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INDEPENDENCE DAY Spcl! Modi asks BJP MPs to observe social justice fortnight from August 15
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked BJP MPs to observe ‘social justice fortnight’ from August 15 to 31 in their respective constituencies.
“The Prime Minister has decided that we will celebrate Samajaik Nyay Pakhwada from August 15 to 31. We will go to every part of the country and make people aware of the decisions we made for social justice,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters after the meeting.
He said from next year, the BJP will celebrate Social Justice Week between August 1-9 every year.
The PM’s remarks came at the BJP parliamentary party meeting, the last of this monsoon session. The Prime Minister said the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament would be marked as a social justice session in history.
Parliament on Monday accorded constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes.
The Lok Sabha also on Monday passed the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill.
The Prime Minister termed these measures historic.
Kumar said Modi also recalled his speech after the BJP’s victory in the 2014 polls in which he had said his government would be dedicated to the poor, villages and backward sections of society. “These Bills underline this commitment,” he said.
The BJP Parliamentary Party also passed a resolution lauding the government over the passage of the Bills.
It was for the second time that the BJP Parliamentary Party felicitated Modi. In the last meeting, he was felicitated for defeating the no-confidence motion.
MPs from Poorvanchal area of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh also felicitated the Prime Minister for developing BHU with AIIMS-like facilities.
The Rajya Sabha on Monday unanimously passed the Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill as passed by the Lok Sabha to give a constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes.
Earlier, the Upper House had made some amendments to the Bill passed by the Lok Sabha and sent it back to the Lower House of Parliament. The Lok Sabha, in a rare gesture, adopted and passed the Bill.
The bill seeks to grant NCBC constitutional status at par with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
The Lok Sabha had on Monday passed the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2018, which seeks to overturn a Supreme Court order that struck down the provision for immediate arrest.
The Bill is likely to be passed in the Upper House this week.
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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