Feature
UP pitches Taj as top film shooting location
New Delhi : The Taj Mahal may have been dropped from the Uttar Pradesh government’s tourism paraphernalia, but the Agra monument is one of the state’s top USPs, when it comes to pitching for a film shooting destination to filmmakers at the IFFI.
According to Awanish Awasthi, Chairperson of ‘Film Bandhu’, the state’s film promotion body, both Mughal Emperor Shahjahan’s monument of love, as well as, the precincts of Ayodhya — are two of the top potential backdrops for film shoots in the state.
“Our Pradesh (state) has everything. We have the Taj Mahal, we have the history of Lucknow, plus we have the Ganga, Benaras, Ayodhya and we have the ‘Kumbh’ coming up.
“We would want everyone to come to our region. We have the Buddhist circuit, we have the Kumbh circuit, the Ram circuit,” Awasthi said on the sidelines of the International Film Festival of India which got underway on Monday in Goa.
The website of Film Bandhu also uses an image of the Taj Mahal as one of the backdrops for the portal.
Awasthi’s comments come weeks after the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department dropped the reference to the spectacular Taj Mahal from tourism paraphernalia.
Subsequently, a debate also sparked over the origin of the Taj Mahal, with several Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindu right wing leaders claiming the monument was originally a Hindu temple called ‘Tejo Mahalaya’, dedicated to Lord Shiva.
Film Bandhu is one of the associate sponsors of IFFI and is using the festival to make a pitch to filmmakers who have arrived at IFFI to shoot in Uttar Pradesh.
“We have everything like I told you. Everyone should come to our Pradesh, make films. And we would like to say that in Benaras and Lucknow, we want to build a film city and a film institute, we are looking for partners,” Awasthi added.
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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