Feature
AAP questions Parrikar in Louis Berger case
Panaji: The AAP on Wednesday alleged that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, when he was Goa’s chief minister, awarded a consultancy contract to the now tainted Louis Berger firm, despite having “specific information” about the corruption the US-based company was involved in.
The Aam Aadmi Party also questioned Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar’s “clean chit” last week to Louis Berger, which has been accused of paying bribes to a minister from Goa and officials in 2010.
“If Parrikar knew about specific information about the Louis Berger corruption case as the opposition leader then as the chief minister, why did he not do anything about it? Does not the act of withholding information about a multi-crore corruption case amount to an act of corruption itself?” AAP leader Valmiki Naik told the media.
Naik was referring to a comment by Parrikar on July 19 where the defence minister hinted that two ministers were involved in the row and that the deal was struck at a bungalow in south Goa.
Top officials of Louis Berger have pleaded guilty to offering bribes to the tune of $3.9 million to secure contracts in Asian countries like India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Kuwait.
While the settlement announced by the US Justice Department did not identify the politicians and officials offered bribes, documents reveal that $976,630 was paid in bribes in 2009-10 to a Goa minister and other officials.
Former Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat and former public works department minister Churchill Alemao could also come into the ambit of the bribery investigation, informed sources said. Both Kamat and Alemao have denied involvement.
Louis Berger was part of a consortium that eventually won a contract to execute a multi-billion dollar water and sewerage project in Goa, funded by Japan International Co-Operation Agency.
Another technical consultancy project given to Louis Berger by the BJP-led coalition government in Goa in 2013 to help construct a greenfield airport at Mopa worth several million dollars is also under cloud now.
The AAP, which has demanded a Supreme Court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the scandal, also trained its guns on Chief Minister Parsekar, who has said that Louis Berger was not corrupt but its officials were.
“On what basis is the chief minister saying this? How can he give certificates when a police probe is on?” Naik asked. Goa Police has named Louis Berger one of the accused in the FIR filed on Tuesday night.
The other accused in the First Information Report were “some ministers”.
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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