Feature
Lalit Modi row: Congress asks Rajasthan CM to quit
New Delhi/Jaipur: The Congress on Wednesday demanded Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s resignation over allegations that she testified in favour of former IPL chief Lalit Modi’s British immigration application in 2011.
“The chief minister has no right to continue in office,” Congress Rajasthan unit chief Sachin Pilot said at a press conference in Delhi.
Pilot alleged that Raje helped Modi, who was facing investigations regarding alleged tax evasion.
Pilot said the Congress in the state would hit the streets on Thursday to press for her resignation.
The Congress has been demanding External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s resignation over her assistance to Modi to get travel documents from the British authorities after his Indian passport was revoked.
The party’s Rajasthan unit on Wednesday passed a resolution at its executive meeting in Udaipur demanding Raje and Sushma Swaraj’s ouster.
“The resignations have been demanded from both of them (Raje and Sushma Swaraj) for allegedly favouring Lalit Modi,” Congress state unit spokesperson Archana Sharma told IANS over phone.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit president Ashok Parnami asked: “Why did the Congress, which was a ruling party both at the centre and in the state, not launch a probe at that time.”
“This clearly shows that the Congress is raising baseless allegations and is engaging in petty politics,” Parnami said.
Raje was hit by a controversy following revelation apparently made in a statement released by Lalit Modi’s legal team.
The statement said Raje, who was then Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan assembly, said she was in favour of Modi’s immigration application but on the strict condition that her name will not be revealed to the Indian authorities.
Raje, in a press note issued by her media advisor, on Tuesday said she knew Modi’s family but was not aware “which document people are talking about”.
In Delhi, Congress national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the party will pursue all remedies “legal or otherwise in the matter”.
Quizzed on Modi having named some senior Congress functionaries also in the list of people helping him, Surjewala said: “If Lalit Modi had been helped by the UPA then he would not have been in the situation he is in now.”
“The senior leadership of the BJP lies exposed for having helped a fugitive wanted by law. Both Sushma Swaraj and Raje are guilty of constitutional impropriety,” he added.
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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