WHO says cigarette smuggling into India has increased fourfold

The other day there was news about increase in smuggling of gold into India and now it seems smuggling of cigarettes is also on the rise as indicated by WHO and reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 30 May 2015. Obviously, some people know how to get the tag of Achhe Din!

The fourfold increase in cigarette smuggling during 2012 and 2014 is by value as per seizure data of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence. This data has been cited in a latest draft working paper prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO). It contends that illicit trade in tobacco products undermines the various policies of tobacco control policies and leads to considerable loss of revenue.
Warnings on cigarette packets is mandatory as well as pop-up of ‘Smoking kills’ in movies whenever someone lights up. Ads of cigarettes have also been banned but still there are people who crave for the desire to inhale the smoke.
As per estimates of WHO, the import duty evasion from smuggling of cigarettes into the country would work out to approximately at Rs 2,363 crore for 2014-15. Most of the smuggled cigarettes are believed to be from Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, China and the United Arab Emirates and the common transit points are Delhi, Singapore and Dubai.
Smugglers of cigarettes are having a field day because such cigarette packets do not have the pictorial warnings on the packets and are available at cheap rates – hence these appeal to youths as well as adults of low income groups.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

A few more must reads -

Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

Kumbhmela 2015 in Nashik – guided tours to wineries and vineyards

Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub


Kenyan lawyer wants to marry Obama’s elder daughter Malia

Modi’s first year in office – how America sees it

Noise pollution leads to obesity – those living near airports or busy streets are affected

Giant barrel jellyfish 5-ft long, 3-ft diameter and weighing 5-stone each found off Dorset coast

ICU beckons me for a second time

Marriages are made in Heaven

Teen, instigated by his mother, bludgeons a Delhi bus driver to death in broad daylight

Dozens of corpses found in bamboo cages in Thai human trafficking camp