Feature
UP is now violence free under Yogi-Modi government, says CM
Lucknow: Blaming the Congress for turning Uttar Pradesh into a BIMARU state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Tuesday that the state was now violence free.
“After 1990, there had been governments of BSP and SP. During this period, the state witnessed a new level of anarchy and violence,” the saffron-robed BJP leader told the media to mark his two years in office.
“There were rapes, murder, looting and corruption (earlier). This gave an identity crisis to youths and forced farmers to commit suicide.
“The state witnessed hundreds of communal riots during the last regime of Samajwadi Party. But in the last two years, there has been no communal incident,” he said.
The Chief Minister claimed there was no political interference in police work since he took office on this day in 2017 and said the law and order in the state was under control.
Adityanath said the Congress, which ruled Uttar Pradesh for the longest time since independence, brought the state under the BIMARU (sick) category, forcing youths to migrate in search of employment.
BIMARU as an acronym stood for Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, which were once considered the most backward states economically.
The Chief Minister said that “members of the majority community” who were forced to leave their homes in Kairana and Kandhla in Uttar Pradesh due to fear of anti-social elements were returning to their homes.
UP CM says, state is now violence free under Yogi-Modi government:
Citing the achievements of his government, he also praised the Modi government for extending cooperation to the state.
Under BJP-rule, the state got investment of Rs 1.5 lakh crore, which created job opportunities for over 15 lakh youths, he said.
His two years in office had achieved a turn round in the fortunes of the state, he added.
He said that loans worth Rs 17,000 crore was disbursed to 1.78 lakh people under the ‘Mudra Scheme’ and that one lakh artisans had been given training tool kits.
“We came to power under very challenging circumstances as most sectors were in distress and chaos.
“We purchased 48 lakh tonnes of paddy in 2018-19 and we are giving 1.5 times to farmers than their investment.”
The farmers, he added, had been given additional irrigation facility in 20 lakh hectares.
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.