Feature
Aircraft crashes in Nepal, all 23 people killed
Kathmandu: A plane belongs to Tara Airlines has been crashed with all 23 people killed on board, including two foreigners, on the mountains of western Nepal early in the morning today.
The Tara Air Viking 9N-AHH Twin Otter had taken off from the western Nepali tourist resort of Pokhara at 7.47 a.m. for Jomsom from where trekkers usually commence their hike.
Deputy director of Pokhara airport Yogendra Kumar told that the plane, which carried 20 passengers besides a three-member crew, lost contact with the air traffic control (ATC) within minutes of taking off.
The passengers included two infants and two foreign nationals, Kumar said.
The plane remained missing for nearly four hours after losing contact with the Pokhara ATC and its wreckage was found scattered over a forested mountainside in Soli Ghoptebhir of Myagdi district, Civil Aviation Minister Ananda Prasad Pokhrel told news men in Kathmandu.
Citing Nepal Army rescue teams which had reached the crash site, Pokhrel said: “The plane has crashed and all its occupants have been killed.”
Located 200 km west of capital Kathmandu, Pokhara is the second largest city of Nepal. It is a popular tourist destination and the kick-off point for climbing expeditions to the 8,091-metre Mt Annapurna.
Jomsom too is the starting point for many trekkers in the Himalayas.
The aircraft was added to the Tara Air fleet last September. Among the occupants were a Chinese national and a Kuwaiti and the others were Nepali nationals, BBC reported.
Army spokesperson Brigadier General Tara Bahadur Karki confirmed that all 23 people aboard the plane were killed in the crash. Karki said a Nepal Army team had reached the crash site and located the wing and tail section of the plane, the Kathmandu Post said.
The plane’s wreckage was found after four hours of intense search and rescue operation. Eyewitnesses said the debris of the plane were scattered over a large area and the aircraft was still burning, the report added.
One local said the weather at the site was extremely cold and the area was likely to get rainfall.
Police constable Phool Kumar Thapa Magar who was among the first to reach the crash site said it was situated on a very treacherous terrain and the debris of the plane were scattered over an area of some 200 metres.
“No one has been found alive,” Myagdi district Deputy Superintendent of Police Bishwa Raj Khadka said, adding that it was difficult to identify the bodies due to the raging fire at the site.
Two helicopters sent for the rescue bid were unable to land due to dense fog, he added.
Roshan Manandhar, the pilot of the ill-fated plane, in his final conversation with Pokhara Air Traffic Control, reported that the flight was normal, said Jasoda Subedi, chief air traffic controller at Pokhara airport, the media report added.
“See you back, Ghorepani normal, good day,” were the last words from the captain.
“The weather at Pokhara and Jomsom is fine today (Wednesday). So we have no clue about what went wrong,” said Bhim Raj Rai, media officer at Tara Airlines, soon after the plane was reported missing.
But the areas adjoining the suspected crash site were covered in a cloud of dust on Tuesday following dry landslides in Mt Annapurna South base since Monday night.
The expected flying time for the plane from Pokhara to Jomsom town is approximately 20 minutes.
Over 100 people have died in plane crashes in the Himalayan nation in the past five years. The last crash was on February 16, 2014, when a Nepal Airlines Twin Otter crashed in Masinelek, Argakhanchi, killing 18 people.
At least 15 people were killed when an Agni Air plane carrying Indian pilgrims crashed on May 14, 2012, near the treacherous high-altitude airport of Jomsom in northern Nepal, while six made a miraculous escape, the Kathmandu post said.
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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