Feature
Karnataka legislature to decide on Cauvery water release
Bengaluru:The Karnataka legislature will deliberate and decide on Friday whether to comply with the Supreme Court order to release more Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu or stop to ensure drinking water in the state’s southern region, said an official.
“Governor Vajubhai R. Vala has convened the special legislature session on Friday after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah met him at Raj Bhavan and conveyed the decision of the cabinet and of the all-party meeting on Wednesday here,” the official in the chief minister’s office told IANS.
Armed with an all-party consensus, the chief minister is likely to move a resolution after a day-long debate authorising the state government against releasing 6,000 cusecs daily for a week till September 27 from Thursday, as directed by the apex court on Tuesday.
“As we are in distress due to deficit monsoon rains and depleted reservoirs in the river basin, the state is not in a position to release any more water for cultivating the samba inter crop in the neighbouring state at the cost of supplying drinking water to Bengaluru, Mandya and Mysuru cities till next June,” said the official.
A division bench of the apex court on Tuesday ordered the state to release 6,000 cusecs per day from Wednesday for a week till September 27, doubling the quantum fixed by its appointed Cauvery Supervisory Committee on Monday for 10 days till September 30.
Karnataka has already released 12,000 cusecs daily till Tuesday as per the top court’s September 12 order, which was a modification of its September 5 directive to release 15,000 cusecs daily for 10 days from September 7.
In a related development, Siddaramaiah met Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti in New Delhi and apprised her of the state’s difficulty in giving more water to Tamil Nadu in compliance with the top court order.
“The chief minister has conveyed to Uma Bharti the grim situation in the state due to lower water levels in all the four reservoirs across the river basin and its struggle to meet the drinking water needs of the region till the onset of next monsoon,” said the official.
With only 24 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) water in the four reservoirs (Kabini, KRS, Harangi and Hemavathy), the state is already facing shortage for supplying drinking water, which requires 27 tmcft, he added.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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