Feature
Know what Attari railway station receives message on Samjhauta Express
Chandigarh: The station master of Attari railway station today morning received a short two-line message from his counterpart in Wagah railway station that lies in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The message said the Samjhauta Express, which runs between India and Pakistan, won’t come today.
“The Wagah station master told us that the passenger and parcel train which comes to Atari station at 12.30 pm will not be coming till further notice,” said Deepender Kumar, station master of Attari railway station.
Cancellation of a train isn’t big news on an ordinary day, but today’s cancellation comes at a time when tensions between India and Pakistan are escalating every day.
Later in the day, Pakistan Railways confirmed that the Samjhauta Express service has been temporarily suspended.
“We have no information as to when the will service resume. We have informed higher authorities and the immigration officials. We are trying to send stranded passengers via road now,” Kumar said.
Last evening, Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal had said, “We have not received any instructions from authorities about any change in the running of the Samjhauta Express. We will follow all instructions given to us in this regard.” He said the Railway is awaiting instructions from the Ministry of External Affairs in this regard.
The bi-weekly Samjhauta Express, which runs on Wednesday and Sunday, was as per schedule from the Old Delhi Railway station with 27 passengers aboard — four in AC coach, 23 in non-AC coaches.
Wagah station master sends this message to Attari railway on Samjhauta Express:
The train running from Delhi to Attari in India left at 11:20 pm Wednesday and reached Attari station at 6.45 am today. “There are three Pakistanis and 24 Indian nationals aboard the train,” Northern Railway said.
Meanwhile, the Indian government on Wednesday said the train service will run on schedule despite mounting tensions between India and Pakistan.
The Samjhauta Express, named after the Hindi word for “agreement”, comprises six sleeper coaches and an AC 3-tier coach. The train service was started on July 22, 1976 under the Shimla Agreement that settled the 1971 war between the two nations.
From Lahore, the train departs on Monday and Thursday.
Sources said the footfall on the train, which generally records occupancy of around 70 per cent, fell drastically after the Pulwama attack on February 14 in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.
The goods train service which operates between Attari and Wagah also remains suspended for past four days now. There is no information as to when the train will get a go ahead, Attari station master Deepender Kumar said.
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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