Feature
Stop making speeches, start action: Rahul tells Modi
Kozhikode (Kerala): Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop making speeches and start action.
In a hard-hitting speech, Gandhi, who arrived here on a two-day visit, time and again referred to the Modi government as a “suit boot government”.
“While I take this opportunity to wish the Modi government a happy first birthday, my advice to them is if this is the way they carry forward, then the farmers, labourers and the ordinary people will not allow them to celebrate five birthdays,” he said in his address to a massive Youth Congress rally.
Gandhi also lashed out at the failures of the government, especially on the land acquisition bill, rising prices and on job creation.
“The suit boot government is interested in protecting the interests of a few friends of Modi who gave him money for the elections. He wants to take land of the poor farmers and give it to his few friends,” he said.
“He (Modi) is now interested in taking away the sea from the fishermen community and is now insisting that fishermen should have passports when they go for fishing.”
Gandhi said Modi claims his one year has been corruption-free.
“It was the (Congress-led) UPA government that came out with the Right to Information (RTI) Act and today just look, all the institutions that can reveal about corruption are headless.
“This government is only interested in headlines, it’s ‘no action, maximum oratory’,” said Gandhi.
The Congress leader also said that statistics point out that job creation has slowed down by 30 percent.
“He says the land bill and creation of jobs are linked, and says only if the bill is passed can jobs be created, because land is required.
“This is not true because lots of land is held with the central and state governments and it has been revealed that just eight percent projects are held up because of shortage of land,” he said.
Gandhi also condemned Modi’s statement that prices have decreased.
“He (Modi) says prices have come down, but I am yet to hear this from anyone I have met. Prices of fuel and consumer items have all gone up.
“He has travelled extensively abroad but till now he has not held the hands of a poor person in our country. Farmers are in bad shape because of unseasonal rains and hailstorms.”
Gandhi said while the UPA government had written off Rs.70,000 crore debt of farmers affected by rains, Modi has done nothing.
Top Congress leaders, including former union ministers A.K. Antony and Vayalar Ravi and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, were present at the rally.
On Wednesday, the Congress leader will address fisherfolk at the Chavakadu beach near Thrissur. He will later speak to representatives of farmers near Kochi.
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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