Feature
Pak PM Nawaz Sharif quits after SC disqualifies him over Panama Papers case
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigned on Friday after the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding the post following a probe that revealed illegal family wealth stashed abroad.
A five-judge bench unanimously disqualified Sharif from his post after an investigative panel linked his children to offshore companies, showing that their wealth was far above their legitimate earnings.
One of the judges, Ejaz Afzal Khan, said Sharif was no longer “eligible to be an honest member of Parliament”.
The much-awaited ruling in what came to be known as the Panama Papers case stunned the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, which feebly said that all was not over for Sharif and he would remain its leader.
But very soon the veteran politician stepped down as Prime Minister.
The opposition was jubilant and hailed the verdict. Opposition activists celebrated on the streets.
Sharif, who was Prime Minister for a third time, said he was resigning although he had “strong reservations” about the Supreme Court ruling.
The court has recommended that anti-corruption cases should be registered against several individuals including Sharif, his daughter Maryam and her husband Mohammad Safdar, Sharif’s sons Hassan and Hussain Nawaz as well as Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigns after SC disqualifies him over Panama Papers case:
The bench also disqualified Dar and Safdar, an MP, from office.
The bench said the Prime Minister, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, had been dishonest to Parliament as well as the judiciary and could not be deemed fit to hold office.
The Attorney General said the bench disqualified Sharif from becoming the Prime Minister for life.
Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan said all material collected by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which probed the allegations against Sharif and his family, would be sent to an accountability court within six weeks.
The top court urged President Mamnoon Hussain to take charge of Pakistan’s affairs.
This is the third time Sharif has failed to complete his term in office. The last time, he was ousted in 1999 in a coup by then Army Chief Pervez Musharraf.
It was unclear who will succeed Sharif till the next general elections, scheduled for 2018. Sharif had been warning that his ouster would destabilize Pakistan at a time when the economy was rebounding after a decade of chaos.
The son of an industrialist, Sharif saw both of his first two stints in power cut short in the 1990s. Not a single Prime Minister in Pakistan has completed his or her tenure.
The Panama Papers leaks of April 2016 revealed that three of Sharif’s children owned offshore companies and assets not shown on his family’s wealth statement. This was apparently used to channel funds to acquire foreign assets, including in London.
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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