Feature
Doors of Lucknow Metro open for public after flagged-off by Narendra Modi
Kanpur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today flagged off the commercial run on Lucknow Metro’s North-South corridor through video conference from Kanpur.
With this acchievement name of Lucknow is registered in history soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off Lucknow Metro’s commercial run on the 23-km North-South corridor on Friday.
The PM inaugurated the commercial run through video conferencing from Kanpur where he would be unveiling other development projects for the state. It is expected that Union home minister Rajnath Singh who is currently in city will acompany with him along with UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, deputy chief ministers Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Maurya would be present at Chaudhary Charan Airport Metro station in Lucknow along with MLAs.
On this occasion, LMRC MD Kumar Keshav said, “Lucknow Metro flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Kanpur in the presence of Union home minister Rajnath Singh and chief minister Yogi Adityanath at Chaudhary Charan Airport Metro station.”
Metro services would remain suspended on Friday due to the inauguration ceremony. Full-fledged service will begin from Saturday. Lucknow Metro had got clearance from Commissioner Railway Safety on February 22.
During his visit to his parliamentary constituency, the Prime Minister will seek blessings of Baba Kashi Vishwanath, lay foundation of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor Project, which aims at ensuring view of the temple directly from the ghats, and honour beneficiaries of national rural livelihood mission.
Thereafter, the PM will formally lay the foundation stone of the ₹650-crore corridor project.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath late on Tuesday evening said Mahatma Gandhi wanted an expansion of Kashi Vishwanath Temple but previous governments didn’t pay attention to it. “100 years on, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to fulfil Gandhi ji’s dream,” he said.
Now Lucknowites to enjoy ride of Lucknow Metro after doors open for public:
Later, PM Modi will reach Deendayal Upadhyay Trade Facilitation Centre where he would honour seven beneficiaries of UP rural livelihood mission.
PM Narendra Modi will visit Varanasi, Kanpur and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh on Friday and unveil multiple development projects for the state. According to an official release on Thursday, in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi, Modi will visit the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and lay the foundation stone of an approach road to the temple, beautification and strengthening project.
In Kanpur, he will unveil the Panki Power Plant, a 660 megawatt electricity generation and distribution unit. The prime minister will also inaugurate a section of the the Lucknow Metro Rail through video link. In Ghaziabad, Modi will inaugurate the Dilshad Garden-Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) section of the metro and flag-off a train from Shaheed Sthal station.
The length of the North-South corridor is 23 kilometre.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, Chandauli MP and state BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey, Kanpur MP Murli Manohar Joshi, along with other state ministers were present on the occasion.
The prime minister also laid the foundation stone for Agra Metro Rail project.
Modi also distributed keys of houses to the beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana.
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.