Feature
Congress kept petty politics above national interest: Jaitley
New Delhi: The government on Thursday came down heavily on the main opposition Congress, saying it was not allowing a discussion on the Dinanagar terror attack in parliament due to its own “petty political interest”.
After Home Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement on the terror attack in Dinanagar town in Gurdaspur district of Punjab amid a din, after which the house was adjourned for the day without a debate, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley questioned the Congress’s intent.
“Sonia Gandhi should come forward and clear her party’s stand. Is petty politics more important for them than national security,” Jaitley questioned, launching an attack on the Congress.
“Can’t she instruct her party members to be united on the issues of national interest,” he said.
Congress members in the Rajya Sabha raised anti-government slogans as the home minister read out a statement around 2 p.m. on the Dinanagar terror attack. The house was soon after adjourned for the day.
“The home minister was to make a statement on the terror attack in Gurdaspur… it’s a major statement as the attack from across the border has re-occurred after a long time and is important for the parliament to discuss it,” he said.
“On a day when the country should have spoken in one voice, we did not expect the Congress to present India as a divided house… Congress (instead) chose to disrupt it for its own petty interest,” he said.
“Instead of making national security its priority, they (Congress) have made politics their priority… Even on the execution of death sentence given to 1993 Mumbal blast accused Yakub Memon, their leaders are speaking in different voices,” the union minister said.
As for the parliament logjam over the Lalit Modi and Vyapam issues, Jaitley said: “According to me, it is for the Congress to decide… it’s almost two weeks that they have staged a symbolic protest… therefore, now it is about time that parliament is allowed to function.”
“There was an opportunity for the Congress to be more responsible today (Thursday). It was an occasion when issues of national security are involved; they should have risen to the level of statesmanship… regrettably, they have failed that,” he added.
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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