http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/bidis.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_rs1-lakh-worth-fake-beedis-seized-kingpin-arrested_1645365 http://tobacco.org/news/333234.html If they are doing this with beedis, then cigarettes may not be far behind. KG Halli police have arrested a person for rolling spurious beedis and selling them in wrappers labelled with names and logos of original brands. The accused, Mohammed Khaleel, 50, a resident of KG Halli, was manufacturing beedis in his house for the past five years and had employed six persons. The police discovered that Khaleel had used well-known beedi brands like Mangalore Ganesh Beedi and Khaja Beedi to push his duplicate products in the market to make easy money. "It is very difficult to identify the fake ones from the original beedis. Each pack of beedis that he had manufactured in his house looked so identical with the original brands that even we were foxed," said a police official. DNA India India Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/item/50745-impoverished-their-dreams-go-up-in-smoke.html http://tobacco.org/news/331111.html Women of Tantipada, a small hamlet located in the close proximity of Pakud Railway Station, remain undisturbed by the chaotic crowd of passengers and the ear deafening sound of the trains, as their numb hands are busy rolling, passing, tying and stuffing the tendu leaves with the hazardous zarda, or tobacco in Hindi, so that they are able to achieve the target of 1,000 beedis by the end of the day. They work continuously for 10-16 hours, sitting in one position with the entire body involved in this gruelling process, inhaling huge amounts of tobacco dust and they do all this to just earn a meagre amount of Rs 55? A “pain in the chest” is indeed the rightful reaction. Kiran Ravidas, a widow who lives in the weary cottage in Tantipada, narrates the tale of struggle of the entire lot of beedi workers. After working incessantly for 20 years, Kiran at the age of 30 is counting her last breathe with painful cough hammering her chest every time she respires. Kiran, unfortunately, has many companions around her. Ninety per cent of the dwellers of this harijan settlement are involved in this hazardous occupation. This home-based industry is the major source of livelihood for the poor and that is the reason why the precarious side of it is generally avoided by the beedi workers. “We are the uneducated poor lot and this reason is enough for us to overlook the variety of diseases we are exposed to. Employment schemes and other development programmes never reach us. Only the rich and powerful have access to such funds,” tells Sunita Ravidas who has given up all hopes on life and corrupt government policies. Daily Pioneer India Tue, 27 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2011/11/20/sec04.asp http://tobacco.org/news/329031.html The effort to circumvent the law by manufacturers of beedi producers has been thwarted following the decision of the Court of Appeal recently. Although white Beedi manufacturers argued that their product does not fall within the ambit of law under the Tobacco Tax Act No 8 of 1999 and Tobacco Tax (Amendment) Act No 9 of 2004, Courts have held that all Beedi production was governed by law. At a discussion held recently on the developments of law relating to the tobacco industry, Attorney-at-Law Kalinga Indatissa disclosed that the knowledge on law relating to the Tobacco Act and its amendments have not been thoroughly understood by the public as well as the media that created problems. Referring to laws that are currently in operation he said they were designed by the British during their reign. “The thinking behind the laws were the thinking of the Britishers then. But times and systems have changed and the laws need to be amended to suit the present day society.” Sunday Observer damith.web@lakehouse.lk Sri Lanka Sun, 20 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.womensenews.org/story/labor/111017/job-rolling-tobacco-sickens-indias-women http://tobacco.org/news/327644.html Now, at 25, she is a frequent face at the small dispensary for beedi workers in her village of Rengali, in Sambalpur district. Her father, also a beedi roller, died from respiratory complications some years ago. But that didn't stop her from rolling beedis. In fact, her father's death left the family without his income and made any thoughts of leaving the work that much harder. "I have to take care of my ailing mother and my four younger siblings so I cannot avoid this work," she says with a shrug. Female beedi workers can expect to earn only between $4 or so a week for rolling between 3,500 and 4,000 beedis. Beedis are smoked like cigarettes but deliver more nicotine and tar. They accounted for 48 percent of Indian tobacco consumption in 2008. Dr. S.N. Mohanty, a doctor working in a federal dispensary at Regali village, believes that ingesting tobacco also hurts reproductive health. "Although no survey has been done here on the health of women beedi workers, 80 to 85 percent of them are malnourished, experience frequent abortions and miscarriages and give birth to stillborn or low-birth weight babies." Women's Enews Tue, 18 Oct 2011 04:00:00 GMT http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/3-5-lakh-children-are-bidi-workers-in-madhya-pradesh-131011 http://tobacco.org/news/325723.html Gudiya may be the youngest in the group but she is no exception. From Sagar to Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, lakhs of children work in the bidi belt. All this is done to help their families survive. What's more is that the problem seems to be passing on from generation to generation. Munni Bai, a bidi roller is a classic case in point. "I have four children. Two sons and two daughters. They all roll bidis. They started when they were 10." Government estimates say one fourth of bidi workers in the state are children below 14, which means of the estimated 14 lakh bidi workers, 3.5 lakh are children. But despite these shocking figures, the government seems to have made little effort to stop it. As Ajit Jain, Secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and an MP points out, "Who is the employer of the child? The law is silent. In all cases, the employer gets away The government also backs off. "We say that whoever's label is on the bidi, that employer should make a declaration that no child labourers are being employed. But it is difficult to establish who the employer is because the names of workers are not registered.'' Jain and others trade unionists are demanding an amendment to the law enacted in 1966. New Delhi Television Limited India Sat, 03 Sep 2011 04:00:00 GMT http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-14/jaipur/29772934_1_number-of-people-smoking-tobacco-consumption-cigarette-and-bidi http://tobacco.org/news/323523.html JAIPUR: In Rajasthan, tobacco chewing is on the rise. It has increased by 0.1% as compared to smoking. In the state, around 18.9% of the total population chews tobacco while 18.8% population smokes. The figures were released by the World Health Organization last week. Asthma and tobacco specialist Dr Virendra Singh said, "The number of people chewing tobacco is rising. Chewing tobacco is more dangerous than smoking as it increases chances of cancer. The risk is three times higher in chewing tobacco than smoking because in chewing tobacco essence and supari is mixed, which make it more risky." The newly-released figures show that smoking among women in Rajasthan is also higher than the national average. In India, 2.9% of total women population smoke but the figure is much higher in Rajasthan. It is around 5.3%. But the percentage of women chewing tobacco is much higher than smoking. The Times of India India Thu, 14 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1e73ee9a-9383-11e0-922e-00144feab49a,s01=1.html http://tobacco.org/news/321381.html New Delhi is to offer free health insurance to millions of workers who make hand-rolled tobacco sticks, known as bidis – or the poor man’s smoke. The Indian cabinet, led by Manmohan Singh, prime minister, signed off a proposal this week to extend medical cover to the bidi industry’s entire 5.5m workforce within three years. The move has drawn praise from parliamentarians despite an international trend to withdraw state support from the tobacco industry in the interests of public health. The industry’s magnates include some who are close to power, including one cabinet minister. Praful Patel, the minister for heavy industries and former aviation minister, owns one of India’s biggest bidi and tobacco-derivatives businesses, Ceejay Tobacco. He is a close political ally of Sharad Pawar Financial Times India Fri, 10 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/8432054.cms?prtpage=1 http://tobacco.org/news/320157.html Like father, unlike son. After five decades of tasting and rolling beedis in Nadiad district in Gujarat, 70-year-old Ghanshyambhai Samantsing called it a day last year. In what is still considered a traditional profession, none of his three sons followed him into it. Samantsing didn't encourage them. "It was not healthy - I used to sometimes smoke 25-100 beedis in a day - and not rewarding," he says. The sons saw better options elsewhere. One is a driver, the other a farmer and the third runs a grocery shop. Second son Dharmendra Samantsing, 37, who is a driver by profession, highlights the generational shift. "During our father's time, the only industry to work in was tobacco companies or farms," he says. "Now, we have so many options. I work only for eight hours a day in air-conditioned comfort and earn Rs 5,000 a month." The next generation opting out is fuelling a labour crisis in the 21,000 crore, labour-intensive beedi industry. The Economic Times India Thu, 19 May 2011 04:00:00 GMT http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=135836&date=2011-05-16 http://tobacco.org/news/320014.html Leaders of different social and environmental organisations Sunday demanded increase of tax on bidi, cigarette and all tobacco products in the upcoming budget for protecting public health and saving lives from their harmful effects, reports BSS. Tobacco and tobacco products claim nearly 57,000 lives and cripple 382,000 people in Bangladesh every year, they told a sit-in programme organised by Bangladesh Anti-tobacco Alliance (BATA) in front of Malibagh Supermarket in the city, according to a press release. Financial Express Bangladesh Mon, 16 May 2011 04:00:00 GMT http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=184415 http://tobacco.org/news/319494.html Some workers of bidi (hand-rolled cigarette) factories yesterday demanded alternative employment if the government wants to discourage smoking and close bidi factories by imposing high tax. Speaking at a discussion, they urged the government to impose high tax on low cost cigarettes so that the bidi industry can survive and demanded a seperate wage structure. The discussion titled "Bidi Worker and Government Policy" was organised by Research and Development Collective (RDC) at CIRDAP auditorium in the city. Speaking at the discussion, one of the workers Chameli said many are forced to work in biri factories due to absence of an alternate employment opportunity in local communities. Advocate Nilufar Banu, researcher of RDC, quoting her keynote paper, said, "We the organisers of research and development collective are not in favour of smoking or use of tobacco. We also want smoking to be discouraged. Dhaka Daily Star India Fri, 06 May 2011 04:00:00 GMT http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/HC-to-top-cop-Enforce-tobacco-ban/articleshow/6904168.cms http://tobacco.org/news/310556.html NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Wednesday ensured that the new commissioner of police, B K Gupta, has one task cut out removal of shops selling tobacco products within a 100-m radius of hospitals and educational institutions. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan, while hearing a PIL, directed the police chief to make sure that no tobacco products are permitted to be sold within 100 metres of schools, colleges and hospitals in the city. HC's directive came on the PIL filed by World Lung Foundation, seeking the court's intervention due to failure of authorities to implement the ban on tobacco sale under the provisions of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003 (COPTA). Pointing out the abysmal failure of the government to implement the ban mandated by COPTA, the PIL alleged there was large unchecked sale of tobacco products such as pan masala, cigarettes and gutkha in the prohibited areas. This not only resulted in luring youngsters to such products and wreaking their lives, but also caused widespread social and mental damage to society, the petitioners informed the court. The Times of India India Thu, 11 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.financialexpress.com/news/high-tax-on-cigarettes-making-contraband-market-flourish/707259/0 http://tobacco.org/news/310310.html High taxation on cigarettes is not only fuelling consumption of cheaper tobacco products like bidis, chewing khaini, gutka, in India but also leading to the growth of contraband cigarettes market causing loss of over Rs 3,000 crore annually to the government. Therefore, the Tobacco Institute of India (TII) has urged the government to re-look at its taxation policy towards cigarettes. As a result, leading cigarette manufacturers like ITC, Godfrey Phillips and others are set to lobby for lowering of excise duty and other taxes on cigarettes, sources said. Citing a recent survey released by Global Adult Tobacco Survey and published by the health ministry, TII said only 5.7% adults consume cigarettes while a bulk consume cheaper tobacco products. TII is a representative body of tobacco farmers, exporters, manufacturers and trade and ancillary industries associated with the Rs 22,000 crore cigarette industry in the country. According to TII, the contraband trade in cigarettes consists of the international brands that are smuggled into India and the duty evaded cigarettes manufactured domestically by small and unscrupulous manufacturers. "With steep duty increases over the last few years this segment has grown exponentially," TII said. Financial Express India Fri, 05 Nov 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.thehindu.com/health/policy-and-issues/article867173.ece http://tobacco.org/news/310200.html The percentage of students aged 13-15 years using tobacco is only increasing, despite better information on the dangers of smoking, the second phase of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey has concluded. The study, set in two phases (the first was completed in 2006), observed a total of 24,000 students in about 180 schools categorised into six geographical regions - Northern, Central, Eastern, North Eastern, Western, and Southern. The percentage of use of tobacco products in that age group rose from 13.7 in 2006 to 14.6 in 2009. This includes smoking cigarettes, beedis, and use of chewable tobacco. Individually too, the percentage of users of cigarettes, beedis and smokeless tobacco products has increased among boys mostly, pushing up the average. It has, however, seen a marginal drop in use among girls, from 9.4 per cent to 8.3 per cent, according to authors V. Gajalakshmi and C.V. Kanimozhi in the September issue of the journal Tobacco Use Insights. The Hindu Online web.thehindu@thehindu.co.in ( Ramya Kannan) India Thu, 04 Nov 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6851658.cms?prtpage=1 http://tobacco.org/news/309902.html 5.7 percent of India’s tobacco consumption is because of cigarettes, but chewing tobacco and bidis account for a huge 35 per cent, calling for government attention for safeguarding the health of millions of people. This is evident from the latest statistics collected under the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) initiated by the Ministry of Health . The pattern of tobacco consumption in India is unique and unlike elsewhere in the world, where on an average 90 percent of tobacco is consumed in the form of cigarettes, says the Tobacco Institute of India (TII). The differential consumption rate has been attributed mainly to the skewed taxation policy, as per the institute, as both types of tobacco -- smoking or chewing -- are equally injurious to health. According to TII, cigarettes account for 5.7 per cent of adult tobacco consumption, but contribute over 70 percent to total taxes collected from the tobacco sector. . . . TII is a representative body of tobacco farmers, tobacco exporters, manufacturers, trade and ancillary industries associated with the cigarette industry in India. The Economic Times India Mon, 01 Nov 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-india-smoking-20101021,0,3850630.story http://tobacco.org/news/309493.html India may have banned smoking in public, but it's not exactly making smokers an endangered species. According to India's first survey on adult tobacco use, nearly 35% of adults consume tobacco in some form, as do 10% of 15- to 17-year-olds. In addition to cigarettes, cigars, pipes and hookahs, Indians, particularly in poor communities, frequently smoke bidis, a sort of rolled up leaf tobacco that sells for a few cents for a pack of 30. Los Angeles Times India Thu, 21 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT