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Rajnath Singh declares Maoists will be crushed in 2-3 years
Lucknow: The long drawn Maoist insurgency in the country will be “completely erased” in two to three years, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh declared here on Sunday.
Addressing the 26th anniversary of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), a specialised wing of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Minister said the situation had changed and Maoists were now confined to only 10 or 12 districts.
“We will get news within 2-3 years that Maoism has been completely erased,” said Singh, who represents Lucknow in the Lok Sabha.
Praising the CRPF’s role in Maoist affected areas, Singh said the 3.5 lakh-strong force had neutralized 131 Maoists this year between January and September 20 and caught another 1,278.
“A total of 58 Maoists had to surrender before the CRPF. The force also recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition this year besides Rs 1.29 crore in cash.”
In the process, the killing of security personnel in Maoist hubs had drastically fallen.
A Maoist insurgency raging in parts of India since 1967 has claimed thousands of lives. Maoists are now known to be most active in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
Jammu and Kashmir, he asserted, would always be with India.
“Kashmir is ours, it was ours and it will be ours. No power of the world can snatch it from us,” he said.
Rajnath Singh predicts Maoist will be “completely erased” in 2-3 years:
Reminding that RAF deals with riots, major law and order issues as well as relief and rescue operations, Singh said “rapid action” did not mean “reckless action”.
“The force should understand how to behave, how much pressure it should create and when this should be created.”
The Minister said the security forces were “civilized” and not “brutal”.
The RAF has been “using minimum force and producing maximum result”.
Singh lauded the CRPF’s attempt in maintaining a balance while dealing with Kashmir. “If some Kashmiri youths do things they should not because they are instigated by some people, you handle them properly as you feel that they belong to our country.
“But if any person indulges in terrorist activity, no power in the world can stop you from neutralizing that person.”
The Minister said militant incidents had decreased in Jammu and Kashmir and that security forces had been giving a befitting reply to the terrorists.
In view of the RAF’s demand, Singh said the government had given nod to establish five new battalions in Jaipur, Varanasi, Manglore, Hazipur and Nuh.
The Minister said 220 quarters were being built in every CRPF battalion so that the troops could live with their family.
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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