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Roja case:Andhra house panel for year-long suspension, house to give hearing
Hyderabad:The Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly on Monday decided to give YSR Congress legislator R.K. Roja another opportunity to appear before the privileges committee with regard to her behaviour in the house, which led to her suspension for one year.
Legislative Affairs Minister Y. Ramakrishnudu announced in the house that Roja will get another opportunity to offer her explanation with regard to the incidents that took place in the house on December 18 last year.
The committee on Monday submitted its report recommending Roja’s suspension from the house for one year.
The panel will submit another report, based on which the house will take final decision. “Till that time the member will remain suspended,” the minister said, adding that with regard to three other legislators of YSR Congress, the house has accepted the apologies tendered by them while appearing before the committee.
Ramakrishnudu said it was also decided to defer the issue relating to another opposition legislator Kodali Nani. The committee, in its report, left it to the house to take action against him.
Speaker K. Sivaprasad Rao said while mistakes do happen, the members involved should apologise. He pointed out that many members in the past even gave written apologies for their behaviour in the house.
As many as 15 legislator of ruling Telugu Desam party participated in four-hour-long debate on the report of the privileges committee in the absence of the lone opposition party, which is boycotting the proceedings to protest the government’s action in not allowing Roja to attend the house despite the high court granting interim stay on her suspension.
While giving the interim stay last week, a single judge of the Hyderabad High Court had made it clear that the speaker is not precluded from taking action based on the recommendations of the privileges committee.
The legislature secretary has challenged the single judge’s order before a division bench, which heard the arguments from both sides on Monday and reserved the orders till Tuesday.
Roja, the actress-turned-politician who represents Nagari constituency in Chittoor district, was suspended from the house for one year during the winter session for allegedly using abusive language against ruling party members including Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
A resolution for her suspension was adopted unanimously by a voice vote. The speaker had later referred the issue to the privileges committee.
The committee, in its report, said Roja did not appear before it though she was asked to make herself available and clarify her stand.
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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