Feature
In a U-turn, social media exempt from saving text for 90 days
New Delhi: Following public outcry, the government on Tuesday made a U-Turn on a proposed policy and exempted users of social media sites, apps, as also net banking and password-based e-commerce from saving data for a minimum of 90 days from the date of transaction.
In a clarification issued to what it called as Draft National Encryption Policy, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology said the following categories of encryption products were being exempted from its purview:
– The mass use encryption products, which are currently being used in web aplications, social media sites, and social media applications such as Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
– SSL/TLS (Secure Sockets Layer/ Transport Layer Security) encryption products being used in Internet-banking and payment gateways as directed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
– SSL/TLS encryption products being used for e-commerce and password-based transactions.
“The draft encryption policy is only a proposal. It is not a final document of the government,” Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here. “The policy will consider the views of the public.”
Earlier, as per the new draft, every message that is sent, through e-mail, Whatsapp or SMS was required to be stored in plain text format for 90 days from the date of transaction and made available to the law enforcement agencies on demand.
The draft proposed to introduce a New Encryption Policy under Section 84A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and called for public comments by Oct 16.
The stated mission of the policy is to provide confidentiality of information in cyber space for individuals, protect sensitive or proprietary information, ensure reliability and integrity of nationally-critical information systems and networks.
“Users or organisations within B group (that is business-to-business sector) may use encryption for storage and communication. Encryption algorithms and key sizes shall be prescribed by the government through notifications from time to time,” the draft said.
“On demand, the user shall be able to reproduce the same plain text and encrypted text pairs using the software or hardware used to produce the encrypted text from the given plain text,” it added.
“Such plain text information shall be stored by the user or organisation or agency for 90 days from the date of transaction and made available to law enforcement agencies as and when demanded in line with the provisions of the laws of the country.”
The objectives of the policy is to synchronise with the emerging global digital economy, network society and use of encryption for security, date confidentiality and protect privacy in the electronic information space without unduly affecting public safety and national security.
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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