Feature
Yeddyurappa sets to sworn in as Karnataka Chief Minister tomorrow
Bengaluru: The newly elected Karnataka BJP legislators on Wednesday elected B.S. Yeddyurappa as their legislative party leader and he soon staked claim to form the government though the party is eight seats short of a majority in the Assembly.
“We have staked claim to form the government as the single largest party with 104 newly elected legislators,” Yeddyurappa told reporters here after meeting Governor Vajubhai R. Vala at Raj Bhavan.
Earlier, the new Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs unanimously elected the former Chief Minister and the BJP’s Chief Ministerial face Yeddyurappa as their legislative party leader.
“I have requested the Governor to allow me to take oath as the Chief Minister at the earliest and the Governor said he would take an appropriate decision soon,” he said.
Of the 222 constituencies where polling was held on May 12, the BJP won 104 seats while the Congress won 78 and JD-S won 38 seats, along with its ally Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), throwing up a hung Assembly.
The BJP is eight short of the 112-halfway mark needed for a simple majority.
Yeddyurappa to take oath as Karnataka Chief Minister at 9.30 am at Raj Bhavan:
In a related development, the party’s legislator from Rajajinagar, S. Suresh Kumar, said the Congress was “shameless” to extend support to the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) after its leaders, including party President Rahul Gandhi, accused the regional party of being the ‘B-team’ of the BJP.
“Shocking to see a defeated Congress falling head over heels to extend unconditional support to the JD-S after dubbing it BJP’s B-team,” Kumar told reporters.
On Tuesday, the Congress extended unconditional support to the JD-S to form a government in the state.
The Congress today termed as “shocking” the Karnataka BJP spokesperson’s claim that B S Yeddyurappa will be sworn in tomorrow and said it will tantamount to “murdering” democracy, “trampling” Constitution and disregarding all the precedents.
Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala also said that the will of the majority cannot be subjugated at the whims of the BJP and the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
The BJP has emerged as the single largest party in the southern state winning 104 seats, but is short of simple majority. On the other hand, the Congress and JD(S), which have already announced post-poll tie-up, have won 78 and 37 seats respectively and claimed before Governor Vajubhai Vala to have numbers to form government in the state.
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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