Feature
Death Toll climbs up to 72, 2.6 Lakh people moved to relief camps
Kerala: A total of 72 people have lost their lives in Kerala till now due to flood. People are continuously moved to camps and 56 people have gone missing. The devastation is in no turn getting low. Around 2.6 Lakh people have to be moved to relief camps for food and shelter.
The highest number of casualties has been reported from Malappuram district, with 23 people dead. Seventeen people have lost their lives in Kozhikode and 12 in Wayanad district. In Malappuram’s Kavalappara, about 63 people including 20 children had gone missing in a massive landslide. According to Manorama report, two more people – including a child – were found dead at Kavalappara on Sunday, taking the total number of deaths in the landslide there to 11. Rescue works are still ongoing to find the missing 52 people.
The floods have created havoc in the city like last year and people are more terrified this time because they know how worse the situation can get worse. However army has been deployed and is working day and night to help people get out of the flood area A total of about 1,642 relief camps have been opened in the state according to latest figures, with 75,714 families in there.
India Meteorological Department has predicted no red warning (indicating to take necessary action) for Monday, while an orange warning (indicating to be alert and prepared) has been issued for six districts. These are Kasargode, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram and Idukki.
Rahul Gandhi went to his flood-affected constituency of Wayanad and said that he has approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought his help for the state. Wayanad has been one of the badly hit districts in the rains in Kerala, along with Malappuram and Kozhikode. A total of 12 deaths have been reported in Wayanad and around 37,075 people have been displaced and shifted to more than 210 relief camps.
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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