Feature
Congress hits out at spying on Rahul; Police, BJP reject charges
New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Saturday termed as “routine” a visit by a policeman to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s house to make queries – including on his physical appearance – even as the party termed it “political espionage” and sought an explanation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP dismissed the Congress’ allegations as ridiculous.
Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi said Assistant Sub-Inspector Shamsher Singh of the Special Branch had gone to get a proforma filled and left it at Gandhi’s office March 3. He said the proforma was not person-specific and gathering such information about “vulnerable people” and revisiting it was part of the Special Branch’s duties.
“If he (the policeman) had gone with an ulterior motive or for snooping, he would not have left the proforma behind… There was no snooping, no instruction from the government of India. There is no pressure on police,” he said.
He said they had such information about Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and police have also visited residences of Congress leader Veerappa Moily and BJP veteran L.K. Advani.
Bassi, however, admitted that “some shortcomings had been noticed (about the kind of questions in the proforma being used since 1999) and these will be rectified.”
His reaction came minutes after Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi condemned police’s “unnecessary and weird inquiries” about Gandhi and launched a strong attack on the Modi government. The controversy erupted at a time Gandhi is on “leave of absence” to reflect on the party’s future course.
Alleging a Delhi Police officer was “found snooping” at Rahul Gandhi’s residence a few days ago, he said when the Special Protection Group personnel stopped him, it was found he was trying to fill up a form with “very interesting somewhat weird questions” about Gandhi’s name, his father’s name, his height, gait, eye and hair colour, dress and shoes.
“More importantly the telephone numbers and addresses of each of his (Gandhi’s) associates, friends, what he does, where he goes,” Singhvi said.
“This kind of political espionage, snooping, surveillance and intrusion in political opponent’s life may be the Gujarat model but not the Indian model,” Singhvi said, referring to the oft-quoted Modi’s Gujarat model of development.
Taking potshots at Modi, who served as Gujarat chief minister for almost 13 years, he said: “Track record may show that it has been a model perfected in Gujarat. Indeed not only for political opponents but for, we are told, large number of tales about judges, journalists and private persons.”
Demanding a comprehensive explanation by Home Minister Rajnath Singh or the prime minister, he said that it was not a Congress-centric issue and the party will raise it in parliament. “….It is something which everybody should stand up for, stand up against. It is something which no law permits.”
He said India is a proud democracy, not a police state. “This kind of political espionage is condemnable.”
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi however ridiculed espionage charges levelled by the Congress, quipping the party considered itself to be above the law.
“They think that the common practices of law do not apply to them,” he said, adding: “If they call it espionage, then it shows their mentality.”
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah however poked fun at the Delhi Police.
“Honestly the Delhi Police-RG office script must have stand up comics salivating at what they can do with it.
“Dear Delhi Police, just to save your chaps time & effort I’m 179 cms, medium build, fair complexion, grey eyes & greying hair. U R welcome,” he tweeted.
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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