Feature
Winter session of Indian Parliament to begin from December 15th
New Delhi: The government is considering calling the winter session of Parliament from December 15 after completion of polling in Gujarat in the Assembly elections and the dates would be out once the Presidential nod is secured for an ordinance on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy code.
The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, met on Wednesday and decided that the session would end on January 5, sources said. There are likely to be 13 sittings.
A formal announcement on the dates is likely to be made in a day or two after President Ram Nath Kovind signs the ordinance since an ordinance cannot be promulgated during a session. Parliament is considered to be in session once it is formally convened.
Rejecting opposition criticism that the government wants to avoid parliament before the elections, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the session will be held and it will be a regular session, not overlapping with the Gujarat Assembly election dates.
“Certainly, the winter session will be held and it will be a regular session. We are going to ensure that a regular winter session is held and it does not overlap with election dates,” he told the media after the Cabinet meeting here.
Parliament’s Winter Session likely to start from December 15th:
Jaitley was asked about the opposition charge that the government was trying to avoid debates on issues like unemployment, corruption, Goods and Services Tax and allegations against BJP chief Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah, ahead of the Gujarat election on December 9 and 14.
“In a democracy, when elections are held, political parties address people directly. Elections and Parliament sessions generally do not overlap. This has been the practice in the past. Even the winter session has been deferred, altered and broken into parts,” he said.
“At least we have lot of stakes in this election. I donot know our opponents will be busy in campaigning or not but we will be busy,” he said.
Jaitley said even when general elections were held, passage of the Budget was deferred and Parliament adjourned so that parties were free to participate in electioneering.
Asked if the winter session extending into January 2018 would be treated as a new session, he said: “It has already been settled that once the winter session starts and goes into January, it is not the first session (of the year).”
The Congress and the BJP have been at loggerheads over the winter session, with the opposition accusing the government of trying to avoid exposure over embarrassing issues ahead of the Gujarat elections.
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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