Feature
Indian fifth navigation satellite , IRNSS-1E launched
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh):India on Wednesday successfully put into orbit in textbook style its fifth navigation satellite called IRNSS-1E powered by its own PSLV rocket.
India’s successful launch – its first this year – has now moved it closer to joining a select group of nations possessing their own satellite navigation systems.
The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) consists of a constellation of seven satellites of which five – IRNSS-1A, IRNSS-1B, IRNSS-1C, IRNSS-1D and IRNSS-1E-have been put into orbit till date.
Exactly at 9.31 a.m., the 44.4-metre high Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket weighing 320 tonnes blasted off into the morning sky with an orange flame tailing it.
Gathering speed every second, the rocked zoomed ahead amid cheers of ISRO officials and a media team assembled at the rocket port here.
At the rocket mission control room, Indian space scientists with bated breath remained glued to their computer screens to watch the rocket escape the earth’s gravitational pull.
Just over 19 minutes into the flight, the PSLV rocket detatched from IRNSS-1E.
Soon after the ejection into the orbit, the satellite’s solar panels were deployed.
The satellite’s control was taken over by the Mission Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka.
The MCF will manage the satellite’s orbit and fire the on-board motors till it is placed in its slotted orbit.
The Indian space agency’s officials earlier told IANS that the concept of IRNSS has been proved a success by the signals received from the first four orbiting navigation satellites.
According to officials, two more navigation satellites will be launched soon to complete the launch of seven satellites required for a fully functional system. The IRNSS system also includes two satellites on the ground as stand-by.
Each satellite costs around Rs.150 crore while the PSLV-XL version rocket costs around Rs.130 crore. The seven rockets would involve an outlay of around Rs.910 crore.
The space agency’s officials said IRNSS system was unique in the sense that it comprises of only seven satellites while other similar systems in the world have more than 20 satellites.
However, while other systems are global, the Indian system is regional in nature.
Once fully operational, the IRNSS will provide accurate position information service to users across the country and the region, extending up to an area of 1,500 km. While ISRO is silent on the system’s strategic application, it is clear that the IRNSS will be used for defence purposes as well.
The IRNSS is similar to the global positioning system (GPS) of the US (24 satellites), Glonass of Russia, and Galileo of Europe, China’s Beidou.
While GPS and Glonass are fully functional global systems, the Chinese and the Japanese systems are offering regional coverage whereas Europe’s Galileo is yet to be operational.
The IRNSS will provide two types of services – standard positioning service and restricted service.
The former is provided to all users whereas the later is an encrypted service for authorised users.
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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