Feature
One more train accident Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express derailed
Mumbai: One by one happening of Train accident puts the Question mark on the management of Indian railway. As once again the engine and nine coaches of the Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express derailed between Vasind and Asangaon stations in Maharashtra.
According to a senior railway official early today following a landslide the accident took place at 6:36 am. No passenger is reported to be injured in the incident so far, Sunil Udasi, Chief PRO of the Central Railway, said.
Udasi said the derailment was caused due to a landslide “The cause (of derailment) is sudden landslide due to heavy rains. But graciously enough, the driver did an excellent job of applying emergency breaks,” he said.
However, another railway official said the exact cause of the derailment was not yet clear. “It is suspected that a portion of the tracks was washed away due to heavy rains in the Kasara Ghats section since there has been long spell of incessant and torrential rains since the past few days,” the official said.
The train had a total of 18 coaches. Helpline numbers have been set up at CSMT, Thane, Kalyan, Dadar and Nagpur stations to help passengers.
A new agency correspondent, Justin Rao, who was on-board the train said, “At least six coaches along with the engine slipped off the tracks”.
Rao, who was travelling in the A-2 coach that derailed, said the accident happened when most of the passengers were sleeping.
“While we were sleeping, we felt a jerk and several passengers fell off their berths. When we got up, we found our trains bogies derailed”.
“Few people were stuck in the washrooms and were rescued by some passengers by breaking glasses of windows,” Rao said.
He further added, “Though relief and rescue came a bit late, everything was fine once the Central Railway team arrived.”
A team of doctors as well as senior officers are at the spot. Proper arrangements have been made to transport stranded passengers from the site to CSMT or other destinations by buses and taxis.
Traffic operations in the affected section have been stopped and few trains have been diverted and short- terminated, official said.
A statement issued by the Central Railway said, “12859 CSMT-Howrah Gitanjali Express has been diverted via Kalyan- Karjat-Pune-Daund-Manmad route.”
“Sectional officials and railway workers have arrived at the spot and the entire team has swung into action to rescue stranded passengers and restore traffic in the affected section,” Udasi said.
“Our rescue team along with the Accident Relief Train along with engineering staff has reached the spot,” he said. This is the fourth train derailment in the country in a span of 10 days.
About 100 passengers were wounded when 10 coaches of the Kaifiyat Express train derailed in UPs Auraiya district after crashing into a dumper which strayed on to the tracks.
Fourteen coaches of the high-speed Utkal Express jumped the tracks on August 19, with one of them crashing into a house adjacent to the track near Khatauli in Uttar Pradeshs Muzaffarnagar district, claiming 23 lives and over 60 injured.
On August 25, six coaches of the Andheri-bound local train derailed in Mumbai, injuring six of its passengers.
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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