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Anna Hazare to launch hunger strike from Wednesday on Lokpal
Mumbai: Social activist Anna Hazare has announced that he would launch a hunger strike from Wednesday over the “non-fulfillment” of assurances by the Centre and the Maharashtra government on the appointment of Lokpal and passage of Lokayukta Act in the state respectively.
In his letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, dated January 28, Hazare said he would launch the agitation in his village Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, the Fadnavis Cabinet Tuesday decided to bring the office of Maharashtra Chief Minister under the jurisdiction of Lokayukta.
Maharashtra Minister Girish Mahajan, who has been acting as an emissary between the government and the activist, urged Hazare to cancel the agitation, claiming that almost all the demands made by the activist have been fulfilled.
Hazare, however, said he would not call off the agitation till the Lokayukta Act becomes a reality.
Apart from the appointment of Lokpal at the national level and Lokayukta in states, Hazare has been demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations and some electoral reforms.
“It has been five years since the Lokpal Act was passed. Yet the Narendra Modi government has not appointed Lokpal…Lokayukta Act has not been passed in Maharashtra for four years,” Hazare observed in his letter dated January 28.
The activist said the chief minister had mediated when he had launched the agitation at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi in March last year.
Social activist Anna Hazare to launch hunger strike from Wednesday on Lokpal:
Hazare said he had withdrawn that agitation after the central government had assured in writing that it would fulfil the demands.
“Nine months have passed, yet the demands have not been fulfilled. Hence, I will be on hunger strike in my village Ralegan Siddhi on January 30,” Hazare said in the letter.
Mahajan urged Hazare not go ahead with the agitation saying almost all the demands he had raised were fulfilled.
“His first demand was implementing Swaminathan Commission recommendations, that farmers should get 1.5 times MSP. I think that demand has been fulfilled,” Mahanjan told reporters here.
Speaking in Ahmednagar, Hazare welcomed the government’s decision to set rolling the process to appoint Lokayukta.
“I thank them on behalf the people for taking the decision to appointment of Lokayukta through Constitutional process. But that does not mean I will not stage hunger strike tomorrow. The agitation will go on until the act is in place,” Hazare added.
In Delhi, an eight-member search panel formed to select members of anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal Tuesday held its first meeting, nearly four months after it was set up by the Modi government.
The committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, is understood to have discussed modalities related to the appointments of the chief and members of Lokpal.
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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