Feature
Narendra Modi for second term takes oath as Prime Minister of India
New Delhi: Narendra Modi was on Thursday sworn in as country’s Prime Minister for a second term, heading the National Democratic Alliance government in the presence of a large gathering of national and international dignitaries.
The 68-year-old Modi, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony at the forecourt of majestic Rashtraparti Bhavan.
Beside Narendra Modi, several others like Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Ravi Sankar Prasad, Harsimrath Kaur Badal, Smiriti Irani, Piyush Vedh Prakash Goyal, Ram Vilas Paswan, Muktar Abbas Naqvi along with several more were also sworn in as Union Minister in Prime Minister regime.
Top opposition leaders including former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, corporate honchos, film stars, chief ministers and a galaxy of leaders from BIMSTEC countries were part of the nearly 8,000 guests at the ceremony.
This is the second time Modi took the oath at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Modi was sworn in by the then President Pranab Mukherjee in 2014 in the presence of over 3,500 guests including the heads of SAARC countries.
Narendra Modi takes oath as Prime Minister of India for second tenure:
Earlier, Chandra Shekhar in 1990 and Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999 were sworn in at the sprawling forecourt.
Leaders of BIMSTEC countries including President of Bangladesh Abdul Hamid, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, President of Myanmar U Win Myint and Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering also attended the gala event.
From Thailand, its Special Envoy Grisada Boonrach represented the country. Besides India, BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) comprises Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan as members.
Kyrgyz President and current chair of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, and Mauritius PM Pravind Kumar Jugnauth also attended the event.
Here is complete list of Ministers sworn-in along with Prime Minister:
Cabinet Ministers
1. Shri Narendra Modi
2. Shri Raj Nath Singh
3. Shri Amit Shah
4. Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari
5. Shri D. V. Sadananda Gowda
6. Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
7. Shri Ramvilas Paswan
8. Shri Narendra Singh Tomar
9. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad
10. Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal
11. Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot
12. Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
13. Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’
14. Shri Arjun Munda
15. Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani
16. Dr. Harsh Vardhan
17. Shri Prakash Javadekar
18. Shri Piyush Goyal
19. Shri Dharmendra Pradhan
20. Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
21. Shri Pralhad Joshi
22. Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey
23. Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant
24. Shri Giriraj Singh
25. Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
Ministers of State (Independent Charge)
1. Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar
2. Rao Inderjit Singh
3. Shri Shripad Yesso Naik
4. Dr. Jitendra Singh
5. Shri Kiren Rijiju
6. Shri Prahalad Singh Patel
7. Shri Raj Kumar Singh
8. Shri Hardeep Singh Puri
9. Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya
Ministers of State
1. Shri Faggansingh Kulaste
2. Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey
3. Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal
4. General (Retd.) V. K. Singh
5. Shri Krishan Pal
6. Shri Danve Raosaheb Dadarao
7. Shri G. Kishan Reddy
8. Shri Parshottam Rupala
9. Shri Ramdas Athawale
10. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti
11. Shri Babul Supriyo
12. Shri Sanjeev Kumar Balyan
13. Shri Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao
14. Shri Anurag Singh Thakur
15. Shri Angadi Suresh Channabasappa
16. Shri Nityanand Rai
17. Shri. Rattan Lal Kataria
18. Shri V. Muraleedharan
19. Smt. Renuka Singh Saruta
20. Shri Som Parkash
21. Shri Rameswar Teli
22. Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi
23. Shri Kailash Choudhary
24. Smt. Debasree Chaudhuri
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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