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Parrikar to begin two-day Jammu and Kashmir visit today
Jammu: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar will begin his two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.
S.D. Goswami, spokesman of the army’s Udhampur based northern command said, “The Raksha Mantri (defence minister) will begin his two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.
“Accompanied by the Chief of Army Staff, General Dalbir Singh Suhag, the Raksha Mantri (defence minister) will visit all the three regions of the state during this visit.
“This will be Shri Manohar Parrikar’s second visit to the state since he took over as the defence minister in November last year”.
Parrikar will first visit the Ladakh region of the state where he is arriving on Friday morning alongwith Chief of Army Staff General Dalbir Singh Suhag.
Lieutenant General D.S. Hooda, chief of Indian army’s northern command and Lieutenant General, B.S. Negi, commander of army’s Leh based 14th corps will receive Parrikar at the Leh airport on Friday morning.
Defence sources told IANS that Parrikar will discuss the situation along the line of actual control (LAC) that forms the de facto border between India and China in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.
A briefing is scheduled to be given to the defence minister regarding the situation on the LAC that occasionally hits news headlines because of incursions by the Chinese army.
“The defence minister will reach Srinagar in the afternoon where he will hol d discussions with state Governor N.N. Vohra and Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed. He will spend the night in Srinagar,” sources in the state government said.
Lieutenant General Subrata Saha, commander of army’s Srinagar based 15th corps will brief Parrikar about the situation on the line of control (LoC) and also about the anti-militancy situation in the hinterland, according to Defence sources.
Parrikar will visit the Jammu region on Saturday where he is likely to interact with the soldiers on the forward positions in Poonch district.
During his Jammu visit, Lieutenant General K.H. Singh, commander of army’s Nagrota based 16th corps will accompany Parrikar.
Before concluding his visit on Saturday, Parrikar will pay obeisance at the Mata Vaishnoo Devi Shrine in Reasi district of Jammu region.
Reports also said in order to get a firsthand account of the extremely hostile weather and terrain conditions under which soldiers are guarding the country’s frontiers, the defence minister may also visit the Siachin Glacier in Ladakh region.
Situated at 5,400 metre above the sea level, Siachin is the world’s highest battlefield.
On April 13, 1984, the Indian army snatched the control of the Siachin Glacier from Pakistan army.
Naib subedar, Bana Singh, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir received the country’s highest bravery award, the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) for leading the Indian army’s Siachin operation from the front in 1984.
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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