Feature
‘Land-grabbing’ by Hema Malini for dance school
Mumbai:Bollywood dreamgirl Hema Malini’s plans to start a dance academy on a plot of land in Mumbai’s Andheri area hit a roadblock on Thursday, as an RTI activist accused her of land-grabbing.
Exactly a month ago, the Maharashtra government had allotted a prime 2,000-square-metre plot to the Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha member in the suburban upmarket Oshiwara area for her proposed dance academy.
According to documents procured under the Right to Information (RTI) by activist Anil Galgali, Hema Malini was allotted the plot worth crores of rupees for a paltry Rs.70,000.
“Not only that, this is the second time Hema Malini has been allotted a prime plot in the Mumbai suburbs. Earlier, in 1997, the (then) Shiv Sena-BJP government had given her a plot of land, but she could not develop it due to CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone) issues,” Galgali told IANS.
He claimed that though Hema Malini has not yet returned the earlier plot, the current government has allotted her another plot.
Interestingly, Congress Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Shukla was allotted a plot in Andheri West, but following a controversy generated by then opposition BJP-Shiv Sena, he was forced to surrender it in February 2014 — just before the Lok Sabha elections.
The details of the allotment to Hema Malini from the Mumbai Suburban District Collectorate showed that she was given the land at only Rs.35 per square metre.
Moreover, she was allotted another plot of 1,741 square metres in the same locality in April 1997 for Rs.10 lakh, but since it fell partly under CRZ, she never developed it, nor did she raise 25 percent of the project cost, but continues to retain that plot, Galgali said.
In the new allotment, the Hema Malini Dance Academy’s cultural complex project is expected to cost around Rs.18.49 crore for which she is yet to submit proof of availability of 25 percent funds and resources to raise the balance 75 percent.
The RTI reply said the academy has only around Rs.3.5 crore — less than the 25 percent minimum requirement, and it was unclear about the balance 75 percent.
Galgali has shot off a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis pointing out the governement’s ‘benevolence’ to Hema Malini, and how it was flouting the state’s policy of taking back reserved land given to various organisations, but allotting a plot reserved for a garden to the BJP MP for her dance academy.
When Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse made the allotment on December 29, 2015, Hema had said how the matter had been buried in bureaucratic red tape for 20 years, but the new government expedited it in record time.
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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