Feature
Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit district to get its first Tiger Rescue Center
Lucknow: In a good and surprising news of all the people living in and around Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit district as they will now get first Tiger Rescue Center. With the opening of this center villagers in the area will take a big relief from getting attacked by the big cats.
After opening up of the Tiger Reserve Center, the tigers entering the population area will be captured as soon as they leave the forest which is the big relief news for all the people living throughout the Pilibhit district and in surrounding areas.
This will help locals to avoid being getting attacked by the dangerous big cats. It is interesting to know that at this rescue center there will also be a panel of doctors with special arrangements for tiger eating and drinking.
In this rescue center a team of Forest department officers, tiger experts along with catcher and doctors teams will camp there permanently. To keep tiger with limits solar fencing will be done in a radius of 100 km in and around forests of Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur district.
The incidents of Tigers coming out of forest and attacking people have been increasing for the past few years Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur district as there is a long strip of forest. In many places, its width is only 3.5 kilometers to eight kilometers.
Experts say that the Tiger comes from the dense forest of Dudhwa range in these districts. Due to the diminished width of the forest tigers wander around and they come out of the forest due to which there are regular encounters between big cats and people. People also attack them for their protection.
Uttar Pradesh to get its first Tiger Rescue Center in Pilibhit district:
Now to keeping this thing in mind, the proposal for making a Rescue Center right now has been prepared. Tiger will be monitored through the rescue center. People will also be warned that they do not go to the forest and do not tamper with the tiger.
Beside this if tigers will comes out of forest they will be captured and sent back to the jungle. There will also be a team of doctors in the rescue center besides the security team.
Officials say that approval for Tiger Safari is required from Central Zoo Authority. This is the reason that at the moment there will be a rescue center. In the future, it will also be developed as a safari.
Solar fencing will also be done in Pilibhit’s forest to stop the incidents of encounters between tigers and villagers. At present, a proposal for fencing of 25 kilometers this year has been prepared.
Officials say that there is a plan to fencing up to 100 kilometers later. There will be a slight shock of the current from the weirs. Tiger will not have any other physical harm with these weirs.
In 2008, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had asked all the states to set up a Tiger Foundation. Wherever there are Tigers, this foundation has been created, but this work has not yet happened in UP.
After the foundation work of this Tiger Rescue Center will be done then the income of this will remain with the forest department. It will be spent for the protection of Tiger. Now income from Safari goes to the revenue account.
Entertainment
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
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.