Feature
One more Rail accident Kafiyat Express 10 coaches derails, 74 injured
Lucknow: Around 74 persons were injured , four in critical condition, after 10 coaches of the Kaifiyat Express derailed in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday morning, police said.
The incident took place after the train bound for New Delhi from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh hit a dumper, which had overturned on the railway tracks between Achalda and Pata stations around 2.40 a.m, a railway official said.
According to the police, the four persons with serious head injuries were rushed to Etawah district hospital. Two others have been shifted to Saifai medical college, he said. Union Railway minister Suresh Prabhu on Wednesday said he was personally monitoring the situation of Kaifiyat Express derailment.
The Railway Minister further said that he had directed senior officers to reach the site immediately.
“A dumper hit the locomotive of the Kaifiyat Express,resulting in derailment of coaches. Some passengers have received injuries and have been shifted to nearby hospitals. I am personally monitoring situation, rescue operations. I have directed senior officers to reach the site immediately,” he tweeted.
Earlier, Railways DG PRO, Anil Saxena, confirmed that no casualties have been reported so far in the derailment. He further said that the railway officials have reached the spot to take stock of the situation.
“Train No. 12225- Azamgarh to New Delhi- derailed in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh. When Kaifiyat express was passing by Ochalda and Patra station, by gate number 14 then a dumper collided with the train, derailing it with the engine and 12 coaches. There is no report of deaths,” Saxena told media.
More than 40 people were injured after 12 coaches of Kaifiyat Express train derailed near Auraiya district in Uttar Pradesh in the wee hours of Wednesday. The district magistrate of Auraiya confirmed the number of injured people.
The coaches derailed at around 2:40 a.m. following a collision of the train with a dumper between Achalda and Pata railway stations. Kaifiyat Express runs between Azamgarh to New Delhi.
Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar said the rescue work concluded around 7 a.m. The dumper carried sand for the railway work of dedicated freight corridor running parallel to the track, Inspector General of Police (Kanpur Zone) Alok Singh told media.
However, railway officials in Delhi said the dumper did not belong to the corridor project. Senior officials from Etawah, Auraiya and Kannauj rushed to the spot and oversaw the rescue operation, Kumar told media.
Kanpur Divisional Commissioner P.K. Mohanty said other injured were shifted to medical facilities in Etawah. The official said work was underway to repair the tracks and clear the important Delhi-Howrah route from which hundreds of trains pass every day.
At least seven trains were cancelled and 40 diverted due to the incident. This is the second train accident in Uttar Pradesh within a week after 14 coaches of the Kalinga Utkal Express derailed in Muzaffarnagar on Saturday, leaving 22 dead and over 150 injured.
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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