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Steps taken to check corruption: Modi
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said his government has taken “significant steps to check corruption and the menace of black money in a short span of time”.
Speaking at the inauguration of the sixth Global Focal Point Conference (GFPC) on Asset Recovery, and the 21st Annual Conference of CBI and State Anti-Corruption Bureaus here at Vigyan Bhavan, he said: “Our government is committed to making bureaucracy more efficient, performance-oriented and accountable.”
“We, in India, are currently in a crucial phase of nation building. Our mission is to build a prosperous India,” he said, adding it was essential to fight relentlessly against corruption and the government was unsparing in punishing the corrupt.
Extending a warm welcome to over 100 delegates from 50 countries on the occasion, Modi said: “Corruption is one of the principal challenges to that objective.”
“Governments across the world work to transform the lives of the poor and the marginalised. This is not an impossible mission… to achieve this objective, it is essential to fight relentlessly against corruption,” he said.
Stating that India stands committed in its fight against corruption, Modi said: “The very day that we assumed office, we constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the supervision of the Supreme Court to look into the issue.
“We have entered into agreements with many countries for exchanging real time information on black money,” he said, adding the government has signed the Inter Government Agreement with the US to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.
He told the audience that “the agreement enables Indian tax authorities to receive financial account information of Indians from foreign countries on an automatic basis”.
Modi also said a comprehensive and deterrent law, the Black Money Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets and Imposition of Tax Act has been enacted that “provides for stringent penalties and prosecution”.
He hoped the partnership between Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR) and Interpol will help in confiscation and recovery of stolen assets.
Stating that his government recently took steps to curb systemic corruption such as in auction of coal blocks and FM Radio spectrum and eliminated the discretion element in national resources’ allocation, he said: “It has also generated substantial revenues for the government which will benefit our people.”
Modi said the National Democratic Alliance government’s move to credit gas subsidy directly into consumers’ bank accounts, with each account being linked to the Aadhaar card, “reduced the number of registered consumers claiming gas subsidy by about 50 million”.
“We also launched a campaign for the ‘well off’ to voluntarily give up cooking gas subsidy… As on date, more than 4.5 million people have given up their gas subsidy.” he said.
On the Paris terror attacks, Modi said: “The dastardly acts committed in Paris a few days ago are a grim reminder that terrorists have shown remarkable flexibility and adaptability in meeting their funding requirements.”
Stating that “disrupting fund flows constrains the capabilities of terrorists and reduces their ability to execute attacks”, Modi said confiscation of property of offenders not only serves as punishment but also discourages commission of crime.
The prime minister said though investigation agencies were limited by national boundaries, his government was committed to the implementation of a uniform global standard on Automatic Exchange of Information on a fully reciprocal basis.
He said the new Interpol notice ‘Silver Notice’ could add value to asset-tracing investigations and facilitate real time information sharing in complex cases.
Interpol’s Secretary General Jurgen Stock, minister of state Jitendra Singh and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Anil Sinha were also present during the meet.
Modi also presented the President’s Police Medals for Distinguished Service to 11 CBI officers.
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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