Feature
Two celebrities face of BJP for LS election holds no college degrees
New Delhi: Out of the seven candidates the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded in Delhi for the Lok Sabha elections, the two new celebrity faces-Gautam Gambhir and Hans Raj Hans-do not have college degrees.
The Congress and the AAP have one candidate each without a college degree.
The May 12 Lok Sabha polls in the national capital will involve a contest between Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress party and the Bharatiya Janata Party which won all the seven seats in 2014. Five of them are re-contesting this year.
Former cricketer Gambhir, in his nomination affidavit, has said that his “degree (was) not completed”.
The 37-year-old is contesting in East Delhi against the AAP’s Atishi, 37, who holds a Master of Science (2006) degree from Oxford University. The Congress has named 50-year-old Arvinder Singh Lovely, a B.A. Political Science graduate from Delhi University.
Hans Raj Hans, a matric pass (1978), is contesting from the North West Delhi seat. He will face the AAP’s Class 8 pass 70-year-old Gugan Singh. The Congress has named 53-year-old M.Sc. holder Rajesh Lilothia from the seat.
For the West Delhi seat, the Congress has named 65-year-old Mahabal Mishra, with a pre-university certificate (Intermediate course) from Bihar. Mishra will face 41-year-old Parvesh Sahib Singh, a MBA holder, and the AAP’s 47-year-old Balbir Singh Jakhar, with a L.L.B degree.
BJP fields two celebrity faces, both of them do not have college degrees:
In the remaining four seats, the fight is between degree holders.
In the Chandini Chowk parliamentary seat, BJP’s 64-year-old sitting MP Harsh Vardhan — a medical graduate from Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College, Kanpur, and a Master of Surgery in Otorhinolaryngology (1983) — is contesting against the AAP’s 52-year-old Pankaj Gupta, a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics (1987) from Allahabad.
The Congress has fielded 74-year-old J.P. Agarwal, holding a degree in Bachelor of Arts (1960) from Delhi University’s Hansraj College.
North East Delhi will see a contest between three master degree holders. AAP’s 38-year-old Dilip Pandey, holding a Master of Computer Application degree (2005) from Bhopal, is facing three-time Delhi Chief Minister and Congress leader Sheila Dikshit. The 81-year-old completed her post graduation in history from Delhi University in 1959.
BJP’s sitting MP and candidate from North East Delhi 48-year-old Manoj Tiwari is a Master of Physical Education (1994).
In the New Delhi seat, BJP’s 51-year-old sitting MP Meenakshi Lekhi, with B.Sc. and L.L.B degrees, is facing Congress leader Ajay Maken, holding a Masters in Public Administration. The AAP has named B.Sc. graduate 43-year-old Brijesh Goyal.
The South Delhi seat will see a contest between sitting BJP MP and LLB degree holder Ramesh Bidhuri (57) and AAP’s 30-year-old Chartered Accountant Raghav Chadha. The Congress’ celebrity candidate boxer Vijender holds a B.A degree from Rohtak.
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.