"Though in the beginning, the fine would be only Rs 200, we will try to amend the act in the future, after which the fine can be increased to Rs 1,000 and the employer can also be fined if somebody is found smoking within the office premises," Ramadoss said, inaugurating a tobacco workshop in New Delhi. Apart from this, the minister said the Government has also issued notifications to make pictorial warnings compulsory on all tobacco products from December one.
Last year, the minister had proposed the compulsory rural postings for all MBBS students. The announcement met with stiff resistance.
The government on Monday ruled out amending abortion laws in consideration of cases like that of Niketa Mehta, who wanted to terminate her 26-week pregnancy as the child would be born with a congenital heart defect."As it is today, going by just one case, I do not think the law can be amended," Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said."We sympathise with her case and would discuss all other avenues," he said.
The Centre on Tuesday allayed fears of bird flu spreading to human beings in West Bengal, saying the random testing of people in the affected areas has been carried out and all such samples have tested negative.
A Chennai-based biotechnology firm on Monday said it is working on developing a chemical for application on mosquito nets, which would keep the pest away for a period of at least three years.
When asked to comment on his party's stand on premarital sex and the impact it may have on issues such as AIDS, he said, "There is nothing wrong in talking about safe sex, but it is wrong to say that pre-marital sex is alright."
The plane, also carrying the AIDS symbol, on Friday landed in New Delhi with a group of AIDS-affected children on the eve of World AIDS Day.
There is no case of bird flu in the country but government has decided to stockpile ten lakh doses of the drug, Tamiflu, which helps in treating the infection.
In view of the enormous potential of health tourism in creating jobs and raking in foreign exchange, ministries of health and tourism on Wednesday decided to get started by setting up a Web site and a database.
Ramadoss said at present 500,000 to one million vaccines are being imported from countries like Japan, Thailand and Korea.
The government announced recently that all places of work in the country will be declared smoke free and those found flouting the law will be strictly punished. Tell us what do you think about it.
The Union health minister has announced that the government is considering a ban on scenes showing smoking on screen.
The government on Friday put the figure of people suffering from HIV/AIDS in the country at 2.5 million, a drastic reduction of around 50 per cent from last year.
The known cases of AIDS are only 91,080 as the practice before 1998 was to report only confirmed cases.
Health minister Anbumani Ramadoss said some 2 to 2.5 million cancer cases were reported every year.
In the morning, he offered prayers at the Dashashwamedh Ghat and the Kaal Bhairav temple in Varanasi.
Ramadoss said the Delhi government is doing well in containing the situation and his ministry is providing medication and chemicals to all affected states.
Tamil Nadu, the land of regional parties where the two Dravidian outfits have ruled the roost for long, is witnessing a few fledgling parties testing their electoral luck for the first time in the April 24 Lok Sabha elections, including Aam Aadmi Party and Indiya Jananayaka Katchi.
The Erode East assembly by-poll suddenly turned the spotlight on Bharatiya Janata Party with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam factions led by K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam rushing to Kamalalayam -- BJP state headquarters in Chennai -- seeking the saffron party's support for their respective parties.
The BJP is now inventing new angles to keep its campaign relevant -- even if it's old wine in an old bottle, which is what the allegation on 'Katchatheevu' is, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP game-plan: Take the top slot, or a close second, either for the 'Lotus' or the larger NDA, if it can and push the AIADMK to the third place, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Naidu informed the House that he had received letters from Singh and 13 other MPs seeking leave of absence on medical grounds.
The JD-U has five members in the Rajya Sabha, including deputy chairman Harivansh whose fate now hangs in the balance as he may have to resign since his party has moved out of the ruling alliance.
Tamil Nadu's obsession for honorifics appears to be a never-ending story. The latest is the "Ezhuchi Nayagan" (rising leader) title for All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's new interim general secretary K Palaniswami, proposed by the party's presidium chairman Tamil Magan Hussain in Chennai on Monday.
The nearly two month-long grueling campaigning in peak summer for the May 16 Tamil Nadu assembly election that is witnessing a multi-cornered contest comes to an end on Saturday.
If the BJP has to work as a junior partner of Vijay's TVK, then either the party will have to change the state leader, or the latter should change himself. Incidentally, ever since Vijay started talking politics and elections, the pro-BJP/Hindutva social media had stopped dragging his name into any non-existing issue.' In particular, they have stopped referring to him by his Christian name, 'Joseph Vijay', observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Some fans had staged protests against fringe outfits opposing his political entry.
'Modi is trying avenues to convince people why they should vote for the BJP.'
According to DMK, the voters are already consolidated on ideological lines, hence the impact of anti-incumbency, whether against the BJP Centre or the DMK state may not be too much, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Is the unusually and unbearably scorching Sun and the general laxity, bordering on laziness, among voters, responsible, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The list of the 314 MPs, however, does not include Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who is also a BJP MP, they said. The majority mark is 268.
It is early to make out which way the wind is blowing, but there is no denying that challenges for the BJP, far outweigh the advantages in this region, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'With its vote bank is intact, the PMK, though a smaller party of Vanniars, was able to twist around major parties like the DMK and AIADMK, negotiating with both before settling for Chief Minister Edapadi K Palaniswami's side.' 'There is a lesson in it for regional parties in other states as well, on how to dominate the national parties with a committed vote share of just 7 to 8 per cent,' says R Rajagopalan.
Wednesday's Vikravandi by-election has become a referendum on the Stalin government, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
A new entrant, whether a popular actor or not, has not been able to sweep the polls, as their fans had hoped for. Given a proven pattern, it should hold true for Vijay as well. Or, something drastically has to happen between now and 2026, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Two more infants, shifted from Dharmapuri Government Hospital to Salem, died on Wednesday pushing the toll of toddlers to 13, as the opposition parties called for a probe in the incident.
The governor has returned the bill, adopted by the state assembly in September 2021 and the report of a high level committee constituted by the Tamil Nadu government in this connection to the assembly Speaker M Appavu.
It is not much of an issue just now, but it could become one if the idea of caste census captures socio-political imagination, going beyond electoral tags and identities, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP has nothing to lose after a point. For the DMK it is a difficult choice, as it would not want to give too much of space to a 'national party' lest the 'Dravidian duel' of the past decades should be lost forever, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The AIADMK bagged 134 seats as counting of votes was taken up for 232 of the 234 assembly constituencies. Polling in two constituencies has been postponed to May 23.
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