Issue 10
Tobacco Control in India
Fortnightly News Summary
NATIONAL HEADLINES
♦ When Lalu Prasad realised chewing khaini is a 'bad
habit'
The spotlessly clean railway stations in Japan put
Railways Minister Lalu Prasad in a bit of a spot - he
couldn't find a place to spit the red juice of khaini, a
tobacco mixture he loves to chew, and realized it had
become a "bad habit". 'I realised chewing khaini had
become a bad habit during my recent visit to Japan,' Lalu
Prasad said here Friday. (Source: Yahoo News: 24 January 2009)
♦ India tobacco exports surge 46 pct in Apr-Dec
India's tobacco exports surged 46 percent to $543.6
million in first nine months of fiscal 2008/09, as output
cuts in Europe forced overseas buyers to source more
produce from the country, a senior official said. (Source:
Reuters India: 29 January 2009)
♦ Tobacco stubbing out in public, govt to demarcate
special zones for smokers
Almost four months into the ban on smoking in public
places, the Delhi government plans to take it a step
forward by demarcating space for smoking and no-
smoking in public areas such as restaurants, pubs and
airport lounges. The guidelines, which government
officials say are as per international standards, are set to
be implemented in time for the Commonwealth Games in
2010. (Source: Indian Express: 28 January 2009)
♦ Further dilution of pictorial tobacco warnings feared
The Group of Ministers (GoM) in India will again meet to
assuage concerns of tobacco lobby on pictorial warnings,
health activists apprehend. This group of ministers (GoM)
consists of: Pranab Mukherjee (External Affairs Minister),
Kamal Nath (Commerce and Industry Minister),
Priyaranjan Dasmunsi (former Information and
Broadcasting Minister), S Jaipal Reddy (Urban
Development Minister), Dr Anbumani Ramadoss (Health
and family welfare Minister), and Oscar Fernandes (labour
and employment Minister for state). (Source: Thai-Indian News:
23 January 2009)
♦ Tobacco exports jump 13% on global demand
Tobacco shipment from India, the third-largest exporter in
the world, surged by 61% to Rs 2,428 crore till December
2008 on better price realizations and weakening rupee
against the dollar. Prices of tobacco skyrocketed to a
record average of Rs 84.85 per kg during auctions in
Andhra Pradesh in 2008 against Rs 47.47 the previous
year. (Source: The Economic Times: 26 January 2009)
♦ After months of smoking ban, Chhattisgarh yet to
file a case
Chhattisgarh police, yet to register a maiden case against
a smoker even after three months of ban on smoking in
public places, say they have more serious jobs in hand in
the Maoist insurgency-hit state.Top officers at the police
headquarters here said the state police, having a strength
of nearly 40,000 personnel for nearly 20.08 million
population, were still looking for the first case against a
smoker. (Source: IANS: 16 December 2008)
Provided by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use
17-30 January 2009
STATE HEADLINES, West Bengal
♦ Knockout punch for paan chewers at SSKM
The notice is as rude as it gets in three languages to boot
but it has worked. One look at the glow(ering) sign at
SSKM Hospital, and visitors with a mouthful of gutka and
looking for a convenient corner of the stairwell to spit,
quickly gulp it down. Cigarettes and gutka packets are
hastily dropped in trash bins. Everyone behaves when
there is a fist waving in front of their nose. (Source: The Times
of India, Kolkata, West Bengal: 19 January 2009)
♦ Spit and get beaten up: : Kolkata hospital’s
sanitation campaign
Most of our patients come from rural areas or from
backward classes. And as a habit they spit chewed
tobacco and betel leaf juice not only within the premises
but also inside the wards and at corridors. In fact, the
condition of the outdoor wards is worst.” (Source: Daily Times
India News, Kolkata, West Bengal: 22 January 2009)
♦ Kolkata man killed over a cigarette
The series of fights between two families involved 16
people from both sides at a slum on Gobra's Kabarstan
Road. On Tuesday night, Mukesh Sau, a known rowdy of
the area, asked his neighbour Dabbu Singh for a
cigarette. Dabbu was smoking the only cigarette he had,
and told Mukesh that he didn't have any to spare. A drunk
Mukesh took it as an affront and started abusing Dabbu. A
scuffle followed. Their family members came out on the
street and took them away. But this wasn't the end.
(Source: The Times of India, Kolkata, West Bengal: 20 January 2009)
♦ ITC Q 3 profit grows 9% to Rs 903 cr, sales up 11%
Tobacco major ITC on Monday reported a better than
expected 8.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in net profit for
the third quarter ended December 2008 at Rs 903.2 crore.
Net sales during the period grew 11% to Rs 3,833.3 crore,
driven by continued scaling up of the stationery and
personal care businesses, higher paperboard &
packaging revenues and superior product-mix in
cigarettes. Earnings per share stood at Rs 2.40. (Source:
The Economic Times, Kolkata, West Bengal: 20 January 2009)
♦ Plan to aid tobacco farmers switch to other
alternatives
The ministry of health and family welfare has sanctioned
Rs2.17 crore to the Central Tobacco Research Institute
(CTRI), Rajahmundhry, for a pilot project on providing
alternatives to ‘bidi’ and chewing tobacco crops at
Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh, Anand and Dharmaj in
Gujarat, Nipani in Karnataka, Vedasandur in Tamil Nadu
and Dinhata in West Bengal. These are the major
tobacco-producing states in the country. A tobacco field
near Bangalore. According to CTRI data, six million
farmers are engaged in tobacco cultivation. Rajendra
Jadhav / Reuters The move comes after the ministry
implemented a ban on smoking in public places and
announced plans to crack down on tobacco products by
 Issue 10
introducing pictorial warnings. (Source: Live Mint News, Kolkata,
West Bengal: 20 January 2009)

Provided by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use