Feature
Government faces embarrassment in Rajya Sabha
New Delhi: In a major embarrassment for the government in Rajya Sabha, an amendment to the president’s speech was passed regretting the lack of reference to corruption and black money in the speech.
The amendment was moved by Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury on the “failure of the government to address high level corruption and failure to bring back black money” to India.
Yechury said he was moving the amendment as Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to give clarifications and left the house soon completing his reply.
Moving the amendment to vote, Yechury said: “Since he (Modi) is asking for a fight, I am not withdrawing.”
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu pleaded with the member not to put the amendment to vote.
“Moving amendments usually does not happen,” Naidu said, adding the prime minister’s reply in the house addressed both the issues.
“I request this is an issue on which there can be no difference of opinion… Please do not press for division,” the minister said.
Yechury, while stating that he would have withdrawn the amendment in normal circumstances, said: “Normally I would have conceded to the parliamentary affairs minister’s request…
“The normal procedure is if we disagree with something, we rise for interjection, that was not allowed…
“After the minister’s speech, we rise to ask for clarification, that was not allowed, and the LOP (Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad) was not allowed to ask for clarifications,” an angry Yechury said.
“There has been violation of all norms and procedure in this house, we have strong objection, we would like to record that as well in this vote,” he said.
The Marxist leader complained that the prime minister left the house immediately after completing his reply and did not offer the opposition the courtesy to seek clarifications.
“He cant leave the house and go after this,” Yechury said.
Naidu argued that there was no scope for clarification as it was a motion and not a statement.
“When you make a statement you have clarifications. This is a motion every party has put their point of view. There is no scope, never before clarification given. They have to understand that,” said Naidu.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari, however, said it was the member’s right to move the amendment if he wanted.
“What the minister said is a matter of propriety, if you want to move the amendment, it is a right the chair cannot deny,” Ansari said.
The unrelenting Yechury then moved the amendment which was adopted with 118 members supporting the amendment against 57 who voted against, embarrassing the government which is in a minority in the upper house.
Ansari then read out the message that would go to the president from the Rajya Sabha: “The members of the Rajya Sabha assembled in this session are deeply grateful to the president for the address which he has been pleased to deliver to both houses of parliament assembled together but regret that is no mention in the address about the failure of the government to curb the high level corruption and to bring back black money.”
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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