Taipei  - Taiwan's parliament Monday approved a revision to the anti-smoking bill that would double the health duty imposed on cigarettes, officials said.

"The parliament's move, which would raise the current health duty imposed on cigarettes to 20 Taiwan dollars (60 US cents) from 10 Taiwan dollars per pack, is aimed at discouraging smoking," said Hsiao Mei-ling, director of Bureau of Health Promotion.

With the increase expected to take effect in two weeks after promulgation by the Presidential Office, cigarettes would be sold at around 70 Taiwan dollars per pack.

Taipei  - Taiwan on Sunday began to ban smoking in all indoor public places, becoming the 17th country in the world and the second in Asia to take the move to protect people's health.

The ban is a victory for anti-smoking campaigners and health workers, but is a nightmare for die-hard smokers who now can only smoke at home or in the open.

"Since Ireland banned indoor smoking in 2004, 14 countries and one territory - Bermuda - have followed suit, and Taiwan is the 17th worldwide to ban indoor smoking," the John Tung Foundation, the leader in Taiwan's anti-smoking campaign, said in a statement.

Recent research revealed that teasing is not always bad. Psychologist at Bangor University in North Wales found that good-natured teasing and names-calling among school children can help children in developing social skills and human bonding.

Dr Erin Heerey, of the University of Bangor in North Wales, studied a group of university students in California and found that their playful humiliations led to them becoming better friends.

Recent research identified a gene known as metadherin gene which (MTDH) plays a role in both cancer metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy.

Researchers at Princeton University and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey reached these findings after three years of work, using an approach that combines the emerging science of integrative genomics with the classical methods of clinical research and laboratory experiments.

Two recent studies have revealed that taking leave before and after birth of the baby is beneficial for the health of mother as well as baby.

Study led by Sylvia Guendelman, professor of maternal and child health at UC Berkeley''s School of Public Health studied whether taking maternity leave can affect health outcomes in the United States or not. This study revealed that women who took leave before they gave birth were almost four times less likely to have a primary C-section as women who worked through to delivery.

Recent research has revealed that children must spend some time in sun to prevent myopia. The study found that children's eyesight was not as much affected by long hours spent in front of the television or playing computer games as by the lack of sunlight.

The study showed that exposure to bright light can help regulate the eyeball's growth in childhood, dramatically reducing the risk of myopia.