The public-smoking ban has been imposed around the world but in India it arrived now. Soon the Health Ministry announced that it will put into effect a countrywide ban on lighting up in public places. Those caught violating the rule will be fined $5 - a big sum in a country where per capita income is less than $1,000 a year.

Among the places where smoking will be prohibited are hotels, restaurants, schools, pubs or discotheques, hospitals, airports and bus stops. But smoking will be allowed in few places only, places like private homes and alongside roads. Statistics show that in India, about 250 million people, mostly men, use tobacco products. B.K. Prasad, joint secretary of the Indian Health Ministry, said: "The government has decided to ban smoking, keeping in mind the number of deaths caused every year by tobacco, especially among youngsters."

Mr. Prasad estimated that about 40% of the deaths in India every year are linked directly or indirectly to tobacco use. Bhavana Mukhopadhyay, senior director for Tobacco Control in India, added: "Most of the people are unaware of the harmful effects of smoking. Once they are educated that the air around them has hazardous nicotine, every nonsmoker will become a law enforcer."

Beginning with November 30, in a country with a relatively low literacy rate, the government will make pictorial warnings mandatory on all tobacco products. Cigarette packets will carry skull and crossbones to underscore the public-health hazard. Ranjith Nayyar, a radio station engineer in Trivandrum, in India’s southern state of Kerala, said he smokes 15 cigarettes a day and isn’t about to stop because of any ban. He said: "I’ll smoke at home, particularly in my bathroom. I already know the evils of smoking, but for me smoking is a stress-buster."

Another heavy smoker, Ankush Mankotia, is skeptical the government can alter public behavior. He said: "Such rules are made and broken every day. The ban will have no effect on me." After rolling out its ban, the Indian government plans to raise the fine for offenders to a stiff $25. Researchers think that only smoking is an infringement on people’s right to live.