Feature
Bhushan, Yadav accuse Kejriwal of “horse trading”
New Delhi: AAP leaders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav on Friday accused the party chief and the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of “horse trading” and said that he acted in an autocratic manner and refused to pay heed to opposing voices.
Bhushan, who along with Yadav addressed the media, said that despite the party’s massive defeat in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, AAP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal wanted to form a government in Delhi with the support of Congress, despite opposition from many.
“After the Lok Sabha elections there were talks that AAP should form government in Delhi with the support of Congress. A PAC meeting was called and five were opposed to the idea while four supported it,” Bhushan said addressing the press conference.
“Arvind said that as national convener, he had the right to take the final decision and he has decided to take Congress’ support to form the government in Delhi. However, we protested and the issue was then taken up at the National Executive. There too, the majority of members rejected the idea. Arvind said he never worked in an organisation where his writ didn’t run,” he said.
The AAP has been embroiled in an internal tussle after taking power in Delhi. The pro-Kejriwal camp has accused Bhushan and Yadav of trying to oust the chief minister. Both have denied the charge.
Yogendra Yadav said he along with fellow leader Prashant Bhushan were fighting to “save the soul of the struggle” that gave birth to the Aam Aadmi Party.
“It (AAP) is not an ordinary party, it was born out of a revolution to clean the system, end corruption and give power to the common people. People have high hopes from this party. But the developments in the last one month have disappointed many. We are fighting to save the soul of the struggle that gave birth to this party,” Yadav said.
Emphasising the five demands — transparency in the party, autonomy for local units, lokpal to probe graft charges, AAP should be open to RTI and no secreat ballots for key votes, Yadav said that if the party chief was ready to accept the five demands, he and Bhushan were ready to resign from all party posts.
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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