Feature
Rajya Sabha adjourned amid ruckus
New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 12 noon on Monday after heated arguments between opposition parties and treasury benches over the continuing logjam in both the houses of parliament.
Soon after the house met, Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien allowed papers to be laid on the table and then permitted leader of the opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad to speak.
“An impression is being created outside the house that the government has reached out to the opposition members to break the ongoing logjam, which is far from true,” Azad said.
“No one from the government has ever met any of the Congress leaders to break the logjam. In fact, we have received phone calls from government and that too on the suspension of the 25 Congress members from Lok Sabha and not on the issue of stalemate in parliament,” he added.
Azad also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not taking into confidence the chief ministers of various states before taking any decision regarding their states.
Azad alleged that the government was making a mockery of cooperative federalism.
“When the Naga peace accord was signed none of the related chief ministers were taken into confidence. Two days back, governors were appointed in Bihar and Himachal Pradesh but neither of the chief ministers were taken into confidence,” he said.
The allegations of the opposition members were refuted by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the leader of the house.
Soon after Jaitley stood up to speak, Congress members trooped into the well of the house and shouted slogans against the Narendra Modi government.
Amid the din, Jaitley said: “I strongly refute the charges levelled by leader of opposition. We tried several time to break the logjam but Congress has decided that it will not allow the house to function.”
“Their chief ministers had welcomed the Naga peace accord through their tweets but were deleted after pressure from their leadership,” he said.
After Jaitley spoke, Kurien allowed Janata Dal-United member K.C. Tyagi to speak. As he stood up, Congress members stopped shouting slogans and went back to their seats.
Jaitley objected to this selective behaviour of Congress members.
He said: “The government was not allowed to speak by Congress members. This is the selective approach of Congress. Is this the way to conduct the house.”
Kurien responded to it and said: “Selective blocking is not acceptable. I have never seen such practice.”
Amidst the heated arguments between opposition members and members from the treasury benches, Congress leader from Andhra Pradesh J. Seelam trooped into the well and stood in front of Jaitley.
He along with other Congress members from Andhra Pradesh was demanding special status for the state.
Amid the din Kurien adjourned the house till 12 noon.
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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