Feature
Apex court asks Reliance Industries to respond to audit report
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) to respond within three weeks to the official auditor’s report that had adversely commented on its operation of gas blocks in the Krishna-Godavari basin.
A bench of Justice T.S. Thakur, Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice Kurian gave time after senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for the company, said that as against 30 audit objections initially, the government had notified 20 on which his client had to respond.
On January 16, the court sought RIL’s response to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India that had recommended disallowing $357.16 million expenditure the company claimed to have incurred on drilling the wells and payments to contractors for the said gas blocks.
The report had also hauled up the oil ministry for the delays in fixing hydrocarbon prices and for following inconsistent parameters for expenditure estimation.
The court allowed three petitioners — former Communist law maker Gurudas Dasgupta, non-government organisation Common Cause and advocate Manohar Lal Sharma — and the government to file their replies to the company’s reaction to the audit report.
The court also permitted Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar to file the status report in pursuant of the proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee – a parliamentary panel that is examining the report.
As court deliberated on the next date of hearing, it was requested to assign an early date as RIL’s plea for an arbitration on the gas pricing was listed for hearing by Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
The court directed the listing of the matter for May 5 for directions on the hearing of the matter.
Besides other issues, Dasgupta, Common Cause and Sharma had moved the court challenging the previous government’s decision to double gas prices from then $4.2 per unit to $8.4 per unit.
However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government by an October 25, 2014, notification issued new domestic gas pricing guidelines which came into force from November 1, 2014.
Under the new guidelines, the price of the gas was increased from $4.2 per unit to $5.61 per unit. But this was applicable to normal discoveries and not for deep, ultra-deep and other difficult operations. A decision on that is pending.
The new domestic natural gas pricing guidelines superseded the January 10, 2014, decision taken by the then government that was to be notified to come into force from April 1, 2014.
Besides pricing of the gas, petitioners Dasgupta and Common Cause have sought the relinquishment of the gas fields not developed as provided under the production-sharing contract.
The petitioners have also sought the cancellation of the contract with Reliance Industries and NIKO Resources, concerning the block.
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.
Foodman Vishal Singh Honored for Hunger Free World Mission in Bangkok
Dr. Abhishek Verma Dedicates a Shelter in Memory of His Mother, Veena Verma, at KGMU; Inaugurated by Daughter Nicolle Verma
Cheers and Cheers: Barzilla’s Joyful Ode to Inclusivity and Celebration
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
IPL 20202 UPDATE: KXIP vs MI IPL Dream11 Team Prediction for Today Match, Update Point Table of all Team.
In a Live debate AAP leader Syed Asad Abbas hurls abuses to BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
‘India’s Most Wanted’ trailer out Arjun Kapoor on hunt of Osama-Bin-Laden
Time to move on: Sonakshi on Shatrughan’s joining Congress
