Feature
Rajnath Singh to meet northeast CMs on terror, border issues
Agartala: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh would meet chief ministers of eight northeastern states in Guwahati on July 11 to discuss and finalise strategies to deal with terror and border management, officials said here Thursday.
“Rajnath Singh and his deputy Kiren Rijiju would meet the chief ministers of eight northeastern states in Guwahati on Saturday,” a senior Tripura home department official said.
He said that during the meeting on Saturday, “terrorism, border management, natural disaster and climate change would be discussed and some concrete strategies to deal with these issues would be finalised”.
Top officials of home ministry, border management department, intelligence, the Border Security Force (BSF), Assam Rifles and state governments would attend the day-long meet.
Recent spurt of terrorist activities in northeast India forced the union home ministry and the army to take some stern measures against the outlawed outfits.
The Naga militant outfit National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang faction) (NSCN-K), which walked out of a ceasefire agreement with the union government in March, has been involved in a series of attacks in tandem with some other militant groups in northeast India.
In a worst ever terrorist strike, army trucks were attacked with guns and grenades by suspected terrorists of NSCN-(K), killing 18 soldiers and injuring 15 others in Manipur’s Chandel district on June 4.
The National Investigation Agency is probing the June 4 ambush.
Before the June 4 attack, various terrorist outfits killed around 20 security personnel and civilians in Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Mizoram.
Manipur, which shares 398 km border with Myanmar, has about 40 militant outfits.
In view of the significant taming of terrorism in the Left-ruled Tripura, the state government on May 27 withdrew the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) which gives sweeping powers and judicial immunity to security forces in conflict-hit areas. The law was enforced in the state 18 years ago to curb terrorism.
The army carried out an operation on the Indo-Myanmar border and killed some terrorists involved in the June 4 ambush of the Dogra Regiment soldiers.
Porous and mountainous borders of northeastern states have become advantageous for terror groups.
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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