Feature
Apart from physical problems, noise also causes behavior problems in people
Noise has a very bad effect on our health. Apart from physical problems, there are also problems related to behavior due to noise.
Padma Shri Dr. K.K., President of Heartcare Foundation of India (HCFI) Aggarwal said, “Unsolicited sounds are called noise. The loud noise is 85 dB or more, that is, the level of noise that has to be raised to talk to someone standing three feet away. Noise is a well-known environmental stressor that involves both physical and psychological effects.
He said that it is associated with anxiety, high blood pressure, increased heartbeat rate, insomnia, discomfort, stress. This may cause hearing difficulties. The safe limit for sounds of 85 dB or less is an 8-hour exposure. Loud noise does not make sense and results in poor performance and increases the likelihood of errors. When there is noise, one has to speak on a high pitch to speak clearly. ”
People living in places where traffic noise is high are at a 25 percent higher risk of apathy, loneliness and depression than those living in a quiet environment. These people also have problems focusing.
Dr. Aggarwal told, “There is a lot of noise even in hospitals. Control of noise levels in hospitals is very important for the well-being and treatment of patients. Noise presents an unhealthy environment for doctors.
This affects concentration and increases the chances of mistakes, which can prove costly for doctors and hospitals. Neither an alert nor a patient monitoring alarm can be heard if there is noise in the normal background in an ICU, which can prove to be potentially devastating. Apart from this, doctors may also have high BP and other health problems. ”
Noise pollution can be reduced by these methods –
– Traffic flow around schools and hospitals should be minimized as much as possible.
– Signboards with Silence Zone and No Hawking should be close to these areas.
– Efforts should be made to ban the use of malfunctioning silencers and noisy trucks and horns in two-wheelers.
– The use of loudspeakers at parties and discos as well as public announcement systems must be investigated.
– Noise regulations should be strictly enforced near the silence zone.
– Noise pollution can be reduced by planting trees on both sides of roads and around residential areas.
Entertainment
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
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.