KATHMANDU, May 8: The government has shown leniency towards the cigarette and tobacco industry, despite pressure from various international bodies and domestic research centers to raise taxes on these products.

Indonesia will raise the minimum price of cigarettes by more than a third from January next year, a finance ministry spokesman said on Friday, as part of the government’s efforts to reduce smoking rates.

My father-in-law smoked for 30 years until one day he decided to quit cold turkey. He hasn’t touched a cigarette for two years now. A friend of mine loves Indian sweets but it’s been six months that she hasn’t had a gulab jamun. She wants to eventually give up sugar and that’s how she has decided to start. My mother has been exercising without a break for over 20 years. It doesn’t matter if she’s not feeling well, she will do something or the other to stretch her muscles, even if she can’t do a rigorous workout.

A single shisha session could have the same negative effects as smoking more than a packet of cigarettes, new research has found.