Feature
Himachal panel seeks details of Priyanka Vadra’s land deal
Shimla: The local administration of Shimla has been told to provide within 10 days information about the land purchase by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Vadra near this popular hill station, the Himachal Pradesh Information Commission has ruled.
“Provide information about Priyanka Vadra’s land deal at Mashobra (near Shimla) within 10 days to an RTI activist. The decision to impose penalty on the officials who failed to provide information within stipulated timeframe would be decided on July 23,” the commission said on Monday.
The order by the full bench comprising Chief Information Commissioner Bhim Sen and Information Commissioner K.D. Batish came after an application of Right to Information activist Devashish Bhattacharya came up for hearing.
The information under the RTI Act was sought in July 2014, but it was denied by the deputy commissioner of Shimla saying that Priyanka Vadra was a high-profile person and providing information could have a direct bearing on her security provided by the Special Protection Group.
The information commission also issued a show-cause notice to the deputy commissioner and others that why penalty should not be imposed on them for not providing the information.
Priyanka’s counsel Gautam Sood said he would soon file a judicial review against the commission’s order in the state high court.
The Vadras purchased a three-and-a-half bigha (one bigha is 0.4 hectare) agricultural plot in 2007. In 2011, they purchased additional land near the existing one.
The cottage, just 15 km uphill from the state capital Shimla, is located close to The Retreat, the summer holiday resort of the Indian president, and the Oberoi Group’s luxury spa Wildflower Hall.
In 2007, the then Congress government in the state had relaxed norms to enable the Vadras to buy the land.
Under the Himachal Pradesh land laws, only the state’s agriculturalists can buy land in the state. Non-agriculturists in the state and outsiders seeking to buy property other than what is offered by the state housing board will have to seek permission from the government under the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act of 1972.
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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