http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/country/india.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSBMA00127620080819?sp=true http://tobacco.org/news/270324.html ITC Ltd, India's top cigarette firm, said on Tuesday its information technology arm has acquired U.S-based technology firm Pyxis Solutions for an undisclosed sum. Last month, ITC Chairman Y.C. Deveshwar said the company was in talks to acquire a U.S.-based information technology firm and the acquisition would be made through ITC Infotech. Reuters India Mon, 18 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Patna/Health_dept_clueless_on_smoking_ban_in_pubs/articleshow/3387309.cms http://tobacco.org/news/270291.html Come October 2 this year, and the bartender or the waiter won't come rushing with a lighter as soon as you put the cigarette between your lips while sitting in a pub or a restaurant. In May this year, the Union health ministry declared that the Centre would strictly enforce the ban on smoking in public places from October 2. The announcement came after the existing law, brought out two-and-a-half years ago was modified to book offenders. Till now, the law has only been on paper. The state health department, however, has no clue about the deadline. "We have not received any official letter from the Centre but if such a rule is to be enforced, the department would go whole hog for its effective implementation," health secretary Deepak Kumar said. The Times of India India Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Govt-turns-the-heat-on-tobacco-vendors-near-educational-institutes/349455/ http://tobacco.org/news/270158.html Through an order, the Executive Magistrate-cum-Director Public Instruction (Schools), SK Setia, has prohibited nearly 125 shops from selling cigarettes and other tobacco products within 100 yards of all educational institutes in Chandigarh . The said shops face closure should they fail to comply with the order. The order has come in response to a number of complaints filed by social activist Hemant Goswami, who is also a member of the 'National Steering Committee on Tobacco Control' constituted by the Union Government. Earlier, the entire city was surveyed, and an NGO named 'Burning Brain Society' prepared a list of nearly 125 tobacco vendors selling tobacco products within 100 yards of any educational institution. India Express India Sat, 16 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.financialexpress.com/news/No-smoking-in-public-places-from-Oct-2-Ramadoss/334489/ http://tobacco.org/news/270110.html Come October 2, smokers will have to take recourse to the streets to have a puff as the Centre has decided to ban smoking in public and private buildings. Addressing a gathering on World Population Day, health minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Friday said smokers will be free to smoke only on roads and streets, not at private and public buildings. "Smokers can have a puff at the risk of their health in private in their bedrooms provided they had the permission of their wives," Ramadoss said, adding that smoking in public and private buildings would be banned from October two. Financial Express India Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/newsPopup.php?fileR=20080811180936196&dir=2008/08/11&secID=livenews http://tobacco.org/news/270045.html Golden Tobacco, a leading cigarette manufacturer in India, reported a phenomenal rise in its standalone net profit for the first quarter ended June 2008. During the quarter, the profit of the company rose 2.26 times to Rs 88.58 million from Rs 39.12 million in the same quarter, last year. The company posted earnings of Rs 5.04 a share during the quarter, registering 2.27 times growth over previous year period. IRIS India Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.eni.ch/news/item.php?id=2169 http://tobacco.org/news/269889.html Bangalore (ENI). Pictures on the Internet depicting Jesus smoking a cigarette and holding what appears to be a can of beer have caused repeated trouble for media in Asia in recent months. Ecumenical News International eni@eni.ch India Asia Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://in.reuters.com/article/asiaCompanyAndMarkets/idINBOM22867120080808?sp=true http://tobacco.org/news/269825.html Farmers in India have increased acreage under tobacco in tandem with a sharp spike in global tobacco prices, a move that flies in the face of official attempts to discourage cultivation of the leaf. "Last year tobacco gave higher returns than other crops. I am expecting good returns this year also," said 55-year-old Siddegowda, a farmer from village Mookanahalli, near Hunsur, 200 km from Bangalore. . . . Area under FCV this year is above 80,000 hectares in Karnataka, up from 75,000 hectares a year ago, said J Suresh Babu, chairman of the Tobacco Board, the government body that issue licences to farmers to cultivate FCV, mainly produced in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Acreage is expected to go up in Andhra Pradesh, the other producer state, when farmers start cultivation from the end of September, Kotaiah said. Overall country wide acreage under FCV has exceeded 200,000 hectares in 2007/08 from 135,453 hectares in 2001/02, Babu said. Reuters india.advertising@reuters.com (Rajendra Jadhav) India Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a7fJJgR_3jak http://tobacco.org/news/269762.html Godfrey Phillips Ltd., India's second-biggest cigarette maker, gained as much as 7.2 percent in Mumbai today after 1.8 percent of its stock changed hands. The stock reached as high as 1,535 rupees amid a 55-fold surge in its six-month daily average volume. Shares of the New Delhi-based company rose for a seventh day, gaining 4.85 percent to 1,501 rupees at the close of trading. Bloomberg News pareshj@bloomberg.net (Paresh Jatakia) India Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Jaipur/Notice_to_govt_on_tobacco_ads_on_buses/articleshow/3335646.cms http://tobacco.org/news/269702.html JAIPUR: Taking a serious note of tobacco advertisements in state transport buses and government properties, the Rajasthan Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the government. The Commission issued the notice on the basis of complaints filed by Asthma Care Society and Rajasthan Voluntary Health Association. Notices were issued to principal secretary, home and the managing director of Road Transport Corporation by Commission chairman Justice NK Jain. Demanding a ban on such advertisements, the complainants pointed out that the display of tobacco advertisements on auto-rickshaws and buses are against the state objectives of public health. They pointed out that the Roadways buses carry the advertisements of Mahak Super gutka, which is a tobacco product. The Times of India India Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/SRK_says_hell_quit_smoking/articleshow/3325946.cms http://tobacco.org/news/269596.html In what could be music to Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss' ears, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has said he is planning to quit smoking in a couple of months as his children hate the habit. He revealed this while talking to Malayala Manorama on the sets of his latest film "Billu Barber", directed by Priayadarsan, at Pollachi in Tamil Nadu. "I am giving up smoking under persuasion from my children. They don't like the habit. If they did not have any objection I might have continued smoking. I consider their pressure as a blessing," he said. The Times of India India Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://in.reuters.com/article/bollywoodNews/idINIndia-34827120080804 http://tobacco.org/news/269595.html Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has promised to give up cigarettes for the sake of his children, according to a media report on Monday. Khan, a chain smoker for two decades, said in an interview he will kick the habit in two months -- and it's all because of his children. "They don't like me smoking. I see that as a blessing," the 42-year-old actor was quoted as saying in an interview to 'Malayala Manorama'. "If they had no objection, I would have continued smoking." Reuters india.advertising@reuters.com India Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://sify.com/movies/bollywood/fullstory.php?id=14733527&cid=2359 http://tobacco.org/news/269594.html Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has denied having told a Malayalam daily that he would quit smoking within two months. Asked on Monday whether he would give up cigarettes, King Khan replied with a terse "No". The actor even declined to respond to a query whether the decision to quit cigarettes would come after a couple of months as stated in his interview. Sify.com India Tue, 05 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=459929&sid=REG http://tobacco.org/news/269554.html Goa will form a special task force to implement anti-tobacco laws in the tourist state, state Health Minister Vishwajeet Rane said. "There are laws but they are not properly implemented. We want to form a task force so that the laws can be properly implemented," Rane said. He said task force will be headed by a senior bureaucrat and will comprise all the stakeholders and government departments responsible for the anti-tobacco law implementation. Goa is governed by legislations like The Goa Prohibition of Smoking and Spitting Act, 1999 and The Cigarettes and other tobacco products Act 2003. . . . "We need to make tourists aware about the ill effects of tobacco so that they can be convinced," Rane commented. Zee News India Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolkata_/Smoking_ban_soon_in_city_pubs/articleshow/3322502.cms http://tobacco.org/news/269537.html KOLKATA: The haze of smoke and the smell of burnt tobacco will soon vanish from city pubs and restaurants. Starting October 2, diners and tipplers will not be allowed to light up in between their pegs as the ban on smoking in public places comes into effect. Even as smokers were getting used to restricting themselves to the smoking zones earmarked in restaurants, this will now force them to go without a puff altogether. The restaurants, on the other hand, are worried that the prohibition will cost them dearly. The Times of India India Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/India_Business/No_drop_in_tobacco_consumption_ITC/articleshow/3319370.cms http://tobacco.org/news/269488.html The quantum of Tobacco consumption has not come down despite the Government increasing the tax on cigarettes, Indian Tobacco Company Chairman Y C Deveshwar said on Saturday. "It is going up in other forms like scented tobacco and Gutkha," he told reporters. He told newsmen here Tobacco was being sold in so many forms like Gutkha and Paan, which, he claimed, caused oral cancer, and were more dangerous. "Unfortunately all the attention was only towards cigarettes,which were less harmful with filters and all," he claimed He said government was only losing revenue by increasing the tax on cigarettes, and ITC's share in tobacco business had come down. The Times of India India Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT