Feature
National Media Club organizes Swachta Campaign on New Year
Vrindavan: Known as the India’s leading journalist organization, the National Media Club, which deals in delivering benefits to the journalists, organized the largest Swach Bharat campaign at 21 K.M. Giriraj Parikrama Marg and Vrindavan Shri Banke Bihari Mandir in welcoming the New Year 2015.
In keeping the view in mind to work for social considerations, President Sachin Awasthi aims to work on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swach Bharat campaign as an initiative.
Moving on to the mission, On January 1 2015, the National Media Club launched their Swach Bharat campaign with the slogan “बदलेगा वर्ष – बदलेगा भारत”.
Delivering the light on the programme, General Secretary Pravin Shukla told that huge number of journalists of Print Media, Electronic Media, Teachers and Students have participated in this noble campaign.
With the start of their mission, the Parikrama Marg was distributed into 10 sectors where each group had a responsibility to clean a single sector.
Along with several students and teachers, thousands of respective people also gathered to join this Swachta mission which includes Maharishi Dayanand Vedik Siksha Samiti, Mamata Public School, Radha Madhav Inter College Vakalpur,Babu Lal Degree College, Goverdhan, Vatsalya Senior Secondary School, Maharishi Dayanand Punarvas Sansthan, Baldev Public School, Gaurdham Hire Secondary School, Radha Kund, Ramwati Devi I.T.I. , Govind Ram Senior Secondary School, Ral, Maharishi Dayanand Senior Secondary School, Deendayal Inter College, G.L. Bajaj Institute of Technology, K.D. Dental College and Rajiv Academy College .
State Food Processing Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti attended the Swachta resolution ceremony at Kusum Sarovar as a chief guest.
Following the contribution of the National Media Club and Happiness Foundation on making Swachta campaign a strong movement, Sachin Awasthi, Pravin Shukla, Prakash Singh, Devendra Sharma and Arya Ashok Sharma took a noble initiative of Swachta campaign at Banke Bihari Mandir and Women Orphanage.
India’s top standup comedian and Swachta campaign member Raju Srivastava has been chosen as the chief guest for this special occasion.
Sachin Awasthi and Pravin Shukla told that National Media Club also aims to clean pilgrimage places and temples all around.
Conveyner Arya Ashok Sharma delivered his thanks to all the organizations, schools and people, who joined hands for this movement and take a resolution to keep on working on this Swacha Bharat Abhiyan campaign.
On this special occasion, D.D.Sharma, Dhanajay Tewari , Rajneesh Kushwaha, Rajesh, Shailendra and Kamal delivered their presence in the campaign.
Entertainment
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
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.