Feature
Parliament braces for stormy monsoon session
New Delhi: With the Congress insisting on the resignation of “scam-tainted” ministers and the government refusing to buckle on Monday, the monsoon session of parliament that starts on Tuesday is most likely to be stormy.
To add to the government’s woes, opposition parties also appear to be in no mood to compromise vis-a-vis the controversial land bill on which Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called for a national consensus.
The indications of the looming showdown in parliament emerged on Monday after an all-party meeting convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu when the government ruled out the resignation of anyone.
“The question of resignation does not arise. No one has done anything illegal or immoral,” Naidu said here. “There is no question of accepting any ultimatum from anybody.
At the meeting, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad pressed for the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj as well as Chief Ministers Vasundhara Raje of Rajasthan and Shivraj Singh Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh.
Azad, who heads the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said he hoped Modi would announce the resignations of “scam-accused ministers” before Tuesday. “Passing the bills would (then) become very easy,” Azad said.
The Congress has been seeking the resignations of Sushma Swaraj and Raje over their alleged links with former IPL chief Lalit Modi, and of Chouhan over the Vyapam recruitment scam.
Naidu rejected the Congress demand.
“Nobody can dictate terms to parliament. Parliament is sovereign,” he said. “We are ready to discuss issues that the opposition wants to raise.”
The BJP also vowed to raise the issue of an international firm allegedly bribing a minister and government officials in Goa and sought a CBI probe.
Earlier, Modi called upon all political parties to move forward on the land acquisition bill that has created a major national divide. “All party leaders should move forward on the bill,” he said.
The opposition has slammed the bill as an attempt to acquire land for industrial houses. The government has denied the charge.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy quoted Modi as saying that his government was, however, ready to accept all “good suggestions” from opposition parties on various issues.
Modi said it was the collective responsibility of the parties to ensure a smooth functioning of parliament.
But the opposition remained adamant.
“The Samajwadi Party … will continue to oppose it,” its leader Ram Gopal Yadav said of the land bill.
The all-party meeting was attended by, among others, Azad, Ram Gopal Yadav, Janata Dal-United’s Sharad Yadav, BSP’s Satish Mishra and CPI-M’s Sitaram Yechury among others.
Anticipating fireworks in parliament over a string of issues, BJP leaders held meetings on Sunday evening to discuss the strategy for parliament. Both Modi and BJP president Amit Shah met both party leaders and ministers on Sunday.
The prime minister will also meet leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies on Monday evening.
Also on Monday, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Chouhan had done no wrong vis-a-vis the Vyapam scandal and that the government was “fully prepared” for the outcome of the CBI probe ordered into the scam.
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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