Feature
Consumption of spurious liquor causes death of twelve people
Lucknow: Another hooch tragedy took place in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki district where twelve people of different villages died after consuming poisonous alcohol. According to sources twelve people died out of which four were from same family. This toll can increase further.
As per speculations, ten people died on Monday night out of which four were from same family. People were unaware about this incident until it was not revealed by Lekhpal, Sadar Badel, on Tuesday.
He told to media persons that eight persons died after consuming spurious liquor in Ramnagar police station area of Barabanki, some 40 km from state capital Lucknow.
This incident reminded us of hooch tragedy which took place recently in February at Saharanpur and Kushinagar districts, where 116 people were found dead.
According to sources, three people were admitted to local Hospital in critical condition. But soon after their admission one of them died. This toll is likely to rise further in coming time period.
As per our knowledge, victims were from different villages under Ramnagar police station area of Barabanki. According to information provided by local sources, villagers bought country made liquor from a shop whose owner’s name is Danvir Singh. He is from Raniganj area.
After consuming spurious liquor at-least twelve people lost lives in Barabanki:
Just after consuming Alcohol, they complained about Cholera-like symptoms and also stomachache. Suffers straightaway rushed to Community Health Centre (CHC) so that patients could be referred to district hospital. But before that, four people died during treatment.
As our Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath came to know about hooch tragedy, he issued instructions to DM Barabanki, Udaibhan Tripathi to provide proper medical attention to victims. He directed Principal Secretary Excise, to carry out high-level probe so that Culprit could be booked.
At same time, UP excise minister Jai Pratap Singh suspend Brabanki District Excise Officer Shiv Narayan Dubey, excise inspector Ram Teerath Maurya, three head constables and five constables of excise department were positioned in circle.
After taking action against district police officials, UP DGP OP Singh suspended Ramnagar circle officer Pawan Gautam and Ramnagar inspector Rajesh Kumar for being careless in checking sale of spurious liquor in area.
Four people who died belonged to one family. Three of them – Ramesh Kumar, 35, Sonu, 25 and Mukesh, 28 – were siblings. Fourth one was their father who also died after consuming liquor with sons. “There is no one left in the family to take the mortal remains of deceased for cremation,” said deceased Ramesh’s wife Ramawati.
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.