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AHIMSA TIMES - DECEMBER 2007 ISSUE - www.jainsamaj.org
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Court will now decide the fate of pictorial warnings on the 13th December
CENTRE TO SET UP NATIONAL TOBACCO CONTROL SOCIETY The Central Government has decided to set up a National Tobacco Control Authority within four months to address the tobacco menace in the country. Reiterating his commitment to the anti-tobacco campaign, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss hinted that the pictorial warnings on the packs of tobacco products would be made mandatory from next month.
Inaugurating the 5th World Assembly on Tobacco Counters Health (WATCH) here, Anbumani said that the government is considering to legalise NGOs, lawmakers, bus drivers, conductors, train ticket examiners headmasters and panchayat chiefs as 'enforcers', who will have the authority to impose fine on any one found smoking in a public place. He said "the enforcement of pictorial warnings on the packs of tobacco products was to come into force on December 1 itself, but since a case is pending with the Himachal Pradesh High Court, the government could not act on it."
The Himachal Pradesh High Court had asked the government not to enforce the campaign till December 13. "Once the court gives its judgment, we will decide our course of action," Anbumani added. The minister appealed to all the forces who are opposing tobacco to come together as a cohesive force to stand against the lobbies and industries that are ruining the younger generation.
He said: "The World Health Organisation has issued a warning to India that it might face three major problems in future such as tobacco, alcoholism and junk-food related activities." He pointed out that the usage of tobacco in the country has increased from 15 percent to 26 percent in the last decade. Anbumani said that the National Tobacco Control Authority would take care of tobacco-free initiatives, taxation policies and it would work in liaison with the state governments. He said that the government has allocated an amount of Rs 500 crores for the national anti-tobacco campaign in the 11th Five-Year Plan.
WORLD MUST EMULATE INDIA'S SPIRIT OF NON-VIOLENCE - NEW DELHI: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has said the world must emulate India's tradition of non-violence and peace. Inaugurating the Ahimsa Paryawaran Sadhna Mandir (Non-violence environment meditation temple), he said that in the 21st century, the concept of 'Ahimsa' (nonviolence) is more relevant than ever. "Non-violence is very relevant to today's world. Therefore, India's central old tradition must be more active now. This tradition should be a model for the entire planet. They must show it to others," he
said. The Ahimsa Paryawaran Sadhna Mandir, is the first temple of its kind, which imbibes an underlying spirit of brotherhood common to all religions and faiths. India from the time of Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhist religion, to Mahatma Gandhi, who earned India its freedom through his campaign of non-violence, is a country rooted in 'Ahimsa', the Dalai Lama said.
HINDU SCHOOL IS FIRST TO MAKE VEGETARIANISM A CONDITION OF ENTRY A row has broken out after the UK's first Hindu state school announced a strict admissions code, which critics say favors followers of the Hare Krishna tradition over mainstream Hinduism. The Krishna-Avanti school in north-west London will be the first school in Britain to make vegetarianism a condition of entry. To get their child a place at the primary school, parents of pupils will also be expected to abstain from alcohol to prove they are followers of the faith.
The policy is proving controversial within Hindu groups. Mainstream Hindus are claiming the policy favours the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) - also known as the Hare Krishna movement - which is backing the school and whose members follow strict vegetarian diets. The 240-pupil state funded school will open next September in Harrow, where 40,000 of Britain's 1.5 million-strong Hindu community live, comprising 20% of the town's population. Competition for places at the school is expected to be fierce. The government is funding
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