Feature
Rahul Gandhi to be Cong president: Nothing succeeds like failure in India’s GOP
Nothing succeeds like failure in the Congress party, at least as far as the ‘first family’ is concerned. Rahul Gandhi may finally become what he is destined to be, the Congress party president. The ‘Yuvraj’ or ‘Shahzada’ of the party will now finally turn into a ‘Shahenshah’.
The party would like to make the world believe that he didn’t really want the post, but that he had to succumb to the demands of the rank and file of the party, following their decade long persuasions and prodding. That he alone has the capability to steer clear the Grand Old Party from the existential crisis it is currently facing. That he alone has the charisma to regain the lost glory of the party, which has shrunk to irrelevance in various parts of the country – the congress now governs as little as six percent of the total population.
No questions can be raised about the timing and the choice of Rahul’s elevation from vice-president to president, just as no questions were raised from the inside when he was elevated from general secretary of the party to vice-presidentin January 2013, at the Jaipur Chintan Shivir.
After all, the Congress is synonymous with the Nehru-Gandhi dynastic rule, and dynastic systems are guided by blue blood succession rules. He will only be succeeding his mother Sonia Gandhi to the post, who has been holding the post for past 18 years, since 14 March 1998, when family loyalists most unceremoniously threw out Sitaram Kesri, who had risen from the ranks.
That was done in order to restore dynastic rule in the party, and also to restore the aura of Nehru-Gandhi family. Her 18-years of party presidency is a record of sorts in a supposedly democratic party, something which even revered family elders – Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi – were unable to accomplish.
As for the timing, leaders of all hues in the party had for long maintained that the decision of when Rahul would elevate himself to the post of party chief was a matter best left to him and his mother Sonia Gandhi. It was left to their discretion, but the momentum from below had to be built in order to give the appearance the selection being a democratic process.
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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