Feature
Woman raped by youth while out for field in UP village
Lucknow: In a shocking incident, a woman was allegedly raped in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district based Attara area here by a youth, police said today.
Woman raped while out for field in UP village by youth:
The accused Sushil Kori (26) was absconding soon after committing the crime.
The incident took place on March 4 when the woman (38) was in her fields, Circle officer Kuldeep Gupta said.
The FIR was registered yesterday after the woman met Suprintendent of Police and narrated her woes, he added.
Minor 3-year-old girl raped by bus cleaner in West Bengal:
Kolkata: A three-year-old daughter of a rag-picker was lured into a parked bus by its cleaner and brutally raped while her hapless five-year-old brother pleaded him to spare her as she screamed in pain, police alleged.
The accused, Sheikh Munna, 45, was arrested for allegedly raping the girl, who is in a critical condition and is being treated at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, a senior officer of the Kolkata Police said.
The alleged incident took place last evening when the victim was playing with her brother. Munna dragged the girl inside the parked bus on Canal (West) Road in north Kolkata after luring her with a chocolate, the officer said.
“The victim’s brother pleaded with Munna to open the door and let his sister go when she was screaming,” he said.
The boy continued banging on the bus door and when there was no response, he ran to inform their mother, who is a widowed rag-picker.
“The woman alerted her neighbours who rushed to the bus and rescued the girl from the accused. They thrashed him before informing the police,” the officer said.
“The girl was found lying in a pool of blood on a bus seat. Her clothes were torn and she was bleeding profusely,” he said, adding that the accused had blood on his hands and trousers when he was arrested.
“We are waiting for the report of the tests to confirm rape. We are questioning the accused and our forensic experts have collected samples from the spot where the alleged incident took place,” the officer said.
According to doctors at the state-run medical facility, the girl was bleeding profusely when she was brought to the hospital.
“Her condition has improved since last night and possibly she will survive. Signs are clear that she had been brutalised,” one senior doctor said.
Forensic experts have also collected blood samples and stains from the bus which has been seized, the officer added.
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.