stations, trains, platforms, waiting rooms and reservation counters. However, passengers have complained that the rule was not being enforced and offenders were being let off.

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Hostile bid for Golden Tobacco 

A little-known investor from Delhi has teamed up with a small financier from Howrah to launch an audacious takeover bid for Sanjay Dalmia-owned Golden Tobacco Ltd (GTL), which produces Panama and Chancellor cigarettes.

At the centre of the hostile takeover bid is Pramod Jain -- a 43-year-old financial services consultant based in Delhi's Green Park Extension -- who has cornered a 6.47 per cent stake in GTL along with a Calcutta-based ally.

Jain, who resigned as director of Dalmia-owned Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd (GHCL) on April 30, has joined hands with Howrah-based JP Financial Services Ltd to float an open offer to acquire another 25 per cent -- or a maximum of 44,02,201 shares -- from public shareholders at Rs 101 a share.

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ITC: Book Profits 

The likely moderation in tobacco business growth and forays into less profitable categories are the primary reasons to exit the stock at these valuations.

Building a brand reputation in the personal products business may entail high spending.

Investors can consider booking profits in ITC shares, as the stock valuations (30 times trailing earnings, at Rs 254) seem to have outpaced the medium-term growth prospects. Forays into businesses less profitable than the core tobacco business and the likely moderation in growth rates for tobacco are the primary reasons for the recommendation.

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• Nipped in butt: Tobacco sales up despite ban  

Ramadoss, the former Union minister of health and family welfare, tried to help Indians kick the butt through stringent controls on tobacco sales and advertisements. But strangely, after the ban on public smoking in October last year and the much-touted pictorial warnings on cigarette packs from May 31 this year, Indians seem to be smoking more!

Most of the major tobacco companies posted continuous sales growth during the past two quarters, April-June and July-September 2009. The largest domestic tobacco company, ITC, with cigarette brands such as India Kings, Classic, Gold Flake, Navy Cut, Bristol, Scissors, Capstan and Flake, registered sales growth of over 20% in the tobacco business in both the quarters ending June and September this year.

During the first quarter of FY10, in terms of sales, the tobacco business grew by 23%, whereas, during the second quarter of FY10, the cigarette business went up by 21% to Rs 2199.69 cr compared to a year ago.

One of the major reasons for the continued growth in cigarette consumption is that the pictorial warnings on tobacco products are ineffective, according to a recent study by Mumbai-based health research organisation Healis.

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Puff ban hole in cancer fight 

The ban on public smoking is likely to have only a limited impact in the country on tobacco-related cancers which are primarily driven by tobacco chewing, a senior oncologist has said.

Although smoking can cause cancers of the lung, larynx and oesophagus, cancer registry figures suggest oral cancer, which is associated with tobacco chewing, accounts for the majority of tobacco-related cancers in the country, said Pankaj Chaturvedi, a surgeon at Mumbai's Tata Memorial Hospital.

"About 60 to 70 per cent of India's estimated 250-million tobacco users chew tobacco," Chaturvedi said at a conference organised by the health ministry to devise strategies to address the problem of smokeless tobacco. "The ban on smoking deals with only about one-third of tobacco users."

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If you puff in public, fine is imminent now  

BHUBANESWAR, 10 NOV: If you love to smoke and do not hesitate to puff in public places with a contemptuous look despite the fact that the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA)-2003 has been implemented banning smoking in public places since 2 October, then be aware.

Next time, you try to light up a cigarette in a public place, it is highly probable that a policeman may appear and impose a fine of up to Rs 200.

With the state government deciding to ensure the stringent implementation of Copta-2003 onwards, it has come up with an ambitious plan to make Bhubaneswar a smoke-free city within next six months.

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Campaign against ills of tobacco  

The ministry of health and family welfare today launched a nationwide televised campaign against tobacco chewing.

The campaign has been launched by the tobacco control wing of the ministry, along with World Lung Foundation and Bloomberg Initiative to reduce use of tobacco.

The campaign called Surgeon and will be telecast in more than 25 national and regional television channels in 12 regional languages.

The national family health survey 2005-06 said around 38 per cent men and 10 per cent women across the country consume smokeless tobacco that include pan, gutka, pan masala and a number of other forms.

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Alternate crops for tobacco farmers: Trivedi 

Reiterating the Government's commitment on tobacco control, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dinesh Trivedi said it was working on rehabilitation of beedi workers, who could be rendered jobless, and creating alternative cropping systems to wean away tobacco farmers to other crops.

Noting that the biggest challenge to taking forward tobacco control measures came from beedi rolling industry and tobacco farming, he said his Ministry has started consultations with Rural Development Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry to address the issue.

With the Rural Development Ministry, consultations have begun to introduce projects and schemes for self-help groups under Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana and with the Agriculture Ministry, the endeavour was aimed at developing alternative cropping systems to enable tobacco farmers to move to other crops.

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Government to enforce ban on smoking in public 

Bhubaneswar could become the first ‘smoke-free’ city in Orissa in the next six months as the State Government draws up elaborate measures to enforce the ban on smoking in public places stringently and implement the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003.

From now on those found smoking in public places like hotels, restaurants, stadium, bus stops and cinema halls would be fined. The penalty for the offence would be up to Rs 200. Flying squads would be set up for monitoring, enforcement and compliance of the ban as well as implementation of the Act.

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Ban on smoking: City to breathe easier  

If all goes well, Bhubaneswar will become "smoke-free" within the next six months. The state government on Tuesday announced to crack down on smokers in public places in the city. To ensure that the general public is not forced to become passive smokers, anyone found violating the rule will be fined up to Rs 200.

"Imposing fine on smokers in public places would definitely be a big step towards making the city smoke-free," Health minister Prasanna Acharya said. "It was due to several arrangements needed to implement the rule that led to the delay in imposing it," he added.

He further said that the rule should not be confined only to offices, hotels, market places and malls, but awareness must also be created among a larger section of the people who live in the city's slums.

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Anti-smoking law comes into effect in Orissa  

Orissa government today launched strict measures to implement the law prohibiting smoking at public places.

Anybody found to be smoking in public places would be penalised and a fine of Rs 200 would be imposed on the offender by the enforcement squad, Health and Family Welfare Minister Prasanna Acharya said.

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Ministry ban in place 

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 6: Visiting your daughter or son at school? Then better stub out that cigarette and throw away the gutkha packet.

State's school and college campuses will soon be tobacco free zones, according to a notification that has been sent to the state education department. The news of the notification was confirmed by health minister Prasanna Acharaya today.

The move came after Union health ministry imposed a guideline prohibiting sale and consumption of tobacco products within 100 yards of educational institutes.

"Teachers, parents or visitors on campuses will have to abide by the rule, along with students," said a visibly elated anti-tobacco activist Itishree Kanungo of Aparajita.

"An alarming proportion of school personnel use tobacco and students often imitate them. More alarmingly, there has been an increasing rise of tobacco use among girls. The ban should help prevent the birth of more addicts," she added.

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