Feature
Lalit Modi’s salvoes aim to singe Congress
New Delhi: The Lalit Modi controversy on Friday appeared to taint the Congress, with the former IPL chief claiming that he had “bumped” into party president Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka and her husband Robert Vadra in a London restaurant last year, a charge denied by Priyanka Vandra’s office.
Modi did not imply any wrongdoing on their part, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), smarting from several damaging revelations by the former IPL chief, immediately sprang into an attacking mode.
“The Congress must explain. Why is Mrs Gandhi silent,” asked BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra.
Priyanka Gandhi’s office said “there was no meeting”.
Party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said Priyanka Gandhi and Vadra had “committed no crime”. There was no “social interaction” of any nature between them. “Looking at each other in a restaurant is neither a crime nor morally improper.”
The BJP has been facing fire over Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s reported connections with Lalit Modi. She is alleged to have signed documents supporting Lalit Modi’s application for residency in Britain even though he was said to be a fugitive from India.
Lalit Modi tweeted earlier in the day: “Happy to meet the Gandhi family in London. I had run into Robert and Priyanka separately in a restaurant.”
“If I remember correctly, it was last year and the year before. Doubt whether reported it to anyone. They were in power then,” he said.
Modi is embroiled in a row over alleged financial irregularities when he was the IPL chief. The Enforcement Directorate has built up a case against him. The government had also cancelled his passport.
Modi also tweeted that the Gandhi couple was with Timmy Sarna who is with DLF Brands Ltd. “They can call me. Will tell them what I feel about them exactly,” he said in the tweet.
The BJP asked Sonia Gandhi to explain why Priyanka and Vadra met Modi, as claimed by him, since her Congress party was demanding the resignation of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje over her help to Modi.
Surjewala, though, said that Lalit Modi was trying to come to BJP’s rescue by creating “red herrings and diversionary tactics”.
He asked the government to release records of discussions the former finance minister P. Chidambaram had with the British government demanding that Lalit Modi be handed over to India.
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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