Feature
First-time BJP MP bags Sansad Ratna award
Chennai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader P.P. Chaudhary, a first-time Lok Sabha member from Rajasthan, has been selected for the Sansad Ratna 2015 Awards for his performance in the house till the end of the budget session.
“Chaudhary is among four Lok Sabha members selected for the Sansad Ratna 2015 Awards for outstanding performance in the 16th Lok Sabha till the end of the budget session,” K.Srinivasan, chairman, Prime Point Foundation told IANS on Wednesday.
Since 2009, the foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) has been awarding top performing members of parliament based on the number of debates they participate, the number of questions raised, the number of private member bills introduced and attendance.
Under the open category, three ‘Sansad Ratna Awards 2015’ are given to the toppers in three categories, viz. debates, private members bills and questions.
One topper among the first time members for the cumulative overall tally gets the ‘Sansad Navodit Ratna 2015’ Award.
The toppers are selected based on the data provided by PRS Legislative Research and the Lok Sabha Secretariat, Srinivasan added.
Srinivasan said Chaudhary bags two awards – one for participating in 176 debates (highest among all members) and another for overall tally among first time members.
Incidentally he also the topper among all the Lok Sabha members with a total 384 points (debates, questions raised and private member bills introduced).
Shiv Sena member Chandu Barne Shirang from Maharashtra raised the highest number of questions -314 questions- to bag the award under the questions category. With a overall tally of 355 points he comes second in the Lok Sabha.
Nishikant Dubey (BJP MP from Jharkhand) bags the award for being a topper in the private members bills category introducing 11 bills. With a total point of 328 Dubey is ranked number three in the Lok Sabha based on his overall performance.
Under the women’s category, ‘Sansad Mahila Ratna Award 2015’ has been bagged by Supriya Sule (NCP MP from Maharashtra). She topped the women MPs securing an overall cumulative tally of 321 points. Sule stands fifth among all Lok Sabha members.
According to Srinivasan, the three toppers of 15th Lok Sabha also members of the current house – union minister Hansraj G. Ahir (Maharashtra), Anand Rao Adsul (Maharashtra) and Arjun Ram Meghwal (Rajasthan) members of Lok Sabha were part of the committee of judges this year.
The awards will be presented to the parliamentarians here on July 11.
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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