万花筒 2008-10-05&10-06 印度公共场所全面禁烟（在线收听）

Smoking in a restaurant has just been made illegal in India. In fact you now face a 200 Rupees' fine-- that's around 4 US dollars, for lighting up anywhere in public.

India isn’t the first country to ban smoking in public places, but this is the world’s biggest smoking ban. In the country where a fifth of all deaths are smoking related, many welcome the new law.

This is a very good step by the government. Smoking is harmful for both active and passive smokers. Putting a ban on it was compulsory.

India has 240 million tobacco users. It’s the world’s third largest consumer. This new law means they will no long be allowed to light up in shops, restaurants and pubs, or in schools, offices and even bus stops. Some tobacco sellers are angry.

They should ban the manufacturing units. If you want people to stop smoking, then stop the factories. By banning this, you are ruining our business.

India’s cigarette market is one of the few that is still growing, and the country’s top cigarette maker ITC Limited is challenging the ban in court.

Enforcing the law may also be a problem. Past attempts to ban spitting and urinating in public have had little success. One poor state has already expressed reservations about implementing the ban. Compliance rather than enforcement is likely to be the key to its success.

Sonia Legg, Reuters.