INDIA
The Bihar state government, led by chief minister Nitish Kumar, is moving forward to impose a blanket ban on tobacco consumption two years after it imposed total prohibition.
According to health secretary Sanjay Kumar, the state government had sent a letter to the federal government, urging the latter to notify tobacco as a food product.
Once it is notified as a food product by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India, the government will have the power to ban it on health grounds.