Consumption of beedis higher than cigarettes: JP Nadda

However, the government does not have any plans of changing the tax structure to curb its consumption, he told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) "Technical Manual on Tax Administration Act" (2010) has recommended that tobacco excise taxes should account for at least 70 percent of the retail prices for tobacco products.

Nadda said as per the information received from the Finance Ministry, there is no proposal under consideration as of now to introduce a uniform taxation structure on cigarettes which covers all  lengths and does not allow for product substitution of higher taxed cigarette lengths with lower taxed cigarette lengths.

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So far, no Ebola case in India, says Nadda

"No case of Ebola virus disease has been reported in India so far...The government has taken a series of measures to prevent entry of Ebola virus disease into the country and to contain it rapidly, if a case is reported," Nadda said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

"The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme is tracking such passengers arriving from affected countries or having history of contact with a suspect or confirmed Ebola case," he added.

Two laboratories - National Institute of Virology, Pune, and National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi - are testing clinical samples of high risk passengers.

"State governments have identified isolation facilities. Training for master trainers and rapid response teams of the states/union territories have been accomplished. Personal Protective Equipments have been provided to the states/union territories," he said.

In a separate reply, Nadda said that 36 hospitals across India have been earmarked by the state/union territories for treatment of Ebola. These include the Ram Manohar Lohia and the Lok Nayak Hospitals in Delhi.

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