Feature
Goa ‘examining’ pardon for convicted former minister
Panaji: The Goa government is “examining” a request from the partner of former minister Francisco Pacheco, who is serving a six month sentence following his conviction in an assault case, seeking the latter’s pardon.
Chief Secretary R.K. Srivastava told on the sidelines of a media function here on Saturday that he had received the application for pardon forwarded to his office by Goa Governor Mridula Sinha.
“We have received (the petition). I am examining it,” Srivastava told IANS, a day after the state Bharatiya Janata Party president Vinay Tendulkar rooted for a pardon for Pacheco, on grounds of good behaviour in prison.
The pardon application has been filed by Pacheco’s partner Viola, who has requested the governor to grant pardon to the former minister under article 161 of the constitution.
The article grants powers to the state governor to “grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the State extends”.
Pacheco, a former archives and archaeology minister, whose party is part of the ruling BJP-led coalition government in Goa, was jailed on June 1 after the Supreme Court upheld his conviction in the 2006 case, in which Pacheco was accused of assaulting a government employee.
The minister is currently jailed at Sada sub jail in Vasco, located 40 km south of Panaji.
Besides the 2006 assault case, Pacheco is also being tried for a wide range of criminal cases which include culpable homicide, bigamy, assault and extortion.
Pacheco is also being probed for illegal trafficking and money laundering by the US government’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security (BDS) and was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation in this regard in 2010.
But despite the list of accusations and the conviction, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar wants Pacheco to attend the forthcoming session of the Goa legislative assembly.
“He represents a constituency which has 25,000 voters. He has to be in the assembly to place their grievances and problems before the forum,” Parsekar told IANS.
Meanwhile, even as Pacheco steps up his legal campaign to skip his prison sentence, an anonymously managed Facebook page “Free Mickky Pacheco” (Mickky is a popular alias for the former minister) which surfaced on Saturday has also caused a stir here.
The Facebook page claims that by serving one month in prison Pacheco has paid for the his crime and that it was time to set him free.
“Do you think Mickky Pacheco paid for his offence (one month in prison so far) or perhaps, you think one year imprisonment was too harsh for such not so serious offence (just one slap) or perhaps you think this is all politically motivated?” the post says.
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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