Feature
Akhilesh removes UPPSC chairman after HC rap
Lucknow: In a major setback to the Akhilesh Yadav government in the state, the Allahabad High Court (HC) on Wednesday ordered the removal of the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) chief Anil Yadav. Soon after the order, the state government removed him from the post, which he had held since April 2013.
A two-judge bench of the Allahabad High Court, while hearing a public suit by the Bhrashtachar Mukti Morcha, said there were a number of questions surrounding Yadav’s appointment and that he was unfit to remain in the job.
Anil Yadav, who was principal of Sri Chitragupta PG college in Mainpuri, has been close to the Mulayam Singh Yadav family and was earlier appointed a member of the UPPSC in 2006.
His tenure was marred by allegations of openly siding, promoting and patronizing Yadavs during the selection process of various posts in the state.
There were agitations in many parts of the state by students against Anil Yadav’s work style and police had to resort to cane charge on many instances in Allahabad to disperse angry mobs.
Yadav also courted controversy when the paper of the PCS-Pre exams of 2015 was leaked. An RTI query was earlier filed before the HC seeking to know the qualifications of Anil Yadav but the state government soft-pedalled the issue.
Miffed at the muted response of the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) government, the Allahabad HC had earlier given enough hints that Anil Yadav’s continuance was untenable.
The government still did not act, forcing the HC to finally crack the whip on Wednesday.
Welcoming the court’s decision, the BJP, which had been actively opposing the appointment, said the court had taken a right step.
Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said that it was time for Akhilesh Yadav to answer now and clarify how the appointment of several people by UPPCS can now be held legal when its own chief’s appointment has been quashed by the high court.
“Time and again it is being proved that Samajwadi Party (SP) government is presiding over nepotism, corruption and inefficient in procedures of appointment at highest level,” the BJP leader told IANS.
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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