Feature
Supreme Court rejects to put ‘NOTA’ on hold for Gujarat RS election
New Delhi: Supreme Court rejects Congress request to put NOTA or ( None of The Above option) on hold in Rajya Sabha election in Gujarat. Now the NOTA will be available in the Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat.
The Congress and the BJP have both opposed NOTA, which allows a voter to reject all candidates, saying it is against the ethos of indirect elections.
The Congress had said in the Supreme Court that “there is no constitutional provision for NOTA in the Rajya Sabha polls and no order from the Election Commission”.
The Election Commission had refused to review its decision to have NOTA, saying it was not a “new direction” and was introduced in 2014.
The Congress objection to NOTA is being seen in the context of its prestige battle in Gujarat, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s aide Ahmed Patel is seeking another Rajya Sabha term from the state.
Six lawmakers have quit the Congress and to prevent more defections, the party flew over 40 legislators to Bengaluru, where they are staying in a luxury resort. Desperately trying to keep its flock together, the party has accused Gujarat’s ruling BJP of trying every trick possible to break the Congress and poach its lawmakers ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls and also the state election later this year.
The Congress alleges that NOTA, which will be available for the first time in a Rajya Sabha election, is an attempt to influence the result in Gujarat.
If a lawmaker defies the party and votes for someone else or uses NOTA, he cannot be disqualified.
The party is free to take disciplinary action like expelling the member, who will still remain a lawmaker and his vote cannot be cancelled, according to Election Commission rules.
In Rajya Sabha polls, legislators have to show their ballot paper to an authorised party agent before putting it in ballot box.
“The use of NOTA in an indirect election is contrary to the mandate of the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act and election rules,” the Congress insists. Its leaders have been trying to press the point home.
“First Rajya Sabha election was postponed. Second NOTA was permitted post notification. Reasons best known to the Election Commission,” tweeted Ahmed Patel.
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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