Iconic figures can be shown in smoking very soon-said health ministry.

India's multibillion rupee film industry, which has been fuming over a ban on smoking scenes in films, now has reason to smile. The health ministry is ready to allow the depiction of iconic characters with their favourite poison stick.

So British statesman Winston Churchill and fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, who cannot be imagined without their cigars and pipes, can now be shown smoking in new films - though with a warning.

"Characters like Churchill and Sherlock Holmes can smoke on screen. People know about them and their on-screen smoking won't influence the audience behaviour much," a senior health ministry official told IANS.

"This will be made public next month," the official added.

The health ministry had banned smoking in films but director Mahesh Bhatt moved court against the government decision. The case has been pending in the Delhi High Court for the last two years. The Delhi High Court is going to hear the case in the third week of November.

The health ministry had banned smoking in films but director Mahesh Bhatt moved court against the government decision. The case has been pending in the Delhi High Court for the last two years. The Delhi High Court is going to hear the case in the third week of November.

Earlier, the ministry was completely against any smoking scenes in any movie. It had said all old movies with such scenes would have to be accompanied with a note saying the habit is injurious to health, and new films with such depictions could not be made at all.

But now it has made a concession. The ministry authorities said if it was essential to show a character smoking, the producer would have to follow rules.

"If the scripts cannot do away with such a character, then the producer needs to write on the screen that smoking is injurious to health. The movies must carry a disclaimer and warning message in the beginning and end of the film," the official said.

"After the smoking ban in public places, the ministry wants to curb on-screen smoking but with less fuss. The film fraternity is worried about creative freedom. But what about social responsibility?" the official asked.

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has been reiterating that on-screen smoking is accountable for over 60 percent new smokers. He has appealed to actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan not to smoke in films.

"They are big stars and as celebrities their in-film action is influencing youngsters' minds. I am not interfering in their personal life but appealing as the health minister of the country," Ramadoss had told IANS earlier.

Every year, nearly one million people die of tobacco-related diseases. The government has banned smoking in public places from October 2 and is making graphic health warnings on all tobacco packets a must from December 1.

Government estimates say though the tobacco industry brings a revenue of Rs 270 billion to the country every year, the treatment cost of the disease burden is at least Rs 300 billion.

METAL CHIP IN MCDONALD'S BURGER

While she was munching on a McDonald's vegetarian burger last week, Vishaka Sriniwasan, 15, suddenly began choking, her mother Geetha SAID.

Geetha Sriniwasan said she had ordered home several burgers on June 11 night from McDonald's outlet on Linking Road for her daughter's birthday party.

"My daughter and her friends were eating their burgers when Vishaka complained that something was hurting her," Sriniwasan, who lives on St Martin's Road in Bandra (West). "I immediately made her spit her burger out and was shocked to see a pinkish metal clip. I asked the others to stop eating and called the company to complain."

A friend of Vishaka's who was at the birthday party also told HT that she saw the birthday girl spit out a metal clip. The friend did not wish to be named.

Within half an hour, McDonald's sent a representative with a fresh batch of burgers, Sriniwasan said. He offered to replace the old batch as well as refund the amount Sriniwasan had paid.

Sriniwasan declined the offer, saying she wanted him instead to sign a statement declaring that McDonald's had delivered a burger with a metallic clip lodged in it. This he refused to do, Sriniwasan said.

"Since then, no company official has called," she said.

No one in McDonald's would come on record with specific comments about the incident, but the restaurant manager did not want to publish his response.

McDonald's corporate communications head, who also did not want his comments to appear in print. Finally, HT got in touch with an official at the public relations company that represents the US chain, but that official too did not want his comments published.

According to McDonald's India website, all its outlets in the country source their vegetable patties from Vista Processed Foods' unit in Taloja, about 50 kilometres outside Mumbai.

On Tuesday, Sriniwasan couriered a written complaint to the office of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's H-West ward, under which her locality falls, sending a copy to the Food and Drug Administration's joint commissioner.

The ward offer, H.S. Murgunkar, said he had not yet received Sriniwasan's complaint, but S.D. Chaudhary, the food regulator's joint commissioner, said he had.

"We will look into it as per the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act," Choudhary said, adding that he would be able to say in two days what action the regulator would take.

"If a complaint were made, our officials would investigate it," said Dr Jairaj Thanekar, the municipal corporation's executive health officer. "If any foreign particle is found in food that is injurious to health, we would take strict action."

"We have only fifteen inspectors for the city and we monitor quality by drawing food and water samples from time to time," Thanekar added.

Nifty falls below 4400; RIL, ONGC disappoint

MUMBAI: Equity benchmarks witnessed one of the worst falls of 2009 on Wednesday, as investors booked profits and created fresh shorts in a market which looked tired after a splendid rally. Weak global markets also hurt sentiments badly, said dealers. All the sectoral indices ended in the red led by losses in metals, realty and capital goods stocks.

Indices opened lower in line with Asian markets and turned choppy with negative bias. The sell-off began in the afternoon with the negative opening of Europe. Sharp correction in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, ONGC and Larsen&Toubro escalated the decline.

Reliance Industries has been on a decline since the Bombay High Court ruled against the company in gas distribution case it was fighting with Reliance Natural Resources.

“Markets are eventually going to come down and global scenario doesn’t look that positive. Not all commodities are going up. Only those in the F&O space have shot up. As long as housing market doesn’t do well in the US and prices keep falling, it will impact the global economy. To make matters worse, US jobless claims have risen though the intensity has reduced. This will result in lower consumption, putting pressure on other economies,” said a head of research from a local brokerage.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex ended at 14,522.84, down 435.07 points or 2.91 per cent. The index touched an intra-day low of 14,447.02 and high of 14,996.39.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty closed at 4356.15, down 161.65 points or 3.58 per cent. The broader index hit a high of 4517.80 and low of 4332.80.

“We are set for a sharp fall as the ongoing rally is a liquidity driven rally and valuations are ahead of fundamentals. In the short term, domestic factors like rains and budget will drive the market and possibility of outbreak of swine flu in monsoon will be a potential threat. We should not be surprised if going forward the Sensex falls below 12000 mark,” the research head added.

Market breadth on BSE worsened with 1,990 declines against 686 advances. The BSE Midcap Index was down 3.92 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index slipped 3.74 per cent. Sector wise, BSE Realty tumbled 5.9 per cent, BSE Metal lost 5.63 per cent, BSE Oil & Gas shed 4.26 per cent.

None of the stocks from the 50-share index could brave the tide. Tata Steel (-7.48%), Tata Motors (-7.44%), Reliance Capital (-7.26%), Idea Cellular (-6.48%) and Suzlon Energy (-6.46%) were the worst hit. Index major like Reliance Industries tripped 4.29 per cent, ONGC declined 5.82 per cent and L&T fell 3.71 per cent. European markets continued to be under pressure. At 5 pm IST, FTSE 100 was down 0.72 per cent, CAC 40 fell 0.66 per cent and DAX declined 0.71 per cent. US stock futures indicated a positive opening on the Wall Street. Dow Jones futures was up 0.19 per cent, S&P 500 moved up 0.33 per cent and Nasdaq 100 gained 0.55 per cent.