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Yashwant Sinha along with Shatrughan met Akhilesh Yadav, likely to join Samajwadi Party
Lucknow: Former Finance as well as Defence Minister in National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government Yashwant Sinha along with his son and senior Bhartiya Janata party (BJP) leader Shatrughan Sinha met Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav at his office in Uttar Pradesh state capital on Thursday.
The Saffron Party’s Member of Parliament (MP) Shatrughan along with former BJP leader Yashwant shared dais with Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh in Lucknow on Thursday and targeted the Modi government on Rafale deal, demonetisation and called for grand alliance in UP, Bihar for LS polls.
The two leaders, who were in Lucknow to attend the birth anniversary celebrations of socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan at SP headquarters in Lucknow, made a scathing attack on the BJP-led government at the Centre and called for its ouster.
While the Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Rafale deal in Delhi, Shatrughan said the Centre should clarify its stand on the fighter plane deal.
“Why did the government deny the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which has expertise in making planes, a place in the deal? Why and how was a company included in the deal which has not even manufactured the components of a motorcycle,” he said.
Yashwant Sinha said the current scenario was worse than the days of Emergency. “It is time to make a strong ‘mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance). If people do not wake up even now, it will be too late,” he said.
He indicated that the Yadav scions of Bihar and UP were the hopes for ‘mahagathbandhan’. “In Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav is fully ready and in UP Akhilesh Yadav is well prepared,” he added.
Yashwant Sinha-Shatrughan meets Samajwadi President Akhilesh Yadav over joining Cycle symbol party:
Praising Akhilesh, he said: “He is the rising star of India’s politics. Like the Mahabharat, we have to defeat Duryodhan and Dusshasan. This is not the responsibility of the elderly leaders but young leaders like Akhilesh who have to take on those Duryodhan and Dushshasan and defeat them.”
Both Yashwant and Shatrughan are from Bihar and it is expected that they are likely to join Akhilesh Yadav’s Cycle symbol party.
Addressing the programme, Akhilesh said, “A revolution took place in 1977 and the then dispensation was wiped out. In the same manner, the BJP will be wiped out from Uttar Pradesh. Today, people from UP and Bihar are beaten up and made to flee Gujarat. In future, people of UP and Bihar will make the BJP flee their states.”
“People often ask me why I speak against the BJP despite being its member. I tell them that I speak the truth. If speaking the truth is rebellion, then I am indeed a rebel,” Shatrughan said.
Attacking the PM, Shatrughan said: “Now, ‘jumlebaazi’ (rhetoric) won’t work. I am not against the party. I am against those people who are autocratic. Demonetisation was not the decision of the BJP. Demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) have ruined the poor.”
After the event, Akhilesh had a closed-door meeting with the two leaders.
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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