Feature
Yakub not the first to be executed on his birthday
Yakub Memon, the convict of the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings will be hanged on 30th July 2015, the same day he was born fifty three years ago in 1962. This way he becomes the second convict in the list to be hanged on his birthday after Dhananjoy Chatterjee who was hanged at Alipore Central Jail in West Bengal on August 14 2004, on the day of his 42nd birthday. Chaterjee was convicted for rape and murder of a teenage girl.
Yakub’s hanging is the first capital punishment to be executed since 2013. In the last 10 years, as per the Statistics of National Crime Record Bureau, there were 1,303 death sentences out of which only 3 executions materialized which is not even one percent of the death sentences awarded to convicts.
Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab was hanged on November 21 2012 in Pune’s Yerwada Jail. He was the only terrorist to have survived the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. In 2013 Mohammed Afzal Guru, a convict in the 2001 parliament attack case was hanged on Februrary 9 in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
The span of seven years i.e from 2004 till 2012 was execution-free period as there were no executions despite 1,303 verdicts of capital punishment by various courts in the country during these years. There were 3,751 death sentences that were converted into life imprisonment during this period.
Uttar Pradesh criminals awarded most death sentences
Uttar Pradesh tops the list of giving most death sentences (318) over the last 10 years. Maharashtra is second in the list with 108, followed by Karnataka (107), Bihar (105) and Madhya Pradesh (104).
On the whole the most number of death sentences were awarded in 2007 i.e 186, followed by 164 in the year 2005. Till now the most number of death sentences that were commuted to life imprisonment was also in the year 2005 and the number was 1,241.
From the year 2004 till 2013 these top five states i.e Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh have comprised almost 57 percent of all capital punishments awarded in the country.
Among the regions in which prisoners had death sentences commuted to life imprisonment (between 2004 and 2013) it was Delhi at the top with 2,465. Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh were second with 303 death sentences commuted to life imprisonment, followed by Bihar (157) and West Bengal (104).
Delhi single-handedly was responsible for nearly 66 percent of all prisoners whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment between 2004 and 2013.
This data clearly shows that capital punishment is awarded by the judiciary only in rarest of rare crimes or is cases of terrorism. The inordinate delay in the judicial process also is responsible for commutation of death penalties as the convict often has already served long periods in jail.
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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