Feature
Nawaz Sharif back in jail after ending bail plea on medical grounds
Lahore: Pakistan’s deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has returned to prison to serve his sentence in a corruption case after the end of his six-week bail which was granted to him on medical grounds.
On March 26, the Supreme Court suspended Sharif’s seven-year sentence in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case and granted him bail for six weeks with a condition that he would not leave Pakistan.
Last month, 69-year-old three-time prime minister sought the apex court’s permission to go abroad for medical treatment. However, the permission was not granted.
On Tuesday, Sharif left his Jati Umra residence here for the Kot Lakhpat Jail with a procession of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers led by his daughter Maryam.
Maryam and his nephew Hamza Shehbaz along with hundreds of PML-N workers accompanied him. The supporters gathered outside Sharif’s Jati Umra residence and accompanied him to jail.
The procession took four hours to reach the Kot Lakhpat Jail, which is otherwise just 30 minutes away. The bail expired on Tuesday midnight (May 7) with the apex court rejecting his review petition, seeking permission to go London for further treatment.
After reaching jail, Sharif thanked his party workers for turning up in large numbers.
“I do not have words to thank the workers who turned up in thousands to express solidarity. It is midnight but the workers are still here with me. It is an amazing scene,” he said in a message.
The massive support for the PML-N leader included a large number of party workers from different parts of Punjab province who turned up for the rally en-route to the jail.
Ex-Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif returns in prison to complete jail term
Sharif’s daughter Maryam accompanied her father in his car and posted images online of the reception their entourage got form the public.
“The roads to the jail from Jati Umra were jampacked. Only heads and long queues of motorists,” Maryam tweeted.
Amidst sloganeering in support of Sharif, party workers were seen showering rose petals at his car.
“The people know why I am being punished. What sin I have committed… they know. But I am optimistic that soon the black night of this oppression will end and I will get released from jail,” Sharif said.
Though Sharif was to reach jail before midnight, he reported half-an-hour late. The Punjab Home Department directed the jail authorities to receive Sharif and shift him to the barrack, officials said.
He was imprisoned in Adiyala Jail and shifted to Kot Lakhpat Jail on request.
Sharif has been serving a seven-year prison term at the jail since December 24, 2018 when an accountability court convicted him in one of the three corruption cases filed in the wake of the apex court’s July 28, 2017 order in Panama Papers case.
Sharif and his family have denied any wrongdoing and allege that the corruption cases against them were politically motivated.
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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