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Akhilesh Yadav slams Congress for not including its MLA in MP cabinet
Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday lashed out at the Congress for not including its sole legislator in Madhya Pradesh in the cabinet despite its support in formation of the government and attaining the majority mark.
Talking to the media, the former UP Chief Minister said that by doing so, the Congress had “cleared the path for UP”.
This statement from the 45-year-old leader is being seen as another indication of the growing space and disenchantment of the SP from the Congress and the likelihood of the Congress being kept out of the proposed “grand alliance” in Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
On the other hand, Mayawati, the Bahujan Samaj party (BSP) supremo and a prospective partner in the “Maha Gathbandhan” has already given enough hints of acting tough on the Congress.
Miffed with the Congress, the BSP chief had, soon after extending support to the Congress in MP, said that people had with heavy heart voted for the Congress and that she was extending support only to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at bay.
Akhilesh Yadav lashes out at Congress for leaving SP MLA out of MP cabinet:
Akhilesh Yadav, meanwhile, also slammed the Yogi Adityanath government in the state and accused it of poor handling of the law and order in the state.
Citing the mob violence in Bulandshahr, burning of a girl in Agra and crime in Gorakhpur, the former Chief Minister also targeted Governor Ram Naik indirectly by saying that in his government, the Raj Bhawan used to raise questions on the law and order scenario, while now he is hosting the government at the Raj Bhawan.
He also welcomed the move of K. Chandrashekhar Rao, the Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) for trying to stitch together a non-Congress, non-BJP front and said that they were scheduled to meet recently but this meeting could not happen as he was not available. He said he will soon go and meet Rao in Telangana and discuss the political scenario.
Yadav also congratulated the present government in Uttar Pradesh for deciding to install a 25-foot statue of the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and said that when SP comes to power it will follow suit.
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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