Feature
International Condom Day celebrated in Delhi making people treat condoms as essential wardrobe item
Condoms in all their versatile forms, colors, and dimensions and uses were seen in Connaught Place, the heart of Delhi, on occasion was the celebration of the International Condom Day, organised by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) — a global not-for-profit working towards making people treat condoms as an essential wardrobe item.
Mannequins, imaginatively condom-clad, were lined up, manifesting the organisation’s motto, that says ‘condoms are always in fashion’ while boxes filled with prophylactic were placed randomly for people to reached into with abandon and take a wad of ‘Love’ Condom – a brand of the AHF that it distributes free of cost.
While three HIV testing booths attracted the most crowd, where people were seen waiting for their results eagerly, a man dressed as condom (or a ‘condomoid’) allowed one to glimpse the essential shield as another plaything.
Simran Sheikh, the Delhi President of ‘Impulse’, a group of gay people, working in collaboration of AHF, told that condoms are a necessary tool to evade any contraction with the sexually transmitted diseases and people who argue against its use are in the wrong.
“The most common excuse that people give against using condoms is ‘maza nahi aata’ (it doesn’t give enough pleasure) and it is wrong.
It has been scientifically proven that there isn’t much difference in pleasure derived whether you have sex with or without condoms,” said Sheikh, who identifies herself as a transgender.
A 40-foot inflatable condom was also placed by the organisers which youths marked with their signatures, amid a series of flash mobs and rock band performances.
“Stigma on condoms is very high in India, even today, often blaming it on cultural and religious sentiments and the myth that– popularising condoms in turn increaes promiscuity in the population.
“But the reality is… awareness campaigns on condoms increase ‘risk perception’ among masses and emphasise that condoms are the best protection too available for preventions of STIs, HIV and unwanted pregnancies,” V. Sam Prasad, Country Progrm Director of AHF India, said in a statement earlier.
This was the 10th edition of Condom Day celebrated by the AHF.
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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