Feature
Priyanka Gandhi makes political debut in UP with rousing reception
Lucknow: The Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi arrived at the Lucknow airport on Monday afternoon to a rousing reception by party leaders and workers for marking her political debut ahead of Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched her roadshow here on Monday on her first visit after becoming the General Secretary in charge of East Uttar Pradesh along with her brother and Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
Priyanka Gandhi was welcomed by senior party leaders including Uttar Pradesh Congress unit chief Raj Babbar when she landed at the airport. The state capital has been decked up by Congress supporters.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Congress General Secretary in charge of western Uttar Pradesh, also accompanied them.
The face which was considered as Indira Gandhi was accompanied by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and in-charge of the western region, Jyotiraditya Scindia, a beaming Priyanka Gandhi waved at partymen jostling for a glimpse of her.
As her ‘rath’ rolled on, it was a selfie galore with enthusiastic partymen taking vantage positions to click prized photographs for posterity.
Priyanka Gandhi welcomes with rousing reception for her political debut for LS polls in UP:
When the trio embarked on a roughly 25-km-long roadshow through major thoroughfares of the state capital, rose petals were sprinkled and marigold garlands showered at their cavalcade.
A day before her maiden visit to the state as Congress general secretary in-charge of western Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi said she hopes to start a “new kind of politics” in which everyone will be a stakeholder.
The Congress office at Mall Avenue has been painted afresh and decorated with hundreds of kilos of marigold and other flowers. The entire route which the motorcade of the Gandhi scion will weave through the city has been plastered with posters, hoardings and banners.
“Aa gayi badlaav ki aandhi, Rahul sung Priyanka Gandhi” (Change is coming, Rahul along with Priyanka Gandhi), was a favourite slogan. Many Congress activists wore caps and T-shirts with Priyanka’s picture embossed on them.
She along with Rahul Gandhi and Scindia then boarded an open truck decorated with garlands for the road show. Setting out from the airport, it will go around the city and culminate at the party headquarters.
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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