Feature
Meat traders end strike after meeting with CM Yogi Adityanath
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath yesterday met delegation of meat traders in state capital over slaughter houses closure after which they have decided to end strike.
After meeting with Chief Minister in Lucknow, one of the members of delegates Sirajuddin Qureshi later said the meeting was held in a positive atmosphere and that they had withdrawn their strike.
The members of all delegates supported the Chief Minister on the drive launched by the government against illegal abattoirs and said they were in support of the move to weed out illegal meat trading.
Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh, who briefed the media after the meeting said the Chief Minister assured the delegation that any action against legal slaughter houses will not be tolerated and that action would be initiated against officials indulging in such activity.
The Chief Minister told the delegation no discrimination will be allowed against anyone on the basis of community, caste or religion.
Meat traders calls off strike after meeting with Yogi Adityanath
On other hand, the Allahabad High Court has also sought a response from the government vis-a-vis the action against slaughter houses in the state and has slated the next hearing on the matter for April 3.
According to records of government suggest that Uttar Pradesh has more than 375 illegal slaughter houses while the state pollution board says there are 185 abattoirs in the state out of which 140 were operating illegally.
The action against shops selling meat and slaughter houses have led to a huge scarcity of meat in the state, leading to protests at many places.
The situation came to such a pass earlier this week that the world famous Tunde Kebab shop in old Lucknow was forced to down shutters, a first in more than 100 years, for lack of buffalo meat.
Rattled at the growing protests in the state against the action, BJP mandarins in New Delhi are learnt to have conveyed to the state government to “soften its stand” and “clarify the position” after which a meeting between Yogi Adityanath and the traders association was arranged.
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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