Defence canteens do not sell tobacco products: Jaitley

Tobacco products are not sold by defence canteens, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said today, days after Health Minister Harsh Vardhan urged him to stop sale of tobacco items in defence facilities saying this puts "thousands of armed forces personnel at great risk".
"No," Jaitley said in Lok Sabha in reply to a written query whether various tobacco products are being sold in defence canteens in the country.
The Defence Minister said a reference in this regard was received recently from the Health Minister and it had been sent to the services.
The Minister clarified that Navy's sea-going ships are authorised to sell duty free goods including tobacco as per international regulations.

"Tobacco products are sold in limited quantity only to authorised personnel serving on board naval ships," he said.
To another query, the minister said 43 Indian naval ship deployments have been undertaken in the Gulf of Aden.

"A total of 2,906 ships, including 2,568 foreign flagged vessels from different countries, have been escorted by Indian Naval ships and 40 piracy attempts have been thwarted since October 2008. No ship under Indian escort has been hijacked by pirates," Jaitley said.
He said 120 pirates were apprehended by Indian Navy in the East Arabian Sea in 2011.
"At present Yellow Gate Police Station in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Kolkata Police Station in West Bengal have jurisdiction over all the crimes committed in international waters. The Ministry of Home Affairs has written to all other Coastal States/Union Territories to notify one Coastal Police Station and one trial court each to deal with crimes committed in international waters," the minister said.

To another query, he said there was no proposal to hold any naval exercise with Pakistan.