Pilates instructor Zainab Abbas smokes a cigarette as she sits with a friend after lunch in Lahore
Pilates instructor Zainab Abbas (R) smokes a cigarette as she sits with a friend after lunch in Lahore February 19, 2014. Abbas opened her fitness studio, Route2Pilates, in Lahore, after receiving training in Bangkok, Thailand. She carries out rehabilitation workouts for people with joint problems as well as specialised workouts for pregnant women. Though instability continues to plague Pakistan and many areas are dominated by social conservatism, some of the country's more affluent residents have worked to fashion a very different kind of lifestyle for themselves. Pictures of men and women taking part in all sorts of activities and professions - from being a pilates instructor, to a textile retail entrepreneur, to a member of a rock band - offer a different view of Pakistan to images of conflict that often make the news. Picture taken February 19, 2014. Reuters

Australia saw a jump on cigarette taxes by 13.7 per cent on Monday, thereby pushing the rates to $1 per cigarette.

Smokers in Australia will be badly hit after the excise on a pack of 20 cigarettes increased from $8.13 to $9.24, a jump of $1.12 on Monday. Similarly, the excise on a pack of 40 cigarettes rose from $16.26 to $18.51. The aim is to discourage smoking and compel smokers to give up on cigarettes.

The hike, as per the Sydney Morning Herald is the second of four outsized increases in as many years. The increase is well supported by Health Minister Peter Dutton and is expected to get at least 200,000 Aussies to quit smoking.

The government expects 1 billion lesser cigarettes to be sold and has therefore cut down on tobacco revenue by $500 million in this year's budget. "The latest increase breaches significant price points. It'll cost $7000 a year to smoke a pack a day. We estimate that just as a result of this increase, around 800 million fewer cigarettes will be smoked in Australia and around 60,000 smokers will quit," said Mike Daube, Australian Council on Smoking and Health president.

"It's also important that the tax increases are accompanying a great deal of publicity about the harms of smoking and measures such as plain packaging," added Daube.

As per the statistics posted on the Health Department's website, cigarette sales came down by 3.4 per cent from 2012 to 2013. There was a hike in tobacco excise by 12.5 per cent on December 1 2013.

The information collected from the tobacco industry indicates that though the consumption of cigarettes remained stagnant in the year 2013, there will be a major dip in the first three months. Smoking is expected to touch the lowest level on record with this new change.
While Australia is serious about bringing down the percentage of smokers in the country, Arizona too isn't far behind. As per AZCentral.com, Pima County administrator Chuck Huckleberry issued a memo, according to which...

- Smokers will not be hired for county jobs.
- Employees will be tested for nicotine use.
- A surcharge on smokers will be levied, covered by the county health plan.