New Delhi, September 18: Ahead of the festive season, the government on Wednesday made a big announcement for employees of Indian Railways.  Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday announced that the railway employees will now get a bonus which is equivalent to the wage of 78 days.  The minister further added that Rs 2024 crore will be spent on this exercise, and a total of 11 lakh railway employees will benefit from this decision. "For 11 lakh railway employees, this govt has consistently for last 6 years, being giving record bonus, equivalent to the wage of 78 days", Javadekar said. E-Cigarettes Banned in India: FM Nirmala Sitharaman Announces Blanket Ban on Sale of Vaping.

Terming it as a reward for productivity, the Minister further added saying that in 2019, a total of 11,52,000 railway employees will get 78 days wage as bonus. The decision approved by the Cabinet for 78 days' of wages as bonus for Railway employees will lead to outgo of over Rs 2,000 crore. Apart from this, the Cabinet also banned production, export, import and distribution of e-cigarettes. Reports inform that the benefit of this bonus will be given to about 11.52 lakh non-gazetted employees of Indian Railways. In 2018, the Centre  had given the same amount in bonus to railway employees.

In another bold move, the Union Cabinet also approved a ban on e-cigarettes. This means the production, manufacturing, import/export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertising related to e-cigarettes are banned. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who had headed a Group of Ministers (GoM) on the issue, said the Cabinet decided to ban e-cigarettes and similar products as they pose health risk to people, especially the youth.

Giving details about the latest move, Preeti Sudan, Secretary Health and Family Welfare said that E-hookahs are also included in the ban. Sudan added saying that the punishment proposed is imprisonment up to 1 year or a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh, or both for the first offence and imprisonment of 3 years or a fine up to Rs 5 lakhs or both, for subsequent offence.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 18, 2019 03:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).