Feature
Lok Sabha adjourned after AIADMK, Congress uproar
New Delhi: The opposition on Wednesday created a ruckus in Lok Sabha, with the AIADMK raising the issue of Aircel-Maxis deal linked to former finance minister P. Chidambaram and his son Karti and the Congress asking the speaker to move its privilege motion notice against HRD Minister Smriti Irani.
Despite the din, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan conducted the question hour and allowed MPs to raise the issues for which they had given notices of privilege.
Soon after the house met AIADMK members trooped near the speaker’s podium shouting slogans and demanding action in the Aircel-Maxis issue.
Mahajan urged the AIADMK members to let the question hour get over before protesting. The AIADMK members returned to their seats but Congress MPs took their place saying the privilege motion against Smriti Irani be moved.
The Congress members raised slogans like “Smriti Irani should be Sacked” and “Bring Privilege Motion against Smriti Irani”.
Mahajan said: “The privilege notices given by some members are under my consideration. There is a procedure to bring privilege motion. This can’t be decided in the house. I am saying this because you members are new to this house.”
But the Congress members didn’t relent and continued with their protest. Trinamool Congress members Sudip Bandopadhyay and Saugata Roy and CPI-M’s Md. Salim also wanted to raise their issues but their voiced were drowned in the noise.
After question hour, the speaker, terming the case as a special one, allowed each member to speak about their privilege motion.
Congress member K.C. Venugopal said he had given notice to move the privilege motion against Smriti Irani for allegedly misleading the house over the suicide of Dalit student Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad.
Ranjita Ranjan (Congress) sought to know that how the HRD minister took her name in her reply on the Jawaharlal Nehru University issue and the Hyderabad suicide.
Saugata Roy (TMC) also spoke about his privilege motion against Smriti Irani on the same issue.
BJP chief whip Arjun Ram Meghwal objected to the allegations against Smriti Irani saying the house should believe her as she was the minister.
Meanwhile, the speaker allowed Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge to speak but he raised the allegedly communal remarks made by union minister Ram Shankar Katheria in Agra.
Mahajan said she had allowed the members to speak only on their privilege motions. “Nothing will go on record. This is not the privilege motion.”
Congress members objected to it and made some remarks against the speaker. She then adjourned the house for 10 minutes till 12.30.
Katheria on Sunday attended a condolence meeting held for VHP worker Arun Mahaur, who was shot in Agra, and reportedly made remarks deemed to be communal in nature.
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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