Feature
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar likely to take action against JD-U legislator
Patna: After a JD-U legislator was found guilty of misbehaving with a couple on a running train, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today delivered a hint of action against him.
“Nobody is above the law,” Nitish Kumar told the media when asked about likely action against legislator Sarfaraj Alam who is facing charges of misbehaving with woman and her husband aboard Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express.
Nitish said party will decide about action against the legislator, including Bima Bharti who had allegedly helped her gangster husband Awadsh Mandal to escape from police lock up.
We have rules in the party to take action in such cases. JD-U President Sharad Yadav will arrive here on Saturday to discuss about possible action, Nitish said.
Nitish Kumar has reacted for the first time to this issue a day after state JD-U president Vashisht Narain Singh said such behaviour, if true, cannot be tolerated at any cost. He could face action from the party.
Even RJD chief Lalu Prasad had favoured action for misconduct with a woman.
Additional Director General (police headquarters) Sunil Kumar said legislator Alam may be penalised by the railways for travelling without an authorised ticket and action would be taken against the train superintendent for allotting him a berth and creating the circumstances for him to travel unauthorisedly.
He said the railway police have adequate evidence against Alam that he travelled in the Rajdhani express. The legislator has denied the charges and said he was not aboard the train.
Inderpal Singh Bedi and his wife in an FIR registered at Patna railway station complained that JDU legislator Sarfaraj Alam, his bodyguard and another aide misbehaved with them aboard the Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express, the official said.
Alam and his two men allegedly passed vulgar comments about Bedi and his wife who boarded the train from Delhi, he said.
Patna rail superintendent of police P. N. Mishra said a four member team sent from Patna to register a formal complaint returned from Delhi after recording the statement of the victim and other witnesses. Team members also collected documentary evidence.
Mishra said a summon was issued to Alam to appear before the investigation official and present his stand on Saturday following the police team have found complainant correct prima facie.
“The investigation is on into the case and the police would take action against the legislator if the charges were found to be true,” Mishra said.
Alam, son of former union minister Mohammad Taslimuddin, is JDU legislator from Jokihat assembly constituency in Araria district of Bihar.
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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