Christmas eve marked the rebirth of both Taj & Trident hotels

Both the Taj & Trident hotels in Mumbai have re-opened their doors to the public. The hotels which were battered by the terror strikes in Mumbai have risen from the ashes after being restored to their full glory. The first tourists who walked in after the doors were opened were interviewed by the media and have said that there is nothing to fear here. A news report which appeared in DNA newspaper on the reopening of the hotels is attached alongside this post.

We look forward to seeing you in Mumbai

10th December, World Human Rights Day: Demand for the Rights of children to live in a tobacco-free world

Listed below are excerpts from articles we sourced online on Rights of a child to a tobacco-free environment

Tobacco and the Convention on the Rights of the Child:

1. Source: http://old.ash.org.uk/html/passive/html/kidsbrief.html

• The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 November 1989 and came into force in September 1990. The Convention consists of legally binding international obligations. Article 3 of the Convention states that in every decision affecting a child, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration. Although the Convention does not include any explicit right to protection from the harm caused by tobacco, official interpretation of the articles of the Convention demonstrates that tobacco is a human rights issue. According to the World Health Organization:  
 
“Because of the enormous potential harm to children from tobacco use and exposure, States have a duty to take all necessary legislative and regulatory measures to protect children from tobacco and ensure that the interest of children take precedence over those of the tobacco industry.” ---Tobacco and the Rights of the Child. WHO/NMH/TFI/01.3 WHO, 2001

2. Source: http://www.whoindia.org/LinkFiles/Tobacco_Free_Initiative_03-Chapter-07.6.pdf

• In 2001, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India considered the issues related to tobacco control from the perspective of human rights and concluded that the following rights of an individual are violated due to lack of tobacco control mechanisms in India.

1. Right to clean air
A non-smoker is forced to inhale tobacco smoke in public areas.
2. Rights of children
Rights of born and unborn children are violated when they are exposed to tobacco smoke (active and passive) in the home or public areas. They are the most vulnerable and worst affected.
3. Right to information
Both the smoker and non-smoker are not provided with adequate information about the harmful effects of tobacco product and, in fact, are bombarded with misinformation about tobacco products through advertisements/events/celebrity and role model-linked promotion.
4. Right to education
Both the smoker and non-smoker are not adequately educated about the drastic ill-effects of tobacco on their personal and public health.
5. Right to redressal
Both the smoker/non-smoker do not have any redressal mechanism for the injuries/ ill-effects suffered by them due to tobacco products.
6. Right to tobacco cessation programme/activities (as part of right to health)
The smoker and his/her family have a right to have access to various cessation
strategies. In addition, there are also some rights of the smoker which may be violated by regulatory measures intended for tobacco control. However, these have to be superseded in the interest of public health and human rights of the larger community.

An analysis of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), conducted in 1998-1999, shows that tobacco smoking is inversely associated with educational status, with an illiterate person being three times more likely to smoke than a post graduate education.

• Studies show that the poor consume the most toxic tobacco products, e.g. unbranded beedis manufactured with poor quality control and sometimes laced with other narcotic drugs. Children are involved in the making of these beedis, so the time when they should be studying, they roll beedis and remain entrapped in the cycle of poverty.

• Tobacco quid is used by poor women and men to ward off hunger during long tedious work in agriculture, construction and other labour.

Hotel Trident to be ready in 20 days

Hotel Trident, one of the hotels which bore the brunt of the terror attack only last week has bounced back with renewed vigor. We salute the staff who is working round the clock to have the venue ready for us as early as possible. We at 14WCTOH urge you all to go ahead with your bookings as planned. Here's the latest from Hotel Trident (see enclosed news clip, as reported in the Times of India, December 4th, 2008)

We look forward to welcoming you in Mumbai: President, 14th WCTOH

Posted on behalf of Dr P C Gupta, President 14th WCTOH:

Dear Delegate 

We understand your concern and are thankful for all the positive support that has been pouring in from across the globe. The situation in Mumbai is completely under control and we are confident of managing the conference at NCPA in Mumbai during 8th-12th March 2009 itself. 

The Secretariat is currently working very closely with the Conference hotel team at The Trident and are sure that the hotel will be completely operational by end of this month with tightened security in place. We are also working with the Mumbai Police and they have assured us of the enhanced safety measures being implemented across the city. Thus we strongly recommend you to go ahead with your bookings as planned. 

The 14th WCTOH Secretariat team is available to all our delegates a on the following landlines – 0091-022-22828502 or 22824705 from 9:00 am to 6:30 p.m (IST) Monday to Friday. 

We all look forward to welcoming each one of you in Mumbai in March 2009. 


Warm regards,

Dr. PC Gupta

President

14th WCTOH

14th WCTOH: We will prevail!

Mumbai has spoken. And this time it is different. While we raise our voices in unison against terrorism and rage over the apathy shown by our political system, we are fully aware that unless our emotion is translated into action, all the lives lost would be in vain.

14th WCTOH will not let terror get in its way. Like Mumbai, we will prevail.

Our secretariat is fully operational and we will remain committed to our cause. Our source of strength lies in the tremendous support we have received via emails and phone calls which have been flooding in from all over the globe with just one message WE WILL BE THERE IN MARCH.

Though unnerved by the terror attack in Mumbai, many expatriate CEOs who have made this city their first home do not think that Mumbai or other parts of India have become unsafe. Tourists and several expats have come on national television to say that they will continue to visit Mumbai.

The authorities have declared that Mumbai is safe and with the response we have been receiving from our supporters across the world we are confident that we will be seeing you all in Mumbai in March 2009.

Scary Puff Pics Deferred for Polls?

Just when we anti-tobacco lobbyists have started to believe that we have earned ourselves a feather in our cap by getting the national ban on smoking in public places into effect we are now jolted out of our reverie by the recent volte-face shown by our brethren in the polity on the pictorial warnings law.

The deference of the pictorial warning law to post elections day means that this law would not see the light of day till maybe april 2009.  It seems like the smoke-screen just blew out leaving us with a clear view of the challenges that lie ahead.

For those of you who have not read about it, I have pasted the complete story as reported by the Times of India on 26 November 2009, in the adjoining image.