Feature
Justice Ranjan Gogoi sworn in as Chief Justice of India
Justice Ranjan Gogoi was on Wednesday sworn in as the Chief Justice of India, becoming the first chief of the apex court from the northeast.
He was administered the oath of office by President Ram Nath Kovind at a function in the Rashtrapati Bhawan, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh, H.D. Deve Gowda, along with Leader of Congress Party in the Lok Sabha Malikarjun Kharge were also present.
Justice Gogoi is nation’s 46th Chief Justice succeeding Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who demitted office on October 2. He will be in office for 13 months and 15 days till November 17, 2019, when he will turn 65.
Significantly, Justice Gogoi is one of the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, who had risen in revolt against Justice Misra in January when they held a press conference criticising him on constitution of benches.
Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, former AG Mukul Rohatgi, eminent jurist Fali Nariman, Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh were also present on the occasion.
Justice Gogoi was enrolled at the Bar in 1978 and practised at the Gauhati High Court of which he was made a Permanent Judge on February 28, 2001.
He was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on September 9, 2010 and became its Chief Justice on February 12, 2011. He was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on April 23, 2012.
With just a little over a year at the helm, Justice Gogoi’s hands are full with pressing matters like Ayodhya, appointment of Lokpal, setting up of more fast track courts to try lawmakers facing criminal cases involving heinous crimes and other issues.
Justice Gogoi has set the task of addressing the issue of the huge backlog of cases that is plaguing the justice delivery system which he had said was threatening its credibility including its relevance.
With over 2.6 crore cases pending and with every fourth position in subordinate judiciary and nearly half of the High Court posts vacant — the task set by the Chief Justice is a mammoth one.
He had earlier said that he has the plan to address the issue which would unfold in due course.
Speaking at a seminar last week, Chief Justice Gogoi said: “Pendency is bringing a lot of disrepute. In fact, if I may say so, it has the potential of making the system irrelevant” and “I have a plan and will unfold it.”
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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