Feature
Know reasons why smoke of Agarbatti is harmful and may cause cancer!
Any religious or holy ceremony is incomplete without Incense Sticks popularly known as Agarbatti. Millions of Hindu’s, Christians, Muslims and Buddhists use Incense Sticks to please their gods or to purify and freshen up the air.
These sticks are important part of rituals as they do not only signifies spirituality but also denotes peace and prosperity. Its smell makes us feel calm from within.
But do you know side effects of these Incense Sticks? If no then be aware before lightening up any more stick of Agarbatti, especially when you hate smoking cigarette and take pride in being non-smoker.
May be after reading the above content you must be thinking that what danger could this harmless, traditional stick cause?
According to study conducted in 2015 by the scientists in South China University of Technology, they studied on two of the most common types of incense-sticks, agar wood and sandalwood and revealed that this everyday ritual of using Agarbattis causes very much harm to your health.
They said people are putting themselves as well as their loved ones at the risk of cancer, by lightening Agarbatti and by inhaling its smoke.
Agarbatti smoke could be as harmful as cigarette smoke, know reason why!:
The study confirmed that incense smoke contains three kinds of toxins which can lead to cancer. These three kinds are mutagenic, genotoxic, and cytotoxic. Therefore, Agarbattis can cause a gene to mutate, which is the first pre-requisite to cancer and other lung diseases. Genetic mutation can cause a change in the DNA, which is not a good sign.
Another study done by American Cancer Society says that the long-term exposure to Agarbatti fumes put you at an increased risk of upper respiratory tract cancer.
If this wasn’t enough, smoke of Agarbatti contains hazardous particles and volatiles that pose grave health risks.
The pollutants released from these fumes cause inflammation of the bronchial tubes, which pass air to the lungs. This may result in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma.
As lightening Agarbatti is considered so pure and it is a part of our rituals, question arises that whether you should light up Aggarbatii or not?
Here we tell you what should you do?
* Never burn Agarbatti or Dhoop batti when there are children around you, as smoke from these effects so bad on lungs.
* Burn Agarbatti only when it is essential and only burn this immense stick at that place which has proper ventilation.
* People who are suffering from lungs problems should stay away from smoke of Agarbatti.
So friends next time when you are going to burn Agarbatti do keep in mind that they spread lot of indoor air pollution including carbon mono-oxide which causes bad effects on our health.
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.