Cigarette, beedi packets will now depict death

The government has given the go-ahead for the implementation of pictorial warnings on cigarette and beedi packets ending a long-drawn debate on its feasibility.
The pictorial warnings could be either a scorpion or lungs, a Group of Ministers, convened to decide on carrying pictorial warnings, decided in its conclusive meeting on Tuesday.
"Pictorial warnings are coming and what pictures would be carried would be decided by the Chairman of the GoM in a couple of days," Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said.
The total coverage area for the picture would be either 30 per cent or 40 per cent of the pack. Earlier, 50 per cent of the total packet was to be covered by the pictorial warnings.
"The size, colour and what picture is to be carried would be decided by the end of this week by the Chairperson of the Group of Ministers," Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said after the meeting.