New Delhi, March 10: The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) has asked officials at the Indian Premier League to ban all forms of tobacco and alcohol advertisements from upcoming sports events.

Notably, the letter by Prof. (Dr.) Atul Goel, Director General of Health Services urges Arun Singh Dhumal, Chairperson, IPL, to regulate tobacco and alcohol advertisements including surrogate advertisements and sales during the upcoming cricket season, slated to begin on March 22.

The ban extends both to stadium premises as well as a live telecast on television.

“The IPL being India’s most viewed sports event, direct or indirect promotion of tobacco/alcohol on any platform linked to sports sends a contradictory message to the public about health and fitness,” said Goel, in the letter, dated March 5.

He cited that tobacco and alcohol are significantly responsible for the rising burden of non-communicable diseases in the country. “Cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic lung disease, diabetes, hypertension, etc. account for more than 70 per cent of deaths annually.

Tobacco and alcohol use are key risk factors for NCDs. “India ranks second in tobacco-related deaths worldwide; with nearly 14 lakh annual deaths while alcohol is the most common psychoactive substance used by Indians,” the health ministry official said.

The letter, also marked to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, asked IPL officials to “strictly implement” the regulations to ban all forms of tobacco/alcohol advertising, including surrogate advertisements, “within the stadium premises where the games and related IPL games/events are held as well as during telecast sessions on national television”.

The sale of tobacco or alcohol products must also be regulated “in all affiliated events and sports facilities”.

The letter also sought to “discourage the promotion of sportspersons (including commentators) who directly or indirectly endorse products directly or indirectly linked to alcohol or tobacco”.

The letter stated that “cricket players are role models for the youngsters” and that promoting tobacco or alcohol products by them can have a poor impact on youngsters’ minds.

Instead, they should promote “a healthy, active lifestyle”. Goel asked IPL to share a “social and moral obligation to promote public health and support health initiatives of the government”.

New Delhi, March 8: The Labour Ministry on Saturday urged the platform workers to self-register themselves on e-Shram portal, so that they may be considered for the benefits under the scheme at the earliest.

The gig and platform economy is expanding, offering new jobs in sectors like ridesharing, delivery, logistics, and professional services.

NITI Aayog has projected that the gig economy in India will employ over 1 crore workers in 2024-25, subsequently reaching 2.35 crore by 2029-30.

Recognizing the contribution of the gig and platform workers to the nation’s economy, Union Budget 2025-26 announcement has provisions for registration of online platform workers on e-Shram portal, issue of identity cards, and healthcare coverage under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).

The AB-PMJAY health scheme provides a cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation across over 31,000 public and private empanelled hospitals in India.

For early implementation of these Budget provisions, the Ministry of Labour and Employment is soon launching the scheme, and has asked platform workers to register on e-Shram Portal for formal recognition and access to AB-PMJAY benefits.

“As a first step, Ministry requests the Platform Workers to self-register themselves on e-Shram portal, so that they may be considered for the benefits under the scheme at the earliest,” it added.

The platform aggregators are also requested to disseminate this information among the platform workers engaged with them and facilitate them to register on e-Shram portal.

Meanwhile, over 30.58 crore unorganised workers have been registered on the e-Shram Portal for receiving benefits under various social welfare schemes of the government.

The e-Shram portal has registered over 1.23 crore workers in 2024, averaging 33,700 enrolments per day.

The e-Shram portal is meant to register and support the unorganised workers by providing them with a Universal Account Number (UAN) on a self-declaration basis.

The e-Shram portal has been integrated with the National Career Service (NCS) Portal. An unorganised worker can register on NCS using his or her Universal Account Number (UAN) and search for suitable job opportunities. A link has also been provided to the workers registered on the e-Shram portal to seamlessly register on the NCS.

New Delhi, March 8: India’s inflation fell to 4.31 per cent in January from 5.22 per cent, approaching the RBI’s 4 per cent target after four months above 5 per cent and this trend reinforces the case for potential rate cuts, with the repo rate at 6.25 per cent, a new report showed on Saturday.

The observed market trajectory suggests a cautious sentiment among investors, potentially influenced by macroeconomic conditions, sector-specific developments, and global financial market trends, according to the Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund report.

The Nifty 500 Index declined by 7.88 per cent in February, reflecting contractions across multiple sectors. Factor-based strategies reflected broader market movement, while fixed-income instruments, including Nifty 5 year Benchmark G-Sec (+0.53 per cent), exhibited relative stability.

Globally, developed markets displayed mixed movements, where Switzerland (+3.47 per cent) and United Kingdom (+3.08 per cent) registered gains, while Japan (-1.38 per cent) showed a contraction, the report mentioned.

The US CPI inflation stood at 3 per cent, reflecting marginal increase from 2.90 per cent in the prior month.

Another HSBC report mentioned that India’s long-term outlook remains strong and the investment cycle is projected to be on a medium-term uptrend supported by government investment in infrastructure and manufacturing, pickup in private investments, and a recovery in the real estate cycle.

The HSBC Mutual Fund’s ‘Market Outlook Report 2025’ expects higher private investments in renewable energy and related supply chains, localisation of higher-end technology components, and India becoming a more meaningful part of global supply chains to support faster growth.

The real economy, as of now, has evinced resilience to global developments.

“Basis the growth-inflation numbers, the MPC’s last policy action as well as the MPC minutes, we believe the RBI-MPC would deliver another 25 bps cut at its April policy while continuing to stay nimble and flexible on its liquidity strategy,” the report projected.

For a third rate cut, inflation trajectory, monsoon outlook and global developments will possibly be key inputs going into the June policy meeting