Karnataka govt to increase age for purchase of tobacco products
The government is mulling not to give permits to hookah bars in the state, Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said.
Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Tuesday said the state government will take steps to increase the age to purchase tobacco products to 21 years. In this regard, the government will be bringing in amendments to the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, he told reporters here.
Also, the government is mulling not to give permits to hookah bars in the state, the minister added.
The decision was taken at a meeting held by Rao with Health Department officials along with Sports Minister Nagendra at the Vidhan Soudha here where they also discussed banning of other tobacco products in public places.
Speaking after the meeting, the Health Minister said apart from schools, the sale and consumption of tobacco products had been banned around temples and hospitals.
He said the government will also increase the age limit to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21 years.
Rao said that youngsters are increasingly attracted to hookah bars and that it has an adverse effect on their health.
As hookah bars have become an alternative for consumption of cigarettes and other tobacco products for youths, the Health Minister said, 'We have discussed bringing in amendments to the Act...We have discussed issuing a government order in this regard in the days to come. The wording and legal aspects will be discussed and decided.' Rao said today's youth are losing their precious future by being addicted to drugs. In this background, we have taken a firm decision to root out illegal activities.
After consuming tobacco, youths were attracted to drugs and substance abuse. Tobacco use laid the foundation for all this and so we have started to correct it at the source, he added.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
