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YSR Congress MP Mithun Reddy detained in slapping case
Hyderabad: YSR Congress MP Mithun Reddy was taken into custody today in a case of slapping an Air India official at the Tirupati airport last November.
It is reported that the MP was arrested at the airport at 2am and was later produced in the Srikala court.
The MP and his aide were brought to Tirupati where they were produced before a magistrate who sent them to judicial custody for 14 days.
Mithun Reddy is a member of the Lok Sabha from Rajampet in Kadapa district.
A case for assaulting a public servant on duty was filed against Mithun Reddy and 15 others at Yerpedu police station at Renigunta near Tirupati on November 27 last year.
The case was registered on a complaint by Rajasekhar, Air India’s station manager at the airport.
Mithun Reddy allegedly entered into an argument with Rajasekhar after the latter declined to issue boarding passes to him and his relatives as the boarding was already closed for the Air India flight to Delhi.
The MP had since evaded police interrogation. His anticipatory bail petition was also rejected by a court.
Earlier, YSRCP state legislator Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy was arrested in the same case and was later released on bail.
Meanwhile, police in Pileru in Chittoor district arrested over 100 supporters of the MP when they were heading towards Tirupati to express solidarity with him.
The opposition party also staged a sit-in on the Tirupati-Chennai highway to protest against the MP’s arrest.
Mithun Reddy’s father and YSRCP legislator Peddireddy Ramchandra Reddy said his son did nothing wrong. He was confident they will get justice in the court.
Party MP Y.V. Subba Reddy alleged that Mithun Reddy’s arrest was a conspiracy against the YSRCP. He dared the government to make public the CCTV footage recorded at the airport when the incident occurred.
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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